Wet or Dry Food for Your Kitty?

[Tony Avisato]

Do you know what to look for in cat food? Is your cat food meeting all your kitty’s nutritional needs? While you are looking at all the selections in the pet-supply or grocery store, consider the various advantages and disadvantages of the different forms of cat food.

Dry food, also called kibble, is generally less expensive than other food types; it also gives you the most options for feeding your cat. You can fill your cat's bowl up and leave it out, and it will not go bad. Dry cat food allows you to make sure your cat has food when you are going to be out for more than a few hours. However, cats are generally not as crazy about dry food as they are about freshly opened canned food.

Cats love canned food, also known as wet food, but it is expensive because you are paying for mostly water found inside the food. Canned cat food lasts a long time as long as it remains unopened. Once you open it, canned food lasts about an hour before your cat decides it is no longer fresh enough to consume.

You can refrigerate leftover wet food, but bring it back to room temperature before serving it to your cat again. You can also buy smaller serving cans; however, you’ll find these are sometimes more expensive. Canned food can be good for feeding older cats; dry food might be too hard for their teeth. You should try to feed your cat many different flavors so they do not get hung up on any one brand or flavor. What happens if that particular flavor goes off the market or if your cat decides to quit eating it altogether?

Semi-moist cat foods are sort of a midway point between dry and canned and are often criticized as being more for humans, because of the clever shapes and artificial colors, than for cats.

So which food type should you use? A basic diet of dry food, with a small, daily ration of canned to keep his interest, is a good mix for feeding your cat. A good mix of dry and wet cat food will also be easier financially, since the dry food will be the bulk of your cat's meals.