Do you feed your cat wet food?

I have found that a quarter teaspoon or so per day of psyllium husks (Source Naturals makes a nice fine powder that I get on amazon) mixed into moist food (raw in my case) makes a large difference in the frequency of hairballs in those cats consuming it. Stir it in carefully, then add a little water to create the desired consistency.

For the one that won't, when needed I put hairball goop in an empty lysine capsule (coated inside with oil first so it slides in), then coat the outside with oil for easier pilling, and POP! Down the hatch it goes. Sputnik likes the taste of walnut oil, go figure. Whatever makes her happy is good with me. For most cats, butter will be enjoyed. I find that not only does oil on the outside make pilling much easier, if chosen carefully it leaves a pleasant taste in the cat's mouth, that makes them argue a lot less over time. Learning to pill a cat can be a challenge, but when you do it has a lot of benefits. Giving the goop that way is much less stressful than any other method I've found.

Our two inside cats have a tendency to vomit up their food and hairballs..(at least once a week).One is a long haired solid black...I have put the "hairball remedy" on their paws or where they can lick it off, but they are not fond of doing that at all...I have also bought some of the "grass" you grow in small containers and let them nibble on it. Neither have weight issues. I guess its just a "trial and error" thing to find what food they tolerate the best.

These posts have been very helpful.....
Thanks

Uppercrust wrote:
4 cats they get dry. Every other day they get a special treat of wet food. We are battling weight issues on one cat so we can not keep food out all day.

The dry kibble is calorie dense. You may want to feed more canned as you cut back on the kibble.

My BIL veterinarian insists on dry food, no table scraps, ever.

Our dearly departed Fangcat was a fan of Fancy Feast fish flavours. Two cans a day, one in the morning and one at night. And a bowl of dry food was always down for her too. When she reached 8 or 9 years of age the vet suggested we switch to a "Senior" dry food formula. And we did. She free-fed. She was too skinny all her life. At age 15 she was 7 lbs. The vet suggested if she lost more weight it could be a problem as she was skin & bones.

She lived to age 19, died a couple of months short of her 20th birthday. On her last long RV trip with us, we celebrated her 19th birthday on the road. She was 5 lbs during her last year.

She was indoor/outdoor cat at home, with a cat door. On the road, she was confined to leash and harness.

dodgerdog wrote:
both.... usually always has dry food available.... wet in morning and in evening...

Mike C.

This is what I do for our two cats whether on the road or at home. Different wet every two days they like that, 1/4 can morning/night with water added

4 cats they get dry. Every other day they get a special treat of wet food. We are battling weight issues on one cat so we can not keep food out all day.

AprilWhine wrote:
Wet. My cats prefer the seafood flavours of Fancy Feast. For the past two months, while I have been on a caravan in the small RV, I have fed them dry Fancy Feast. They have both gained a little but the one who gets a vitamin deficiency on dry food seems to be ok. They will resume their normal wet food diet when we get back to our routine.

I'm wondering why you can't feed them canned when on the road. We feed our four cats the same whether we're home, on the road, camping... where-ever.

Hawkeye02 wrote:
Thanks, I was about to quit the wet food, but think I will keep on with both..now...question, What brands of both do you use?

We use a variety but they seem to like Little Friskies canned the best. Fancy Feast looks and smells about the same but they don't care much for it. They like Authority and we get that for variety.... mostly Friskies since the do prefer it.

The daily raw is a mix of kidneys, chicken and turkey gizzards, turkey hearts, meat trimmings free of fat, talapia fish cubes and only once a week - liver of some kind. Since they don't get the runs from milk like a lot of cats do, I give them some 100% fat free milk a few times a month just because they like it. Sometimes they also get some fat free cottage cheese or cooked egg.

As for their nightly kibble "treat"... we avoid brands that had recalls such as Nutro and stick with the grainfree varieties. We avoid the cheaper grocery store brands as they're loaded with corn and other fillers making them better suited for hogs and cattle than cats which are obligate carnivores.

Wet. My cats prefer the seafood flavours of Fancy Feast. For the past two months, while I have been on a caravan in the small RV, I have fed them dry Fancy Feast. They have both gained a little but the one who gets a vitamin deficiency on dry food seems to be ok. They will resume their normal wet food diet when we get back to our routine.