Do you feed cats wet food, dry food, or a mixture of them?

Why are cats born not fond of drinking water? One thing many people don't know is that cats are actually animals that don't actively drink water. The ancestors of cats lived in deserts and arid regions. In the long-term evolution process, they have developed a special survival strategy: when their bodies lack water, they prioritize concentrating urine rather than actively drinking more water.

Simply put, when a person lacks water, they will want to drink water; Cats will hold back when they lack water. Most of the water in wild felines comes from prey. The water content of a mouse or bird usually exceeds 70%. Therefore, cats have evolved the habit of "obtaining water from food".

However, the dry food consumed by modern domestic cats usually has a moisture content of only 8% to 10%. This means that if the cat mainly eats dry food, it must drink a lot of extra water to achieve the same amount of water intake. Some people may not have this concept, in other words, if a normal weight cat eats 60g of dry food every day, it needs to drink 2.5 times the amount of water per day, which is 150mL of water.

But unfortunately, cats don't like to drink. So urinary tract diseases came.

The biggest benefit of wet food, a hydrating tool for cats, is that it can reduce the risk of urinary system diseases. Common lower urinary tract diseases in cats include cystitis; Urine crystallization; Urinary tract obstruction; Urinary obstruction. These diseases have a common feature: they are related to urine concentration. When cats consume more water, the frequency of urination increases, urine is diluted, and the mineral concentration in urine decreases, thereby reducing the risk of crystallization and stone formation.

Especially: male cats, obese cats; Indoor cats; A cat that has experienced urinary incontinence before. These cats are often more suitable for increasing the proportion of wet food.

Dry food is not useless either In fact, most domestic cats still rely on dry food as their staple food. Mainly because dry food is indeed convenient and cost-effective, it is indeed more convenient for office workers. But we need to correct a misconception that the cleaning effect of dry food is very weak. Many people believe that cats can clean their teeth by eating dry food. In fact, the vast majority of ordinary dry foods do not have a cleaning effect. Cats usually bite and swallow the particles directly.

Imagine, would we use eating cookies instead of brushing our teeth? Specially designed oral care food has the function of cleaning teeth. But its effectiveness is far inferior to brushing teeth.

Is it good to only eat wet food? Some people may think, 'Then I might as well feed all the wet food.'. Actually, this may not necessarily be a good thing. There are three main reasons: high prices and a significant increase in the long-term cost of wet grain. Especially in families with multiple cats. The risk of picky eating is that many cats only come into contact with one type of food from a young age, and as adults, they will form "food marks". If you only eat wet food all the time, it may be very difficult to switch to prescription food in the future. When wet food is out of stock, cats go out for foster care, or they get sick and hospitalized, cats may have problems due to refusal to eat.

What is the recommended feeding method for veterinarians? For most healthy adult cats, mixed feeding is the most ideal solution. For example, wet food for breakfast and dry food for dinner. Alternatively, wet grains account for 50% and dry grains account for 50%. This can provide cats with adequate hydration and prevent them from overly relying on wet food.

What if cats only eat dry food? In reality, some cats do not like to eat canned food. There is no need to force it in this situation. Our goal is to increase the amount of drinking water. You can try the following methods: put more water bowls. Many cats are too lazy to go and drink water specifically. Watering bowls at different locations in the home can usually increase the amount of water consumed. Some cats dislike the smell of plastic bowls when using ceramic or stainless steel water bowls Some cats prefer flowing water when using a water dispenser, but there are also some cats who are not interested at all. Separate the water and litter box, and cats naturally do not like to drink water near the excretory area. Another way is to add water to dry grains in a ratio of one cup of dry grains to three cups of water. But some cats may not like it very much.

In summary, when it comes to cats drinking water, it still requires owners to try more.