A Texas A&M vet says to contemplate leaving out dry meals for snacking, as cats are designed to eat about 12-20 occasions in a 24-hour interval. Read on Texas A&M Today
Choosing the precise meals for cats generally is a supply of overwhelming stress for house owners, as there are a mess of choices, but a cat’s meals instantly impacts their well being, well-being and high quality of life.
Dr. Audrey Cook, a professor on the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, explores components that house owners ought to think about when selecting between moist and dry cat meals whereas emphasizing the significance of assembly dietary wants regardless of the kind of meals.
Health Benefits
A cat’s well being generally is a deciding issue when selecting a kind of meals.
According to Cook, moist meals, specifically, is useful for managing and enhancing a cat’s urinary well being.
“Wet food has more moisture, and this is a big advantage since most cats don’t drink enough water, setting them up for urinary tract issues,” she stated. “In fact, there are several conditions for which wet food is preferred over dry, such as when a cat has kidney disease or bladder stones.”
For cats who must lose or handle their weight, moist meals will also be a viable dietary selection.
“Wet foods are often less energy dense, meaning that cats will have to take in more volume of food to get the same amount of calories,” Cook stated. “So if you have a cat that tends to gain weight, they may be more content on wet food if you are limiting calories, simply because their stomach feels fuller.”
While moist meals can promote wholesome hydration ranges and tackle sure well being points, including dry meals into the weight-reduction plan aligns extra carefully with a cat’s pure consuming habits.
“Cats don’t like to have just two ‘meals’ a day because they are designed to eat about 12-20 times in a 24-hour period,” Cook defined. “It is also not hygienic or palatable (pleasant-tasting) to leave wet food out for hours, so using dry food along with the wet is often a very effective option. My own cat gets about 70% of her calories from canned food but also likes to nibble on dry. I can leave a small, measured amount of dry food out for her to snack on, but then I feed her a wet meal three or four times a day.”
Nutritional Needs And Preferences
Before buying cat meals, nonetheless, Cook strongly means that house owners ought to first prioritize the dietary worth of the meals over the kind of meals.
“An owner is better off picking a well-established brand that can be trusted rather than thinking in terms of wet versus dry because the overall quality of wet and dry pet foods varies enormously based on actual ingredients and formulation, or the amount of protein, carbohydrates and fat that the manufacturer puts in the food,” Cook defined. “I’d rather see a cat on high-quality dry food than poorly documented canned food.”
Owners also needs to consider their cat’s preferences, comparable to texture and taste, whereas making certain their cat eats numerous kinds of high-quality meals. Otherwise, as a result of cats who don’t like their meals can develop well being issues, house owners ought to all the time discuss to their veterinarian about meals choices and points.
“Feeding various flavors and brands from kittenhood onwards can be useful so that the cat learns to accept a range of diets and doesn’t become locked in to just one,” Cook stated. “It can be very hard to introduce new food to a cat who has lived for years on one food. Cats who have lived on one brand of dry food for years will often not eat wet food; they may nibble at the wet food, but they won’t take in enough calories, losing weight quickly.”
If a cat constantly chooses to not eat, house owners ought to seek the advice of with their veterinarian to rule out any potential well being issues earlier than providing extra kinds of cat meals.
“A cat not eating their food depends on if they are not feeling hungry or not liking that particular food,” Cook stated. “Not hungry suggests a medical issue; not liking a food is just a personal choice.”
Understanding the variations between moist and dry meals can encourage house owners to make knowledgeable decisions that meet their cat’s wants. Ultimately, a well-balanced and nutritious weight-reduction plan is essential to making sure a cat’s well being and well-being.
Pet Talk is a service of the School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories may be considered on the internet at vetmed.tamu.edu/information/pet-talk. Suggestions for future subjects could also be directed to [email protected].
