Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My cats eat Exclusive brand Chicken & Rice Adult Cat Light Formula (dry food). They really like it, and it seems to work for them, including for the treatment of hairballs. They also like this food when it falls into their water dish, gets all soft and smooshy, and I take it out for them. They eat those pieces right away.

My older cat is missing her two front teeth (think the Christmas song), and I think is, because of her age, also developing some chewing issues. She just seems to like the softer food a lot, although she still enjoys the dry food. I used to think she didn't like the food in her water, because she'd always let me know when the water dish was "contaminated." After some keen observation, I came to understand that she wanted me to take the morsels of food out of the water so that she could eat them. My younger male cat does the same.

So after all that, I guess what I'm asking is, is it acceptable to moisten this dry food with a bit of water (provided it doesn't sit around all day)? The website gives no information on this subject. I've had two vets prefer dry food over moist, otherwise I'd just try to get them on moist food.

Thoughts?
Thanx!

I don't see a problem with moistening the food. As long as it's not sitting around all day.
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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Gabby and Tucker

I have friends who's young male cat doesn't drink enough water and has frequent urinary problems. He will not eat wet food, so the vet has them put water on top of the dry food and he gets his water that way. They don't let it sit around all day; what he doesn't eat fairly quickly, they throw out to avoid spoiling, etc. Should be just fine and your cats will probably benefit from the extra water intake. You can always run it by your vet on their next check-up or just call in and ask.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

Hi There,

Actually, canned food is better for cats than dry because it is more natural for them. Cats are carnivores and are unable to digest carbs properly.

Having said that, I feed my own cats a combination of canned food, dry, and some people foods, such as chicken, ground turkey, and ground beef. Some of them are just plain dry food addicts, and others are on prescription dry foods. I also feed the best quality foods that I can afford to buy for them.

I agree with the other posters about adding water to dry food. I will occasionally add the water from a can of tuna or chicken to dry food and they just gobble it up. Next I'm going to try adding some chicken broth. With 10 cats in the household whatever food I put out gets eaten quickly so I don't have to worry about food spoiling.

I think it would be a good idea to have your cat's teeth checked as well. The front incisors almost always do fall out by themselves in older kitties, but you want to rule out the possibility that your cat may have some bad teeth preventing her from eating normally.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Thanx all!

I learned about her teeth when I first got her, about 5 years ago. It only now seems to be a bit of a discomfort. Last year there were no teeth problems at her regular check up. She has an appointment next week for the same. I'll have the vet check her teeth again next week.

Thanx again!

Hi KitKat,
I was just wondering about this, my vet told me that chicken broth has to much salt in it and it will dehydrate my pets so not to use it. You just mentioned adding it to their food. So do you use a certain chicken broth?

Jaime
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Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Gabby and Tucker