Cats’ diet has a great relationship with their physical health. If they don’t eat right, it will be detrimental to the cat’s health. Therefore, many cat owners are confused about their cat’s diet. Many cat owners encounter these two problems:

1. What should I do if a cat has abdominal transmission? 2. Is it better for cats to eat dry food or wet food (especially cats with urinary diseases)?

Regarding epigastric transmission in cats, the current treatment drugs are still relatively controversial. I won’t talk about it this time, but I found an interesting point. The treatment methods abroad are lagging behind those in China...

① Wikipedia: Cat passed on from belly to belly

② Corresponding Google Chinese translation

Since everyone is curious about whether it is better for cats to eat dry food or staple wet food, which one has more nutritional value? Let’s discuss it next~

1: What is dry food and what is staple wet food?

First of all, let’s draw an important point: cats are purely carnivores, and the nutrients they need are all in meat!

It’s not cat grass! It’s not rice! It’s not even soybeans, grains and other crops!

What we eat is high in animal protein and low in carbohydrates!

Dry food:

Also called puffed grain, it is prepared by extrusion cooking under high temperature and pressure, and is in granular form.

The surface is dry and has less moisture (8-10% moisture).

Dry food must be puffed by adding a certain amount of cereals, beans and other crops.

Usually sold in bags.

Wet food:

Usually refers to canned or wet food (75-78% moisture).

It can be made almost full of meat, no carbohydrates, and closer to the eating habits of cats.

Usually sold in canned form.

It is divided into staple food wet food (the focus of this discussion) and snack wet food (it is recommended to feed less and cannot be used as a staple food.)

From the perspective of concept and cat eating habits, wet food is slightly better than dry food.

However, the same high-quality staple food wet food and dry food, as long as the quality is in place, there is actually nothing to be picky about.

The only biggest difference is the difference in moisture.

Let’s do a simple pros and cons comparison to see which one is best for your cat owner.

Two: Is it better to feed cats dry food or wet food?

1. Convenience:dry food

It is undeniable that dry food is more convenient, and currently dry food still occupies the majority of the pet food market.

Dry food, easy to store and feed.

Staple wet food is recommended to be consumed on the same day after opening. If the packaging meets the storage conditions, it should also be stored in the refrigerator to avoid the growth of bacteria.

If you are a lazy person raising a cat, dry food is the first choice.

　2. For hydration: staple wet food

Cats are designed by nature to take in water from food and rarely take the initiative to drink water.

In the wild, cats get most of their moisture from prey, usually 60-70% water.

Staple wet food contains 75-78% moisture, which is very close to the cat’s natural prey diet.

Feeding only dry food, if the cat is not kept hydrated, may cause your cat to be at least slightly dehydrated, which may lead to urinary tract problems.

Some veterinarians warn that not getting enough water in your cat's diet may increase your cat's risk of developing crystals or stones in the urinary tract. Sufficient urine is needed to dilute the solid material, otherwise it can accumulate and form stones. Stones can cause painful, sometimes life-threatening, blockages in the urinary tract.

Feeding staple food wet food eliminates these worries.

If your cat rarely drinks water, it is recommended to feed it staple wet food, especially in summer.

3. Urinary tract problems: staple wet food

Pet cats, especially male cats, are more likely to suffer from urinary diseases.

Urinary tract infections, kidney stones, urolithiasis, feline idiopathic cystitis, and lower urinary tract disease can all be the result of chronic dehydration in cats.

Staple wet food contains more water than dry food. Staple wet food is the best choice for cat health.

If a cat suffers from urinary diseases, Cat Lover recommends feeding staple wet food on a daily basis, and at the same time using drugs to treat symptoms and regulate the urethra, rather than feeding so-called prescription food.

4. Dental health: dry food

Some propaganda says that cats eating dry food can clean their mouths (a certain emperor liked this promotion the most).

In fact, this is wrong. Some studies have shown that cats eating dry food have very limited impact on dental health because cats swallow dry food instead of chewing it.

However, if a cat eats staple wet food for a long time, there may be residues on the gums, which may form dental calculus over time.

Therefore, if you feed cats staple wet food for a long time, I personally recommend brushing their teeth regularly.

​In fact, whether feeding dry food or staple wet food is not the key to affecting the dental health of cats.

5. Carbohydrate levels: staple food wet food

Once again, carbohydrates are basically useless for a healthy cat diet!

Cats' naturally carnivorous diet contains only a small portion of carbohydrates (as low as 3-5%) and has a poor ability to metabolize carbohydrates. Animal proteins and fats serve as their main sources of energy.

Excess carbohydrates will be converted into body fat, causing cats to be overweight and increase the risk of diabetes.

In addition, the protein content of dry food and staple wet food is not judged by its label value, but calculated by converting it into dry matter.

The following is a popular foreign method of converting cat food into dry matter:

a. First, find the protein percentage of the cat food’s self-labeled value. For example, we will compare two fictional types of cat food. Cat Food A is a chicken-based dry food that lists 22% protein in the guaranteed analysis. Cat Food B is a beef-based staple wet food that lists 18% protein in a guaranteed analysis.

b. Then, find the moisture content. This should also be listed in the warranty analysis. Subtract the moisture content from 100 to get the dry matter %. The moisture content of cat food A is 12%. Dry matter percentage is 88%. The moisture content of Cat Food B is 75%. Dry matter percentage is 25%.

c. (Protein % of cat food ÷ % of dry matter) × 100 % = Protein content of dry matter (%). In fact, cat food A: (22/88) × 100% = 25% actual protein content. Cat food B: (18/25)×100 = 72% actual protein content.

　6. Price: dry food

In fact, whether you feed high-quality cat food or low-quality cat food, feed dry food or feed staple wet food, it is all determined by the economic level of the cat owner.

Who wouldn’t want to feed their cat the best cat food?

In fact, when compared under the same quality and conditions, the cost performance of dry food is better than that of wet food.

Take the cat lover as an example. He raises 6 cats and feeds them the highest quality first-grade dry food (more than 50 yuan per pound). If he switches to the same grade of staple food wet food, the cost will be at least several times higher. It can be said that he is poor. This has become the main reason for cat lovers to feed dry food, but feeding high-quality dry food is also healthy for cats.

Three: Summary

In theory, the cat feeds the ownerEating wet food is better for your health than dry food.

So, is wet food a better staple food?

uncertain. If there is a low-quality staple wet food and a high-quality dry food, you still have to choose the high-quality dry food.

Quality determines everything! Whether you feed wet food or dry food as staple food, you must feed high-quality food!

But one thing that needs special attention is that there are many products on the market that look like wet food, but in fact they are different. Some are staple wet food, which are full-price nutrition, and more are canned snacks. However, wet snacks cannot be used as long-term snacks. Cat’s staple food, otherwise it will cause nutritional deficiencies! You need to pay attention to the screening when purchasing!

In short, you don’t just say that the staple wet food is good and just buy some at home for your cat to eat. When purchasing, you must check the ingredient list and nutritional label to ensure that animal protein is the main component of this staple wet food.

In layman’s terms, it means choosing food with high meat (dry matter protein) content for cats.

But in the end, it is still determined by the economic level of the shit shovel officer.

Some reference materials:

​https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_food#Dry_food

​https://www.cathealth.com/cat-care/nutrition/1229-cat-wet-dry-food

​https://www.petfinder.com/cats/cat-nutrition/wet-or-dry-cat-food/

​https://blog.homesalive.ca/dry-vs-wet-cat-food-pros-and-cons

​https://noahsarkvet.com/is-dry-food-bad-for-cats/