How Much Wet Food for a Cat is Necessary?

The general veterinarian consensus these days favors wet food instead of dry food for your pet cat. However, this is a big dilemma for pet owners who know the basics of wet food, such as the right brand, feeding amount, and frequency.

Then, once you have located the right option for your feline friend, you have to figure out the dos and don’ts while ensuring you feed them just the right amount, nothing more or nothing less!

Let’s find out how much wet food for a cat is necessary?

Why Does Your Cat Require A Wet Diet?

Most veterinarians suggest that cats should consume mostly wet food. Now, there are several reasons to do so. Firstly, cats are carnivores by birth & aren’t designed to take in a lot of carbohydrates present in their diet. However, dry edibles tend to have lot more carbohydrates as compared to the wet variants.

Therefore, for most cats, the consumption of dry edibles can cause obesity.

Secondly, cats are notoriously popular for not drinking enough water & could drag themselves to the point that could cause dehydration.

Giving wet pet edibles regularly to your pet ensures that they take in the right amount of water, ultimately promoting better functionality for the cat’s kidneys and urinary tract.

We also recommend you to visit the best non prescription cat food for urinary crystals, this is a list of foods that are safe for cats suffering from urinary issues, most importantly these are available without a prescription.

Can You Feed the Cat Both Dry and Wet Food?

Initially, it would help determine whether you will provide your cat with a 100 percent wet diet or include some dry food into the mix. While it is important to provide your cat with the former diet as much as possible, some cats favor dry food.

So, if you happen to convert to wet edibles for the pet completely, they might start under-eating, which could alleviate the existing health issues while creating new ones in the long run.

Apart from this, the dry variants are available at a cheaper price, so decking up your cat’s diet on the dry option would be lighter on the monthly budget.

Now, finding the right concoction of the two would require you to plan it the right way. First, you have to ensure that your cat gets the perfect amount of calories. The key is to check for the daily recommended feeding amount depending on your cat’s age for each dietary option & mix half of both.

Keep in mind that the dry food might not contain the same nutrition as the alternative ones. So, you need to maintain the balance of the same.

Once you come down to the right ratio for both food variants, you need to check its calorie count to ensure it isn’t too much for your pet. Here is a quick chart that elaborates on the cat’s age and calories required as per weight.

Cat Lifecycle and Wet Food Quantity Required

What is the Amount of Wet Food Your Cat Needs?

The calorie needed by your pet would vary on multiple factors. The pet’s general weight would be an ideal guide to the number of calories needed daily. Apart from this, you also need to factor in any existing conditions that your furry friend might have.

For example, an obese or overweight cat would need fewer calories than a muscular and lean one with a larger bone structure.

An overweight pet needs to be fed following its ideal weight for the age and not its existing weight. Additionally, age & activity level can also be major determiners for the caloric requirement.

For example, a kitten would require a higher amount of calories than its adult or senior counterparts. Likewise, an active pet that plays and runs frequently would need more nutrition than the one that remains sedentary.

If your pet is nursing, it would require an elevated amount of calories to provide milk to the kittens while remaining healthy at the same time.

Why is it important to calculate the amount of food fed to the cat?

Most pet parents wonder why it is crucial to calculate the exact quantity of wet food given to their cats. As per a clinical survey conducted in 2017, it was estimated that 60%of the cats living in the United States are clinically classified as obese or overweight.

It marks the number of 56.5 Million obese or overweight kitty that could be dealing with a series of troubling feline health issues.

Overweight felines are prone to risk from congestive heart issues, skin disorders, diabetes mellitus, infections, surgical/anesthesia complications, cancer, or hepatic lipidosis.

Feeding your feline friend a wet diet isn’t as easy as opening the can & dumping it into their bowl. It would help if you judged whether your cat is an outdoor pet or an indoor pet. The ones who live indoors tend to use up fewer calories than those who frequently roam outdoors and play in the garden/neighborhood.

Indoor cats are prone to get bored and eat out of boredom, leading to weight gain when not checked at the right time. As a pet parent, you need to choose a strategic method and measure the right edibles for the cat to avoid weight gain. Keep in mind that wet food has lower caloric content as compared to the dry option.

So, if you plan on mixing the two, a 2:1 ratio would be ideal where you start by decreasing the amount of dry diet slowly to let the pet get acquainted with the changes.

Some cat food brands might have higher caloric content as opposed to others. So, always look through the label to determine which option is better for your pet.

Portioning the Food for Weight Maintenance

Cats with problems keeping slim or losing weight need to be fed multiple meals throughout the day instead of giving them access to food 24X7. The key is to portion out the calorie requirement throughout the day instead of providing one big meal.

So, what is the exact number of meals that your feline friend should be given? Unfortunately, there is no direct answer to this question.

However, if you plan on giving only wet edibles to your cat, you can discuss the details with your veterinarian. The vet would look through your cat’s health and ascertain the right amount of such edibles you can give without having to worry about overfeeding.

In general, the feline species does well when given multiple meals in 24 hours in smaller portions. The ideal number is two meals per day. However, the more the portioning, the better it is.

If you are watching your cat’s calorie intake, you also need to consider any treats or table scrapings you give them throughout the day. You can use several online calculators that help you determine the right amount of calories you are feeding your pet.

How to Monitor Your Cat When Feeding Wet Diet?

Once your cat’s diet has been determined, you need to keep a check on it for a few weeks. It is because any sudden change in diet can irk your pet and make them detest the new diet. Cats are very picky eaters, and any change can deter them from eating the right quantity.

Here are some things you need to keep an eye on:

• Does the cat leave the edibles in its bowl? Does it wake up late at night craving for more?
• Is the pet completing her meals yet gaining a lot of weight?
• Is the kitty eating happily & maintaining its activity level and weight?

If your pet’s behavior seems erratic after a switch to wet edibles, they might do well with a change in brand. You need to start with a major portion of dry edibles mixed with the alternative ones and slowly increase the latter as the pet gets acquainted with the new taste.

Getting veterinary advice would be ideal in case the cat is refraining from consuming its food at all. It could point out an underlying condition that has remained undiagnosed for a long.

While a good diet is an important part of your cat’s lifestyle to keep it healthy and nourished, it is also important to consider if they are active or not. Try to engage and spend some time playing with your pet to keep them active.

Also, before you switch to a planned diet, ensure that your vet gives your cat a clean bill in terms of health or underlying health issues.

As a part of your ongoing cat parents education program we recently added a few new resources like how to feed cat wet food while away, it helps you to feed your cat even when you are busy 9 to 5. What is ash in cat food discuss the elements which most the pet parents misunderstood?

When do kittens start eating cat food is particularly published for new cat parents, and what ingredient in cat food causes urinary problems helps to keep the old feline healthy especially those who are suffering from urinary problems.

Conclusion

Feeding the feline species can be a tricky job. They are picky eaters, and any change in diet might not sit well with them. So, it is important to bring about this dietary change in the right way.

Try to refrain from feeding any leftovers from your plate to the cat. It leads to bad eating habits and can cause your cat to be overweight or obese in the long haul.