I feed my cats three times a day. I split a 70g tin between them, and a handful of kibble on the side.

If they are getting roughly 100g of wet food each, how much dry should I be feeding along with this?

They get either Almo Nature, Porta 21 (they'll only eat the chicken one) or Tesco Finest. As Almo Nature is complementry, should I feed more dry in proportion to this?

I can't find feeding guidelines for Porta 21 anywhere. I worry that I'm not feeding my cats enough or too much. My two only seem to eat what they need, so I use that to judge what to put down for them.

Another question -
I'd like to feed a totally wet diet. Would it be bad for my cats to only have Porta 21 pure chicken or Tesco Finest Tuna? They are SO fussy and these are the only complete wet foods that they will eat. Would they get bored with this, and is it bad for them to feed exactly the same thing day in day out?

They are nine months old now, and I think maybe I should take them to the vet to check their weight and put my mind at rest.

hi
To be honests its alot healthier for them to only eat dry food, it really helps to keep their teeth in good condition because it scraps of the plack on their teeth.
i have 2 young cats myself and i started feeding the on felix pouches and some dry food when we first got them as kittens but we took them to the vets for check up and they both have gingivitis whish is inflammation of the gums which can lead to bad dental problems, this is a result from them eating too much wet food so we have now begun to wean them of the wet food and increased the dry food which is going well.
I know you say that your cats are picky with their food but alot of cats are and it simply comes down to the fact that if they were hungry they will eat anything. if they dont eat the dry food straight aways then just keep persitant and leave only the dry food down to eat and they will give in, mine have, If not you could try to give it to them like a treat at first because it will fall them into thinking their getting something yummy, mine fell for it lol a added bonous is that dry cat food is normally cheaper than wet cat food so you could also save on money and could buy them new toys to help with weight and fittness too lol
I hope this helps, best of luck, Amy

You will get sooo many different opinions on this, a totally wet diet is fine though so long as it's good quality
So long as it says 'complete food' on the tin or pouch it has everything you need

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Hi - yes it is fine to feed a completely wet diet, in fact it's very much better than feeding dried food. I aim to feed my cats only wet food plus raw / cooked meats - although they do occasionally have a bit of dry just as a treat. But too much tuna, or any type of fish, isn't really good for cats, so if at all possible you do need to add a bit of variety. The Porta 21 chicken is a complete food so in theory you should be OK just feeding that, but perhaps you could try some raw or cooked meats occasionally just for a change? Or try tempting the cats to eat other commercial foods by mixing the Porta21 with them to begin with?

I'm not sure how many cats you have (I'm guessing 2) but a 70g tin split between them, even 3 times a day, doesn't sound an awful lot to me. Porta21 does come in 400g tins, you might find those more economical!

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Vervain Cats

Gingivitis is just as, if not more, likely to be caused by dried food - it sticks around the teeth and causes plaque which in turn leads to tartar and decay.

certainly feeding solely dried food is cheaper, but it's not good for the cats in the long run.

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Vervain Cats

I'm not going to argue on this because I really do not know the answer - but my cat I feed wet with just a handful of dry.

i would never say that dry was better then wet - ! would if asked after thinking say the opposite - wet is best!
there's my opinion !!
regards
DT

Not good for the teeth though is it confused:

Can't really comment - I had a cat who lived to be almost 20 - he was only ever fed wet food - and his teeth were perfect . My younger cat - he is 14 years old - has had the same diet - and he has had to have several teeth removed - his teeth were not in a good state ever - I put it down to us having his a less then 4 weeks old (abandoned on a farm) and never having the correct nuitrants in the womb - and in the early days of his life - could be very wrong - but there are two extremes that i can only base my opinions on.
regards
DT

Hi again
i studied nutrition for awhile and all i am saying is that dried food helps to scrap off plaque, just like when you see these adverts that advertise dental chews for dog, dried food help to do a similiar thing. it doesnt stick as much as wet food. i have also been told this by acouple of vets ive had in the past, they have also said it was the amount of wet food i was giving them caused the gingivitis, but im not saying it will happen to every cat just a large amount.

Can you elaborate on your nutrition studies? I studies hair dressing for a while but I don't thibk that anyone would trust me to cut their hair!!!

Most dry food is packed with more carbs and fillers than high quality wet food. These are used to increase the manufacturers profits and hold the dry together. They are also laced with chemicals to provide the missing minerals and vitamins that a cat would naturally get from eating small mammals and birds. It has taken a number of years for us humans to realise that processed foods are bad for us and fresh meat, fruit and veg is what we should be eating to maintain the optimum health. Unfortunatly there are no funding mechanisums to do these types of studies on our pet foods. The large multi-national pet food manufacturers fund the nutrition seminars in vet schools and increase the profits of vet practices by providing heavily discounted food. (A good vet practice can make as much through pet food sales as they do through treatments)

Dry also causes increased pressure on kidneys to process the copeous amounts of water that a cat would need to drink on dry. Biologically cats are not developed to drink large amounts of water.

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Karen

www.kiskasiberians.co.uk - The home of Hypoallergenic Siberian Cats
www.back-2-nature.co.uk - Raw Food for Dogs, Cats and Ferrets

www.rawfed.com - Information on Raw Feeding