I'm having real trouble finding a wet food that my cat likes. Half the time she just won't eat it, half the time she'll eat a few mouthfuls and leave the rest. Even when she hasn't eaten all day she'll still refuse wet food, have tried Nature's Menu, Tesco Finest and Hi-Life. I end up throwing most of it away.

I think a balance of wet and dry food would be healthiest. Especially as she doesn't poo or wee very often and always eats grass when she goes outside. But my boyfriend reckons we should just feed her dry food (Orijen, she likes that, thank goodness) to save all this hassle and waste.

Is dry food healthy on its own or should we keep trying with the wet food too?

Thanks.

So long as you are feeding a complete dry food, it does contain everything they need for a balanced diet, everything that is, except for water.
The problem with dry food, is cats often don't get enough fluid and it can lead to most commonly urine infections. Wet food however, is normally about 80% moisture.

You could try soaking some of the dry food in water, or maybe mixing the dry food with the wet to see if that helps encourage your cat to eat it.

My cats are really fussy, and with so many I find it too expensive to feed them all the pouches all the time, it is much more economical to feed tin, however half the time they just wont eat it. I have just brought some Bozita wet food, (got it from ZooPlus) and so far it seems to have gone down a treat and its really good value!
I am also currently trying to introduce a bit of raw into their diet too.

I too have heard from other breeders that feeding just dry can lead to kidney/urine problems. I used to, but now try my best to mix it as often as poss.

I have found that as long as you leave water accessible that it gets drunk - also if they go outside they probably drink rainwater or pond water.

(I also think that they drink toilet water too - uck)

I mix my wet foods so that they don't get a run of only one brand. Also I find that even though they turn their noses up at teatime, if I leave it out during the night by morning it is all gone - the cat fairy comes in the dark hours apparently and scoffs the lot.

I also give raw or cooked poultry.

Lol, Janee, when I tried to give raw chicken wings, I had ten or so cats chucking them all over the lounge, under settees and cupboards and not a lot of eating going on. Think mine are too prissy for them, but I know breeds like Bengals e.g. really go for them big style

My cats only eat Hills Science Plan chicken dry food, they have eaten dry food since we got them. They were originally on Royal Canin dry food, but we gradually switched them over to Hills, as Royal Canin was upsetting their stomach.

They have access to water ALL day, so have plenty of water to keep them hydrated after eating dry food.

My other cat used to eat only wet food, she would hardly touch her water bowl.

So if you decide to feed dry food, just make sure your cat has plenty of access to water.

You will get a mixed response to this thread
Just my opinion! feeding just dry can lead to kidney/urine problems.
I also have a couple of cats that get an upset tummy if they eat certain commercial cat foods, I cook most of my cats food, and feed JWB complete diet too, I find this works for all my cats

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Mazpahs Siamese & Orientals

My ginger cat was in at the vets for over a week as he had kidney and bladder problems, when he was a lot younger all caused by feeding just dry food (he still loves his biscuits now but it is a small amount that he gets). My cats love their raw food, I usually sprinkle a handful of biscuits on top between 4 cats so they don't get a lot each.

I know male cats are more prone to it than female cats as their uretha (think thats the one, lol, the tube from bladder to ouside) is different to female cats and crystals can form causing them to get reccuring cystitus. I also know that female cats can suffer with it as well. If you are feeding totally on dried food make sure that it is a meat based food as cats are carnivores and also keep plenty of water available and an eye on her output of urine.

Having said all that, lots of cats are fed on dried food totally and have no problems what so ever, maybe I was just one of the unlucky ones.

Thanks all. She is pretty good at drinking water actually, especially if I run it straight from the tap so it's all aerated (spelling? I mean so it's got air in it lol) and put it in front of her. Just done so and she had a long drink.

She actually finished her bowl of wet food during last night but that's unusual.

Ah what to do, what to do. I don't like the idea of only dry food. I'm sort of considering making a sort of meat broth for her, obviously without the salt and other bad ingredients.

Its not unusual for cats to like running water, you could try getting a cat water fountain to help encourage your cat to drink enough.

Glad to hear your making progress with the wet food!