I've been faithfully following this forum for the last 2 years and have learned a lot about cat nutrition from you all and from catinfo.org . I give my boys wet food twice daily and a bit of dry is left out while I'm at work. Here is my dilemma: I recently had a conversation with a vet tech about dry vs. wet food. She really threw me for a loop with her explanations of why cats don't need wet food. She said that it's actually bad for their teeth because it sticks on them day after day. She said dry food doesn't adhere to their teeth nearly as bad. I told her that cats need hydration through their food. She said that if I stop giving them wet food they will learn to drink more water. Someone please talk me through this. It makes sense the way she explained it but is it accurate? The only real conclusion I could come up with is that raw is best.

I would like to know that as well! I worked as a vet tech and was told the same thing by the two vets I worked for! However my " cat speacialist" vet recommends a mixture of both! And raw as a treat only!

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I still lack understanding about adding dry food to diet.
(please can nobody assume I mean in the same bowl cause I'm not saying that at all)

Apparently both can cause tummy upset due to different digestion rates but also its recommended for kittens to have as a snack between (wet) meals... by breeders and vets alike.
I guess alot depends on what your cat will eat... if kitty will only eat dry you can find expensive brands that are made from high quality ingredients (not just ''fillers'').
If you prefer dry I would suggest finding one of the ''top of the range'' brands to stick with but also offer extra wet treats/meals (home cooked fish, chicken, beef and lamb) with added warm water to assist kitty in re-hydrating.

I did ask my vet (Ive asked several actually) if dry diet offers any benefit over wet and they all said no.
One said ''Maybe, it will help keep teeth cleaner in elderly cats that need the extra dental care''

Quite frankly it is an outdated view that wet food clings to teeth and dry doesn't. This is not something new, most vets have advised this at some point and a lot still do.

Really, dry food is only convenient to humans. It is convenient for us because we do not really have to worry too much about it going off and can leave bowls of it out when we are away so the cat gets food. There is no real need for it in kittens if you can be home all day to give regular small meals. The reason I, as a breeder, recommend it is because most people are not home all the time. Plus, it does help that they will eat it in case you have to be away for longer than intended sometimes.

Regarding it clinging to teeth, dry food does as well. Think when you eat buiscuits or crackers! Wet food can cause too the problems if it is a cheaper food due to the sugar content. Whiskas and Felix are UK examples of foods high in sugar. All my cats in the past have been fed these and they all lived to old age 18+ with the occasional tooth problem in old age but no other health problems at all. Dry food does leave cats clinically dehydrated. They are in constant catch up and some manage it fine but a lot don't. Kidney issues are common in cats solely fed dry food. Obesity is an issue as well for free fed dry food cats as they eat more than they need often due to the fact that dry is a concentrated food so the volume required is less. Cats might feel hungry more because they aren't full. The Iams dry food UK advert claims this is a good point. I know myself, I would rather eat a big healthy meal than to eat a high calorie smaller meal as I feel hungrier earlier.

There is some very old data that states that dry food and wet food are digested at different rates so can cause sickness if both are available. This is also thought now by many to be outdated. The issue was that the cats were fed the same quantity in weight/volume of food whether wet or dry. Some of the foods were mixed together and some in separate bowls. The spread of bacteria can happen very quickly in the bowl where it is mixed which is more likely the cause of vomiting. In the separate bowls, if the cat was dot eat both there would be too much volume which is likely to make the cat sick. If different digestion rates was really a problem, cats would have an issue regardless how long between the meals because the food would catch up with eachother in the bowls at some point, potentially causing issues. At the time the original study was done, it was not understand that dry food carries such a high count of dormant bacteria.

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Lollo

Thanks for your input! I knew I could count on board members to talk me through this! I shall continue to give my boys high-quality wet and dry food. No grains, of course!

Have to agree with the above. Your Vet tech does not know what he/she is talking about.

Cats in the wild rarely drink water. They get nearly all the water they need from there food. A good example I was in Iraq most of this year and the base had tons of cats...all out in the desert. They were just fine. There water intake was from the rats and birds they ate.

That is a myth that wet food is bad for there teeth. Some googling will verify that for you. Cats out in the wild do not much on dry prey.

Now on the flip side they have done alot of studies on cats...one of the most studied animals along with dogs. They find a high quality dry food vs a high quality wet food for the most part the cats live a long healthy life. What you Bengal will tolerate is another issue.

Dry food tends to be cheaper as they use alot of fillers. The reason why most store bought brands primary ingredient is corn..the world makes more of that then just about any crop so its cheap. They mix that with cheap by product meat and spray it with fats and vitamin solutions. If you go dry spend a little more get something that has no soy, corn, or wheat. Your cats will be happier for it.

Even the cheap canned food which in the scheme of things is probably fine uses a ton of fillers as well.

Agreed 100 percent. In the wild, what are cats to come across that would equal to dry food anyhow?
Everything they would eat in "the wild" would be their hunt. or perhaps random scraps.

Some people go through hell's of trouble with their cats health while they are being fed on dry food. Especially when it comes to urinary issues. This is me talking from experience, as well as experience through friends. My vet has told me that there is no way that a cat can manage to make up for the lack of water he is missing from his diet while on dry food. Cats naturally are just not programmed to drink excessive amounts of water. Even if he is drinking more often, it doesn't mean hes drinking enough to keep his body as hydrated as it should be.

Basil ironically prefers dry food, but it is not an option for him anymore, because of the many issues he has already had while being on it.
If your cat prefers dry food, I think one of the important things to look for is the moisture content in the dry food, which should be listed on the labeling.

Now I'm starting to worry about my girl who's been on dry for most of her life. She's had a spot on her vagina I'm starting to worry about and I don't know if it's from improper water bowl cleaning, the dry diet, or something else.

What types of issues can arise from strict dry food diets and how long does these things take to develop? Then how long would it take to see progress back to normal after introducing wet back into the diet?

I'm sure there are millions of cats who thrive off an all-dry food diet. After all, dry food is less expensive than wet food. Millions of cats get both wet and dry food. There is no right answer -- feed your kitty the food you prefer and cats seem to adapt. Raiden gets wet food mainly and there is always dry food out for him which is will munch on overnight. He's never been a water drinker, so the wet food helps with that. Diet can affect cats in different ways, but the majority of kitties can do fine with either wet and/or dry. Based on another post of yours, I'm guessing the water bowl could have something to do with it. Try cleaning it more frequently and see if everything clears up with your kitty -- and make sure it is ceramic or stainless steel and not plastic. That could very well be the issue for your baby.