Is wet cat food and fish bad for a cat?

I’m glad I’m not the only one with a fat cat. I think I need to try to live a little healthier myself and in the long run this will benefit Monty also. We both sure like to snack through the day. My husband is able to be more strict and feed Monty only at meals. Monty meows for food and suddenly I’m producing not only a snack for him but I’m grabbing a little something for myself as well.

I was just exercising outside, and Monty was out there with me part of the time. It’s good for him to get out and run across the yard and climb a tree now and then. However, he still runs the fastest when I call out “Treat!” Sometimes indoors I’ll toss a single kibble of dry cat food so it goes skidding across the kitchen floor and he has to chase it, batting at it with his paw, before finally eating it. It gives him that feeling of hunting and killing something, and I’m hoping the exercise in chasing it down will help his weight and health. It’s occurred to me that it’s sort of like former President Clinton jogging, but ending up at McDonald’s!

I’ve heard of these food puzzle cubes for cats. You put a dry treat or just dry food inside, but the cat can’t get it out without playing with the toy. That sort of thing might be helpful for Milo– and Monty too! So long as the food puzzle toy replaces just giving a dish full of food as a snack that the cat didn’t need to work for. I’ve also heard of hiding food for the cat so that he has to find it during the day when you’re gone. You have to find creative places to put it and do it when the cat doesn’t see.

Anything we can do to make our cat’s life more like it would be in the wild is good. And in real life the cat would have to expend some energy to get the food– not just meow for it!

Yes it’s true the best quality wet food is best for cats and just a side dish of dry food for snacks, making sure a dish of fresh water is always available beside them.
Dorothy, Bigfoot sounds to be doing well enough as he’s drinking water too. Some cats just prefer dry food.
Michael I laughed so much at your video, your ‘maid’ doing the ironing was a star, no wonder you couldn’t keep a straight face !

thank you that is very helpful to me and my baby milo !! i just want the best for her so she can live a good healthier way of living and she does need to lose the weight so i want her to live a good long life with love and peace and what she deserves is the best thank you i will start doing this all for milo and this is very helpful to me and for milo too

Hi Darlene. Wet cat food does not cause weight gain any more than dry cat food. In fact the high carbohydrate content of dry cat food can encourage cats to eat too much as it gives the cat a sugar rush (a high). The cat can suffer from mild hypoglycemia if eating dry cat food.

One way to get a cat to lose weight is to occasionally provide wet cat food that he or she is less fond of. She will eat less. I am not advocating being tough on your cat. Just not feeding so much. Ultimately she has to eat less and/or exercise more just like a person.

You can play more with Milo and/or feed her less. That’s the only way for all of us!

I have the same problem with Charlie. If my cat asks for food I give it! I can also give too much. This is my problem because I love him. We have to discipline ourselves to make sure we don’t create habits and routines that lead to a cat being a bit overweight.

THANK YOU ALL FOR TAKING TIME TO GIVE ME SOME ADVICE ! THAT WAS VERY THOUGHTFUL AND HELPFUL TOO IN MANY WAYS BUT WHILE I WAS COMMENTING I THOUGHT OF ANOTHER QUESTION I HAVE EVEN THOUGH MILO NEEDS TO LOSE WEIGHT DOES WET CAT FOOD MAKE CATS GAIN MORE WEIGHT THAN EATING DRY CAT FOOD

Milo sounds like she is doing great. I hope she will eat the canned food. You are getting such good advice from POC.

I keep reading about dry cat food not being as good for cats, and I get upset every time I read it. My old cat Bigfoot will not eat anything but dry food. I’ve tried everything. It breaks my heart. I have found good dry food however. Considered human grade ingredients, and he seems to be doing well. The good news is, he drinks lots and lots of water. In fact, his favorite thing is to go from bowl to bowl. I have many bowls all over the house with fresh water (a bit of a hassle to change all of them) and he makes a game of going from room to room, drinking from his abundance of water. I have a waterfall fountain as well that he likes. The things we do for our cats!

dw

I’m happy to hear that you and Milo had a nice Christmas. I haven’t put up a tree since I got Monty. I think he would climb it! When I used to put up a tree I would take it down after Epiphany, January 6th. No matter how long you leave it up, it is sad to take it down.

Wet food is better because in the wild cats eat lots of little animals and get their liquid that way. This means that in the wild they don’t need to drink much– which is good, because animals can be at risk from predators while trying to get a drink at a watering hole. So God made cats so that they don’t feel very thirsty at all, which is fine in the wild, since their liquid comes from their food. However, dry cat food contains a lot less liquid than a juicy mouse. But the cat doesn’t realize he’s not getting enough water because his body is designed to not feel thirsty very often. Over time this is hard on his kidneys. Monty gets mostly wet food.

Tuna is ok, but it doesn’t contain things cats especially need, like taurine, so if a cat ate only tuna that would be bad. I get low sodium tuna and share it with Monty. He also likes sardines. He got about half of a tin of sardines I opened by meowing pitifully and giving me that “starving kitten” look he had when I first got him. Amazing how he can pull that off convincingly, since he weighs 12 pounds. That cat should get an Academy Award for his acting ability.

Hi Darlene. I am very pleased that Milo had a nice Christmas. I am sure that you made sure it was nice because you love her a lot.

As to wet cat food, it is better than dry cat food. A cat eating just eating dry cat food and nothing else is now considered not a good idea. For occasional grazing dry cat food is OK but not all the time.

Wet cat food contains lots of water which is fine but the possible downside is that it can stick to teeth and some people say it can encourage gum disease. I don’t think this is a major risk.

If you get best quality wet food that is best. Plus some dry from time to time and a few treats of raw food perhaps.

I made this fun video some time ago. I am not an expert but I have read about this and have personal experience. Others may disagree however.

Raw fish should not be feed to the domestic cat as it destroys vitamin B1 – thiamin – which can cause brain damage. The occasional treat of Tuna is OK though.