Why Cats NEED to Eat Wet Food - Raw and Canned are Best!
What's wrong with dry cat food anyway?
Ok, full disclosure - we do sell dry cat food in our store and in our hospital. Nothing beats the convenience of scooping out some kibble for your yowling kitty (well, maybe scooping raw food, but more on that later!)
Lifestyle is always a factor in choosing food for ourselves and our fur families. But if you ask what is best for your kitty's health - no competition.
For optimal health, wet food is far better for your cat.
We would love to see all of the cats in Kelowna eating raw or canned kitty food.
What's wrong with dry food anyway? Well, basically cats weren't designed to eat it. Humans do well on plant-based diets - but cats need animal protein. They are predators, and naturally consume the water and nutrients they need by eating whole prey. So if they are eating a plant/meat dry food, cats won't load up on water to compensate. They suffer from chronic dehydration.
The three key negative issues associated with dry food are:
1) water content is too low, resulting in blocked urinary tracts, crystal development, kidney failure, etc., etc.
2) carbohydrate load is too high, messing with their sugar/insulin balance and predisposing them to diabetes
3) too high in plant-based versus animal-based proteins, resulting in inflammatory bowel disease or asthma
So what SHOULD I feed my cat?
Cats are designed to obtain most of their water from their diet since their normal prey is approximately 70 percent water. Canned and raw cat foods contain are perfect - they contain approximately 78 percent water. Obviously, these wet foods are better suited to meet the catʼs water needs. A cat on dry food with a water bowl consumes approximately half the amount of water, compared to a cat eating canned or raw food that contains water.
Remember, this substantially lower water intake sets cats up for significant kidney, and bladder diseases, as well as urethral obstructions which are excruciatingly painful, costly to treat, and can be fatal.
Basically, if you invest in high quality wet food for your cat, you can avoid a lot of expensive health issues associated with high carbohydrates and chronic dehydration. It pays to feed wet food. Read more about cat nutrition...
In our store: Best-in-class food choices for your cat
In our Pounce & Hound store, we carry our own raw food brand called Pounce & Hound Raw Food Nutrition. It's frozen into little crumbles, so you just scoop it out and let it thaw on the counter (if your cat leaves it alone that long - ours eat it frozen!) This AAFCO-certified, perfectly balance raw cat food is by far the cheapest of the healthy options for your cat. That may surprise you, but it's because there is minimal packaging.
We also carry two brands of fantastic canned food, TikiCat and BFF, that come in eco-friendlier pouches too. TikiCat and BFF are very high in protein, super yummy, the fish is sustainable caught, and the price is affordable.
Our hope is that you and your cat will love it, and more Kelowna cats will be eating wet food!
Your in holistic cat health,
Dr. Jason, Arnica, Hannah, Jackie, Karina, Christine, Jess, Bethany, Shona, Cortlan and Ru
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