Wet food, dry food or both? The advantages and disadvantages at a glance

At CAT’S LOVE, we focus on high-quality cat food for your cat – whether it's dry food or wet food. What you give your kitty doesn’t just depend on the respective advantages and disadvantages of the type of food, it also depends on your cat's health and your personal circumstances.

The advantages of dry food

Feeding your cat with pure dry food such as our CAT’S LOVE Dry Adult Poultry food has several advantages, especially from a practical point of view: firstly, you usually have to carry less weight around when buying it and secondly, the packaging waste is much lower than with wet food, which is individually packaged. In addition, dry food can be stored easily and you won't have leftover food in the fridge. Feeding your cat dry food is also cheaper on average – especially for households with several cats.

Since cats in the wild eat several small prey animals – up to 15 – in a day, house cats also eat small snacks throughout the day. This is a big difference between cats and dogs, who often raid the bowl in the morning and evening and eat until the last crumb is gone. Due to these frequent visits to the their feeding bowl, feeding a cat wet food is not very feasible for many cat owners, as a normal working life can only accommodate a maximum of 3 feedings of wet food per day.

Another advantage of dry food is that the pellets clean their teeth as they chew, which removes tartar and food debris from the gaps between the teeth. However, this effect is only successful if the pellets are also the right size, shape and texture. We have worked hard to develop the perfect pellets for your pets.

Disadvantages of dry food

Disadvantages include the fact that, if stored too long and incorrectly, food mites can nest and the nutrients can degrade during storage, fats can become rancid and vitamins can be destroyed. However, if stored correctly – i.e. in a cool, dry and dark place – the food will keep well, but should be used within a month. You should also be careful with how much you give your cat: dry food is essentially concentrated energy. Therefore, if you treat your pet too well, it can be easier for it to become overweight than is the case with wet food, which contains a lot of water.

So our tip is to weigh the full amount for the day in the morning before putting it in the bowl. Special caution with regard to quantity and weight is advised for neutered cats and indoor cats.

As dry food only contains around 7 to 10 percent water and cats naturally don’t drink much anyway, feeding with dry food alone is not suitable for cats that are prone to urinary stones or have kidney problems. Feeding with wet food is recommended in such cases. A good tip to ensure that even healthy cats drink enough is to have several water bowls around your home so that your cat has access to them at all times.

The advantages of wet food

Many cats simply like wet food better, mainly due to its high water content, which brings out the flavours better and also provides so much liquid that your cat's daily requirements are almost completely covered. As a result, the wet food is also more suitable for cats that are prone to urinary stones or kidney problems. As far as storage is concerned, unopened wet food has a very long shelf life.

Any excess weight your cat might have can also be better controlled with wet food. Alternatively, we recommend calorie-reduced dry food, especially for domestic cats.

The disadvantages of wet food

From a practical point of view, wet food has a few disadvantages: the tins or small bowls themselves weigh a lot when you’re buying the food and the packaging waste is correspondingly higher than with dry food. Also, food that has been opened or is already in the bowl spoils quickly, so leftovers have to be stored in the fridge, but shouldn’t be fed to the cat at fridge temperature. The cold irritates their stomach lining and your cat can easily become nauseous. Therefore, always let it warm up room temperature before putting it out.

Healthy mix

We recommend a mixture of dry and wet food, which also makes everyday life much easier. It is best to get your kittens used to both types of food right from the start. If you know that you will have to stay later at the office one day, you can put the dry food for the day in the bowl and your pet can help themselves.

However, make sure that you divide both food amounts accordingly so that your cat gets an optimal amount and not too much of a good thing. It is best to discuss the ideal quantities in the mixture of dry and wet food with your trusted vet. This way you can ensure that you’re cat doesn’t become overweight.

Whatever you decide: at the CAT'S LOVE Online shop you will find high-quality dry and wet food for your cat.