Should I feed my cat wet or dry food?

3rd July 2019

Deciding whether to feed your cat wet or dry food can depend on your own preferences, your cat’s preferences, and whether your cat requires specialist food. Here are a few things to consider.

Wet cat food

Wet food has a strong aroma, which can make it more appealing and palatable to cats, so it can be a good option for picky pets.

Wet food has a high water content, so it’s great for keeping cats hydrated in the hot weather, or for cats with kidney problems to keep them more hydrated. It’s still important to provide plenty of fresh drinking water, even when you serve your cat wet food.

If your cat doesn’t eat all of their food in one go, you can serve their food in a SureFeed bowl, which locks in 99.8% of moisture over a 12-hour period, keeping it fresher and reducing wastage. It can also prevent the unpleasant wet food smells permeating your home.

Dry cat food

Dry food is great for cats that like to graze feed throughout the day because it doesn’t spoil as quickly as wet food. It can be a lot easier to store open packets of dry food and it’s often a lot cheaper than wet food.

Dry food doesn’t smell as strong as wet food, so it shouldn’t leave unpleasant smells in your home. This might not be as appealing to your cat though. To improve its appeal, add water to your cat’s dry food to release its aroma.

If you want to use food as an enrichment tool, dry food is much more convenient for scatter feeding, which can give your cat the chance to express their natural instinct to hunt.

Wet and dry food

Some owners give their cat both wet and dry food simultaneously, so that they get the benefits of both. The SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder is supplied with a split bowl so that both types of food can be served in one bowl. This product will give your cat exclusive access to their food, by only opening for their microchip or RFID collar tag, keeping all other pets out.

Meanwhile, the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder Connect is supplied with two half bowls so that wet and dry food can be served simultaneously, and each type of food can be accurately weighed individually. Using the Sure Petcare app, you can see how much of wet or dry food your cat eats throughout the day to ensure they are following their normal feeding pattern.