Why do you need to feed canned food to your cat?

Starting your kitten off on the right track will pay dividends in his or her health for years. While it’s convenient to only feed dry kibble to your cat it’s not in their best interest. By nature cats have an inherently very low thirst drive and therefore they need to consume water with their meals. Cats being carnivores are designed to eat meat and hunt, which in the wild is where they get most of their moisture, as their prey contains about 70-75% water. Also allowing them to have access to fresh flowing water from a water fountain in a quiet place in the home is important as well. I can’t express this enough, most importantly because of the health benefit, but also in my experience for the past 25+ years working in a veterinary office I have witnessed firsthand the frustration and puzzlement on the owners part when they try to give their cats medication. If the cat is only accustomed to dry food their only way to medicate is to poke the medication down the cat’s throat. Not only is this a good way to make the owner feel horrible but a good way to get bit and scratched from your sweet little kitty. If the cat is accustomed to eating canned food often times you can simply hide the medication in just a small amount of canned food. If you do this when the cat is hungry often times they will gobble it up without knowing the medication is in the food. After they take the medication you can then offer the rest of the meals portion. Most cats will need medication sometime in their lifetime, be it short term (such as an antibiotic after a procedure) or long term (He or she may develop arthritis or some other disease). When a cat is introduced to different textures at a young age it much easier for them to eat more of a variety. This is true for flavors as well. If you’re gone for long periods of the day I see no reason why you can’t leave a top quality dry food for your cats to have access to, just be sure that is doesn’t contain any artificial flavors or colors, corn, wheat or glutens. And be sure that is does contain high quality proteins, a bend of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, omega 3 fatty acids, as well as calcium and phosphorus and good dietary fiber.