If you are trying to decide what type of food you should be feeding your cat, you may ask yourself which kind of food is more filling to your cat, wet or dry? Since you are going to be picking a type of food to buy your cat, it makes sense for it to be the food that will be the most filling for them.
Dry cat food and wet cat food will both adequately quench your cat’s appetite without any problems. As long as your cat’s food is well rounded in the required vitamins and minerals that your cat needs, both kinds of food are just as good and filling to your cat.
Since wet and dry cat food are just as filling as one another, which food is the best food to give your cat? Should you give them wet food, dry food, or a combination of the two? Let’s take a closer look at some of the different benefits of each type of cat food.
How Filling Is Wet Cat Food?
Wet cat food is usually made up of around 60% water and 40% solids. These solids are generally a type of meat (e.g., Fish, Chicken, Lamb) and will be packed with great levels of protein that your cat needs.
When your cat eats wet cat food, they will only eat as much as they need and will stop when they are full. It is hard to say how much wet cat food it will take for your cat to be full, though, as it is different and unique to each cat.
The size of your cat will also play a role in how much wet food they will need to be full. It is usually recommended that your cat eats a 3-ounce can of cat food per day, but this is only if your cat is of average size and weight.
An average size cat usually weighs between 5 to 10 pounds, and it is then recommended that they eat between 170 to 280 calories per day, which will usually be met in two servings of wet cat food.
As long as your cat is fed an adequate amount of wet cat food for its size and daily calorie intake, wet cat food will be perfectly filling for your cat.
Are The Different Cat Food Types Less Or More Filling?
There are many different types of wet cat food to choose from, a few being:
- Minced
- Slices
- Chunks
- Gravy
- Puree
- Flaked
These are just a few kinds of wet cat food that you can buy, and most of them are just as filling as each other.
The only type of wet cat food that is different is cat food broth; this is used over other food and not given as a meal on its own.
How Filling Is Dry Cat Food?
Where wet cat food is made up of mostly water and protein, dry cat food (well, most dry cat food) is largely made up of carbohydrates.
This is because most dry cat foods are made up largely of grains, usually grains such as rice or cornmeal.
Some of the dry cat food brands available on the market today will even contain vegetables instead of using meat in their cat kibble.
Just like with wet cat food, your cat will only ever eat as much of the dry cat food as they need and will stop when they feel full.
How much dry cat food it will take for your cat to feel full will once again entirely depend on each individual cat, their weight, and their recommended daily calorie intake.
Ideally, you would want to be giving your cat a high-quality cat food that will contain the right amount of protein, minerals, vitamins, and calories that they need.
If this is the case, an average size cat will only need about half a cup of dry cat food per day to be full and satisfied; however, each cat is different, and this may not be the case with every cat.
Which Cat Food Is More Filling For A Cat?
Neither dry cat food nor wet cat food is more filling than each other; as long as your cat is getting the recommended quantity of food recommended for its size and weight per day, wet cat food and dry cat food are just as filling as each other.
Both wet and dry cat food has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to filling your cat.
Wet cat food may seem more filling at first, but since so much of it is actually water, your cat may get hungry again quickly.
Dry cat food may keep your cat fuller for longer, but it has a much higher calorie content, and that could potentially be bad for cats prone to being overweight.
As long as your cat gets the right portion size of cat food and two servings per day, your cat should stay perfectly full all day and night whether they ate wet or dry cat food.
Should You Mix Wet Cat Food With Dry Cat Food For The Perfect Ratio?
As it turns out, you do not have to try and pick just one type of food to feed your cat. Many cat owners do not only feed their cat either wet cat food or dry cat food, but they actually feed them a combination of the two.
The best recommended solution for ensuring your cat gets all of the nutrition that it needs is actually to serve your cat a portion of cat food that is a combination of wet cat food and dry can food.
With the combined nutritional benefits of both the wet cat food and the dry cat food, your cat will not only be perfectly full all day and all night, but they will also have all of their health needs met as far as their diet goes.
It is therefore recommended by vets that the best way to feed your cat is to give them a combination of the two types of cat food instead of choosing from just the one type to give them.
This is great news for the cat owner who is struggling to figure out which type of food would be best for their cat, as now they can get the best of both worlds.
Conclusion
When wet cat food and dry cat food are compared to each other, it is usually assumed that one type of food will end up being better than the other; however, that is not the case in this scenario.
Ultimately you can choose to use either one of these cat foods on their own, and they will treat your cat well, as long as you are buying a good quality food no matter which food you choose to go with, whether it be wet or dry.
The only thing that you will need to make sure you look out for is to make sure that you are not feeding your cat more or less, than it is recommended that you feed them based on their size and weight.
As long as you keep your cat on the correct portion size that is recommended, you as the cat owner can choose whether you want to be feeding your cat dry cat food, wet cat food, or a combination of the two, as all of these options will leave your cat full and happy.
- Different Types of Wet Food Decoded | perrobook
- How Much Wet Food to Feed a Cat Every Day
- What should I feed my cat? Wet or dry food | International Cat Care
- Feeding Adult Cats | Veterinarians in Kirkwood
- 5 Reasons to Mix Wet and Dry Cat Food