Should you mix dry and wet cat food together?

Being a cat advocate, my human always gets this question from her friends who own cats: should you mix dry and wet cat food together? Her answer is yes! In fact, it’s her opinion that you should get as much water into their little bodies as you can.

You may or may not know this, but I have idiopathic cystitis, which is inflammation of the bladder. It sucks. When I get stressed, my cystitis acts up and I start peeing blood. It happens at least once a year and usually involves a trip to the emergency vet to get prescription medicine.

Because of this, I need as much wet food and water in my diet as I can get. Purina veterinarian Dr. RuthAnn Lobos says there is “data to support that water or wet cat food can help the dilution of cat urine. It helps the cat to use the litter box and empty their bladder more frequently so the urine doesn’t linger in the bladder.”

What I eat

My meals are a mix of dry and wet cat food, but not necessarily all together. My first meal of the day is at 3 a.m. I eat an eighth of a cup of dry Purina ProPlan urinary prescription food. (I wolf that down while Mom is asleep. It’s in an automatic feeder.) Then, when my humans get home from work at 6 p.m., I get a third of a can of wet food. My human feeds me Purina ProPlan prescription canned food for urinary issues, mixed with at least a half cup of water. It’s like soup for dinner every night. Before mom goes to bed, she gives me a quarter cup of my dry food mixed with a half cup of water. That’s like eating cereal before bedtime.

I’m the first cat my mom has owned that has had urinary issues at such a young age. Her previous three felines all had issues when they became senior cats, but not when they were my age. She wishes, in hindsight, that she would have fed her deceased kitties wet food from a young age as well.

Why your cat needs wet food and water

It’s no secret that cats are desert animals and they just don’t drink enough water. Dr. Lobos says it’s important kittens get a lot of water and wet cat food at a young age so they get used to the texture. Cats are very texture-oriented eaters. They’re also very finicky. “As we know, cats are turned off from drinking water if they don’t like the location of the bowl, it’s too close to the food bowl, too far away, or too hard to access.”

Cats like me, and those with diabetes or kidney disease, should definitely eat wet cat food. While healthy cats can be fine on dry food, it’s still best to get more water into their diet if you can, whether it’s by adding water to their dry food, feeding them wet canned food or mixing wet food with their kibble. It doesn’t matter what you do, just get water in them!

You may wonder which kind of food is higher in calories. According to Catster Magazine, One cup of dry food has on average about 300 calories, while a six ounce can of wet food averages 250 calories. For those of you with fat cats, that’s another reason to feed him or her wet food.

Purina’s wet cat food campaign: win some!

You may notice that I have been mentioning Purina in my posts lately. That’s because I am teaming up with the cat lovers there to promote their Purina Wet Cat Food campaign. I just happen to eat their brand of food and I personally believe all kitties should have wet food in their diet. It was a no brainer for me to be one of their kitty ambassadors.

The company recently gave me some coupons to give away cans of delicious Fancy Feast for my fabulous readers and their kitties. We’re all about being fancy, so of course we have to give out Fancy Feast! If you would like to enter to win, just subscribe to this blog at the bottom of this page and tell me in the comments if your cat would rather play in water or drink it. I will choose a winner at random. Maybe it will be you and your pet!

I hope you found this post informative. Remember: all kitties need to be happy, healthy, fancy and most importantly, Whisker Fabulous!

Purina graciously provided free product for the giveaway.