How do you get your cat off of wet canned cat food?

Answer 1

I am not sure why you would want to stop giving your cat wet cat food. In comparison to dry food, wet food is far more beneficial to a cat.

Domestic cats aren't all that different from cats in the wild such as lions. Pet cats, like their wild cousins, get all their nutrition from meat-based proteins and fats. A pet cat that has access to outside might hunt and eat small birds, mice, voles and other small wildlife animals. Some owners feed their cats raw meat, offal (organs) and bone to mimic the food a cat would eat in the wild. Good quality wet foods often have a very high meat content with all the essential nutrients.

It is advisable to stay away from brands that include Corn, Wheat, Cereals, Soy and various Sugars in their foods - cats have difficulty in digesting these and do not provide any nutritional value to the cat whatsoever. Wet food with these specifications are much easier to find than in dry food.

The amount of moisture in cat food is also very important. Dry food contains no moisture, so is quite dehydrating. Cats are notoriously bad drinkers, even when they are thirsty. This is because they have evolved to get all their needed moisture from their prey (their ancestors were cats that lived in very dry and arid environments where water was hard to come by), so therefore have a low "thirst drive" and will not often seek out water on their own. This is a trait that has been passed down over the thousands of years.

Canned or pouched food has anywhere between 60 to 80% water. Seeing as in the wild a cat's prey is around 65%-75% water, wet and raw food provides a cat with more than enough water each day. Dry foods in comparison have 0% - 10% moisture. Even with drinking, a cat on a dry food diet often does not drink enough.

Many dry foods and low-quality wet foods are often packed with carbohydrates - "filler" in the way of grains and cereals, none of which cats can digest or gain any nutrients from. Grain is used instead of meat because it is cheaper to produce and helps kibble pieces hold together. Cats need MEAT based protein, not PLANT based protein. Cats will often overeat on lower quality foods because they are not getting all the nutrients they need, which often results in obesity.

However, there are some good dry food brands out there. The healthiest (and possibly the best-tasting) dry cat foods are the ones completely free of grain, corn and other cereals and have named meat content (labelled as Chicken, Turkey, Rabbit, Lamb, Tuna, etc.) as the first ingredient, or even better, the first three. Many higher quality brands use small amounts of rice or potatoes in place of the cereals, while still not wholly ideal, it is much better and easier on a cat's digestive system.