How much dry food does a healthy young adult cat need?

Answer 1

Dry food can be fed at all ages, although feeding dry food is not a necessity.

Dry food is more a convenience food for us, as it is easy to put in a bowl and leave for several hours. However, dry food is certainly not a requirement for a cat's diet. A lot of dry foods contain a high amount of grains and cereals and rather low levels of actual meat in them. The cereals do not give any nutrition to the cat at all; cats have evolved to get their nutrients from meat-based protein, not plant-based protein. Many manufactures will use plants instead of meat because it is much cheaper to produce, but not necessarily good for your pet.

Some ingredients, such as Yellow Corn, Wheat Gluten and Soy products have been known to cause food Allergies in cats. These three are very common in lower quality pet foods.

Having said that, some brands such as Orijen and Felidae produce dry food that is completely free of grains and includes high quality meat.

Another problem with dry food is that it contains no moisture, so is quite dehydrating. In the wild a cat's prey is around 70% water, and this requirement is no different for our household pets. Canned or pouched food has anywhere between 60 to 80% water which easily provides a cat with more than enough water each day.

Answer 2

On average, it takes about 20 hours for food to make it from the mouth to the anus. This of course depends on the amount of food eaten and the specific cat's digestive system.

Answer 3

A healthy adult cat only needs 1 bowl of food a day.