Is it ok for a kitten/cat to eat only dry food?

[pinkpeanut]

Hello everyone,

Our kitten eats Hills science diet, and everyday I put down a sachet of whiskas for him as well. He is leaving more and more of the meat and just eating the dry stuff so is that ok? He doesn't like any other meat/wet food.

He's eating a good amount of Hills and I always make sure he has plently of fresh water so can I just forget the wet meat now?

as long as he has plenty to drink he should be fine.

I think he is telling you what he wants tbh.

Hills is much better (and cheaper) than Whiskas so he has good taste!

My cats have been on Hills dry only for the last 10yrs & they still love it. Is the best, healthiest stuff for them (no manky food bowls to wash for you either). Lucky you that you've got a cat that's that easy to feed x

my lovely cat ate dry food (IAMS mostly) and loved it- was healthy and gorgeous with great teeth !

meat is mostlymoisture so not as many nutrients and wet also leads to bad teeth aswell as bad breath. stick with dry.
mine have meat as an occassional treat only.

Thanks everyone!

No more stinky whiskas sachets for us then!!
He really only licked the gravy of it anyway!

If i want to give him meat as a treat is it of to feed him small amounts of chicken or tuna for example?

We use just dry food for our dog and I do think it's much better for these type of animals. It's better for their teeth, more nutritious, can be left out for them to chose when they want to eat, apparently they poo less with it and the poos aren't as smelly!

I think it should be OK to give chicken or tuna as a treat. I've been giving titbits like that to my cats since we had them. They're 10yrs old, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Mine have wet food as a treat only. They've been pretty much kept on Iams for three years and no problems- make sure there's always fresh water available. The litter tray is less of a problem with dry food and if there's any left in the bowl, it doesn't fester and stink the kitchen out

Dry food alone is absolutely fine. Mine always ate mainly dry. There is a school of thought though that believes feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) is more prominent in cats fed dry food. I only consider it though if a cat develops urinary tract problems, I'm not 100% convinced.

The urinary tract thing is really only a problem in overweight, male, mainly indoors cats who are prone to stress & fed on mainly dry food. And in those instances, the dry food tends to be things like Brekkies, Go-Cat & similar supermarket type foods (ie those not really manufactured with a vets input) - although have seen a few cats fed on Iams with this prob.
HTH xx

Our cats only eat dried food (apart from the mice and birds they pick off for themselves).