Should I feed my cat both wet and dry food? Is it necessary to give my cat salmon oil?
Original Question: Is it necessary to give both wet and cat dry food to my 7-week-old kitten? Also is it necessary to give salmon oil? - Yazha
Oct 22, 2018
Hi Yazha,
Thanks for your question.
The quick answer is that it is not necessary to give wet and dry food in combination. A wet diet or a dry diet fed alone will be formulated to take care of the nutrient needs of your cat. However, I’ll offer some thoughts on what most veterinarians tend to agree on about optimal diet plans for cats.
I never advocate for just feeding dry food. I will sometimes mention that I use the dry food for my cats but that is just because I don’t want to deal with wet food. However, I always say that most practitioners will recommend a combination of both wet and dry food. We even have a video called “Should I Feed My Cat Wet or Dry Food” and I encourage you to take a look at it.
There are pros and cons to a wet diet and a dry diet. Let me outline a few of them. I would recommend that you feed both a wet and dry diet. The moisture in the wet food helps flush the bladder and the hardness of the dry food is great for its teeth to some degree and prevent dental disease. You can also consider getting a water fountain for your cat to drink from. Many of them love drinking from these because they like moving water. However, the occasional cat will be scared to drink from them. The concept is that more water down the pipe has a positive benefit for the kidneys and prevents bladder issues like crystals.
As for the salmon oil, it is not necessary to give. There are benefits to adding some salmon oil to a cat’s diet. If it has a higher omega-3 fatty acid ratio then it is considered to contribute to a greater quality hair coat, could reduce inflammatory diseases like allergic skin disease, and improve skin health to name a few. Some of these benefits are well documented while others are anecdotal and not consistently seen across all patients.
I hope this helps. Thanks again.
Dr. Clayton Greenway
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