Do dogs need a mix of wet and dry food
Dry Dog Food vs. Wet Dog Food: Which Is Better?
The number of dog food products on the market can make it very confusing for you to choose a diet that is appropriate for your pet. Not only are there tons of different brands and ingredients, but even the most basic choice of wet versus dry dog food can be overwhelming.
Its important to always consult your veterinarian for more specific recommendations that best fit your dogs lifestyle, but this article will go over the main differences between dry and wet dog food.
What's the Difference Between Wet and Dry Dog Food?
Both dry dog food and wet dog food can provide nutritionally balanced diets, but the major difference is in the way they are processed.
How Is Wet Dog Food Processed?
Wet food starts with grinding the protein sources, or meat ingredients. Then a gravy that contains vitamins, minerals, and grains is added. Once those are mixed, the food is cooked and sterilized to produce the canned product.
As a result, wet food has a much higher moisture content than dry food. You can see the percentage of maximum moisture on the label, under the Guaranteed Analysis section. A dry food might have around 10% moisture (max.) while a wet food might have something like 78% moisture (max.).
How Is Dry Dog Food Processed?
Dry food contains very similar ingredients, but instead of adding gravy and canning the product, the meat mixture is pulverized in order to create a consistent dough that can be cooked.
Once cooked, the dough is extruded through specifically shaped holes to form kibble. The kibble undergoes a drying process, and then is sprayed with fats, oils, vitamins, and minerals and packaged before the fats and oils can spoil.
Some dry dog food diets also add live probiotics to aid in digestive and immune health.
Is Wet or Dry Food Better for Dogs?
Both types of dog food are good choices, but each has their own benefits and drawbacks depending on the nutritional needs of your pet.
Benefits of Wet Dog Food Compared to Dry Dog Food
Wet dog food, or canned food, sometimes provides benefits that dry food doesnt offer, such as:
Higher moisture content: Wet food may be a good choice if your dog doesnt drink as much as they should, or if they have a medical condition that could benefit from proper hydration. One example would be a dog with a history of urinary or kidney disease.
Palatability: Canned dog food is often more aromatic and flavorful when compared to dry food. This may entice sick or older dogs to eat if their appetite is decreased.
Satiety: Wet dog food tends to create a longer-lasting feeling of being full. Increased satiety is useful in weight management, especially in dogs that seem to have a never-ending appetite.
Easier to chew: Dogs that have dental disease or other oral abnormalities may find wet food easier to chew than dry food.
Benefits of Dry Dog Food Compared to Wet Dog Food
Dry dog food, or kibble, often offers certain benefits that wet food doesnt provide, such as:
Dental health benefits: Dry food encourages dogs to chew their food, which aids in preventing tartar buildup and secondary periodontal disease.
Convenience: Compared to wet food, dry diets are much easier to pre-portion, and they wont spoil if left out all day. This can be beneficial for dogs that are grazers.
Financially feasible: Depending on the brand of food, dry diets may be less expensive to purchase and store long-term.
Food enrichment: Kibble is easier to integrate into food puzzles and slow feeders that may improve a dogs quality of life through cognitive stimulation.
What Dry Dog Food Do Veterinarians Recommend?
The most commonly recommended dry dog food brands, by veterinarians, are the same as for wet food: Royal Canin, Science Diet, and Purina Pro Plan. Here are a few dry dog food options for puppy, adult, and senior life stages:
Guide to Mixing Wet and Dry Dog Food
Mixing wet and dry dog food is another option that may provide the best of both worlds. However, it is very important to ensure you are still providing the properdaily feeding amountto prevent overfeeding.
The best way to do this is to have your local vet calculate your furry friends daily calorie requirements for maintenance. Then you can calculate how much dry and wet food your dog should have each day to reach that number of caloriesand dont forget to factor in any calories from treats.
Featured image: iStock.com/NickyLloyd
WRITTEN BY
Heather Hoffmann, DVMVeterinarian
Dr. Heather Hoffmann is a 2018 graduate from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a certificate in...
How to Properly Mix Wet & Dry Pet Foods
Using wet pet foods to supplement or 'top dress' dry kibble is popular practice. In fact, research shows that many pets that eat a therapeutic dry foods are also eating awet foods from a supermarket. If you are feeding your pet a therapeutic food, it's important that you not mix it with more wellness-based types of foods.
Therefore, it is NOT recommended to mix Hill's with other foods. Mixing with wet cat or dog foods other than Hill's may:
- dilute the precise balance of Hill's nutrition
- cause undesired weight gain
- expose your cat or dog to higher levels of certain minerals
Hill's offers a wide range of products with no excess salt, clinically proven antioxidants and over 50 vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals. This is the ultimate in precisely balanced nutrition, formulated to enhance your cat's health and longevity. Additionally, it is not recommended to mix therapeuticfoods with foods from the pet store or supermarket because it may decrease the impact the therapeuticfood has on your pet.
If you wish to offer your pet a more varied diet, talk to your vet about complementing your their dry food with Hill's Science Diet or Prescription Diet wet products. Both are packaged in either cans or pouches and are the only wet food solutions to effectively complement Hill's dry food.
Click here to find your local vet and to see the full range of Hill's products, go to our product selector.
Wet Cat Food vs. Dry Cat Food: Which Is Better?
A common question that veterinarians get asked is whether cats should eat canned or dry food.
The good news is that most commercial cat foods provide an excellent source of nutrition, whether its dry cat food or wet cat food. But finding the best food for your cat will depend on several factors, including:
Whether to feed dry, canned, or a mixture of both is a decision that you and your veterinarian can make together to provide the best health for your cat. Heres some insight on wet vs. dry cat food.
What Are the Main Differences Between Wet Cat Food and Dry Cat Food?
Here are a few big differences between wet cat food and dry cat food.
Moisture Levels
The main difference between dry and canned cat food is the amount of water that the food contains.
Dry cat food contains approximately 10% of water, and the other 90% consists of dry matter such as carbohydrates, fats and vitamins. Canned food contains much more waterapproximately 70%compared to dry matter.
This can be important to consider when choosing which to feed if your cat has certain health conditions that may benefit from more water intake.
Manufacturing Process
Given the higher moisture content in canned foods, these foods are typically made with fresh or frozen meats in combination with a protein source that comes from grains. The meats are blended with water, fats, and vitamins and placed in a can, where a heating process ensures that foodborne pathogens are destroyed.
Dry food is made by combining and then cooking meats, vitamins, minerals, and fats at a high temperature and pressure, which makes the starches more digestible. Fat may then be sprayed on the food to ensure that its palatable.
Nutrients
Dry cat food typically contains more carbohydrates than canned food. The protein and fat in canned vs. dry can vary based on the type of diet. Certain formulations of dry cat food may also contain probiotics.
Should I Feed My Cat Dry or Wet Cat Food? Or Both?
Whether to feed your cat dry food, canned food, or a mixture of both depends on several factors. Here are some benefits and drawbacks of both types of food.
Canned Cat Food Benefits
The largest benefit of feeding a canned diet is the higher water content. Cats with certain health conditions that require a higher-than-normal water intake, such as kidney disease, diabetes, or lower urinary tract disease, may benefit from the additional water in these diets.
Canned food is also highly palatable, and some cats will eat a canned diet over a dry diet, particularly if they are picky eaters.
Canned Cat Food Drawbacks
Canned food is often more expensive than dry food, so this may play a role in your decision.
Once opened, canned food has a shelf-life of 24 hours and must be stored in the refrigerator. If your cat does not finish their wet food, it should be properly stored in the refrigerator or discarded. Leaving canned food out for longer than a few hours can run the risk of contamination and cause gastrointestinal upset.
Dry Cat Food Benefits
Dry cat food is less expensive than canned food, so people who are on a strict budget or those that feed community cats may choose this option.
Dry food also does not have to be stored in the refrigerator and can be left out much longer than can food. This is a good option if you free-feed your cats, but any portion not eaten by the end of the day should be discarded.
You can also use dry cat food in automatic feeders or in puzzle feeder toys.
Dry Cat Food Drawbacks
Studies have shown a correlation between obesity and feeding dry cat food. This could be because a lot of cats that eat dry food are often free-fed, and owners do not realize how much their cats are actually eating in a day.
It can also cause the opposite problem because its hard to notice that your cat is not eating when they are free-fed. The amount your cat eats in a day should be monitored or measured out for both reasons.
Older cats with dental disease or those who have had some of their teeth removed may also have a harder time chewing dry food.
Feeding Both Canned and Dry Cat Food
To balance the benefits and drawbacks of both options, you may choose to feed a combination of both. This may be particularly useful with cats who require a higher water intake but enjoy eating dry better than canned.
By either mixing them together or giving canned at one feeding time and dry at the other, you may be able to get the benefits of both diets.
If you are looking to mix wet cat food and dry cat food, talk with your veterinarian to find the best balance. Your veterinarian can help you calculate how much your cat should be eating and how to portion out the two food options.
Every cat is different, and the amount you feed a day will depend on the age of your cat, your cats current body condition, and the presence of any underlying diseases.
What Wet and Dry Cat Food Do Veterinarians Recommend?
Regardless of whether you choose to feed a dry or canned cat food, it is important to feed a well-balanced, commercial diet to ensure that your cat gets the vitamins and minerals they need.
Reputable brands such as Science Diet and Royal Canin have been quality-controlled and specially formulated to meet a cats nutritional requirements. Your veterinarian can give you more specific recommendations based on your cats health history.
Avoid feeding a home-cooked or homemade diet unless it is specially formulated by a veterinarian who is specialized in making these diets. If you dont have help from a qualified vet, these diets can be deficient in vitamins and minerals such as taurine, which can cause heart disease in cats.
Involving your veterinarian in your decision of what to feed your cat can be very helpful in ensuring they get the most appropriate nutrition.
Here are some other things to consider.
AAFCO Approval
Basic minimum nutritional requirements for cats have been established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). This is important because all pet foods that carry an AAFCO statement or AAFCO-approved nutritional guarantee are considered to be nutritionally complete and well-balanced diets for your cat.
Ingredient List
Its important to read the label on the back of the package to ensure that the main ingredients, which will be listed first, consist of meat and meat by-products. This is because cats are carnivores and require a high-protein diet that supplies the appropriate amount of essential amino acids and fatty acids.
Your Cats Particular Health Needs
The best cat food for your cat will be unique to their lifestyle and nutritional needs.
For example, if your kitten or cat is of normal weight and healthy, then a kitten or adult maintenance diet should be sufficient. If your cat is overweight, it may be best to look for a low-fat diet.
If your cat has a health condition, your veterinarian may prescribe a specific diet formulated for that disease. For example, kidney diets are recommended in most cats who develop kidney disease, or a urinary diet may be more appropriate in cats who have lower urinary tract disease.
Your Cats Preferences
At the end of the day, you may not have a choice in what type of diet you feed your cat. Some cats can be very picky and only eat dry or only eat wet food.
Featured image: iStock.com/Nils Jacobi
WRITTEN BY
Cathy Meeks, MS, DVM, DACVIMVeterinarian
Dr. Cathy Meeks started her veterinary career as a veterinary technician while getting her Master's degree in Veterinary Medicine, Forensic...
