Cat food Wet or Dry Diet?

We have a new little kitten named Zelda taking over our lives. When I say little I mean little, her mom and day are both mix breeds but mixed with some kind of mini cat. Very small and our little bundle of fluff is 9 weeks now but still is barely a handful... but eats like a trooper.

So new to the world of kittens (only ever had rescue older cats set in their eating ways) and not sure about the only wet diet. I have heard from some that the dry food teeth cleaning idea is just a myth but at the same time other vet friends have said that they need dry for clean teeth. But then again I have heard that wet provides cats with more of the good stuff they need, so clueless on this one.

Also what brands do you live by? We have been going with Whisks Kitten pouches simply because its been easy to find in the shops. I know if I can find a proper pet shop there is probably lovely organic natural stuff out there but hard to find when now shops are open by the time you get home, but open to recommendations to kick me in the right direction.

I didn't vote on this because none of the options describe our cat's diet really.  Whether it's canned or pouch doesn't matter (IMO), but the contents of the food.  I think you can get quality food for cats without buying organic.  They just need high meat, low starch, low ash.

Right now I feed our cat mostly wet food with about a quarter to a third of a cup of dry a day.

You are going to get a billion different answers for this, and may want to ask your vet to get the "best" answer.  When I worked at an animal shelter, our vet said that cats should always have some kind of real meat in their diet and that canned/pouched "wet" cat food should always be a part of their diet.  The kittens (under 6 months)  in the shelter were always fed wet KITTEN food (not adult cat food) once in the morning and once in the evening and given dry food to free-feed on.  There are some people who will tell you that animals should never be allowed to free-feed, but this is what we always did and what I have always done with cats and kittens of my own.  What you have heard about the benefits of both foods is absolutely correct - dry food is good for teeth, wet food is good for nutrients, so I imagine that most vets will agree with both is best.   

When looking for any kind of pet food, read the lable carefully - you want to find a food that lists some kind of meat (and not a meat by-product) as its first ingredient.  Many will have rice or wheat as number one and, IMO, you should steer clear of those. You will most likely noticed that the ones with meat as first ingredient will be more expensive, but generally they are more filling, offer more nutrients and your animal will actually eat less of it (and have less waste!)  My dog eats a homemade diet (spoiled brat!), but when I thought she might eat some regular dog food, I decided on Orijen, but that does fall under the brands you wont be able to find in the grocery store.  They do make a dry kitten food which is 75% meat and it isnt super expensive.  I've never looked for wet food brands here, so I cant help with those, but stick to the same rules - meat as first ingredient and then just go with what he/she seems to like.

thanks for such detailed comments. I went through a horrible cancer experience with a rescue cat who really didn't handle a dry food lifestyle. I love to keep them on a wet diet (high meat) but worry about their teeth.. I guess I could always get a mini kitty toothbrush or some dental snacks.

I love to keep them on a wet diet (high meat) but worry about their teeth.. I guess I could always get a mini kitty toothbrush or some dental snacks.

And even then, there's definitely a luck of the draw element.  Like people, some cats have crappy teeth.  One of our cats has wonderful teeth -- the other has a disaster mouth.  It's a bummer -- an expensive one!

I don't have cats now but I will weigh in on this because I had a diabetic cat for many years (he's still living in the states - he must have been living with diabetes for well over 10  years) and from taking care of him I have learned that dry food is very bad for cats.

Dry food contains cereal, which gives it its consistency. and cats are obligate carnivores - they can only digest meat.  (They eat fiber, such as grass, for roughage but they don't get nutritional value out of it.)

Their intestinal tract is too small for them to have the bacteria that is  needed to digest plants.

They are able to break down protein to get glucose for energy.  

Feeding them carbs, such as in dry food, is very bad for them and can lead to medical problems.

(You should brush your cat's teeth regularly and get him regular dental cleanings if  he's physically up to it. That should take care of dental issues.)

All our cats loved Whiskas (4 out of 4 cats). But Maxwell, being a boy, had a run-in with the urine crystals thing so is now on Hills C/D diet, which I get from the vet. At first they had only one "flavour" which I think depressed him but now he has a choice of chicken or fish plus the dried kibbles. His not allowed his beloved spaghetti sauce or yogurt any more  This shouldn't be an issue for you, assuming Zelda is a little girl!

All our cats loved Whiskas (4 out of 4 cats). But Maxwell, being a boy, had a run-in with the urine crystals thing so is now on Hills C/D diet, which I get from the vet. At first they had only one "flavour" which I think depressed him but now he has a choice of chicken or fish plus the dried kibbles. His not allowed his beloved spaghetti sauce or yogurt any more  This shouldn't be an issue for you, assuming Zelda is a little girl!

It still is a possibility - my female dog had a horrible problem with urine crystals.

As far as toothbrushes go, if you start them very young, its quite easy to get them used to having their teeth brushed.  In the States, we used CET products (toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental cleaning treats).  It looks like it is also available on Amazon.co.uk. 

I want a cat to cuddle now! 

2 pouches of wet food a day (1 when I get up and the other when I get home from work) with dry food (Go Cat) as a suplement to graze on.
Usually she has Felix, but ok with Whiskas and she loves the Felix "as good as it looks". She does seem to get bored of a brand though and not eat as much (there's usually a 1/4 of the food left anyway), but what she gets between the Felix and Whiskas largely depends on if there are any on offer at the supermarket!

We are a dry cat food only house, all cats I have ever had have been on a dry food diet. Wet food has always given any cats I have owned the worst smelling and most disgusting poos. Our cats have always been happy and healthy!!!

My cats get dry food for grazing and a 'schplork' of tuna in the evening (about the size of a 50p piece). 

I was told by a vet that cat food is better than tuna because it's formulated to provide vits and minerals, but mine turn their noses up at them so we stick with tune fish. 

Oops.  All that about teeth and I didn't say what we feed.  We do a combo of wet and dry -- Hills Prescription D/D.  Our two cats get one can of wet food and 50g of dry food daily.   

My cats are greedy and always hungry, so I can't free feed them and have to do four meals a day. We feed 50% dry (Royal Canin - whatever the dental kind is called!) and 50% wet (Nature's Menu, Applause, Whiskas Supermeat, or Felix pouches, usually).  I also use Plaque Off in one of their wet food meals.  One of them has teeth problems and the dry food has helped somewhat, but the other has digestive problems and seems to be better on wet food, so a 50/50 wet/dry balance was the best solution for both cats (they won't eat separately and always eat each other's food so we have to feed them the same thing).  Ideally, I would feed them raw food, but I don't have the freezer space to accommodate it!  Really, the quality of the food is more important than the format, but wet is generally preferable to dry.

I wouldn't choose a dry food which didn't have meat as its primary ingredient/source of protein, but cats can process protein from other sources to a lesser extent, so "wheat" or "corn" on an ingredients label doesn't always mean carbohydrates. 

This blog is pretty good for peer-reviewed studies on feline nutrition: http://felinenutritionalnotes.blogspot.com/

Our kitties get 100% dry food as well.  They are on the most expensive stuff (Innova) and they thrive on it.  Our boy has leukaemia  so we watch his intake very closely.  He gets wet food only if he's not eating anything or if he's constipated (which hasn't been often.. ugh).  Wet food exacerbates his diarrhoea and our female pukes it up. 

We're a fun cat house!

When looking for any kind of pet food, read the lable carefully - you want to find a food that lists some kind of meat (and not a meat by-product) as its first ingredient.  Many will have rice or wheat as number one and, IMO, you should steer clear of those.

Yup. This is the most important thing! Don't buy a catfood that lists some sort of 'filler' as the first ingredient. In my experience, most (but not all) supermarket catfoods do not list meat first.

My cats are greedy and always hungry, so I can't free feed them and have to do four meals a day.

This is us! My cat had a serious weight problem due to his greediness. He's not as fat now but is still greedy, so I can't just let him graze. He gets fed small amounts at 7am, 10:30pm, 5pm and 9:30pm.

He's on all dry food per the vet's recommendation. We use Hill's Prescription brand, which is pricey but very good. And he lost so much weight on it that he became the UK Pet Slimmer of the year in 2007! We won all sorts of prizes - including a free year's supply of food plus a £500 voucher at a pet supply shop!