What is the best wet food to feed your cat?

Veterinary requirements for the composition of a healthy cat food:

Everything you wanted to know about wet cat food

The topic of our article today is wet cat food. Our customers often ask us about this topic and advise us on which foods are best for their furry beauties. We decided to collect in one place the most popular questions on this topic and a review of 10 quality brands of wet food (spiders and canned food), which can be purchased in our store. So,

1. What is the difference between wet food and dry food, and which food is better?

Many pet food manufacturers offer two types of food – wet and dry. They are usually based on the same foods, so there shouldn't be much difference in quality of composition and ingredients. At the same time, dry and wet food of the same brand can be made at different plants and even in different countries.
Dry food is dried ingredients, wet food does not have this operation.

If the cat is not very thirsty, feeding only dry food can cause discomfort and digestive disorders – with wet food this problem will not occur. On the other hand, wet food is much softer, it does not need to be chewed and it can provoke dental problems in cats.

As for the cats' own preferences, tastes vary. Some animals prefer wet food, which has a consistency more like natural, unprocessed meat with a natural flavor. Others love dry food for its rich mixture of flavors of all ingredients.

The advantage of wet food is the multi-step sterilization step that the composition undergoes. In addition, the variety of wet cat foods in flavors and different forms of presentation – from pâté and pieces in jelly to rolls and mincemeat – gives a big head start to dry foods.

Dry feeds are packaged in large quantities, while wet feeds most often contain 1-2 servings. They cannot be stored open for long periods of time and require more complex storage and transportation conditions – obviously feeding wet food alone is significantly more expensive. Many owners combine feeding both types of food – dry and canned.

Ten brands of quality wet food that we have a lot to say about:

Since there are countless different wet foods on the market right now, we'll just focus on the brands we know and love and have a great selection in our store.

Almo Nature

Almo Nature – Italian brand stands out by its rich variety of wet cat food. The variety of canned food, spiders and lamisers is divided by age; there are separate low-calorie line and a line for hair removal. The percentage of meat content is as high as 90% in the Alternative range. The feeds contain only natural meat and fish suitable for human consumption. The meat is cooked in broth or packed in individual sachets and steamed. The recipes include exotic additives like mango or pineapple, interesting fish sets, and meat combinations like tuna, chicken and ham.

2. Animonda

Animonda – is a German brand that specializes in portioned wet food. Selected lines of canned foods, lamisters and spiders are available in the widest range of flavors, including exotic kangaroo, buffalo and ostrich meat. Selected, fresh ingredients are handled very delicately. The brand's varied veterinary line is very popular. Separate lines of flavors go for spayed and neutered cats.

3. Applaws

Applaws – A wide assortment of the brand from Great Britain is represented by a variety of canned foods, lamisters and spiders. The flavor line is represented by the flavors of several types of fish, seafood, meat with seaweed. Special mention can be made of the 3 different flavors in the line for kittens – with chicken, sardines and tuna. Applaws is a quality product that has been around for decades.

4. Barking (Meowing) Heads

Barking (Meowing) Heads – In this German wet food line, meat content reaches 80-85%. Meat is cooked with broth and legumes, adding yams and various vegetables as well as healthy prebiotics. None of the formulas of the Meowing Heads line contain soy, corn, wheat, GMOs, chemical preservatives, dyes, and flavor enhancers, but the manufacturers have enriched their composition with healthy prebiotics. After being updated by the manufacturer, the canned foods changed their packaging and were sold as spiders.

Rating of the top 10 best wet cat food according to KP

Wet food for cats Brooksfield Adult, with chicken, broccoli (pieces in jelly), 85 gr

This German food is ideal for adult cats of all breeds. Its wide range of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients will help to maintain their ideal health. Brooksfield is suitable even for spayed pets, as it is an excellent preventative for obesity and urinary tract diseases.

Chicken meat and by-products are easily digested by the cat's body, broccoli is a unique source of potassium, and also contributes to healthy digestion.

Characteristics:

Pros and cons.

Wet food for cats Night Hunter with lamb, 100 g

"Tasty and healthy" – that's how you can briefly describe this food. With its high content of natural ingredients and healthy additives such as taurine, dried yoghurt and vegetables, Night Hunter is the perfect health support for your furry pet.

What's more, it's great for those of us who are used to all the yummy treats – the appetite-raising cheese sauce will make their mouths water just from the smell of it. This makes Night Hunter suitable for those who want to wean their cats off cheap, flavor-packed food.

Characteristics:

Pros and cons.

Herbax wet cat food with cat food "mint" (pieces in sauce), 100 gr

How to choose a wet food for cats

Every pet store today can offer such a wide variety of food that it's hard to find your way around. But what to choose from this dizzying array to keep your furry pet happy?

First of all, of course, you should pay attention to the composition of the food. Look at what percentage of meat it contains (the higher the better) and check if the food has artificial flavors and preservatives. Yes, it will make the food tastier, but it is dangerous: after such "fast food" the cat will simply not want to dine with something more healthy, but not so enticingly flavorful. What to speak about four-legged pets, if people are not always able to resist harmful but tasty food like chips or hamburgers.

Price, of course, also matters, but even among the inexpensive food can choose the brand, where the meat content will be higher and harmful additives less.

It is also worth to consult with the store staff about the class of food. It is desirable that it is not lower than premium.

Wet food for premium kittens: list of brands and characteristics

Cat foods are produced by different global manufacturers. First, let's focus on premium quality products from trusted brands that many breeders approve of.

1. Royal Canin Mother & Babycat is a canned meat and by-products food with a vitamin-mineral complex. Protein content is 10.5%. Large selection of flavors.
2. Pro Plan Nutri Savour – under this brand there are different pâtés and pieces of jelly with chicken, beef and turkey meat. The concentration of animal protein is 12.5%. Contains vitamins, trace elements and other useful substances, and encourages healthy growth and digestion.
3. Brit Premium – appetizing wet food in pouches with meat, fish and by-products.
4. ProBalance is a wet formula from the Russian manufacturer. Food for kittens of this brand is available in pouches with the taste of veal and rabbit, 4%. The composition of natural ingredients, vitamins, taurine, medicinal herbs.
5. "Nasha brand" is a meat and vegetable assortment produced in Russia. It contains meat and animal products, natural fiber, vegetables, probiotics and mineral supplements.

This is a fairly good product for the nutrition of kittens of the first year of life, which does not contain harmful additives, the cost of which is quite affordable for every buyer.

Canned food for superpremium kittens: rating

Canned food for kittens super-premium class is made from high quality raw materials. It is a nutritious and full-fed product that contains all the necessary vitamins and minerals for the body of small pets.

1. 1ST CHOICE SKIN & COAT TUNA PREMIUM WITH CHICKEN is a premium formula with a high content of tuna and chicken meat. Suitable for kittens and adult cats. Ensures healthy skin and a beautiful coat.
2. CLAN DE FILE – veal jelly with echinacea and olive oil. A grain-free cat food that is an excellent allergy preventative. The appetizing composition will please even the most fastidious animals.
3. GRANDORF contains exclusively natural tuna meat 50% and salmon fillet 25%. Hypoallergenic grain-free formula for kittens and adults.
4. PRIM – chicken pate with vitamins and taurine, ideal for feeding the first year of life.
5. SCHESIR KITTEN – meat fillet of chicken in a soft natural jelly with aloe vera. Improves digestion and stimulates the immune system.

The rating of the best wet diets for kittens also includes products of the brand Clan Classic, Clan DeFile, Clan Vet, Prime, Nutri Plan, Inaba.

Wet or dry food – what to choose to feed your cat

Owners often don't know whether to choose dry or wet food. An optimal diet should provide the right nutrients for the cat and be palatable.

With the right approach, it should also help control any potential health problems. Wet cat food is a great way to meet some of these needs, while dry cat food has other benefits. Wet food helps increase water intake, and dry food supports the cat's dental health. The aroma of wet food is more appealing to a finicky pet, and dry food doesn't spoil in the bowl during the day. Since wet and dry food provide different benefits, it is worth considering mixed feeding (in different bowls).

Benefits of dry cat food

One of the main benefits of dry cat food is the convenience of storing and feeding it. It can stay in the bowl all day and not go bad. This allows the cat to eat often and a little at a time – this is the optimal feeding regimen. Dry food with the right formulation also helps maintain a cat's dental health by reducing tartar buildup through mechanical and chemical cleaning.

Many cats do not have enough water to drink, and they replenish their water supply with food. The main advantage of wet food is that it provides the cat with extra moisture, not only to maintain proper fluid levels, but also to reduce the likelihood of health problems (particularly kidney and urinary tract disease).

Wet food also has the added benefit of having a stronger smell, which is important for cats because they rely more on their sense of smell than their sense of taste. Cats tend to have a much stronger sense of smell than humans. A human tongue, on the other hand, has about twenty times as many taste buds as a cat's tongue.

KP Top 10 Best Wet Foods for Kittens

Wet food for kittens Mnyam's Marengo, with chicken, with wild berries, 85 g

For high-grade development fluffy kids need not only meat, but also vitamin-rich vegetable food. And what can be healthier than berries grown in forests and soaked in the vitality of the earth?

The Mnyam's food for kittens contains vitamin C-rich cranberries and cranberries (the latter are also an excellent prevention of diseases of the urogenital system), and blueberries – a source of lutein, which helps kittens to grow sighted and never have trouble with vision. And fish (salmon) oil provides the growing body with essential omega acids and vitamin D.

Characteristics

Pros and cons

Dried food for kittens Chetverogyi Gourmet grain-free, with lamb, 100 gr

Any cat owner will tell you that their pet is a fussy eater when it comes to food. And even small kittens, barely learning to eat on their own, are already picky about the food offered.

The Meat Assortment is a compromise that satisfies absolutely all tastes, because it contains by-products, poultry and lamb. It's grain-free, so you can mix it with healthy porridge, like buckwheat or wholemeal, which will benefit your growing body.

Characteristics

Pros and cons

Grain free, high percentage of meat for all tastes, easy for the kitten's body to digest, long shelf life

How to choose a food for kittens

So, you have a fluffy baby boy in your house. It is so tiny, touching and defenseless, that you want to give it the best, to protect it from evil and warm it with your warmth. But at the same time there is a question: how to feed a cat baby? You can, of course, give him warm milk, but it will not provide him with everything he needs for the full development of his young body.

Luckily, specialized kitten food can be found at any pet store today. But how to choose the right food?

Of course, first of all, you need to pay attention to the composition, which should be listed on the package. Make sure that the food has a high percentage of meat and no artificial colors, preservatives, and flavor enhancers.

If you have a very young kitten, it is better to choose food in the form of pâté, because his teeth are not adapted to chewing. Older kittens can eat meatballs in jelly or sauce.

If you're not buying it from a trusted store, make sure you check the produce date and expiration date.

And, of course, it is worth determining the taste preferences of your kitten, so that you can take the food with the taste he likes.

Rating of holistic wet food for cats: pros and cons

Holistic – a new generation of cat food, containing in its composition the highest quality selected products. Enriched with vitamin and mineral complexes and other useful components necessary to maintain the excellent health of the pet.

• AATU. Meat range from British brand. 97% of the composition – chicken broth, chicken and quail meat. A natural source of nutrients.
• GO! Wet canned food made in Canada. 70% of the composition – chicken meat.
• Almo Nature. Italian holistic for cats from natural meat and fish. Additional ingredients: shrimp, chicken broth and rice.
• Berkley. German canned product with beef and rabbit meat. Does not contain grains.
• Grandorf. Made in Italy. Natural composition – chicken meat in its own juice. Hypoallergenic, grain-free food with natural preservatives.

Review of canned cat food made in Russia

Due to the recent political events, against which many foreign countries imposed sanctions and stopped supplying their products to the Russian market, domestic breeders are faced with the problem of choosing a suitable cat food.

But this situation should not affect the diet of pets. There are 23 plants in our country, producing veterinary food products for pets. There is a sufficient number of wet food, not inferior in quality to foreign products.

Wet food of excellent quality for domestic cats and cats can always be bought online at the website of the popular Russian pet store "Le'Murrr" at an affordable price. The range has an excellent selection of industrial food from Russian and foreign manufacturers. Branded stores operate in different cities of Russia.

The best Russian cat food

Recently, there have been problems with the supply of imported pet food products to the Russian market. However, this is not a reason to deny your pet quality nutritious food.

Domestic manufacturers offer a wide range of dry and wet cat food of different price categories. Product quality of many brands is not inferior characteristics of foreign counterparts.

• Clan Classic;
• Advantageous;
• ProBalance Kitten 1st Diet;
• Winner;
• "Mnyams;
• Blitz;
• "Night Hunter;
• "Native Foods;
• "Nash Ration;
• ProBalance Gourmet Diet;
• "Zoogurman;
• Nature's Table.

In the specialized online store of pet products "Le'Murrr" you can buy high-quality Russian and imported cat food. The catalog contains items of different price range. There are full-fat, therapeutic and preventive formulas for small kittens, adult, elderly and spayed cats.

What are pouches and how do they differ from canned food?

Pouch in English means "bag" or "bag. Originally, this word was used for any flexible bag made of polymeric materials. Then it became the name of the package, which contains wet food for animals. Pouches quickly became the dominant form of wet food, as they are lighter, take up less space and can hold 2 to 3 pounds of cat food per serving. The standard weight of a spider is 85 grams.

• canned food – pre-packaged tin cans. This format is suitable for owners of large breeds of cats or several cats, because the full-size canned food contains 140 to 400 grams food.
• Tetra Pak (Tetra Pak is a popular packaging for liquid foods such as milk and juices. The good thing about Tetra Pak is that products and packaging are sterilized separately. The most popular food in this category is the Swedish Bozita. The Tetra Pak weighs 190 grams.
• lamister – containers made of aluminum and coated with film, was invented as a lightweight counterpart to the can. The weight of the lamister is 100 g.
• Pot – a round plastic container, sealed with foil on top. Food in such a package can be given to the cat without transferring the contents into a bowl. Available under the brand Applaws, weight – 60 g.

Spiders are made as follows: The necessary components and water are added to the raw material, the mixture is heat-treated, pieces of the desired size are formed.

Canned foods for cats are made from meat products and should consist of 70-80% moisture. That is, it is also a wet type of food, which can be stored without opening for quite a long time, since they have undergone heat treatment during manufacture.

Shelf life

Wet cat food does not lose its taste and does not spoil for several years. This is due to the airtight packaging and heat treatment.

Important! Only the unopened spider has a long shelf life. One spider is designed for one meal, because after opening the bag, harmful bacteria begin to develop in the food.

If a pet cannot eat the food in one sitting, remove it from the bag, put it in a resealable container and refrigerate it until the next feeding. Opened food will quickly get stale, and the cat may refuse to eat the hardened bits.

Important! The maximum storage time for open cat food is no more than one day.

Can I feed only wet food to my cat?

Full-consumption wet food can be fed to the pet on a regular basis without fear that it will be deficient in any nutrients. However, unless the cat has special needs (e.g. oral pain, refusal of food due to illness, incomplete set of teeth, etc.) it is better to combine them with dry food. This type of food has additional benefits because, in addition to "hydrating" with canned foods, dry food acts as a concentrated source of nutrients and energy, helps maintain oral hygiene, and through special combinations of nutrients, can meet the special needs of the pet.

Manufacturers of quality, balanced diets offer a wide variety of canned foods. Let's explore this variety together and answer the question of what wet food to feed your cat. Complete wet food products contain all the vitamins and minerals you need, so they can be good for animals with a variety of health conditions.

⮚ Foods for spayed cats. After surgery, the needs of animals change – they need nutrition with reduced calories, containing nutrients that help prevent urolithiasis. Especially for sterilized pets, ROYAL CANIN® has developed Sterilised diets in two textures: chunks in sauce and chunks in jelly.

⮚ Foods for cats with fastidious appetites. A finicky appetite can lead to inadequate food intake and, as a result, deficiencies in certain nutrients. If your cat has a keen appetite, he or she needs a diet with a macronutrient profile tailored to his or her preferences. ROYAL CANIN® Instinctive is designed especially for such animals and is available in two textures: pieces in sauce and pieces in jelly.

Mixed feed

Mixed feeding is a combination of dry and wet food. They can be combined in one bowl at one meal or used separately at different times of the day.

This approach provides the pet with the benefits of both products. Dry pellets help maintain oral health, while canned food becomes a source of extra water, which helps prevent urolithiasis, cystitis, and diabetes.

It is important to remember that it is better to choose dry and wet food "in pairs", so they belong to the same producer and, preferably, the same range. This will minimize the risk of unwanted reactions, as well as provide the maximum benefit to the animal.

One of the purposes of wet food is to further "moisten" the cat's diet. Cats tend to consume little water, and this can cause many illnesses. However, besides nutrition, there are other ways to encourage your pet to drink more.

✔ Use a drinking fountain. Running water attracts the attention of cats – it is very likely to make them thirsty.
✔ Place several bowls around the house. Use bowls of different materials, diameters and heights. Your pet will probably like one of them.
✔ Keep your pet active. Physical activity, exercise, and play encourage pets to consume more water.

By combining the use of wet products with these methods, you'll get better results. By understanding the species specifics of cats and considering them when choosing food for your pet, you can provide the best care and keep them healthy.

Article author: Alexander Alyasov, veterinarian,
Manager of Scientific Communications ROYAL CANIN®.