Wetting kibble question

Jennifer Szucs

I was curious this may be a stupid question but anyways here goes. My kitten sasha is starting to transition her to just kibble. Well she will always get canned but she has been eating a can a day!!! Shes a pig and thats to expensive. But the only way she eats kibble right now is if I wet it. To the point where it expands then I mush it a little. She actually prefers kibble now only that way. I know eventually she will eat kibble normally but wetting kibble this way does it take some nutritional value away from it?

Chrysee Hinshaw

It is dangerous as wetting kibble causes a ton of surface bacteria to grow in a very short amount of time.

Tina B

Although the cooking process kills bacteria in the ingredients, the final product can pick up more bacteria during the subsequent drying, coating, and packaging process. Some experts warn that getting dry food wet can allow the bacteria on the surface to multiply and make pets sick. Do not mix dry food with water, milk, canned food, or other liquids. If you are eating canned only that is great news, you do not need to feed kibble. What kind of wet food are you feeding? and what size can?

Karen Lee

From Catinfo.org: "Speaking of texture, a common question is "can I just soak the dry food in water?" I hedge more than just a bit at this question. Dry food has a high bacterial content. Mold is also often found in dry food. There have been many deaths of dogs and cats secondary to eating mold mycotoxins, vomitoxins and aflatoxins which often contaminate the grains found in dry food. If you want to try the trick of wetting down the dry food to alter the texture, please leave it out for only 20-30 minutes then discard it. Bacteria and mold thrive in moisture" Yucky :-/ Don't add water or other liquids to dry food. Canned food is much better for your overall health than dry food. For one, it is high inmoisture which we need. Dry food has practically no moisture in it which leaves us dehydrated and drinking from a water bowl isn't enough.

Jennifer Szucs

Not everybody can afford to buy canned food to feed 3 cats every day. Our adult cats got canned once a day. That was to costly so its once every other day and its Natural Balance canned. Its all we can afford that our store has that is still quality. So the kitten is slowly being transfered to a kibble based diet like the others then she will still get canned as well just not as often. I looked at cheaper canned food but I am not comfortable with their ingredients. You do what you can to make it by. Our animals are very spoiled. but with the economy the way it is we arent even getting by. I shouldnt have even taken Sasha in but if I left her she would have died for sure so I am keeping her. Right now I think the kibble is probably just to hard yet for her. She has her bigger k9 teeth and her smaller teeth are just starting to come in. Thats why I think she has more trouble with the kibble when its not softer. I was just curious. I here that its bad from some and then others said if you feed kibble its better for them wet. So I wanted to know which is it lol? It just seemed more dependant on who you talked to. Some people with dogs say its better to wet it so it doesnt expand in their tummies yada yada. So I didnt know what to believe. I figured wetting it only for short transition period would be fine.

Jennifer Szucs

Sorry I have another question thanks for replies by the way. Where does the bacteria come from?? It cant be from the kibble itself but how could it come from city water??? Bacteria I wouldnt think could stand a chance. I was just curious is all. All the stuff they put in the water you know lol. So that then only leaves the kibble??

Sherry Stone

It is in the kibbles, but I guess you could say it's in a "dormant" form. Like that, the stomach acids are more than strong enough to kill it. When it sits for any length of time though, it can become active again, and this is what causes the problems. If she is really young, and it sounds like she is, is there any way to keep her on canned for just a little while longer? If she's transitioned too young, she could have some problems with constipation from dehydration, and that could cause a prolapse. Even the cheaper canned is better for them healthwise than kibbles, unless you are feeding a real top quality, grain-free kibble.

Tina B

Oliver here is a list of food that is cheaper than the higher quality foods, but there is nothing wrong with them, please note these are the only flavours though that are recommended as they do not have gluten in them,they are only the canned foods. I cant really recommend dry food. check ingredients of these foods and you will see, this wet is better than any dry anyday:) Whiskas Savory Ground pate - Chicken dinner, Mealtime, Bits 0 beef, Turkey and Giblets,( not Whiskas in gravy) The savory ground is vegetable and grain free. 9 Lives - Chicken dinner, Chicken and Tuna dinner, Turkey dinner, Chicken & Seafood dinner, Liver &Bacon Dinner, Prime grill with Beef. Friskies- Supreme Supper, mixed grill, Country style dinner, Poultry platter, Turkey and Giblets dinner. Pro Plan- Adult Chicken& liver entree, adult Turkey & Giblets entree. Fancy Feast Gourmet Feast - Gourmet Chicken feast, Gourmet Turkey &giblets feast, Tender Beef feast, Tender beef & Liver feast, Savory Salmon feast, Tender Chicken & liver feast, Beef & Chicken feast, Chopped Grill Feast.

Jennifer Szucs

I dont like to feed anything with by products in it. Just dont feel comfortable with it. I looked at the ingredient list of all of them. 9 Lives is horrid. I used to feed Mookie my cat that all the time. She needed to be on canned all her life. She got ran over long story short wet for life. Anyways I was like 6 or 7 so my mom got 9 lives for her. This was like ions ago so could have changed since. She got really sick and was unsavable she died. It was linked to all the crappy ingredients in the food. I looked at fancy feast and they are full of by products. Not even chicken by but some unknown meat by products. Egg product so not even an actual plain egg. Has artificial flavour. Salt even. Corn starch, wheat gluten not really even anything added to make their coat nice either. Like salmon oil or what have you. Im picky when it comes to what I eat and what my animals eat. If I dont feel comfortable with it I cant feed it. NB is the lowest quality I feel comfy with feeding. I went from Go natural to NB that took some time to do because it was down grading so much but Go natural is not affordable right now. I am feeding her canned untill she can eat the kibble on her own. I will offer her some if she eats it yay if not thats fine to. Vet said she will eat it when shes ready. That held true for the canned so Im sure it will for the kibble. As long as shes eating Im happy anyways. Shes alot better still on some meds will be till end of december but they are working and she is nuts like a regular mischieve kitten. So Im happy. My animals get everything I get nothing lol but they are my kids and Im happy if they are. Thanks again. I never knew that about wetting kibble. Very interesting and very good to know.=;

Tina B

Oliver was wondering if you would like to read this? It is one of many articles on this subject. http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html

Jennifer Szucs

Ive read quite a few articles like this one actually. I always believed raw is the best way to go. I looked into feeding my dogs and cats raw then my hubby lost his job. So ya that wasnt going to work. He is working now but not even making half what he did so still wont work. Raw is expensive not to mention Im not sure I could stomach it lol. I dont much like meat as it is. Then home cooked food also a good way to go but also very costly. Grain free kibble or canned is the next best thing I agree. Everyone was fed grain free. They did really well on this type of diet. But costs need to be cut. Even some more affordable canned food has grain in it though. NB is grainier then I like but its not as grainy as some out there not by far. Theres more meat content in it then the rice which is a good thing. Sure canned is best if you cant feed raw or home cooked. I know that. But I have owned and known lots of cats on a kibble base diet. Crappy kibble at that and are 15 still alive and have not had one health problem. I owned a cat strickly outdoor cat lived to be 17. Teeth great! No health problems, always a healthy weight. Died of basically old age. I think she got whiskas kibble, table scraps plus I know she caught alot of prey. Mice, rabbits and probably other animals lol. She was a awesome farm cat. Anyways point is you do what you can. Everyone in this houshold looks awesome not overweight. Although since feeding canned Stella has gained some extra weight that we are now working on. When she was on strickly kibble she never had a weight problem. Weird huh? I guess all animals are unique in what they do best on as well. Same as people. When we are doing better financially the animals will get their regular grain free diet again maybe look at raw again who knows. But their coats are still soft and shiny, they are all very energetic and crazy. You do what you can. I dont look down on people that can only afford no name cat or dog food kibble. I know they love their pets with all their hearts and do the best with what they have. No presents this year but all my babies, me and my hubby have our health thats a present all in itself. Thanks for the article though thats one I hadnt read yet. Although I read one very similar to it.

Tara W

I am spending so much less on my pets feeding raw than I ever did feeding canned. I'm averaging about $0.20 per meal. Cats thrive on the meat cuts that are less desirable to humans. Like fatty, tough cuts, small bones, cartilage, etc. I feed tongue, lips, tail, kidney, heart, etc., etc. Most of their meat is so cheap (or even free) that I have plenty of money to spend on more costly meats. Like lamb, rabbit, etc. You don't need to be limited to chicken breasts and top sirloin. There is a whole world of "variety meats" that are cheap and your cat will lovvvvvvvvve.

Jennifer Szucs

Hey guys here I am. Mommy finally made my own page!!! Seriously that cheap for raw!!! Where do you get all your meat from. When I got more serious about the whole raw thing I looked into the Natures Variety the pre made stuff. Raw scares me though only because if your arent 100% sure what you are doing or do something wrong you could have a really sick pet on your hands even resulting to death. Thats the only thing that scares the crap out of me about raw. Thats why I checked the pre made stuff. Thats not as cheap though. Not here anyways. Were you scared when you first started raw feeding?

Sherry Stone

The main thing to keep in mind about raw is 80%meats(heart, tongue, fat, etc.) 10% bone(powdered eggshell works for a while), 5% liver, 5% other organs(lungs, etc). Asian markets are great for this. And if you can prepare dinner safely, you can prep raw feedings safely:D

Janna Shepherd

Sorry to hijack your thread, but I had a question. "Speaking of texture, a common question is "can I just soak the dry food in water?" I hedge more than just a bit at this question. Dry food has a high bacterial content. Mold is also often found in dry food. There have been many deaths of dogs and cats secondary to eating mold mycotoxins, vomitoxins and aflatoxins which often contaminate the grains found in dry food. If you want to try the trick of wetting down the dry food to alter the texture, please leave it out for only 20-30 minutes then discard it. Bacteria and mold thrive in moisture" [bold and italic emphasis is mine] Would this still be true of grain-free food?

Tina B

Definately yes to your question, still even if there is no grain it will still happen.

Janna Shepherd

Thanks for clarifying!