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While efforts are made to answer all questions as quickly as possible, if an immediate answer is required or if your pet is in need of urgent or emergency care, contact your pet's veterinarian immediately.
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Canned foods more closely match a cat's natural diet than dry foods. Cats are carnivores and should eat primarily meat. They have specific requirements that come only from meat and are essential for vital organ health. Cats have no actual requirement for carbohydrates and in fact, feeding high carbohydrate foods has been linked to digestive problems and the development of obesity and feline diabetes.
Most dry foods are nutritionally inferior for cats because they have:
Why do cats love dry food if it isn't good for them?
Why do kids like potato chips and candy bars? They taste great but it certainly doesn't mean these foods provide the best nutrition. Dry kibble tends to be very appealing to cats because of the animal digest sprayed on its surface as a flavor enhancer. Cats also establish very strong texture preferences and once a cat is accustomed to the crunchy texture of dry food, it can be difficult to convince them a soft squishy food is a better choice.
Tips on transitioning your cat from dry to canned food
First–try putting some canned cat food in your cat's bowl. If they love it, great! In this case, gradually decrease the amount of dry food and increase the amount of canned food fed over one week until your cat is fully switched to canned food.
However, cats can be very stubborn when their food preferences have been set. Cats are labeled as "finicky" or "picky" for a reason! So what if your cat is unwilling to eat canned food? First, take a deep breath and realize that they will make the change but it can take weeks or months to convince them! A few tips:
It often takes several weeks for a cat's system to adapt to the proper digestion of a new food...especially one so different from dry kibble. Some soft stool, diarrhea and even vomiting may occur and these are not reasons to abandon the canned food effort and go back to dry. Try experimenting with different canned foods and consider slowing the transition down and do it over a period of several weeks. You will likely also note some weight loss during the transition from dry to canned food. As many cats start overweight, this is actually a good thing! However, cats shouldn't lose weight too fast and you should ask your veterinarian if you have concerns.