Benefits of Wet Food Formulas for Cats

There's a wide variety of cat food formats available which offer your cat a proper nutrition.

Unlike common cat food, wet food for cats contains much more water. Therefore, it contributes – to a greater extent – to the cat’s hydration. It usually comes in cans, although it’s also possible to find other formats such as pates, jellies, meat in sauce, mousse, etc.

When you visit the pet store thinking of purchasing some wet food, you’ll notice there are multiple brands available. However, if you haven’t done your homework, it can be difficult to decide which one is the most suitable for your pet.

Just as you need to know which kind of dry food to get for your cat, you also need to know which wet food to get. Therefore, learning about the aspects and benefits of this kind of food is important. In this way, we’ll make sure to provide our cat with the best kind of formula to suit their needs.

Benefits of wet food for cats

Among the benefits of regularly providing this kind of food for cats, we can mention the following:

1. Contributes to hydration

Cats descend from the African wild cat, a native from desert climates. In this type of climate, water is a limited resource. For this reason, cats are used to drinking little water.

Wet food provides them with a good alternative to consume the necessary daily amount of water in addition to food.

Nevertheless, excessive water consumption leads to excess urination and can be linked to various diseases, such as kidney problems and even hyperthyroidism.

Therefore, if you see that your cat is drinking too much water, this may be an indication that it has health problems.

2. Provides satiety

Scientists have conducted research comparing the amounts of food consumed by cats that are fed dry food versus wet food. The main idea behind this was to demonstrate whether wet food actually had a more satiating effect than dry food.

The results concluded that cats on wet food ingested fewer calories than those who were exclusively fed dry food. Therefore, wet food does have a satiating effect, as these cats ingested up to 25% fewer calories.

Wet cat food can contain more than 60% moisture compared to dry food.

3. Not only does it moisturize, it also nourishes

Wet food and high-quality dry food (or feed) are nutrient-rich formulas. In addition, both types of food have been adapted to the characteristics of each cat.

In this way, we can find different pates or feeds such as organic ones or those that are rich in protein. We can also opt for those that help maintain the cat’s weight or those that help prevent and avoid kidney or urinary problems.

4. Helps prevent overweight

Cats usually tend to gain a lot of weight after they’re sterilized. In addition, with wet food, you can control the amount your cat consumes better. Therefore, by controlling these amounts you can help your cat maintain a healthy weight and avoid health problems such as cat obesity.

After neutering or sterilizing a cat, it will stop producing sex hormones. The lack of these hormones will cause an uninhibited appetite and will further decrease the cat’s energy needs. Therefore, wet food is beneficial for cats that have been sterilized as it helps them maintain a stable weight.

There are different types of formulas with different flavors that allow for variety. As a result, your cat won’t grow tired of it and will have the best kind of food possible as well.

5. Helps maintain good gastrointestinal health

Considering the different diseases that can affect the animal at a digestive level, wet food intake can be positive when it comes to taking care of gastrointestinal health. By consuming a higher percentage of water with wet cat food, it’s possible to reduce urinary problems.

This is because producing urine that’s more diluted reduces the cat’s risk of suffering urolithiasis. In addition, the cat will naturally need to urinate more frequently so the possible formation of kidney stones will be reduced.

Experts also conducted a study comparing the dental health of cats that ate wet food versus dry food. Interestingly, the study showed hardly any differences between the two groups. However, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take into account that not all cat food formats favor their dental health.

Wet cat food can bring benefits, but we should keep in mind that this should always be supplemented by good dry food, daily exercise, and other factors.

Although wet cat food is highly beneficial, you shouldn’t feed your pet only this kind of food. The problem of doing this is that it can cause disorders in their body. As a result, it can cause an increase in the frequency of urination and, consequently, kidney and urinary pathologies.

When a cat is fed dry food, they ingest less water. Therefore, it’s important to make sure that they have enough water available to them for drinking.

In short, a well-hydrated cat is less prone to kidney problems and urinary disorders than a cat that barely consumes the amount of daily water needed.

Important note

Everything in this article is indicative. If we want to change the cat’s diet, it’s always best to consult with the veterinarian. Only this professional doctor will be able to recommend the kind of diet that suits the particular characteristics of your dear pet.