Is wet food more nutritious than dry cat food?

I wouldn't say it's more nutritious. There are some advantages to it. Wet food has a higher moisture content. It is also often higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates, which is more similar in makeup to small rodents and other things cats might eat in a more natural environment. I think that many kitties can maintain weight better on wet food diets, and they also get higher moisture and therefore stay better hydrated. But in terms of just baseline nutrition, a cat should be able to maintain a dry food diet if that's what is best for your lifestyle or your cat's lifestyle.

Nope, it's not more nutritious. Sometimes we recommend it for different reasons, like adding some water or moisture to the diet, but it can develop more plaque and tartar on their teeth faster than dry food. So I like to recommend at least a combination of both, if not just straight dry food.

This is a controversial area right now. Many people think that canned food diets are better for cats. And the reason is that we do lose many older cats to renal disease or kidney disease. And cats are desert-adapted animals. They are formulated to have very efficient kidneys. And also, they were evolved basically to get their water from their food. Small rodents are what cats evolved to eat. And so canned food diets may be more appropriate for fulfilling that water requirement that cats don't get through a dry food diet. I think it's possible to have cats live a long, healthy life on dry food. However, in the last decade, we've been leaning towards cats at least having some of their calories come from a canned food diet. And part of that reason is that a lot of chronic diseases older cats develop require us to take them off of dry food and feed a canned-only diet.

So there are people out there saying, "Well, why don't we just do that from the get-go?" And that's a complex argument. So again, I think it's possible to have a healthy cat on dry food. I agree with the idea that at least part of their food should come from canned food so that they get more water and moisture.

Wet food isn't necessarily more nutritious. It contains 75% water, and cats are notoriously not big drinkers. They tend to drink less water than dogs. Consequently, they sometimes walk around a little bit dehydrated. So the wet food gives them extra water that they could use. It also gives them more enrichment as it resembles their natural diet because of the little chunks. Sometimes your cat will growl while eating the canned food, so I do think it’s more enriching. It adds to their fluid balance, which helps them with other diseases later on.

I hate to use the word nutritious, but I will make this one comment where there's a significant difference between cat canned food, or wet, food and dry food. That involved the protein content as opposed to the carbohydrate content. As I just mentioned a few moments ago, cats have a very high need and demand for protein. Unfortunately, dry cat foods are too high in carbohydrates and too low in protein. We've known this for some years. That's why the recommendation is that at least half of cats' diets should consist of wet food because of the higher protein content. We know that dry kibble can contribute to obesity and cats because they're just getting too many carbohydrates and not enough protein.

Wet food is not necessarily more or less nutritious than dry cat food; they just offer different nutrition. Canned food has a high amount of water content, but it can also be highly nutritious for your cat. Oftentimes, a canned-only diet is recommended for various medical issues.