Canned Food- Canned food has numerous benefits for cats and should be fed either exclusively or in addition to a small amount of dry food.
Reasons to feed Canned Food:

• Cats are obligate carnivores. This means that their digestive systems are designed to eat diets naturally high in protein and low in carbohydrates. Dry foods tend to be extremely high in carbohydrates.
• Cats descended from desert animals that rely on their food to provide the majority of the water they need, rather than drinking adequate amounts. Because of this, feline kidneys are designed to conserve water and make strongly concentrated urine. Cats who eat dry food get much less water in their food than cats eating a canned diet. Therefore, many cats eating a dry diet spend a good portion of their lives partially dehydrated. This can lead to kidney and bladder issues.
• Most cats offered free-choice dry food tend to overeat. These cats have an increased tendency toward obesity due to the high carbohydrate levels in the dry food. Studies have shown that high carbohydrate dry food diets may lead to insulin resistance in cats, resulting in diabetes.
• Dry diets are not all that helpful in preventing dental disease.
• Most cats, at some point in their lives, will need to be given medication. Many people have difficulty administering pills and find it easier to mix the medicine into the food. It is much easier to mix pills with canned food than dry. A cat who is not normally fed canned food may not accept it and may be more difficult to medicate.

Calorie Content: Most cats are not in the habit of going to aerobics class. This can lead to unwanted weight gain. In addition to encouraging our cats to exercise as much as possible, limiting their calorie intake is helpful in preventing obesity.
Calories: Most adult cats need between 150-250 calories per day.

• Dry Food: Most commercial dry foods contain 350-450 calories per cup, although it varies widely between companies. Thus, the average cat eating a dry diet should be eating approximately 1/3 to ½ cup per day. Check out this website to find the calorie content of your cat’s dry food: Popular Dry Cat Food Calorie Content
• Canned Food: Most commercial canned foods contain 75-100 calories per 3oz can and 150-200 per 5-6oz can. Thus, the average cat eating a canned diet should be eating approximately 2 small cans or 1 large can per day. Check out this website to find the calorie content of your cat’s canned food: Popular Canned & Pouched Cat Food Calorie Content

All cats are different and have different energy needs. The vets and staff of City Kitty can determine exactly how much food your cat should receive in order to obtain his ideal weight.