So confused on wet vs Dry food

hello everyone! i am confused on what diet i should put my cat on. ive read alot of people that praise wet food because of its high moisture, and also hate dry food due to its high carb percentage. ive also read that wet food helps with preventing alot of disease such as UTI, whilst dry food tend to lead to health problems in the future. i want my cat to live very comfortably and to get the best nutrient but ive been getting confusing answers from different vets. Please any insight is extremely helpful

Hi - whst an excellent question.   The thing you should know when comparing food is, that there's no perfect answer.  Different foods have different pros and cons;  some cats are better suited to some foods for various reasons.  Kidney and bladder patients in particular often need to maximise their fluid intake and one way in which to do this, is to feed wet food.  Another is to soak the dry food for a time before setting it down but then, of course, it can go off faster.  Some owners provide lots of interesting watr bowls in different corners of the house, because cats can get picky about water bowls and this way, they're more likely to drink enough.  Water fountains or even taps left dripping (beware eco issues there), work for some cats.

Of course, cats in the wild thrive on carcasses and so cats are best adapted for raw meat;  the downside is maintaining food hygeine when they didn't just catch it themselves, and occasionally we see a cat with a bone lodged across the top of its mouth, or - worse - perforating its intestine.

You can read a lot of articles about the RAW debate and maintaining water intake on this site (see blog).   As to the solution to your dilemma, the best thing is to try and have a nuanced conversation with your vet or nurse about whichever options you are considering.   'What are the advantages of this food over that one....?'   'How do I offset the counterargument that....' are good openers.   In the wild, cats eat relatively few complex carbohydrates - they are carnivores.   I am therefore a fan of protein based cat-food with ample water provision, but your vet (or well qualified nurse) knows your cat and local market the best.

I personally prefer tins to raw food because it is easier to maintain safety and good hygeine in a household.  Water intake is doubly important if feeding dry food.  There was a study done quite recently;  i will try to find it for you......

Ps. Ha- I've just been to the Blog pages.  If you check out our blog, you will find last weeks excellent article by Lizzie Youens breaking the problem down in much more careful, researched detail.   Typing 'cat food' into the Blog search bar will bring it up if its no longer at the top.

If you want to search for i, Lizzie's article is fittingly called, The Five Best Cat Foods for 2023.