It is very important that your cat’s nutritional needs take priority in your relationship with your cat. Feeding your cat the right food is a very important part of pet care, since it may help your cat to avoid potentially serious health conditions. When choosing which type of cat food is best for your cat, the plethora of choices may seem extremely intimidating. However, it’s usually best to use common sense when purchasing your cat’s food. Knowledge of the different types of cat food is also very beneficial, since it will allow you to make a much more informed decision. A type of cat food that some cat owners prefer to feed their pet cats is semi-moist cat food. This type of cat food presents an additional choice when deciding which type of cat food is best for your cat’s nutritional needs.
GENERAL NUTRITION
For the most part, the nutritional content of semi-moist cat food is fairly similar to that of other cat food formulas. The ingredients of semi-moist cat food are listed in descending order of content, so it is very important to read the ingredients label. As a general rule, the first five listed ingredients in a semi-moist cat food formula make up the bulk of the food.
HOW SEMI-MOIST CAT FOOD IS MADE
The process used to create semi-moist cat food is relatively similar to the process used to . However, the main difference in semi-moist cat food formulas is the drying process. Instead of being dried, semi-moist cat food is allowed to “cool”. This creates a skin on the outside of the food pieces, and an additional layer of animal fat is added to make the food more appealing. Since semi-moist cat food formulas must be acidic to discourage growth of bacteria, special ingredients are added (such as hydrochloric acid or phosphoric acid). To help semi-moist cat food to remain soft, humectant ingredients are added to preserve moisture.
BENEFITS OF SEMI-MOIST CAT FOOD
Semi-moist cat food has a moisture content of approximately 35%. Because of this, it gives a cat a portion of their moisture needs. Even though additional water must be provided in order to prevent a cat from becoming dehydrated, a semi-moist cat food formula does give a cat some hydration.
POTENTIAL NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF SEMI-MOIST CAT FOOD
A commonly accepted potential negative trait of semi-moist cat food is that it tends to be relatively high in sugar. Sugar is used in semi-moist cat food formulas in order to bind the moisture to the food in a way which makes it unavailable to certain bacterias. Ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup and molasses are among the most commonly added sugars that are contained in semi-moist cat food formulas. Because of this, many cat owners choose not to feed their cats a semi-moist cat food formula. A cat’s digestive system does not efficiently process the simple carbohydrates found in these high carbohydrate ingredients, and too much sugar may very well interfere with a cat’s overall good health.
12 Responses to “Semi-Moist Cat Food”
I’ve been having a problem with my kitty as she’s gotten older. I just switched her to canned food but I worry about when we go away for the weekend. I have found that petco carries a freeze dried food and I found a semi moist food by hilife online. Hope this helps.
If anyone has an older cat that cant chew try cooked shrimp! Our nearly 20 year old existed on it for quite sometime. Seemed to feel good on his teeth & gums (he was suffering from kidney failure & mouth sores were a problem). He also seemed to prefer it UNheated. go figure. But that helped him in his final days. (you can find cooked shrimp in the freezer dept.)
and treasure each day one at a time.
Hi All
If anybody knows some brand names of semi-moist food, please post them.
Barb, I’m going to try your suggestion re LS chk broth.
Laura, do not feed dog food; it does not have the proper nutritional balance or vitamins, and some things that dogs can eat are toxic to cats.
I want to share with all of you some strategies that have worked for me. I have an older cat who has heart problems & is on several medications. Recently she has begun eating less wet food and has little interest in dry food.
- Try different foods. Sometimes a perfectly healthy cat will decide it just doesn’t like a certain food anymore. And an unwell cat can be even pickier. My kitty didn’t want to eat much of anything the other day, so I bought a bunch of different foods to try to entice her. After she refused about four or five different foods, I presented Science Diet Turkey & Giblets she ate like there was no tomorrow. So that’s what we’re eating now.
- Add some water to the food. When my kitty developed her heart problems, she began to like her wet food to be like a thick soup. She would refuse fresh food right out of the can, and when I mixed water in, she lapped it up happily.
- My kitty can’t get enough calories from wet food alone; when she stops eating dry food she loses weight. So I crush the dry food up, soak it in some water (gonna try broth barb), and then add that to the soupy wet food mixture. In addition to the extra calories, the fiber helps keep that soupy wet diet from coming out soupy and wet at the other end too
- If kitty just won’t eat, boil some chicken, mince it, and present that. Do not season the chicken at all. Bland is good, and salt in particular is bad.
- Baby food is another good alternative when kitty just won’t eat. Beech-Nut makes a Chicken & Broth and a Beef & Broth food that consists of ONLY meat and broth … no preservatives, flour, sugar, gravy, vegetables, or other goop that is no good for cats.
- Try smaller, more frequent meals. When I add crushed dry food to the wet food, she gets full sooner so I started doing smaller meals every few hours instead of AM/PM wet food and leaving the dish of dry out all day.
Hope this helps…
My semi cat is just 2 months i have been giving it cat food since it was born but when it got older urine and its feaces started to smell bad then we stared giving them minced meat it ate it for 1 month now it is not eating it i thought it is beacuse hot so can any one please reply
Same problem here. My Persian used to love tender vittles but they are no longer available. I have tried countless varieties of dry food and canned but she just doesn’t like them. I wonder if moist dog food would be ok for a cat. I bought some soft and moist food for my austrsiln Shepard and gave a bite to my cat. She loved it.
No, you can not feed your cat dog food. There is something in the dog food that a cat can not eat, and if they do, they will get very sick and possibly die.
I have had the same problem with an elderly and slightly toothless cat. After a long search I am about to try Hi- Life soft and tender available at Waitrose and some other selected stores like larger Wilkinsons. Will let you know if it works.
One of my cats (14 year old) has recently been throwing up her dry food and drinking water like crazy. I started adding a little low sodim chicken broth and letting it soak in. She is doing much better now, and the food is staying down. Big Difference!
Hi,
My 17 yr old cat will no longer eat dry food and will only pick at the wet food, sometimes sucking the juice only and leaving the rest. I provide 3oz can variety 3 times a day and/or when he meows. Extensive physical at vet recently was okay, but would not eat prescriptiion cat food. He used to eat all of semi moist food, but cant find it any more. He just about pounces on me when I break out the moist treats, so would like to find where the moist (heard was D/C’d in 2007) can be found, if any; worried. Thanks.
Hi! My senior cat no longer eats dry food and only likes the juice in can food. I have been feeding her soft treats but would like to switch to semi-moist food. I, too, have been unable to find anything other than soft cat treats that resembles semi-moist food.
Locally there are just canned, in pouches or dry cat food.
What brand carries semi-moist?
Thank you.
Hi,
Your site does not list where I can BUY semi-moist cat food. I have a 12 year old persian that can no longer chew the dry cat food. He will not even consider eating canned cat food, and has started to lose weight. My vet was unable to recommend any semi-moist cat food, as they couldn’t find any, and recommended that I check the internet. I found a lot of sites with information on the cat food, but none state where I can order it from. Please help. Thank you.