Hello! First time posting here, so forgive me if it's not in the right place.
I live alone in a condo, and I'm considering adopting an adult cat, but I'm a worrier. I've read a lot that cats should only eat wet food, and at least twice a day, 12 hours apart. My concern is: it is impossible to guarantee I'll be home to put out wet food 12-hours apart, every day for the lifetime of the cat. The best I can do is one wet meal plus one dry meal (using an automatic feeder if I'm not home).
I don't want to go into an adoption without knowing I can provide a decent quality of life. Maybe cat adoption isn't for me?
Thanks for building this community; I've learned a lot.
In general wet food is better than dry, to make sure your cat gets the moisture he or she will require. That being said, a good dry food is fine too, as many many cats have lived long healthy lives on dry food, as long as there is plenty of fresh water around. There are also cat water fountains. A combination of a wet and dry diet is very common, and absolutely fine. Sometimes your cat gives you no choice as what he or she will eat. So go ahead and adopt -- it's incredibly rewarding, and there is a cat out there waiting for you to give him or her a forever home.
Hi Johnson Lai,
Thank you for contacting us with your question.
It’s great that you’re considering adopting an adult cat. It sounds like you could provide a lovely home. I wouldn’t be too worried about the feeding situation. Yes, ideally we like to feed cats a lot of wet food for moisture content in their diet but they can also eat dry food. It sounds like you could provide a mixture of both which is great. The main thing, whether it’s wet or dry food, is that the food is a high quality, complete cat food. We have lots of recommendations on our site about this.
Automatic cat feeders are a great option if you’ll be away for longer periods. We have some recommendations here;
https://cats.com/best-automatic-cat-feeder
As recommended in the other comment, water fountains are also a great option for increasing water intake if you can’t feed lots of wet food. We have recommendations here;
https://cats.com/best-cat-water-fountain
You might also find the link below interesting. Many of these toys are interactive which means that your cat can be entertained if you’re away during the day;
https://cats.com/best-cat-toys
I hope this helps and whatever cat you adopt will be very lucky.
Aisling