Commercial diets can be classified according to the manufacturing process and water content of the final product into three categories: dry, semi-wet and wet.
Dry food generally contains 90% dry material and 10% water. By contrast, wet foods contain over 60% water.
Using one type of food or another depends on various factors, some related to the way you care for your pet and others to the circumstances and needs of the animal.
Why choose a dry food?
• The mouths of dogs and cats are designed to chew. A dry food, apart from causing friction, helps keep their teeth healthy because it prevents accumulation of tartar.
• Dry food is also easier to keep. In contrast to a wet food, a dry food when opened does not need refrigeration. Furthermore, a dry food is ideal for cats and dogs that are allowed to feed when they want.
• It is also good for highly active animals given that dry food has a higher energy concentration.
• It is more practical and less messy.
Why choose wet food?
• Older pets that may have lost some teeth will have obvious difficulty chewing kibbles. So a wet diet is the best option. This is also the case for puppies after weaning.
• If you find it difficult to get your pet to drink enough water, especially cats to prevent urinary problems, wet food is a very good option because it contains a lot more water.
• It also tastes good.
In fact, both types of food have their advantages and disadvantages; therefore Ownat recommends a mixed "wet + dry" food that provides the maximum benefits of the two options. Also, we want to make it easy for you. The packaging of our range of wet or Wetline products indicates the best combination of wet and dry food to ensure that your pet's diet is as balanced as possible.
What is a complete and balanced diet?
Any complete and balanced commercial food for pets is formulated to provide appropriate amounts of each nutrient, without any deficit or surplus. There are also supplementary diets or nutritional supplements that should be administered with other foods.
A satisfactory diet meets the following characteristics:
• Complete: provides appropriate amounts of all the necessary nutrients.
• Balanced: the nutrients are present in appropriate proportions.
• Easy to digest: the nutrients are easily available for absorption.
• Tasty: the food is attractive to eat.
• Reliable and safe: free of toxins, pathogenic microorganisms and antinutritional factors.
