Depends who you talk to! There are passionate arguments for both sides (and that's ignoring those pet owners who prefer feeding Raw food) but the plain facts are that each can be formulated to provide a complete diet for dogs or cats.
The important criteria to consider in choosing the type of product are the place you shop, how much money you would like to spend and the level of convenience, palatability and digestibility desired.
The difference in moisture content among the various types of pet food impacts the nutrient density of the products or the amount of nutrients per pound of food. As the water content of the diet increases, the amount of protein, fat and other essential nutrients decreases. That means the animal must consume a larger portion of the high moisture products to receive the nutrition they need, but it also makes comparisons between the different types of food difficult.
Canned or pouch foods offer highest palatability and the highest cost per serving when compared to the dry and soft-moist products. However, they are less convenient to use, as once opened any unused food needs to be stored in the refrigerator.The main advantage of dry foods is convenience, as wastage is minimal, cost is low in comparison to canned or pouch foods, and it is claimed that the grinding action of eating dry food helps to keep teeth clean (again disputed by some.)
Carbohydrates constitute between 30 percent and 40 percent of dry cat food. Some have been concerned that this unnatural diet is harmful to cats and leads to increased incidence of diabetes. Wet cat food, on the other hand, is high in protein and more similar to a natural carnivore diet. Recent research from a University of Missouri-Columbia veterinarian, Robert Backus, assistant professor and director of the Nestle Purina Endowed Small Animal Nutrition Program at MU compared a colony of cats in California raised on dry food with a colony of cats in New Zealand raised on canned food. After comparing glucose-tolerance tests, which measures blood samples and indicates how fast glucose is being cleared from the blood after eating, researchers found no significant difference between a dry food diet and a wet food diet.
The causes of diabetes mellitus in cats remain unknown although there has been a strong debate about whether a dry food diet puts cats at greater risk for diabetes. This study suggested that weight gain, rather than the type of diet, is more important when trying to prevent diabetes in cats.
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