Minimal Dry Food (or None At All)?

Since adopting my Simon back in October, he has been on a diet of dry and wet foods. He gets half a cup of dry food in the morning as well as a small can of Fancy Feast (he gets his first dose of L-lysine for the day mixed in), and then late at night, he gets the other half a cup of dry food and another small can of Fancy Feast (this is when he gets the second dose of L-lysine)

The last week or so, I've noticed that he was having some issues with his stool and a small amount of blood. I immediately gave him less dry food (just a few kibbles so as not to upset his stomach with the sudden change) and consulted with his vet, who said I was doing the right thing and that if I was concerned, I could add in a small dose of miralax once per day. I haven't seen any blood since Saturday morning (and I'm assuming the small amount I did see was actually from Friday night), but I don't want to put him back on a full amount of dry food and wind up in this exact same spot in another week.


I've left him on the dry food if for no other reason than to let the dry food help clean his teeth (this is a very friendly cat, but he draws the line at messing with his teeth) - but does he really even HAVE to have dry food or would the diet of fancy feast wet food suffice?

Also, do y'all have any tips on how to entice him to drink more of his water? I know he's getting plenty of moisture from the wet food, but some additional water couldn't hurt.

Thanks!

Hi!
Dry food isn't necessary for a cat.

Will he let you brush his teeth? That's actually better.

Do you have a pet water fountain? You could experiment with brands of bottled water, filtered water, etc to find if she prefers one.

Some people add a little water to the food but some cats don't like that.

I really recommend adding extra warm water to the canned. It's what I do with my crew even though I don't feed any dry. No, eating crackers doesn't help your teeth and it wont help theirs. If you can afford canned foods only, that's great! One of my boys lets me brush his teeth and the other doesn't. To compensate the no brush boy gets a dental every 1.5 years compared to the brush boy who gets a dental every 2 years. I have stayed on top of any dental problems this way and no one has ever needed an x-ray or extraction.

There's this dental liquid you can squirt in their mouth as well:

https://www.chewy.com/vetoquinol-dentahex-oral-hygiene/dp/109593

Cats generally swallow dry food whole, so it doesn't help fight dental plaque.
Does Dry Food Actually Clean Your Cat's Teeth?
Does Dry Food Clean the Teeth? – Little Big Cat

dkb817 said:

I've left him on the dry food if for no other reason than to let the dry food help clean his teeth (this is a very friendly cat, but he draws the line at messing with his teeth) - but does he really even HAVE to have dry food or would the diet of fancy feast wet food suffice?

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Dry food does not clean the cat's teeth. If it does, we as humans don't have to brush our teeth too and just chew on cookies and biscuits. Here's an article on why dry food does not clean teeth :- 6-reasons-dry-food-clean-cats-teeth
Brushing their teeth is the way to go if your kitty allows you to do that. If not, some claim that there's good results with this product called PlaqueOff

dkb817 said:

Also, do y'all have any tips on how to entice him to drink more of his water? I know he's getting plenty of moisture from the wet food, but some additional water couldn't hurt.

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To get your kitty to drink more water is best to get him on just wet food. It's full of moisture and proteins and real meat.

You can add more filtered water to his wet food during his meal. Many members here does that and I do that too. Wet food and keeping your kitty hydrated is very important if your kitty is a male. Keeping them hydrated has less chance of having UTI which is a very uncomfortable and dangerous to the cat if it's a serious case. Even if it's not a serious case, it is also very uncomfortable and painful.

My boy is on 100% wet food and he receive no treats.

A cup of dry food is a lot to give him if you are already giving 6oz of wet food. I would think he would only need 1/4 cup of dry food for the day. Or maybe 1/3 cup at the most.

Yeah I would just ditch the dry food all together if the only reason is for crunchiness. One of the biggest things is most cat's don't really chew their kibble (which is why toothless cats can still eat kibble no problem), so even the "dental diet" dry foods really don't do much. You can try adding water to the wet food, my guys don't mind it but some cats turn their nose up at it.

Fountains are another good way to go, flowing water is more appealing to a cat then standing water. If you can, it might also help to have water in more then one place. My guys have water in the cat room, bathrooms, bedroom, and in the living room, they also drink from the dog's water sometimes too. I have to feed dry as well due to cost (10 cats), so I try to make sure they have as much access to water as possible.

Most cats don't need the dry

I do give Lydia 1 Tbsp of dry in the evening only because she physically doesn't eat enough wet in a 24 hour period to get the amount of calories she needs to maintain her weight. I just use a low carb, high calorie kibble so that it's still good nutrition but also prevents her from losing weight.

My growing 6 month old kitten eats 2, 3 oz of wet food plus 1/4 cup of kitten dry food max a day. Most of his diet is wet.

In your case I would try giving him only wet or wet plus 1/4 dry good a day. I would add a tablespoon of canned unflavored pumpkin (you can add more pumpkin or water to his wet food over time.) That should help with his constipation. However the blood worries me ..... like does he have parasites or a mega colon? My gut says bring in a stool sample and make sure your cat does not need a laxative pill.

dkb817 said:

... Also, do y'all have any tips on how to entice him to drink more of his water? I know he's getting plenty of moisture from the wet food, but some additional water couldn't hurt.

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amethyst said:

... If you can, it might also help to have water in more then one place. My guys have water in the cat room, bathrooms, bedroom, and in the living room, ...

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I have three permanent water locations in our house for our kitty, one of which is a fountain. The ones that aren't a fountain get refilled with fresh water daily.

I have 2 water bowls. My cat drinks from the larger one. He avoids contact of the whiskers with the bowl edge when drinking.

Another thing I noticed is that small amounts of (salted) cheese trigger a travel to the water bowl. "Small" means like a peanut /week.

I came across a study long ago stating that small amounts of fat lead to thirst. "Small" means like a nail.

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I am not suggesting to introduce cheese or fat in the cat's diet. I am just saying that if you do so once and get a bowl travel, perhaps the cat diet composition is does not fit her metabolism.

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My cat does not accept high protein diet. He simply does not: he throws meat up, for instance. One possible explanation is that he is integer and indoor only and therefore does not need so much energy.

I only feed canned Fancy Feast classic pate to my two male cats and also the grocery store Aldi brand just to switch things up, both brands of food have no grain in the ones that I buy, I also add a little water to the food

If your cat will allow you to not feed dry food it is not at all necessary and wet food is generally more nutritionally sound than wet food and also helps with hydration. A good flowing water dish would help to get him to drink more water if you don't already have one. The cat it ones are really good cuz your cats whiskers don't touch the side.

jcat said:

Cats generally swallow dry food whole, so it doesn't help fight dental plaque.

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Maybe some cats do, but my cats definitely don't swallow their dry food whole. I can hear them loudly crunching it every time they eat, especially in the middle of the night (their food bowls are in my bedroom).They make sure to crunch each piece as many times as they can before swallowing.

tabbysia said:

especially in the middle of the night (their food bowls are in my bedroom).They make sure to crunch each piece as many times as they can before swallowing.

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LOL