Can I Give My Cat Dry Food Again?

toulousesmomma

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My cat has had a history of UTIs and when he was 3 he had to get PU surgery because there was "sludge" in his bladder causing him to get blocked. My vet said that some cats are just more prone to UTIs and even stress can cause them... Before the PU surgery he was eating whatever generic dry food my mother was buying him from the grocery store. I was still a kid at the time with no knowledge of pet nutrition. After he almost died however I did a lot of research and hes been on a strict, wet, grain free, no fish diet. Usually I get wellness but occasionally I've gotten him Natural Balance, Halos, Pride by Instinct, Weruva and other grain free high quality foods. He has only had a few instances of UTIs since then (from stress i believe) and I know he can not get blocked again because he has already had the PU surgery. Buying him the high quality canned food is very expensive and I am often skipping meals and stealing toilet paper from work so that I can get him food. (college life and working minimum wage and supporting myself completely is very difficult in our economy so please do not say im a irresponsible pet owner...) I am wondering if maybe I can start giving him dry food once a day mixed with water. I dont want to cause a flare up but I really do need to find a cheaper alternative. I used to get him the 12.5 oz cans of wellness for 30$ on amazon but those had a recall recently and while are back on shelves in pet stores, are not back on amazon and....I kind of don't trust them now. Any helpful (friendly and not judgmental please...) advice would be appreciated! Also I will not use prescription diets. I worked at a vet and have vet tech friends and have done much independent research and there is nothing "prescription" about the diets. The only thing in the typical "urinary tract health" formulas is an added ingrident that sparks their thirst reflex. Prescription diets are very high in carbs and not grain free and vets get paid to market and sell these products. I do not trust them.
 
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lalagimp

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I think you're better off going to a lower quality can that fits into your budget than to go to a dry food.
My bubba has FLUTD and has had the PU surgery.

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition has a ton of info. While I ultimately ended up feeding my boys homemade raw, there is info about hydration, and how it works out that even the cheaper cans are better than quality dry when you have a bladder problem.

And yes. A cat that has had the surgery actually can reblock.

I turned out that for us the raw diet was even more affordable than going with the flats of 5.5 oz cans of duck Instinct.
Avoderm gives you 24 cans for $35 https://www.chewy.com/avoderm-natural-chicken-formula/dp/31865f
 
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toulousesmomma

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I love the catinfo site thats where I learned all about cat nutrition and why I have kept him on a canned food for so long.

I'll look into lower quality canned foods but the only ones that are cheaper really are not grain free it seems. But I will look around some more. I've become SO picky about what I give him if even one ingredient on the list is questionable I wont buy it. I have wanted to do raw food for a very long time but my cat is incredibly picky. He, unlike most cats, will not eat turkey or chicken (sandwich meats) he wont eat cheese or even lick whipped cream off my finger. My friends mother made her cats a really good raw food made with rabbit and he would not touch it! I tried for almost two days to just feed him that but he would apparently rather starve >.>
 

orange&white

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I agree that a less expensive canned food, even with some grains, will be healthier than any kibble, even the high-end dry. You know for a fact that kibble will have a ton of carbs either with grains or with other carbs (tapioca, potatoes and peas).

A lot of people's cats do pretty well on canned Friskies, Sheba, and/or Fancy Feast. I would pick those before going back to kibble.

I feed a homemade rotation of chicken, pork and beef raw diet for around 50 cents per day per cat. It takes a couple hours every weekend "making cat food", plus time shopping for meat sales to stock the freezer, but I feel like it's worth it.
 

lalagimp

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ah no not one of the finicky kitties!
both bubs will eat just about anything I give them. They kept bugging me tonight for chinese food.
They were mainly Nature's Variety kibble, then Hills Metabolic kibble, then Nature's Variety Healthy Weight kibble, then cold turkey to canned duck, then cold turkey to Nature's Variety raw medallions (there is an idea if you want to get a coupon from the manufacturer), then cold turkey to catinfo raw with rabbit and turkey.
my girls won't eat raw. One of them might eat canned food but the other is a kibble junkie even after having severe dental work done. They really are not foodies at all except my kibble junkie will sit next to me when I'm eating fried chicken or chicken wings. I can't get them to eat greenies treats but it could be because they are huge. They get a few bites of Party Mix. I don't think they eat dehydrated chicken snacks either.
 
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toulousesmomma

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I would really love to try making my own raw food I'm just worried he wouldnt eat it :,( my girl cat will eat ANYTHING. and i mean anything. She ate half a cupcake wrapper before. But my boy with the past bladder issues is suuuch a brat. He loves dry food and dry treats. He swallows dental treats whole! (so i dont even buy them anymore!) I'm going to look into making raw and see if theres something I can do to it to make him want to eat it. maybe adding some of the gravy from canned food cause he loves that. And for the mean time I think I'll get a few cans of Sheba for him to try though. Thank you both for your advice. And if you have any links for info about raw food please feel free to share those<3
 

orange&white

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Dr. Pierson's recipe at catinfo.org is good, though I'm not sure why she decided to go with partially-cooked. In 2008, when I was researching feline diets, she was making the same recipe except it was all raw. Feline-nutrition.org also has a good raw recipe; almost the same as Pierson's.

I had a "kibble cat". Sadly, I raised him, his brother and an older cat on kibble. One day 'kibble cat" woke up and didn't recognize food and went into hepatic lipidosis. While I was syringe feeding him for several weeks, I transitioned the other 2 cats and 2 dogs to raw. When my kibble-head recovered, he ate raw for over four years and became very healthy, then woke up one day and decided not to eat raw any more. Anyway, I started free-feeding kibble to keep "kibble cat's" weight up and my other cat gained a pound per year while kibble-kitty got so slim. When kibble cat passed in September, I went back to all raw. His fat brother/littermate is now on a diet, having a hard time getting him down to a healthy weight. Anyway, I am no fan of kibble. Canned or raw or home-cooked from now on.
 

orange&white

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I would really love to try making my own raw food I'm just worried he wouldnt eat it :,( my girl cat will eat ANYTHING. and i mean anything. She ate half a cupcake wrapper before. But my boy with the past bladder issues is suuuch a brat. He loves dry food and dry treats. He swallows dental treats whole! (so i dont even buy them anymore!) I'm going to look into making raw and see if theres something I can do to it to make him want to eat it. maybe adding some of the gravy from canned food cause he loves that. And for the mean time I think I'll get a few cans of Sheba for him to try though. Thank you both for your advice. And if you have any links for info about raw food please feel free to share those<3
If your girl will eat raw, then at least the food wouldn't go to waste if your boy won't eat it. Raw food has a much milder scent than processed pet food so cats may not find it smellicious enough. When I first started making raw in 2008, I added a large can of cat food to the mix and slowly decreased it each batch.
 
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