Complete Dry Food Advice?

[Luchia]

Hello Everyone.

I'm hoping to get some advice on a Complete Dry Cat Food.
My kitty has been on a hypoallergenic diet for the past few months and has been ruled out that food isn't the cause of her allergies so he wants me to slowly move her over onto a normal dry food.
He suggested Purina ONE but advised me to do some research on different foods also.
I'm hoping to get some advice from here on complete dry foods to feed her, she's 4 years old so no need to worry about kitten type foods.
Would need to be something I can buy from Pets At Home(UK) website, I've had a look at the Purina ONE food and it seems pretty good but want to try and find other foods incase there's a better option.

Would very much appreciate any replies.

 

[TARTARA]

Hi there, i hope that everything is going to be just fine !

If the Doctor said about this specific food... i think it's better to follow his/her suggestion or also ask for anything similar... !? Just my opinion !

 

[cmshap]

What is meant by "complete" dry food? I've always thought that was just a Purina brand name, or is that what you are saying your vet specifically suggested... Purina Complete?

If it's a vet you trust and your vet wants you specifically to use a Purina Complete kind of food, then follow your vet's advice.

However, the dry food I settled on for my cat (he was on dry exclusively for the first years of his life, but he is now on mostly wet with some dry) was Hills brand. He's always been very intolerant of foods, but Hills W/D (weight & digestive management) food was what he got in the beginning (but he had digestive issues which was the reason for that). Later, he got Hills Science Diet, which is the dry food I give him now to supplement his wet food.

This only applies to my cat, but he was always finicky with food and Hills was the best brand he could tolerate.

 

[Luchia]

Managed to get ahold of the vet, It was Purina ONE Sensitive so just been and bought some, as she has 55G a day he recommended I do 45G of her normal food and 10G of new food for 2 days then increase it by 10G every 2 days until she's fully moved over

 

[Luchia]

What is meant by "complete" dry food? I've always thought that was just a Purina brand name, or is that what you are saying your vet specifically suggested... Purina Complete?

If it's a vet you trust and your vet wants you specifically to use a Purina Complete kind of food, then follow your vet's advice.

However, the dry food I settled on for my cat (he was on dry exclusively for the first years of his life, but he is now on mostly wet with some dry) was Hills brand. He's always been very intolerant of foods, but Hills W/D (weight & digestive management) food was what he got in the beginning (but he had digestive issues which was the reason for that). Later, he got Hills Science Diet, which is the dry food I give him now to supplement his wet food.

This only applies to my cat, but he was always finicky with food and Hills was the best brand he could tolerate.

Hey, the vet advised to keep her off wet foods and just stick to dry foods, thankfully I managed to get in touch to find out which food to get, just been and bought the Purina Sensitive bifences food, now just the fun of moving her over onto the new food

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

why did your Vet say to keep her off of wet food? Many of us here believe wet food is better for our cats than dry because cats typically don't drink enough to keep themselves hydrated. As a matter of fact, a lot of us actually add water to the wet food when we dish it up!

When you transition to the new dry food, adding a small amount of the new food to her old food and gradually increases that amount is a good idea. What you want to look for though is to make sure she doesn't have any digestive issues during the transition. So just waiting 2 days before increasing the new food doesn't always work. If she has loose stools or diarrhea means you need to back off a little bit on the new food until she gets used to it before increasing any more (and then increase the amount even slower)

 

[cmshap]

Many of us here believe wet food is better for our cats than dry because cats typically don't drink enough to keep themselves hydrated.

This ONLY applies to my cat, so I'm not trying to bring this up as universal advice. But my cat actually drinks significantly more water when I give him more dry food. See my post here:

Wet/dry food ratio and pooping issues

I'm just adding one anecdotal perspective. Again, this is just my cat. He may be unusual. But I'd recommend to anyone wondering about water (drinking, not total) intake with dry vs. wet to try the experiment I described in the above thread.

 

[maggie101]

Hello Everyone.

I'm hoping to get some advice on a Complete Dry Cat Food.
My kitty has been on a hypoallergenic diet for the past few months and has been ruled out that food isn't the cause of her allergies so he wants me to slowly move her over onto a normal dry food.
He suggested Purina ONE but advised me to do some research on different foods also.
I'm hoping to get some advice from here on complete dry foods to feed her, she's 4 years old so no need to worry about kitten type foods.
Would need to be something I can buy from Pets At Home(UK) website, I've had a look at the Purina ONE food and it seems pretty good but want to try and find other foods incase there's a better option.

Would very much appreciate any replies.

Until you find out what she needs help with,putting her on just dry will get her addicted to just dry,so mix the 2 if she does not like wet.

 

[Luchia]

Prior to the hypoallergenic food she wouldn’t eat wet food at all unfortunately so the vet said to just keep her on a complete dry food, she’s an indoor cat so we can monitor her water intake.
Thankfully she drinks plenty of water so the vet isn’t worried about her water intake and wants her to stay with a dry food as the food.
She was on the Hypoallergenic food for almost a year and that’s was a dry food so not overly worried about her water intake unless something changes.
I’ve to monitor her very closely as if her skin issue starts to come back she will have to go back on the hypoallergenic food, she’s also taking a steroid medication to keep her allergy under control.

 

[Luchia]

just to be extra safe I’ve ordered her a Cat Water Fountain, The vet did say her fluid intake is perfectly fine no harm in adding a water fountain too

 

[cmshap]

just to be extra safe I’ve ordered her a Cat Water Fountain, The vet did say her fluid intake is perfectly fine no harm in adding a water fountain too

I love water fountains, but I always give this disclaimer about them...

If you are leaving your cat alone for more than just a little while, also put out a bowl of water.

I have read stories about the water fountain pumps dying, or power going out, and then the cat has no access to water.

I've always kept that in mind, personally.

 

[Luchia]

I love water fountains, but I always give this disclaimer about them...

If you are leaving your cat alone for more than just a little while, also put out a bowl of water.

I have read stories about the water fountain pumps dying, or power going out, and then the cat has no access to water.

I've always kept that in mind, personally.

Oh that’s not an issue at all, I’m always home with her

 

[lisahe]

This ONLY applies to my cat, so I'm not trying to bring this up as universal advice. But my cat actually drinks significantly more water when I give him more dry food. See my post here:

Wet/dry food ratio and pooping issues

I'm just adding one anecdotal perspective. Again, this is just my cat. He may be unusual. But I'd recommend to anyone wondering about water (drinking, not total) intake with dry vs. wet to try the experiment I described in the above thread.

We have a cat like this, too. (She was a dry food fiend that we converted to wet food. That lasted for eight or nine years... but we recently realized she wasn't eating enough so are letting her eat Dr. Elsey's dry food, with chicken, which is very low-carb. Fortunately, like cmshap 's cat, she loves drinking water just after she eats her dry food. She does eat a small meal of wet food some days. Based on litter box results, she seems to be ingesting about as much water as she used to when eating wet food.)

 

[TARTARA]

I think that the cats are drinking a little bit more water when they eat dry food, because they have to moisturize the food inside their stomach, so it will expand - get softer and then be able to digest it more easily... !
On the other hand they can absorb some moisture from the wet food... !

 

[catloverfromwayback]

My cats are in a not-dissimilar situation! Phoebe has been on the Royal Canin Anallergenic dry food for about four years (previously she was on hypoallergenic wet food). She’s thought to have IBD, though the only symptom she ever showed was inability to gain weight - no vomiting etc. She drinks a lot of water from her fountain and the bowl in the bedroom - I’ve worried sometimes that she’s drinking so much she has kidney trouble, but her vets (who see her every six months) say she’s well.

Daisy is on Purina Pro Plan Weight Loss dry atm. She’s another one who’s not that interested in wet food. I just hope she does eventually lose weight on this. She went right on gaining it on Hill’s Perfect Weight and Macrobiotic. Trouble is 56g a day is a massive amount of food and she just doesn’t get through it (she needs 200 calories per day according to her vet), which makes me worry she’ll still be stacking on weight because she’s not getting enough!

It wasn’t hard to transition her to it. Purina have on the bag to try putting a little in a separate plate next to the usual food, and just keep doing that until the cat decides to eat it. It worked better than when I’d tried mixing foods for her previously.

Good luck with your search for suitable food for your kitty, Luchia .

 

[BluOnyx]

The only advice I can give is to avoid "grain free" formulas as they replace the grains with other filler that is not easy for cats to digest and can lead to health problems later in life. I noticed an uptick in the US with grain free foods and cats with health problems. I don't think it is a coincidence. Even one of my cat's vets said the same thing. The one cat I have has allergies and the only options I have been able to find are grain free but his diet is 90% wet/can food so the small bit of dry won't be too bothersome. He eats the Blue Basics turkey dry food. He has a chicken allergy. He seems to enjoy it. He gets a small amount with his last meal every day.

 

[Luchia]

Just wanted to post a little update, she’s back on the hypoallergenic food as she started scratching again this morning and made a sore patch, can’t think of anything else that has changed so vet suggested putting her back on hypo food

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Oh dear. Well, let's hope switching back to that food stops her itching. Poor baby.