dry food vs. wet food

[crazycatnipper]

Hi-

A while back I saw an article here from an American vet that said wet food was actually better than dry, since dry food was mostly carbohydrates and could lead to diabetes in cats.

I want to print that and show it to my vet here in Holland, but I can't find it anywhere!

If anyone has it, or knows where it is here on the forum, could you please post here? I am going to the vet tomorrow, and would love to bring it with me.

Thanks.

 

[decadenz]

Oh my... if that's true, aren't I in trouble? My cats won't eat canned food, so they're on a diet of dry kibble. However, they are sufficiently hydrated as they love to drink water.

 

[ryn]

Don't know about any article, but IMO:

Good quality dry:
Still too much grain, which is just a cheap stomach filler and completely useless to cats. May cause crystals, especially in male cats, so dry food is not very good for urinary tracts, especially if the cat's a lazy drinker. If the grain is wheat, it may also cause allergies.

Wet:
Good quality wet (Animonda etc., pet shop stuff) is usually pretty OK, but expensive. Main things to avoid in market wet food are:
Wheat, again, same reasons as above
Sugar, put in just for colour, to please humans, bad for kitty teeth.
Low meat content: If you look at most eg "chicken" flavoured wet foods, you'll find out that the amount of chicken and by products is usually about 4%, and even that is mostly by products (feathers and other completely nutritionally useless stuff).

I try to avoid also potentially dangerous additives (certain preservatives and all kinds of artificial colour) in both. Pet food industry is sadly quite wild, with very little supervision.

Conclusion: I feed my kitties 50% good quality dry, 50% raw self made food. I'm currently planning on dropping the processed food completely or almost completely. If you don't want to feed raw, I'd suggest a combination of quality dry and quality wet or if money's not an issue, just high quality wet.

PS. Don't let anyone tell you that kitties need dry food to keep teeth clean, it doesn't, raw meat and bones do this ten times more effectively. And remember that these are all just my opinions, others may have differend toughts on the matter.

 

[ravyn]

I agree. Dry kibble will not keep kitty's teeth clean any more than chewing on dry cereal will keep your teeth clean. I hate it when I hear people say that

My kitties are on a top quality dry food mixed with a top quality wet. The upside? Their coats are glowing, they're a perfect weight, I feel good about what they're eating (I'd feel better about raw but that's on hiatus right now for various reasons), and they eat FAR LESS of it to attain the same results. The downside? For a thirty pound bag of dry and thirty cans of wet food...which last my eight cats roughly two weeks or so...I spend over seventy dollars.

For anyone interested, the food is Nature's Variety Prarie and so far is the best dry/wet processed food I've been able to find.

 

[pat]

Check out this site - written by a vet, click here for catinfo dot com and notice she has a section on feline diabetes and carbohydrates - perhaps this will be something you want to print out and share with your vet.

I'm not into feeding raw, but this site makes many excellent points worth considering (I'm more into homecooked - though I don't do so yet!).

 

[pat]

ps if you need, I have an article link I can give you by a vet re why wet food does NOT cause dental disease in cats.

If you have any other questions I can answer (or try to!), please let me know. I check in several times a day.

 

[caprice]

Pat-what wet food do you recommend? Now that Mittens has been losing weight, I want to give him some wet food instead of dry food all the time. I know he will love the treat!

 

[boxedfish]

i am starting to feed my cat raw beef, but i have 1 concern, that is about diseases like mad cow diesease. I know that meat should be bought from good sources, but there;s always a chance somewhere. Will cat gets dieseases like mad cow or other related dieseases from eating raw?

 

[pat]

Originally Posted by boxedfish

i am starting to feed my cat raw beef, but i have 1 concern, that is about diseases like mad cow diesease. I know that meat should be bought from good sources, but there;s always a chance somewhere. Will cat gets dieseases like mad cow or other related dieseases from eating raw?

Yes, they can. There are no reported incidents in the US, but the statistic I saw when quickly researching this today, is that there have been 100 cases in Europe, where it is believed the animals were fed "butcher scraps". Below is a great site on feeding raw, and this specific link takes you to her home-prepared diets page.

click here

 

[stephenq]

On the subject of dry food and diabetes, look at these great articles re: a study done by the animal medical center in NYC and published by the AVMA.

http://www.catnutrition.org/Catkins.htm
and
http://www.morrisanimalfoundation.or...ss/Catkins.asp

In this study 68% of cats were able to go off insulin on a high protein (wet food) diet vs about 40% using a standrard high fiber diet to create weight loss.

On the issue of mad cow disease, i have no idea if cats can catch it, but if they can it has nothing to do with whether the food is cooked or not - that's the terrible thing about mad cow, the prions which cause the desease are not affected by heat, at least not heat with respect to cooking temperatures.

 

[janine&lily]

some cats just dont eat dry food,non of the cats i have had have eaten the dried stuff. Freda has it now and then but very rarely.

 

[mrod1]

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Check out this site - written by a vet, click here for catinfo dot com and notice she has a section on feline diabetes and carbohydrates - perhaps this will be something you want to print out and share with your vet.

I'm not into feeding raw, but this site makes many excellent points worth considering (I'm more into homecooked - though I don't do so yet!).

Excelent site, alot of great and useful information. I have looked everywhere for information on what and how much to feed my cat, and this site answers everything regarding a wet food diet. Thanks!!

 

[crazycatnipper]

Originally Posted by Pat & Alix

Check out this site - written by a vet, click here for catinfo dot com and notice she has a section on feline diabetes and carbohydrates - perhaps this will be something you want to print out and share with your vet.

Thank you so much for this link! I have printed it out and am taking it to the vet tomorrow.

Just what I needed.

 

[lionessrampant]

I feed both wet and grain-free dry for one of my cats and low grain dry (there's only one carb sorce and it's whole brown rice) to my other. I think that there are conveniences and benefits to both, as well as there being disadvantages. What matters is this: they both have a clean bill or health and they both get the nutrients they need to support their conditions and needs. In a less-than-perfect world, we do what works for our cats and ourselves...and I think that above all, that's what matters most.

 

[chichi]

Actually, from what I heard was that dry food is better for cats, that is if you get a good quality dry food. I got this special formulated for kittens, it has all the vitamins, proteins and needed nutrients in it. It has dried cranberries for urinary infection too.

 

[mirinae]

My boys get fed both wet and dry food, on the advice of our vet. The wet food helps reduce the likelihood that they'll get crystals, and the dry food, which has a low grain content, is tartar-control and is meant to help with their teeth. (I know another person posted that this isn't true, and that meat and bones would be better, but I respectfully disagree in favour of my vet's advice. That, and I feel more comfortable purchasing cat food that I know has been specially formulated for my cats' needs, than to hope I know what I'm doing when it comes to feeding them food I've prepared myself. I'm too afraid I'd screw that up somehow!) That being said, we typically add extra water to the food (I don't believe my one cat, Spike, drinks very much water, unless he stealth-drinks when I'm not around ...) and we also brush our cats' teeth on a fairly regular basis.

Edited to say: I don't mean to imply that OTHER people on this forum don't know how to prepare good, nutritious raw/cooked cat food, just that I haven't the faintest clue how to do it myself. Since I don't trust my own abilities as a chef, I have to rely upon my vet's recommendations. We're fortunate to be able to go to a VERY good cat clinic.

 

[vibiana]

The "middle sister" of the three doesn't eat MUCH canned food, but she'll eat some of it if I sit with her and encourage her. If I don't, then the other two poach from her dish. LOL

I split one 5.5 oz can three ways (a smidge for the middle sister, most of the can divided between the other two), twice a day. They also get 1/4 C of dry kibble per day.

I buy hairball control formula kibble, a premium brand with chicken as its main ingredient. The canned food I buy is either Nine Lives or Friskies. Not the best, I suppose, but they seem to be okay on it.

 

[pat]

Originally Posted by Chichi

Actually, from what I heard was that dry food is better for cats, that is if you get a good quality dry food. I got this special formulated for kittens, it has all the vitamins, proteins and needed nutrients in it. It has dried cranberries for urinary infection too.

Nope...not in my opinion, nor many others

Cats are obligate carnivores, they don't need a high per centage of grains aka carbs in their diet, they need meat based (or poultry or fish) protein, and the enzymes that come with these "real" foods.

Two interesting sites to read are www.catnutrition.org and www.catinfo.org, even if one does not wish to feed raw, the sites are very informative.

 

[crazycatnipper]

I gave all that info to my vet here in Holland--3 articles in total, and after reading it he sent me this response. I thought you all might be interested:

Dear Jeff,

Thanks for the reading material. As a more specialised dental veterinarian I
can tell you, that these facts are subject to discussion amongst specialists
at the moment. There is actually no scientifically acceptable research into
this matter, apart from the research of special dental foods like Hill's
T/D, Hill's oral care and others. So although different people tell you
different opinions there are no good data to back up this discussion. I have
been talking to specialists from around Europe lately and as a matter of
fact no one is quit sure what to say. One thing is certain: tooth brushing
is generally accepted to be the best way to prevent plaque building,
although it is sometimes very hard to do. Special dental foods also work
very well and are recommended when brusing is impossible.

Sincerely,
Magnus Souverein

He didn't mention anything about the diabetes issue with dry food, so I will ask him the next time I see him.

 

[vanillasugar]

I found this thread kinda late, but there is another excellent site that hasn't been added yet.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood