how bad is dry food really?

[KikiKami]

my cat Kiki is extremely picky and strongly prefers dry food. ive narrowed down a few brands of wet that she will accept (purina pro plan, sheba, iams, nutro, all cuts in gravy), but even those she will start to reject or not finish. she doesn't eat big meals and wet food is so low calorie that i have to offer like 6 times a day, meaning that she can easily refuse some meals if she feels like sulking about not getting dry food. she will even try to break into my cabinets in order to access dry food.

i realized her preference due to her recent dental extraction, which put her on wet food only for 2 weeks. what a nightmare. we are back to dry food now, but the dental surgeon mentioned that she would be better off if she just stayed on wet food from now on. im not sure if its possible tbh. she was eating maybe 140 or less calories per day, but today when she got her dry food back she cleared 180 pretty easily. her regular schedule is 1/2 can of wet for breakfast and dinner and 1/3 cup dry for lunch.

side note: shes terrible at drinking water, so i do water down her wet food. attached is a photo of ms stubborn herself being very high after surgery

 

[di and bob]

Oh, I know the fight! Some cats just plain want dry food, period. Even with no teeth they still manage to mouth and swallow dry. I, myself wouldn't stress her out. There are MANY grain-free dry foods out there. Just get the smallest kibble you can in a grain-free dry and see how she does. you may have to tempt her into drinking more though, Set several small bowls of water around. Cats are curious and always check them out, and more often than not will drink. A fountain is something to consider too. One more thing to clean, but after initially being frightened by it, I noticed my cats were so fascinated by the water they drank a lot more. Keep an eye on her kidney values too at the vet's. all the luck! PS. before I became informed, I fed dry all the time. I still leave some out because we like to leave overnight once in a while and they need something to eat. Never had any harm done over the years, some cats are prone to kidney problems anyway. In the 'old' days cats were fed dry period, and did perfectly fine. Of course, it is better to have wet, but if they refuse, you can't let them be so unhappy and starving.

 

[lisahe]

I Isabella Robinson 's idea of a compromise is a good one. We've had to compromise with one of our two cats: she recently decided she doesn't want to eat much wet food anymore. (We switched her and her sister to wet food back in 2013/2014, shortly after we adopted them.) Fortunately, she absolutely loves the only dry food I'd feed. And, also fortunately, she eats and then goes for a drink of water.

The upshot is that Ireland eats mostly Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein food with chicken, which is very low in both carbs and phosphorus. She also often eats small meals of wet foods, when I feed her sister.

All in all, though I'd much rather she eat more wet food, this works out for the best for Ireland, who's always been difficult to feed because she's always been picky. I realize now (after all those years!) that she was probably picky because she still missed her dry food. We're lucky that she likes a good one and washes it down with water.

I hope you're able to find a similar compromise for Kiki, KikiKami . Maybe she'll eat more wet food if you mix some dry food into it or sprinkle it on the top? Fingers crossed that she'll go for it! Here's wishing you patience!

 

[Alldara]

KikiKami What a lovely photo of her. I'm glad the extraction went well.

If you can't get her to eat fully wet, fed is best and a hybrid of wet and dry is fine. The stress is not good for either of you.

Commercial foods, including commercial dry foods are part of what helped us to extend cats lives. There is still a LOT of ongoing research so there's not a lot of conclusions on cat food yet, just opinions, and theories. What's in My Cat's Food?: Designer Diets, Grain Free Diets | VCA Canada Animal Hospitals

Since we extended cat's lives we have learned some things. There's been some recent longitudinal studies conclude and many manufacturers have changed their recipes in response. Hence, Purina's change to Pro Plan on conclusion of their longitudinal study. (Purina Pro Plan Prime Plus was the diet for the study, and they've changed their other recipes to be closer since).


Nobel, went on a hunger strike 2 days after dental extraction. An actual hunger strike, he lost weight too fast, the vet was concerned as well.
Once he could have some dry food again, the wet eating went fine. He was on Purina Pro Plan Urinary dry and wet. He would have a few tablespoons of dry spread out through the day and then would eat the wet. I rotated the wet, added water (hot water if it had been in the fridge) and the rotating of the wet kept him interested and eating.

my vet also recommend putting dry through a blender and sprinkling it on top if he wouldn't eat the wet. Didn't work for me, but has worked for others.

you can also try adding water to the dry. My late cat Lily liked that. She would eat them once they puffed up from the water.

 

[Robyn5678]

Dry food isn’t necessarily bad. I had a cat that went 16 years only eating dry because that’s what she preferred.

I have 3 younger cats and I do give mine some dry food, but since I have male cats I use Iams Urinary health and they drink plenty of water with it. But 90% if their diet is wet food which I add a few extra tablespoons of water too

 

[iPappy]

For most cats, dry food isn't absolutely "ideal" but wet food is going to give no advantages if it sits, ignored, in a dish. I like the idea of trying a fountain, my cats really like theirs.

 

[downton ali]

I had this issue with my little guy. He seemed addicted to it. I mostly feed him wet now, however I finished off his favorite dry bag, which I learned was total junk food, by giving it to him as treats instead. He still got the taste but learned not to expect it at mealtimes. Tough transition, but now he doesn't look for it anymore. I think it helped that I found a wet food he actually likes, which seemed like a miracle unto itself (chunks in gravy). It took a few months, so hang in there.
The water and protein level in wet food is much better for cats, who don't need the carbs that dry food provides them, i.e., they don't search out carbs in the wild.

 

[KikiKami]

thanks for the suggestions! ive seen dr elseys suggested a few times so i think ill check it out. shes currently eating purina pro plan kitten- my vet reccomended the brand and i got the kitten version because i have a kitten as well. unfortunately, if i water it down kiki will turn her nose up at it.

ive considered taking a hard stance, and my vet has said cats wont starve themselves and she will eat eventually, but i seriously think this cat would rather starve than eat something not to her standards. i am super paranoid about fatty lover disease, so i just let her have what she wants usually.

i also do have two fountains and 2 bowls out, but kiki couldnt care less about the fountains and goes to the bowl the few times she does drink lol. i give her liquid-type treats (broth and bisque) to try to give her some more hydration. i also just found out about purina hydrocare, so im going to look into that as well.

either way, im glad to hear that dry food isn't hurting her or anything. ive had my cats for less then a year so im still learning!

 

[downton ali]

thanks for the suggestions! ive seen dr elseys suggested a few times so i think ill check it out. shes currently eating purina pro plan kitten- my vet reccomended the brand and i got the kitten version because i have a kitten as well. unfortunately, if i water it down kiki will turn her nose up at it.

ive considered taking a hard stance, and my vet has said cats wont starve themselves and she will eat eventually, but i seriously think this cat would rather starve than eat something not to her standards. i am super paranoid about fatty lover disease, so i just let her have what she wants usually.

i also do have two fountains and 2 bowls out, but kiki couldnt care less about the fountains and goes to the bowl the few times she does drink lol. i give her liquid-type treats (broth and bisque) to try to give her some more hydration. i also just found out about purina hydrocare, so im going to look into that as well.

either way, im glad to hear that dry food isn't hurting her or anything. ive had my cats for less then a year so im still learning!

Same for me! I cannot water it down, but wet food contains the water cats need anyway so you might not need to do that. My guy licks the gravy clean from the bowl.

Apparently, cats eat separate from where they drink, so that may help to position the bowl separate from the food area, if you haven't done that already. My guys loves to drink right outta my glass.

 

[Alldara]

KikiKami I'm a big fan of Purina Pro Plan after the recent changes. (Except that they then changed again and added beef fat to the dry which my boy has an allergy to). I'd still have them on it if I could.

They would get some of the senior formula from Nobel as well.

Iams Perfect Portions kitten food is pretty 'plain' in terms of ingredients and was a different texture that Calcifer took to. You can add quite a bit of water to it. It's small, so I can mix it up easily to give a bit of variety. The boys actually really like the taste and texture of Purina Urinary chicken shreds...they used to break in to it when our old man ate it and I keep a few cans around.

I also do Wureva kitten food when there's sales just to give a bit of a can here and there. Mixing it up now and then gives variety that keeps them eating. And keeps them eating if there's shortages.

 

[lisahe]

ive considered taking a hard stance, and my vet has said cats wont starve themselves and she will eat eventually, but i seriously think this cat would rather starve than eat something not to her standards. i am super paranoid about fatty lover disease, so i just let her have what she wants usually.

Your vet may be right that cats won't completely starve themselves... but we didn't realize Ireland was undereating until she started occasionally vomiting stomach acid during the night. She's always been a slow eater and she's always been slender, so we thought she was getting enough food. But she wasn't getting quite enough. The vomiting stopped as soon as we let her eat all the Dr. E's food she wants. The positive side to her being a slow eater is that she doesn't overeat. Plus she'll still eat some wet food -- the amounts of wet food have increased some since we started free feeding her the dry food.

Dr. Elsey's, by the way, will send out free samples. Their salmon dry food does include chickpeas (which I wouldn't feed), but the chicken has no fillers.

 

[KikiKami]

A Alldara kiki loves iams perfect portions as well! she seems to like the single-serve texture, so she eats sheba and nutro cuts in gravy too. she just gets bored easily, so its good to have different brands and tastes. im going to try the purina urinary, the pictures look promising.

lisahe I wish i could free feed! back when kiki was a single cat i did, and she did great. unfortunately my kitten and roommates cat are both complete monsters and will eat until they puke, so we had to make adjustments. im gonna try the sample of dr. e, better to test it out and see if my picky girl will accept it. thanks for the tip!

 

[downton ali]

A Alldara kiki loves iams perfect portions as well! she seems to like the single-serve texture, so she eats sheba and nutro cuts in gravy too. she just gets bored easily, so its good to have different brands and tastes. im going to try the purina urinary, the pictures look promising.

lisahe I wish i could free feed! back when kiki was a single cat i did, and she did great. unfortunately my kitten and roommates cat are both complete monsters and will eat until they puke, so we had to make adjustments. im gonna try the sample of dr. e, better to test it out and see if my picky girl will accept it. thanks for the tip!

I had to switch to Purina Urinary for my big guy. It's exactly what my little guy will eat. I'm feeling hopeful for you

 

[KikiKami]

I had to switch to Purina Urinary for my big guy. It's exactly what my little guy will eat. I'm feeling hopeful for you

does your cat have urinary issues? my roommates boy cat had some sort of flare up and was straining to pee, but had no blockage. the vet also saw no bacteria, just "a couple" struvite crystals. they said he has to stay on hills prescription diet from now on, which is unfortunate because we havent necessarily heard the best things about hills.

 

[egofailure]

I've gone back and forth on the food issue for my Sasha, as well. It seems that every option has its pros and cons; plus, there are varies opinions. My veterinarian recommended a mix of wet/dry food, citing research that some carbohydrates that dry food provides (i.e. Science Diet) helps with long-term heart health. And then there's the issue of oral care.

For now, I've settled on the following:

1) A mixture of wet food with a small portion of the Science Diet's tartar removal brand 2x daily.

2) I also use dry freeze snacks and Science Diet (adult) for clicker training.

If you're cat doesn't seem big on wet food, don't be afraid to keep trying different varieties. Sasha eats just about everything but would slow-eat Weruva's canned chicken option. But when I tried Weruva's chicken/turky with gravy? Holy cow.

Sasha's only 7 lb (a tiny thing) and very active ... so I worry a bit that she always seems hungry.

Please know that you're in good (or at least some) company regarding those trying to figure out food/nutrition for their pals.

 

[lisahe]

lisahe I wish i could free feed! back when kiki was a single cat i did, and she did great. unfortunately my kitten and roommates cat are both complete monsters and will eat until they puke, so we had to make adjustments. im gonna try the sample of dr. e, better to test it out and see if my picky girl will accept it. thanks for the tip!

Our other cat is also a complete monster (though she's also the sweetest monster on earth!) who will eat until she pukes... so we bought Ireland a microchip feeder and set it up to only read her chip. It was expensive but it was cheaper than vet bills... plus now Ireland can finally eat on her own reasonable terms. And we can all sleep at night!

 

[downton ali]

My big guy (Luigi) does, but the dry food addict (Enzo) doesn't. It's easier to keep them on the same food and fortunately Enzo loves it!
They both boycotted Hills. I can't stand it either. Smells awful! They would rather not eat at all. I would rather them not eat it at all. LOL.

The vet suggested Purina Pro Plan Urinary as an alternative, and they both eat it. What a relief! There's something special in that gravy!

As a bit of background, Luigi has a history of struvite crystals. He doesn't like Enzo as much as I do. He had 2 blockages, and the vet gave me a list of urinary foods. It doesn't have to be Hills for your rooomate's cat. It can be Purina Urinary. Royal Canin SO is another one. All are offered in wet and dry.

 

[Alldara]

does your cat have urinary issues? my roommates boy cat had some sort of flare up and was straining to pee, but had no blockage. the vet also saw no bacteria, just "a couple" struvite crystals. they said he has to stay on hills prescription diet from now on, which is unfortunate because we havent necessarily heard the best things about hills.

Nobel had urinary issues for years and the switch to Purina Urinary was very helpful.

It's best to stay on the prescription diet for 6 months to 1 year first, depending on what your vet recommends. Then you can go to the "over the counter" version which is basically for prevention. The prescription is for dissolution of crystals first.

 

[downton ali]

Nobel had urinary issues for years and the switch to Purina Urinary was very helpful.

It's best to stay on the prescription diet for 6 months to 1 year first, depending on what your vet recommends. Then you can go to the "over the counter" version which is basically for prevention. The prescription is for dissolution of crystals first.

That is good to know .Would love not to have to do prescription food for life

 

[KikiKami]

Our other cat is also a complete monster (though she's also the sweetest monster on earth!) who will eat until she pukes... so we bought Ireland a microchip feeder and set it up to only read her chip. It was expensive but it was cheaper than vet bills... plus now Ireland can finally eat on her own reasonable terms. And we can all sleep at night!

what a good idea!! i think im gonna invest in one of these. if it works it'll make things so much easier