I'm wondering about replies here towards dry food

[lostmary]

Hi all, I've been reading a lot of the threads here and alot of times I see a comment about not feeding dry food to cats. My girls get it all the time with a small can of wet in the evening. I thought dry food was good for them, but if it does harm to them or causes something bad to happen down the road I sure would like to know about it.

Please let me know what the concerns are. I understand everyone has an opinion but when i read it so much it makes me think that there is something to it. All info would be really really great.
thank you
Mary

 

[strange_wings]

Don't worry about it as long as you're feeding them quality foods.

Some cats have issues with dry and do better on all wet, many more do fine on all dry or a combination of dry and wet meals. All of mine get a combination - more towards 2/3rds wet to 1/3rd dry daily.

You'll see a lot of people on here try to promote their preferred way as the only way. Sometimes that doesn't work for all cats - such as not all cats doing well on grain free, or some high quality foods (like wellness) that don't settle well with some kitties, etc.
Filter what you read through your logic and experience. Are your cats healthy? Is your vet happy with how they look? No stool issues? and so on. If they're healthy and the food you're using works, stick with it. Change, especially drastic ones, to diet can make some cats sick.

 

[cococat]

As a general rule cats don't drink as much water as they should. Wet food helps them get the hydration they need, which is why many vets and owners recommend it. Chronic lack of hydration can lead to many health problems. Dry food has all the moisture removed as the food is processed into tiny hard dry pellets. This is not a problem in raw foods or wet foods. I mix water with dry for meals, soaking it in the fridge until desired consistency. My cat will eat anything, any temp, anytime.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by cococat

I mix water with dry for meals

You have to be careful doing this. The manufacturers do not make the food with the intention of it sitting wet, so while it's stable (bacteria and mold growth) in a dry form at room temp it may not be if left wet.
In some areas where there is greater general humidity in the air, people have had problems with dry food and bacteria growth just from the humidity and saliva off of the cat's mouth. (such as a past member in Japan who used to post here. It took him a bit to figure out how his cat was getting sick)

 

[ldg]

The bottom line on the thinking is cats are pure carnivores. Dry food in and of itself is can be a problem because "in nature" cats generally obtain what moisture they need from the food they eat. They're not "genetically programmed" to drink water. Thus as cococat points out, some cats, if fed an all dry or primarily dry diet, aren't well hydrated. This can be particularly a problem in males, as this results in concentrated urine, and given a combo of potential dietary imbalances (vs what they'd eat in nature) and genetics, it can create crystals or kidney stones.

The other potential issue with dry food is that a lot of it has a lot of filler that cats wouldn't normally eat - e.g. grains. Cats don't even process their proteins that well (that's why a lot of dogs will eat cat poop - it smells like protein to them), and grains are even more of an issue. Cats don't need or require them as their systems are set up to get everything they need from primarily small rodents. Of course those small rodents are seed, grass, and grain eaters, but the cats derive those vitamins from the mice, rabbits, or whatever. That's why if you're going to feed cats a raw diet, it's actually important to provide them with meat from grass fed animals, though I don't think a lot of people think to consider this.

Something else just by way of FYI... Cats' digestive systems are "set up" to process a lot of small meals frequently, and being able to free feed on dry works for this. But they do adapt to fewer large meals less frequently (e.g. rural feral cats that are hunting primarily rabbits).

There have also been a number of debates about quality of food. I don't know if you're referring to inside-only kitties. I know you work with ferals and have a number of outside kitties and indoor/outdoor kitties. It's not as important to worry about the quality of food for ferals, because they most likely supplement human food with their natural prey, which is why feral kitties can do so well on cheap dry food.

 

[hissy]

The problem with dry is two-fold. Most cats gobble food whole, so if they do that and then drink water, the kibble bloats in the stomach, it doesn't break down. Take one kibble, put it in a small jar of water and leave it alone for a bit. When you come back- it has enlarged not dissolved. Now think of that going on in a gobbler's stomach. Not pretty.

With dry you don't have to put water on it to promote bacterial growth- if you free feed, your cat supplies the slobber. Once the cat drool is on the kibble the bacteria gets invited in.

face it, dry food is convenient and cheap for us. Is it the best for cats? no, but then neither is wet food. It's a crap shoot any way you look at it.

 

[furryfriends50]

Originally Posted by lostmary

Hi all, I've been reading a lot of the threads here and alot of times I see a comment about not feeding dry food to cats. My girls get it all the time with a small can of wet in the evening. I thought dry food was good for them, but if it does harm to them or causes something bad to happen down the road I sure would like to know about it.

Please let me know what the concerns are. I understand everyone has an opinion but when i read it so much it makes me think that there is something to it. All info would be really really great.
thank you
Mary

I don't feed my cats dry food for numerous reasons. http://catinfo.org/ is written by a vet who actually knows her stuff, it is about why wet food is better than dry.

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Cat-Simpl.../dp/0312358016 is a link to a book, written by Elizebeth Hodgekins, DVM, that deals with a lot of questions about cat food.

I actually don't even feed much commercial food either. Most of mine are fed a raw diet, explained at http://rawfedcats.org/nature.htm

Why do I refuse to feed dry?

1. Check out the above sites
2. Incredibly low moisture content
3. I promised Milo, my cat who had CRF, that I'd never feed dry food again
4. Low protein
5. High in carbs
6. not much meat
7. cooked to death
8. bad for teeth
9. huge cause of multiple health problems in cats
10. and several more reasons, that I don't have time to list

I take care of 29 cats, yet I find no reason to ever feed them dry food.

Haddie, Chester, Jill, Crystal, Jack, Clover, Lynx, Amiga, Shadow, Buddy, Mo, Blizzard, Missy, Storm, Matilda, Mooshu, Mikey, Morey, Mitch, and Malachi are fed an all raw diet.

Nightmare is fed all high quality grain free canned.

Jezebel, Jazzie, Jazzie's good sister, Jazzie's not so good sister, LaMoose, LaMoose's brother, the good uncle, and the other good uncle are fed grain free (though low quality) canned food in the morning and raw at night. I know, that group of cat's has quite the names

Cost per cat: $0.34 a day on average. Nightmare is my "expensive cat" and his food costs ~$1.40 a day. The kittens, who eat a lot, also bring the average way up.

 

[mrblanche]

Originally Posted by lostmary

Hi all, I've been reading a lot of the threads here and alot of times I see a comment about not feeding dry food to cats. My girls get it all the time with a small can of wet in the evening. I thought dry food was good for them, but if it does harm to them or causes something bad to happen down the road I sure would like to know about it.

Please let me know what the concerns are. I understand everyone has an opinion but when i read it so much it makes me think that there is something to it. All info would be really really great.
thank you
Mary

All over the internet, you will come across "cat food fanatics" that think dry food is the worst thing ever invented. Her is one example: Cat Chat radio show This lady refers to dry food as "Kitty Crack." It IS a way for meat processors to get rid of some things people won't eat, and it does tend to have too much fat (to make it taste good to carnivores) and thus too many calories.

However, probably the worst house-brand grocery-store food is healthier for your cat than what it would eat in the wild, and it doesn't expose them to diseases and parasites (although there are occasionally contaminations of food, as we all know). Purina Cat Chow, for example, is looked down on, but my brother has had a long line of cats that lived 17 years or more on it, and did just fine.

Dry food is also more convenient, especially if you have to be gone for a day or two.

There are some good dry foods (Costco's Kirkland brand gets good reviews).

Another problem is that not all cats will eat wet food, and not all will eat dry food. We have one cat that is very slow to accept any new food and won't eat enough wet.

Do your best, and don't feel guilty. The cat food industry is actually a fairly recent development, mostly since WWII. Cats are living longer and healthier than they did before that.

 

[ducman69]

See this thread for a more balanced viewpoint IMO:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho....php?p=3042971

My ex pushed raw food for people on us, and it can be a healthy diet, but common sense tells you it is not the only healthy diet. So I'd just recommend using a little common sense and take some of the extreme viewpoints with a grain of salt, as people can be a little passionate about a certain diet which leads to gross exaggerations and over-generalization.

Personally, my kitties right now get a wet breakfast, a wet lunch, and a dry dinner from an autofeeder. If I'm away, they get breakfast and dinner dry, and wet in the afternoon. The dry is a low-carb recipe with high quality meats and per the manufacturer is designed w/ a target urine PH of 6.0 to 6.5, and I have three waterfountains available w/ clean flowing water. My cats are healthy, fit, with shiny coats. Unless your cat has a unique health condition, yours should thrive as well.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by hissy

With dry you don't have to put water on it to promote bacterial growth- if you free feed, your cat supplies the slobber. Once the cat drool is on the kibble the bacteria gets invited in.

True. That's one of the reasons I don't free feed my house cats. The other reason is because it would be near catastrophic to do so...
My outdoor cats get a bowl of food each and wet food daily. Neither of them are used to finishing a meal all at once. Even with the wet food it takes them 20-25 minutes to eat it.

Yes, I do consider dry food addictive to cats. It's not that convenient to me - I have to buy 4 different dry foods due to their health issues and pickiness. None of it can be purchased in town and in reality it makes up a small part of their diet compared to wet. But they enjoy the small amount they get..

(plus one is really limited in wet foods he can eat, the LID dry at least gives him a tad bit of variety per day) That's pretty much the only reason I don't use all wet food.

 

[bastetservant]

This comes up here every so often. It's my cue to say that I've successfully, in the past, cared for several cats to age 17+ with them eating almost exclusively dry food - and before quality dry food existed.

Now days I feed the best commercially made food I can find, and mostly kibble. My cats do get about 1 ounce of canned food daily, with about a tablespoon of water mixed in to increase their fluid intake. Some of my cats drink a lot, and some don't. I have 5 water bowls for 5 cats. I keep the water bowls very clean and the water changed daily - to encourage them to drink.

Robin

 

[lostmary]

wow, so much information. I appreciate everyone who replied. I can see so many sides of feeding my kids that is could be hard to figure out. My outdoor only kids are going to stay on dry only, plus all the good things they get from nature. my indoor/outdoor cats get the normal outdoor cat food, plus I keep a bowl of premium dry food out for when they are in. For my inside girls, they are looking so smooth (actually all of them shine like glass), and have bright eyes, clear, normal smelling pee and solid poop, that I think I will keep them on the dry free feed, and a small can of wet every evening. Both of my indoor only girls drink a lot of water. I didn't know that it wasn't always the case for all cats. For as much as I know about my dogs and horses, I'm such a beginner when it comes to my cats. I haven't had a chance to research some of the links I was direct to, but I promise that I will. I want to do what is best for them, keeps them the healthiest and happiest that they can be.
thank you all

Mary

 

[ducman69]

The one thing I do agree on is that its better to schedule feed dry than to free feed.

Dry can very easily be put in an autofeeder though, and remain perfectly fresh and sanitary, with nothing more needed than to wash the bowl once a day or every other day which just lifts right in and snaps into place. The Petmate I purchased allows you to control varying amounts of kibble released up to three times a day, and it exactly holds a 10lb bag of Wilderness kibble in the container. The container is not airtight, but reasonably close to it.

Wet does have a moisture advantage, but IMO a mixed diet with attractive water fountains easily meets a cat's required moisture needs. The studies regarding mild dehydration is typically done with simple bowls of water next to the food, which many cats are somewhat disinterested in, and an exclusive dry diet w/ no wet meals whatsoever.

 

[stephanietx]

Something else to consider is that because most kitties don't drink a lot anyway, dry food can suck a lot of moisture from their bodies to process it and to get it to pass. This can lead to kidney problems as well as constipation, especially over time.

 

[just mike]

You will find a bazillion differing opinions on this topic. They will differ all the way from pro-dry diet to anti-dry diet and on into the fanatics who insist their way of doing things is the only way to go and any other way will do harm to your cat.

The only drawback I've been able to come across regarding a dry diet is if your cat does not drink enough water. Wet foods will help keep your kitty hydrated and help ward off UTIs and other health issues. If your cat is eating a good dry kibble with good ingredients and drinking enough water; you are probably just fine.

One has to use common sense on this issue. I have 4 cats. All of them are different and have different eating habits/preferences. I free feed dry kibble and split a 3oz can among the 4 of them 2x daily. Do I need to feed them the wet? Probably not but they like it and look forward to the "wet" feeding every day. All of my cats are healthy and have never had issues. I think all of them would be fine on a dry only diet.

Use your own common sense and use a premium or specialty dry kibble if you feel comfortable doing so.

 

[elayman]

Originally Posted by NutroMike

The only drawback I've been able to come across regarding a dry diet is if your cat does not drink enough water.

How to know what is enough ? Two of my cats are 4 1/2 and one is 3. For the first two years I had them free feeding on Natural Balance Original Ultra Ultra-Premium Dry Cat Food. I didn't have fountains at the time, but they still were drinking what I thought was a sufficient amount. The only issues of concern seemed to be chronic ear itching and dermatitis and even so, the vets never suggested it could be anything to do with lack of moisture content.

Before getting smacked totally out of left field with thousands of dollars in vet bills from multiple UTIs/bladder inflamation, massive complications with antibiotics in one....followed almost immediately by the blockage, surgery and aftercare in another.

They are now all on an all-canned, portioned feedling diet consisting of the very expensive Royal Canin SO and Holistic Select (aka "Eagle Pack"). Under which the kitties have lost weight, gained muscle tone, coat and eye glean - all aspects to be extremely thankful for.

The disappearance of skin and ear issues has still been the only calculable cost savings. All for pennies on the dollar. It is a risk I NEVER would have taken in hindsight.

 

[furryfriends50]

Originally Posted by elayman

How to know what is enough ?

A cat needs to drink 1.25 cups of water for every cup of dry food they eat, in order to not become dehydrated.

 

[bastetservant]

Originally Posted by furryfriends50

A cat needs to drink 1.25 cups of water for every cup of dry food they eat, in order to not become dehydrated.

Where did that number, "1.25 cups," come from?



Robin

 

[furryfriends50]

Originally Posted by bastetservant

Where did that number, "1.25 cups," come from?



Robin

Well, lets figure you want to get as much water into them as you would, if they were eating canned/raw food.

Canned food is roughly 78% moisture.

Dry is roughly 10% moisture.

Bear with me, cause I am not good at explaining math, but here goes.

Take a cup of water, and a cup of dry food. The water is 100% moisture with the dry being 10%. So together that would make 110% moisture, but you need to devide that by 2, because there are two things. So you got it up to 55% moisture.

So you have 2 cups of somewhat mushy dry food at that point. Take another 1/4 of a cup of water (100% moisture, being added to 8x as much 55% moisture).

Take 55 times 8 which is 440. Add 100, which is 540. Devide by 9 (which is how many 1/4 cups there are total). So it is 60% moisture...about enough to keep a cat from being badly dehydrated, but not enough to keep them totally hydrated.

So ideally, you really want a more than a 2:1 water to dry food ratio (making the total moisture content being 70% moisture at the 2:1 point).

So unless I did the math wrong, you do want the cat to drink AT LEAST 1.25 cups of water for each cup of dry food. Better yet it would be two cups of water for each cup of dry food. Not gonna happen...

 

[ducman69]

Originally Posted by furryfriends50

Take a cup of water, and a cup of dry food. The water is 100% moisture with the dry being 10%. So together that would make 110% moisture, but you need to devide that by 2, because there are two things. So you got it up to 55% moisture.

So unless I did the math wrong, you do want the cat to drink AT LEAST 1.25 cups of water for each cup of dry food. Better yet it would be two cups of water for each cup of dry food. Not gonna happen...

Your math is right but premise wrong.

Consumption of cat food is by calories. You would need to take a fixed calorie count, preferably by a can since most cans have calorie information by can and dry food in kcal/kg. You would then have an apples to apples feeding basis to know what equivalent of "insert brand" dry food is equal to a 5.5oz can of "insert brand" to start a moisture comparison. The reason this is important is that the feeding amount of Wellness Core which is high calorie is different than a typical grocery store brand w/ fillers for example.

Once you know how much of a particular dry equals a particular can of wet, you can compare the water content. One is 10% water by weight, the other 78% water by weight. So you would need to add 68% of the weight of dry in water weight.

The lazy method would be to take the feeding suggestion of Wellness Core Dry for a 12lb cat which is 2/3to 3/4 cup dry and compare it to Wellness Core Wet which would be two cans on the absolute maximum suggestion or around 1 and 1/3 cups of which around 80% moisture would be a ~ cup of water, and then subtract 10% moisture from up to 3/4 cup of dry by weight. Pretty obvious that the daily difference is less than a cup of water.