Is kibbles really bad?

[TeaMatcha]

Hi all,

My cat prefers kibbles over wet food. When I first adopted her, I hate the idea of giving kibbles to any cats as there's always videos on TikTok that claims that it's unhealthy and will cause health issues in the future. So I strictly gave my cat wet food twice a day, breakfast and dinner, and tried out freeze dried for lunch and supper. However, my cat will rather starve herself than to eat the wet food or, she will lick a few mouth and walked off.

Afraid that she will starve herself to death, I gave in and gave her kibbles with freeze dried chicken for breakfast and lunch. But for dinner time, strictly wet food with freeze dried chicken and cod fish. For her dinner, she usually can only finish half a can of 80 grams.

I really tried my best to provide her with the best cat wet food ever but it doesn't sits well with her tummy and will cause her to have bad diarrhoea if the protein level is too high. She will have diarrhoea with Wellness Core and etc. Those that's high end and good for cats at where I'm based at. So I came to a conclusion that giving kibbles to her, even tho I don't know if it's healthy, is better than her starving herself.

Currently she takes Science Diet Adult kibbles. I know... Lots of people have been saying this isn't a good brand but that's what she's on ever since. Thought of changing it in the future if needed. For her wet food, it consists of different brands such as Schesir, Almo Nature and Monge. Will be trying Little Big Paw on her soon but really afraid that it might cause her diarrhoea as it's a new food.

Her poop and pee are all normal. She's weighting 4.5kg. 2 years old and turning three next year April.

So, I would like to hear more from you guys and gain more knowledge. Of course I would like her to have healthier wet food daily but it's really frustrating when she will just hide herself for hours rather than eating her wet food.

Not sure if you guys believes in animal communicator, but my cat actually told the animal communicator that she doesn't like wet food and to her, any wet food is the same as eating congee.

 

[cmshap]

Here are some threads I started on my cat's diet, relating to his preference for dry food, my attempts to feed him wet, and where I landed on combining both dry and wet:

Wet/dry food ratio and pooping issues

Dealing with dry-food addiction

For most of Willy's life prior to a couple of years ago, he was dry-only. Now, I've been feeding him a combination that varies depending on what he will eat, but ideally, for him, 3:1 wet:dry is what makes his digestive system the happiest.

His dry food has been a few different Hills Science Diet variations, for the most part. If there are complaints about it, I'm not aware of them, but I don't personally read too much into that stuff. Hills was recommended by my previous vet years ago for Willy's specific needs before she retired, and I trusted her on most issues.

Willy has also been very food-sensitive over the years, and has vomited a lot, so the brands of food I choose (both dry and wet) hinge largely on what he will willingly eat and tolerate the best.

 

[BeccaCat]

I’ll probably get pushback for this, but kitty’s gotta eat. Yes in an ideal world, they’d all eat up healthy wet food. My Tessa came with so many health problems, and yes I’ve tried so many wet foods. She’ll eat a little wet a day. But she absolutely loves Kitten Chow. She’s almost 4, but she discovered kitten chow when we got a new kitten. Tessa has always been too thin, and the vet says it’s ok for her to eat the kitten chow because she’s so small. And it has helped her get to a healthier weight.
All of that to say, each kitty is different. Do what works best for your cat. Ask your vet their opinion. I have a “cat only” vet and I value her opinion.
Tessa eats maybe half a pouch of wet food a day. I’d suggest trying your kitty to eat a bit of wet food, but I wouldn’t stress over it too, too much.

I have a friend who rescues cats and she has six cats of her own. She can’t afford to feed them wet food so they eat primarily dry. They are all doing just fine. It might not be the absolute best, but a warm safe home with kibble is certainly much better than being a stray kitty.

 

[IndyJones]

I’ll probably get pushback for this, but kitty’s gotta eat. Yes in an ideal world, they’d all eat up healthy wet food. My Tessa came with so many health problems, and yes I’ve tried so many wet foods. She’ll eat a little wet a day. But she absolutely loves Kitten Chow. She’s almost 4, but she discovered kitten chow when we got a new kitten. Tessa has always been too thin, and the vet says it’s ok for her to eat the kitten chow because she’s so small. And it has helped her get to a healthier weight.
All of that to say, each kitty is different. Do what works best for your cat. Ask your vet their opinion. I have a “cat only” vet and I value her opinion.
Tessa eats maybe half a pouch of wet food a day. I’d suggest trying your kitty to eat a bit of wet food, but I wouldn’t stress over it too, too much.

I have a friend who rescues cats and she has six cats of her own. She can’t afford to feed them wet food so they eat primarily dry. They are all doing just fine. It might not be the absolute best, but a warm safe home with kibble is certainly much better than being a stray kitty.

Nailed it. It's better to feed a cat something they will eat rather than forcing something on them.

Canned is better but not all cats like it and some cats may need a dry food if they prefer grazing.

Kabuto has become a grazer since getting his thyroid under control and canned food is not his favourite, never has been. I was throwing out more than he was eating because it spoils after a couple hours.

And ticktock is no better than youtube. People post videos of them eating laundry pods, does that mean its a good idea? Nope.

 

[maggie101]

Hi all,

My cat prefers kibbles over wet food. When I first adopted her, I hate the idea of giving kibbles to any cats as there's always videos on TikTok that claims that it's unhealthy and will cause health issues in the future. So I strictly gave my cat wet food twice a day, breakfast and dinner, and tried out freeze dried for lunch and supper. However, my cat will rather starve herself than to eat the wet food or, she will lick a few mouth and walked off.

Afraid that she will starve herself to death, I gave in and gave her kibbles with freeze dried chicken for breakfast and lunch. But for dinner time, strictly wet food with freeze dried chicken and cod fish. For her dinner, she usually can only finish half a can of 80 grams.

I really tried my best to provide her with the best cat wet food ever but it doesn't sits well with her tummy and will cause her to have bad diarrhoea if the protein level is too high. She will have diarrhoea with Wellness Core and etc. Those that's high end and good for cats at where I'm based at. So I came to a conclusion that giving kibbles to her, even tho I don't know if it's healthy, is better than her starving herself.

Currently she takes Science Diet Adult kibbles. I know... Lots of people have been saying this isn't a good brand but that's what she's on ever since. Thought of changing it in the future if needed. For her wet food, it consists of different brands such as Schesir, Almo Nature and Monge. Will be trying Little Big Paw on her soon but really afraid that it might cause her diarrhoea as it's a new food.

Her poop and pee are all normal. She's weighting 4.5kg. 2 years old and turning three next year April.

So, I would like to hear more from you guys and gain more knowledge. Of course I would like her to have healthier wet food daily but it's really frustrating when she will just hide herself for hours rather than eating her wet food.

Not sure if you guys believes in animal communicator, but my cat actually told the animal communicator that she doesn't like wet food and to her, any wet food is the same as eating congee.

Have you tried mixing canned with wet? Have you tried minced,chunks,wide variety of meat? My cats like weruva. Shredded chicken is hard to resist for a cat! My cat Maggie does not like strait pate. Only shredded,minced,or chunks

 

[iPappy]

TeaMatcha , I wouldn't starve a cat into eating wet food only if they were happily eating dry food. As others mentioned, cats need to eat to avoid some health complications and withholding what she will willingly eat in order to try to coerce her into eating something she doesn't like is a recipe for disaster IMO. I see no harm in offering her a little taste of wet food on occasion if you really want to switch her over. There are techniques you can try to get cats who will eat only dry food to eat wet food. Some cats just won't budge on their preferences though.
The big concern with dry food fed cats is hydration. How is her water intake? Does she drink plenty of water? If she isn't a big water drinker, do you have/have you considered a fountain?

 

[daftcat75]

Wellness has xanthan gum. Xanthan gum makes some cats (and people too) have diarrhea. I wouldn't rush to blame the protein. Can you find another wet food without xanthan gum? Can you get Fancy Feast Classic pates? Rawz? Mouser? Even Sheba or Tiki Cat (not their mousse foods.) If you can't find these brands, I would simply look for ones without xanthan gum and something with meat as the first ingredient. Added oil and pea protein can also cause loose stools. It's sort of a detective game with wet food. Keep trying. Take notes of what you tried and look at the non-animal ingredients (besides the added vitamins and minerals.) You have her whole life to figure it out. My Krista was a kibble addict for 13 years until IBD and pancreatitis turned her into a wet food and raw food convert. But we had to go through many brands to find the ones she enjoyed and did well with. In the meantime, make these experiments small lunch time or dinner guest stars, and let her eat what she's going to eat the rest of the day. This way if something is a bust, it's impact is limited and it's easy enough to unwind without messing up all her meals.

 

[TeaMatcha]

Nailed it. It's better to feed a cat something they will eat rather than forcing something on them.

Canned is better but not all cats like it and some cats may need a dry food if they prefer grazing.

Kabuto has become a grazer since getting his thyroid under control and canned food is not his favourite, never has been. I was throwing out more than he was eating because it spoils after a couple hours.

And ticktock is no better than youtube. People post videos of them eating laundry pods, does that mean its a good idea? Nope.

IMO I rather my cat eats than to starve herself. I used to stressed over her eating wet food and she will gets really angry with me following her around with a plate of canned wet food. In the end, I gave up as I don't want her to starve herself to death, so I gave her kibbles instead. It's only recently the people I know have been telling people who's feeding their cats kibbles and that we should only feed high quality wet food. Those that we seen in TikTok, wet food, salmon oil, different types of freeze dried an she have been saying that those kibbles brands that vet recommended to us are not good as it's highly processed and that vet are sponsored to sell it to consumer. I understand where she's coming from but I feel that it really depends on the cat itself. Just like how some humans prefer soupy food but some just doesn't.

 

[TeaMatcha]

TeaMatcha , I wouldn't starve a cat into eating wet food only if they were happily eating dry food. As others mentioned, cats need to eat to avoid some health complications and withholding what she will willingly eat in order to try to coerce her into eating something she doesn't like is a recipe for disaster IMO. I see no harm in offering her a little taste of wet food on occasion if you really want to switch her over. There are techniques you can try to get cats who will eat only dry food to eat wet food. Some cats just won't budge on their preferences though.
The big concern with dry food fed cats is hydration. How is her water intake? Does she drink plenty of water? If she isn't a big water drinker, do you have/have you considered a fountain?

Yes, she drink plenty of water. We have a water fountain for her she does eat wet food but only for a meal, which is her dinner. For her breakfast, she doesn't want to. Her wet food is complementary and not complete food hence we gives her salmon oil and probiotics daily.

 

[maggie101]

Yes, she drink plenty of water. We have a water fountain for her she does eat wet food but only for a meal, which is her dinner. For her breakfast, she doesn't want to. Her wet food is complementary and not complete food hence we gives her salmon oil and probiotics daily.

Breakfast is when my cat eats the most. Probably because of calories. That may be why she wants dry.

 

[jclark]

Hi all,

My cat prefers kibbles over wet food. When I first adopted her, I hate the idea of giving kibbles to any cats as there's always videos on TikTok that claims that it's unhealthy and will cause health issues in the future. So I strictly gave my cat wet food twice a day, breakfast and dinner, and tried out freeze dried for lunch and supper. However, my cat will rather starve herself than to eat the wet food or, she will lick a few mouth and walked off.

Afraid that she will starve herself to death, I gave in and gave her kibbles with freeze dried chicken for breakfast and lunch. But for dinner time, strictly wet food with freeze dried chicken and cod fish. For her dinner, she usually can only finish half a can of 80 grams.

I really tried my best to provide her with the best cat wet food ever but it doesn't sits well with her tummy and will cause her to have bad diarrhoea if the protein level is too high. She will have diarrhoea with Wellness Core and etc. Those that's high end and good for cats at where I'm based at. So I came to a conclusion that giving kibbles to her, even tho I don't know if it's healthy, is better than her starving herself.

Currently she takes Science Diet Adult kibbles. I know... Lots of people have been saying this isn't a good brand but that's what she's on ever since. Thought of changing it in the future if needed. For her wet food, it consists of different brands such as Schesir, Almo Nature and Monge. Will be trying Little Big Paw on her soon but really afraid that it might cause her diarrhoea as it's a new food.

Her poop and pee are all normal. She's weighting 4.5kg. 2 years old and turning three next year April.

So, I would like to hear more from you guys and gain more knowledge. Of course I would like her to have healthier wet food daily but it's really frustrating when she will just hide herself for hours rather than eating her wet food.

Not sure if you guys believes in animal communicator, but my cat actually told the animal communicator that she doesn't like wet food and to her, any wet food is the same as eating congee.

When considering cats as a whole here are some problems with kibble only diets.
- Low moisture. Cats aren't big drinkers. We don't want to put excess strain on their kidneys.
- Excess carbohydrates which cause weight gain (diabetes), and can cause chronic gastrointestinal issues later in life. Protein is expensive and carbohydrates add volume to food which makes it harder to overfeed. Think daily serving 1 cup vs 1/4 cup.

Obviously not all cats are the same so some may never have problems with a kibble only diet.

 

[Alldara]

TeaMatcha None of those TikTokers have provided any peer-reviewed research to support their opinion. They're getting it from behavioural experts like Jackson Galaxy, and HE hasn't even provided any sources.... because there isn't any. There's just not enough research on cat food on HEALTHY (no pre-existing conditions) cats to show that that is true.

What has been proven true is that the stress you're putting on yourself and your cat when trying all this isn't good for either of you.

If you can get your cat eating say one can of something or half a can of something once a day with some extra water added, that will support the health enough to provide benefits of added hydration.

We don't know if these expensive "high quality" foods are any better than the average Fancy Feast, Purina etc. The VCA sums it up perfectly: Research is ongoing! What's in My Cat's Food?: Designer Diets, Grain Free Diets | VCA | VCA Canada Animal Hospitals

Basically, the same additude pushing raw, pushing the designer diets are simply the same additude of people pushing that we should all eat Keto diets because it's "natural" and "what we used to eat". And while that additude may work for some cats and for some people, cats and people alike have unique individual needs.



Bottom line: Feed what your cat will eat that will allow you to comfortably afford yearly vet checks and bloodwork to catch any conditions early.