Who Feeds Their Cat(s) Only Canned Food For Their Main Meals?

[wombat]

I feed my cat only canned food (I feed him dry food as a treat). He has CKD and won't drink, so I feed him canned food mixed with water. A couple of months ago, I posted this study on this site. They studied cats with and without oral squamous cell carcinoma and found that cats who eat a lot of canned food have 3.6 X the risk of developing oral SCC (Environmental and lifestyle risk factors for oral squamous cell carcinoma in domestic cats. - PubMed - NCBI).
Just wanted to see if there are people who feed their cats a lot of canned food and their cats remain fine!

 

[Erin80]

I do....but my cats are only 4 months and 7 months. Cats that are fed all dry food have an increased risk for some things...and same thing goes for cats that are fed all wet. All wet is much healthier in the long run though.
My cats eat about 10oz each....maybe even more....a day! They're growing though.

 

[daftcat75]

My last cat never ate canned and still developed oral scc. My current cat only ate dry for her first dozen years (didn’t know any better) and has dental disease and IBD. Clearly any reduced risk of not feeding canned isn’t without it’s own risk factors for other conditions.

 

[Azazel]

You can give your cat raw bones and gizzards to chew on for dental health. If considering feeding raw bones do some research into the raw feeding sub forum here to see which kinds of bones are safe and how to feed.

Neither canned nor kibble cleans teeth.

 

[Willowy]

I have a theory that cats who eat canned food have a higher chance of mouth cancer because they're eating canned food because they have mouth problems to begin with . Chicken or the egg, right?

Some of mine get canned only. So far so good. The only cat I know who had mouth cancer was my grandma's cat. She ate mostly dry food. And she was a stray so who knows if she lived with a smoker before that.

 

[Gizmobius]

My previous cat developed oral cancer. She ate dry, canned, and whatever she caught outside until the last two years of her life when I finally transitioned her into being indoor only. My two cats now are on all canned and canned/raw so I guess I'll see what happens in the future. The one who enjoys raw does get raw meaty bones to chew on, whereas my female doesn't even recognize that as food so I guess I have two good case studies to watch.

 

[kittyluv387]

Benny is 3.5 years old and eats 100% raw. He doesn't have mouth issues.

My 5.5 and 6 year old eat 100% canned and they're doing fantastic.

 

[Wile]

My last cat ate canned food exclusively for the last 4 years of his life until he had to be put down for renal failure. He never had any issues with his teeth beyond some mild gingivitis, but I also cleaned them. I suspect that if these pet's owners in the study brushed their cats teeth they would see a reduction in SCC like you see in people.

 

[ZepMom]

Feeding 90% wet food for 5-6 years now. I also add water to it. Both kitties have stomatisis (ages 7 & 8). 7yo will tolerate getting his teeth brushed. He's had 1 dental cleaning about 2 years ago. 8yo doesn't have it (stomatisis) as bad & pretty much freaks when you try to brush his teeth.

I chose wet in an effort to prevent renal issues. Lost my female kitty back in 2011. We had a very difficult time switch her to wet food when she develped kidney issues around age 11. I feed dry only since I thought it would help avoid dental issues. Had no idea about renal issues in cats until she developed it. She was almost 15 when we lost her. She didn't have dental issues (only 1 vet cleaning at age 13), but not convinced dental health was due to diet.