Hello
I have Sophie on a "dry food" only diet and everything seem to be working fine. She's growing at a good pace and we never had a soft or runny stool. Her appetite is good and no stomach upset whatsoever. I've read alot on this board about dry vs canned or mixing alittle of both as opposed to dry only. I've used this process of dry food only feeding on all my cats (Chelsea is going on 19!) and have never had any severe health issues. I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing for my Raggie, since I've always had DSH cats, not a purebred.
My breeder also has her cats and kittens on dry only and says this is fine. Just want to ease my mind
Thanks
Carol C.
I think that a good quality dry food (kitten up to a year) should meet her needs well if she enjoys it and has no problems with it. I almost wish that Dexter wasn't so enamoured with the canned because from a selfish point of view, dry is so much easier.
If I had only one cat, I would feed just dry too probably. I only feed a little canned in the morning and evening to my girls so I can make sure they really are eating. With two eating dry food out of the same dishes it's hard to tell if one is "off" their food.
Dry food only is fine. That being said, cats with kidney problems are recommended to perhaps get more fluid in by using wet. For that reason and because one more easily identifies loss of appetite (which is a sign of illness) with wet, it is a good idea to feed some wet. It is not worth turning the household upside down based on what is now known, but it would be a plus to feed both. (Some cats are not interested in wet food - and some are not interested in dry.)
Is there an increased risk of UTI in males eating only dry?
This is a matter of disagreement. I doubt it. Certainly many males who eat dry only never have UTIs.
Thanks, Jan. Newman is really preferring his dry over wet food lately but I've heard this a few times so I try to push the canned food more...but I don't really know how true or untrue the UTI concern is.
CarolC, I've done quite a bit of research on feline nutrition and thus, I try to limit the amount of dry food I feed my cat. I have a holistic vet who places a strong emphasis on proper feeding and she recommends feeding primarily canned and/or raw.
Have you seen this?: catinfo.org
I also read these books and found them to be quite convincing:
Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life (Paperback)
~ Elizabeth M. Hodgkins
Whole Health for Happy Cats: A Guide to Keeping Your Cat Naturally Healthy, Happy, and Well-Fed (Quarry Book) (Paperback)
~ Sandy Arora
I prefer a natural, holistic approach to the care of my pets, while others favor a more conventional approach. But it is healthy to gather information from both 'sides' and make your own educated choices.
As I have written before, but it is worth repeating. These folks are individual vets without any academic standing. Most are not even board certified in any relevant specialty. (Actually, I cannot recall ANY who are board certified, much less with academic appointments.) Citations to research to support their theories are unavailable and they even mislead about the state of the science, for example the need to reduce protein/phosphorous content in cats in kidney failure - an issue much more important than small increases in fluid intake. She even denigrates the way to assure adequate levels of hydration in cats in kidney failure - sub q fluids. Her citations are to her own comments on her own chat sites.
My DLH cat would eat only the dry food, and lived many, many years as a very healthy cat, with no problems. Still though, because I'd heard the same thing as Halebop did, from time to time I would try to feed him canned and it was a no go. With Phoenix, he just luvs both canned and dry.