# Need good dry food for a cat?



## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

My brother has a cat. It just spent two days in the hospital with dehydration and an inflammed gallbladder. Actually, the cat has two functioning gall bladders. Anyway, we both agree that it's food related. He is currently feeding Purina.

The vet told him no wet food. No idea why. He refuses to consider feeding raw food because he says the meat in my fridge for my dogs is disgusting and it stinks.

I told him I would ask and send him some suggestions for a better quality food than Meow Mix or whatever it is he is giving his cat. Because I have no clue.

Thanks


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

I would recommend a new vet. Absolutely no wet food? For a dehydrated cat? Yeah... that makes sense...

I feed my cat Felidae grain free dry food (best option in Australia, we don't get any of the other good brands you guys have) and give her raw meat too... she generally choses the meat over the dry, but I have to leave the dry out coz she's so picky with the meat and sometimes flat out refuses to eat it lol... bloody cats...


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

hmbutler said:


> I would recommend a new vet. Absolutely no wet food? For a dehydrated cat? Yeah... that makes sense...
> 
> I feed my cat Felidae grain free dry food (best option in Australia, we don't get any of the other good brands you guys have) and give her raw meat too... she generally choses the meat over the dry, but I have to leave the dry out coz she's so picky with the meat and sometimes flat out refuses to eat it lol... bloody cats...


I kinda wondered that too, but I know nothing about cats. Absolutely zero. i will tell him the consensus is the cat should be eating wet food, at least.

and at least I know there are grain free cat foods. I ams sure the food he buys is full of corn.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

hmbutler said:


> I would recommend a new vet. Absolutely no wet food? For a dehydrated cat? Yeah... that makes sense...
> 
> I feed my cat Felidae grain free dry food (best option in Australia, we don't get any of the other good brands you guys have) and give her raw meat too... she generally choses the meat over the dry, but I have to leave the dry out coz she's so picky with the meat and sometimes flat out refuses to eat it lol... bloody cats...


TOTALLY agree!!!!:thumb:

A dehydrated ANYTHING should be given TONS of fluids, let alone a cat! Cats are notorious for getting dehydrated as they do not naturally have an urge to drink water....so I would HIGHLY suggest a new vet, and then also canned food, at least to top off the kibble!!

A high meat content, high quality, grain free canned/soft cat food would be best(for processed foods at least!:wink


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I feed Windy, Orijen. I would love to vary the proteins, but the only one she will eat is the chicken. She will consent to eating the Fromm fish one at times. 
I worry about the lack of moisture as well, so every night she gets offered whatever Mollie is eating, plus cornish hen, and a saucer full of cornish hen blood or canned tuna juice mixed with water. She drinks the lot.
When I first got Mol, she ate a real $hitty kibble, it took FOREVER, like a year, to persuade her to eat the Orijen, but now she loves it.
If your brother could possibly get his cat to eat some canned meat, that would be awesome. If he does switch kibbles or adds in canned meat, make sure he knows it might take months, but it would be so worth it in the end. Hopefully less vet bills, that should be a big persuader!
Thanks for trying to help the kitten have a better life.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

Nala refuses to even sniff canned food now... she's never tried it, but she wont do it. I could probably shove her face in it and she still would leave it on her face just to avoid eating any... lol she's so stubborn. But she will eat turkey leg meat more often than not, and is about 60/40 when it comes to whether or not she will eat chicken necks and wings... sometimes she will, sometimes she wont lol. So because of that, I have to leave her dry food out because when she gets really hungry, she will eat that. She does like sardines too, had forgotten about those, I might give her some tonight :smile:

Good thing about Nala, when it comes to water - she loves drinking from the tap. So I allow her to drink from our bathroom basin, as often as she wants, to keep her fluids up.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

God, Nala and Windy could be sisters. After me skiting about Windr eating feeder mice? Well, bought another 3 today and she won't touch the flippin thing. I honestly could just strangle her sometimes, shaking my head here, I just don't get it. And, Wind will not touch canned food either, I've only tried every type known to mankind.
Xellil, I sure hope your brothers cat is not as fussy or whatever it is you call it as these two spoilt little brats Hayley and I have here!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks to all - I gave him a link to this thread so hopefully he'll read it, and Roscoe the cat will go on living happily with two non-inflamed gall bladders.


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

I feed my boy "Snickers" Evo Herring and Salmon formula! He loves it.. The cranky old lady "Sugar" right now is eating Complete Wellness formula, but she also gets wet food daily... Cat's are so finicky the older they get, it's awful!


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

whiteleo said:


> I feed my boy "Snickers" Evo Herring and Salmon formula! He loves it.. The cranky old lady "Sugar" right now is eating Complete Wellness formula, but she also gets wet food daily... Cat's are so finicky the older they get, it's awful!


I have a friend who buys $60 worth of those little teeny cans every week, and puts out several for her picky cat a day. What the cat eats one day it won't eat the next. She has food in two bedrooms, the kitchen, and the garage. Plus some dry food to boot. It's just insane what she does trying to feed her cat.

What her cat loves is Vaseline - every morning they have a ritual where she gives her cat about a tablespoon of Vaseline. I have no idea if that is good or bad, but maybe it greases things along.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

There's no such thing as a good dry food for a cat. Cats do not feel the urge to drink as easily as dogs or other animals (like ourselves), dry fed cats are chronically dehydrated which leads to all sorts of kidney and urinary issues. Dry food is also WAY too high in carbs for cats (it must be in order to be in kibble form). A mouse is only like 3% carbohydrates, not the 20% or more seen in dry foods. I'd say more than half of all cats are overweight or obese and I'd bet almost all overweight cats are fed dry food as a main component of their diet. Often times weight will just melt off of a cat when it's switched from dry to wet. These excess carbs also no doubt put strain on the cats system which is not at all designed to process such high amounts of carbohydrates.

Yes, some dry foods are worse than others as far as carb count goes so if the cats MUST be fed dry for some reason go with higher protein, lower carb options (most good dog brands have similar cat foods), but no dry good is really good for cats.

Check out this site, I don't particularly like her raw diet, I prefer PMR but she has awesome info on why wet is better than dry (read the obesity section with the two case studies at some point, they're shocking):
Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health

ETA: Here are a couple more links
http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/why-cats-need-canned-food-2/ (this site has a bunch of other articles as well)
http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm (you can skip down to the bottom where it talks about wet vs. dry)


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## GoingPostal (Sep 5, 2011)

What kind of stupid vet would say no wet food for a cat? Wet food is exactly what they should be eating. When I fed canned I used Felidae, Evo, Before Grain, Tiki Cat (many people say to steer clear of fish but it's a once in a while and she loves it) Artemis and many other brands, cats can be picky so varying it up is important. I actually feed raw now because it's cheaper, canned was $1 or more per can, raw chicken is $1 a pound. She eats about 6 ounces a day. If he wants to feed kibble please feed at least partially canned and go for something low carb, high protein, cats are obligate carnivores, they don't need any carbs and don't free fed. I haven't fed kibble in years so not sure what is a good brand anymore.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

Maxy24 said:


> I'd say more than half of all cats are overweight or obese and I'd bet almost all overweight cats are fed dry food as a main component of their diet.


One good thing about my cat - she will never over eat. She is super lean (the vet kept asking recently if she's lost weight, but she's always been the way she is). She free-feeds with her dry food, but still only eats a little bit at a time, every so often. Even with her meat she usually eats some, then comes back later for the rest. I wish I had her self-control... haha


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

God again, just like Windy. Skinny, yet I free feed her. It's never occurred to me not to, but if she was fat I think it'd have sunk in by now that it might not be a good thing. After I'd had Wind for a year, we went to the vet for her annual check up and he mentioned about her weight being so low. I immediately thought I was doing something wrong (my first cat), but he told me 'no, she is perfect'. It was more the fact that something like 90% of the cats he see's are overweight, so he was delighted that she was on the slim side.
So, yes, weight is obviously a huge issue with kittens.
I can't understand why a vet would say no canned food either, everything I've ever read has always recommended canned as the preferred diet for a cat.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

A lower quality canned food is better than a high quality dry in my opinion. I always soak the dog's meat in water for an hour or so before feeding, and dump that water on the kibble for the cats, so they drink more. I feed EVO dry. They do eat some raw too, and some canned, but they tend to puke up the canned after. I like EVO 95% meat canned.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Just to be clear, I am not saying all dry fed cats will be overweight but that most overweight cats will be fed dry foods because it's much easier for the cats to pack on the pounds when fed this diet. Obviously other factors play into weight besides diet, I'm sure we all know people who eat nothing but junk and lots of it but stay super skinny. My own cat was overweight on dry food, stayed over weight on half wet/half dry, and finally dropped down to perfect when on wet. My other cat has been a perfect weight on dry, wet, and raw. 

I do think vets see TONS of overweight cats, it's a real problem. I remember when I brought Willie in to the vet, the vet looked at him, felt him and said "he's a perfect weight which is nice to see for a change". I really don't think they see many lean cats at all, I don't know if people even know what a cat looks like at healthy weight.


I generally hear vets that say "no wet food" follow up with "it'll give your cat gum disease" or some other dental reasoning. Dry and wet both slowly rot your cats teeth, dry does not clean teeth and even if it did it wouldn't be worth it if it trashes his kidneys, gives him crystals, and makes him obese with diabetes.


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## biancaDB (Nov 3, 2011)

NV Instinct, I'd say ... or TOTW OR Natural Balance. I agree with everyone else about the wet food as well. I can't even count the number of people I have got to buy wet food because they had NO idea a cat really needs it !


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I feed my cats TOTW and some canned food for dinner. I also add water to the canned food to make a gravy and increase moisture. I still have trouble getting them to eat much over a teaspoon of the canned especially my older cat, Tabby. My 1 year old male, Mocha, will eat raw now and again so maybe if I keep offering I can switch him at some point. If I ever get another kitten I am going to start raw from day 1 so they don't get all attached to dry food!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I agree with you there kathylcsw. If the heavens part and I can adopt another cat, and it happens to be a kitten, (which isn't likely), I'd most definitely start it off on raw. Windy, at about 3 years old, needs a dental. The vet held her mouth open so I could see for myself, they are pretty gnarly along the gum line. It's another reason why I'm trying so hard to get her to eat mice. She will eat a touch of cornish hen most nights but no bone and I'm at a loss. It's going to cost $380, and she has to go under anesthesia but I'll happily do it because the teeth are so vital to good health.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm lucky in that one of my cats LOVES mice. He gets around three a week though it hasn't made any difference in his teeth (maybe no new tartar buildup). He loves to flip them around, play with them and eventually eat them.. I lock him in the bathroom and then mop afterwards. uke:


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## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

I often purchase cat food for my parents cats and since I'm on a budget, I try to look both for quality and price. 2 of the brands I buy are Trader joes canned food which is $.50-.60 a can and chicken soup for cat lovers soul, its not grain free, but it hasnt caused any digestive issues like grained food did. Last time I paid $18 for 24 cans which is pretty good deal. 
Chicken, chicken liver, salmon, turkey, duck, chicken broth, whole grain brown rice, white rice, oatmeal, potatoes, barley, egg product, guar gum, flaxseed meal, kelp, carrots, peas, apples, dried skim milk, cranberry powder, rosemary extract, parsley flake, taurine, dried chicory root, carrageenan gum, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, D-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, copper sulfate, calcium iodate and sodium selenite.


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## xchairity_casex (Oct 8, 2011)

i really worry about my cats ive had them since i was 9 years old and my mom growing up on a farm cats were well...cats they ate whatever was cheapest and we had 2 girls one boy we got the male neuterd and she said "why bother fixing the girls? they dont leave the house"
so then when i was about 17 i started reading about cats on the internet and learning more and more i was working so i switched them from the cheap meow mix and friskys to (what i thought) the better iams then one girl got pyometra-nearly died i was so upset and worried and the vet started telling me all about pet food and what crap iams really is. so i switched to felidea then jsut recently i find out how bad dry food is for cats period so im trying to switch slowly to raw and canned but unfortunatly a lifetime of dry the cats are reluctant to switch even to canned sure theyll eat a can 2 days a week then you set down a can and they snub it and scream at me for dry! and dont even get me started on raw i have tried grinding raw chicken up adding about a dime sized amount into an entire can of cat food only to see them somehow pick around it ive watched them eat if they get a bite of raw they will literly spit it out onto the floor and walk away.  
i really worry about them you should see my room i keep 15 water bowls scatterd throughout plus our upstairs bathroom that no one ever uses ill fill the sink for them and every morning i scrub every water bowl and add ice cubes to 5 bowls,cold water to 5 bowl and the last five bowls i add luke warm water too. i know it sounds odd but my kitty ema will sometimes turn her nose up to ice water or even cool water and go for the room temp or warmer water. i also make absolutly sure the dogs cant drink from the bowls i wont let them if they do the cats will not touch the dish untill i clean it.
also it sounds strang but my cats like new bowls its almost like fun to them to drink from new dishes so i routinly keep plastic butter dishes or tupperware bowls to fill with water and set down all three cats will fight to drink from it for about 3 days then get bored so then i grab a new bowl.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Caty M said:


> I'm lucky in that one of my cats LOVES mice. He gets around three a week though it hasn't made any difference in his teeth (maybe no new tartar buildup). He loves to flip them around, play with them and eventually eat them.. I lock him in the bathroom and then mop afterwards. uke:


Damn.....I'm at a loss, I'm really reluctant to start brushing her teeth. Bloody cat, why can't she get it through her thick head that I'm just trying to help her.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I feel like larger bones might clean teeth better, chicken wings might be good (and are about as big as you can go for a cat). I've also heard really tough meat like gizzards can help clean them as well.


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## brandypup (Jan 23, 2012)

Geeeze- yea scary. Moisture is a cats friend. Kibble dehydrates. If you cannot afford a high quality canned then even a cheap canned IMHO is better then a quality kibble. That is what my vet told me after feeding oorijen to my cats, I switched them to friskies canned. They were healthy adn dropped weright. About a year after that I went back to raw. Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health


Most of my cats have geneticly bad teeth. The ones with teeth make a mess out of gizzards.  Now My Miss Bones and Ringo and a past foster would eat chicken wings no problems. But current clan isn't into it. I still dont brush their teeth. I keep some chunks in t he ground food.


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## Serenity (Dec 30, 2011)

Lyza... she was a stray but now more of a "I'll come and go as a please" lol. Shes on Vets Choice dry cat food... (which I didnt know exsisted until she showed up)
I sound like a broken record I'm sure but I love this Co products I really do. I swear by it and tell everyone... They only have one dry food formula but it works for her : )


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

Serenity said:


> View attachment 6236
> 
> 
> Lyza... she was a stray but now more of a "I'll come and go as a please" lol. Shes on Vets Choice dry cat food... (which I didnt know exsisted until she showed up)
> I sound like a broken record I'm sure but I love this Co products I really do. I swear by it and tell everyone... They only have one dry food formula but it works for her : )


So, lets see an ingredient list of the foods!


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## Imgliniel (Sep 1, 2011)

I consider myself EXCEPTIONALLY lucky to have two cats that took to raw with gusto, and can handle pretty much anything I put down bone included. *starts knocking on everthing wooden in the office*

For those of you trying to switch your cats and meeting with resistance, may I suggest trying a different approach? Remember cats don't need to trasition slowly through bone in chicken the way dogs do. Many cat raw feeders in a group I am part of suggest trying chicken hearts, or small pieces of gizazards. They are both high in taurine, and tend to be stronger in taste and smell then something like chicken breast. Many cats who have snubbed other things devour chicken hearts like candy.

As to the vet who says no canned food, I think he is bat$hit crazy. Your brother needs a new vet! Wet is definately much better for a cat then any dry out there. At LEAST try and convince him to top the dry with some wet with water added or something. Someone else mentoined that most dog food brands you would consider top notch have equally top notch cat formula's and I find this to be true for the most part.

Good luck with the little kitty and here is hoping he makes a full recovery


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