Why is my vet giving me contradictory advice on wet and dry food?

designvhl

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Hi there, new to the forums, so hello!

I'm going crazy with this issue! My vet just told me today (as I just brought my kitty vegas in for a teeth cleaning this morning) that I should not be feeding her ANY wet food at all) That they should be on an all dry food diet....all cats should be. I've also read that they should be on an all wet food diet - wet food contains water. Vet said this is bad, articles and other forum posts I've read say they need the water, and they get more nutrition from the wet food.

WELL i've read numerous articles - including one in cat fancy mag. that says a dry food only diet can cause urinary tract problems (such as crystals), as well as kidney stones. I've read also that an all wet diet is bad too and that the best is a combination of the two - which is what i do now. It seems like all this info out there is so contradictory it's making me crazy, lol! Is there a website someone can point me to that I can trust to give me the right info?

Vet also keeps pushing/suggesting Iams, Science Diet, & Eukanuba. I read bad things about these foods all the time. Are these vets getting paid to push those products? Every vet I go to they want you to use one of those 3. Why is that? Are they REALLY the best? I have read bad things about Iams, politcally, and nutritionally.

My current cats diet is Blue Spa Select Dry food (http://www.bluebuff.com/products/cats-spa-select.shtml) which I keep out all the time and both my kitties LOVE IT!! Vegas my orange tabby would never eat the dry I put out (I tried Iams, Cat Chow), but since I changed to Blue, I see her eating it all the time.

In the am and pm Vegas gets 1/4 of can of wet fancy feast (which i had no idea was so bad for them). Charlie SOMETIMES eats wet food...it depends on what it is, and what mood he is in, lol. And he doesn't eat a lot of it, a few nibbles.

Would like to know if anyone knows much about my current dry food choice. They also offer wet food and i'm considering changing from Fancy Feast to their brand.

I'm so confused as to what my cats diet's should be now! I've read so many contradictory statements! Any suggestions on feeding habits, and wet & dry food brands that are the best/healthiest for my cats would be great. I really need to know if my vet is telling me this because they were paid to, or if they really are misinformed in the animal care industry. Are the articles I'm reading incorrect? I don't understand why they would be giving me this nutritional advice, if everything I read about it tells me the advice isn't so good. Do I need a new vet? or Is my vet correctly advising me?

Thanks in advance for your advice, and if you made it through this whole post - i'm a bit chatty sometimes.
I just want to be able to give my babies the healthiest diet I can!

-Valerie
 

graciecat

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Hi and welcome to TCS


According to my Vet feeding wet and dry food is best.
He said cats don't always drink enough water so the moisture in the wet food helps to keep them hydrated.

I'm sure someone with better advice will be along shortly, just wanted to give you my Vets opinion.
 
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designvhl

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Originally Posted by Graciecat

Hi and welcome to TCS


According to my Vet feeding wet and dry food is best.
He said cats don't always drink enough water so the moisture in the wet food helps to keep them hydrated.
This is exactly what I've read! I just checked the ingredients w/ the three foods that my vet suggested and compared them to the blue spa select I am currently using....all 3 - science diet, iams, and eukanuba ALL CONTAIN BY-Products, and a lot of grains, liver, corn and fish meals. NONE of those ingredients are in my current food choice. I really want to bring these printouts to my vet, along w/ supporting information and ASK THEM why are you giving me this information and why does it contradict what other experts are saying? I don't know if this would be a good idea or not, but I think they should know that I am aware of the contradictory statements and that it bothers me.
 

sharky

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fish meal isnt bad thou I prefer to know what fish .. salmon ,herring


Vets are usually not well educated on nutrtition... what they get in and after school is from the RX rep s unless they choose to learn on there own

Try the blue spa wet with your crew
better IMHO than most FF .....
 

phenomsmom

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Vets don't really know a whole whole lot about nutrition in gerneral. You will get contradictory advice from most vets. I feed my both. Sharky should be along soon to help you. She knows a LOT about nutrition!

ETA: Never mind, she posted while i was typing!
 
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designvhl

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Ok see that makes me mad, lol!! A vet is SUPPOSED to know and understand the nutrition of the animals they see and take care of. They SHOULD teach that in school, its strange to me that they do not. I don't think they are being fair to their "customers" by not properly advising themselves on what is right for our beloved pets....I mean if they are giving this contradictory advice, wouldn't it be safe to say that they are not giving good/accurate nutritional advice and it just should not be like that!

I feel like a vet should know what IS best for my cat! So what, I just shouldn't listen to their advice? Vets are there for a reason, and misinformation shouldn't be happening here. This is why I am frustrated! Do those RX and food companies like Iam's PAY vets to sell their brand? That doesn't seem like a very honest practice to me, yet it seems to happen at almost all vets and animal hospitals. Am I wrong?

I am definitely going to try the blue spa wet food...they only get a 1/4 can in the am and a 1/4 can in the pm anyways...I can't take the wet food away from vegas, she might end up beating me up while I'm sleeping to get me back! :p

Doesn't it anger anyone else that vets do not know anything about nutrition? Don't you think they should? I feel like something should be done or said about this, lol!
 

phenomsmom

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I have just kind of moved on from that. There are a ton of resources that you can find to see what they are supposed to be getting.

But I do agree they should teach the vets about nutrition.
 

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When my vet told me that I should take my 4 month old feral rescue off kitten food and give him adult, I told him, that's your opinion, I'm going to do what I feel is best.

Ditto with any vet comments regarding wet vs dry.

I spend the time to educate MYSELF, and I will make the best decisions based upon the information I gather.

I agree with those who say that dry is more likely to cause dental issues - crackers and potato chips and cookies stick to my teeth MUCH more than do soups and stews. So it goes to follow that the dry food would stick to the cat's teeth more than would the wet food.

The more moisture in a cat's food the better - as long as they are getting balanced nutrients. That's my educated opinion.


When a vet gives you bad food advice, just smile, nod, and do your own thing. If you need a vet that supports your food choices, shop around until you find one.
 

semiferal

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Originally Posted by DesignVHL

Do those RX and food companies like Iam's PAY vets to sell their brand? That doesn't seem like a very honest practice to me, yet it seems to happen at almost all vets and animal hospitals. Am I wrong?
Yes, the food companies do pay the vets to promote and sell their foods. Plus they give vets free food for their own pets - which is significant considering that most small animal vets, being animal lovers, have menageries at home and massive student loan debts. If someone offered me free food for my gang and paid me to promote their product, I'd probably have a hard time turning it down.

Bottom line is that doctors - human and animal - don't learn much about nutrition in school. Sure, they learn about calories and protein and carbohydrates and fats and vitamins and minerals, but that's different from learning about food. Just going by what you learn about micro- and macronutrients, you could come to the conclusion that it's okay to drink a protein shake containing enough of each nutrient and you'd be well nourished. Anyone with common sense knows that's crazy, of course, but it's a conclusion that could conceivably be reached by someone who's book smart and not so real world smart.

Another problem with cat nutrition is that many, many vets seem to operate on the premise that cats are smaller-than-average dogs with sharper claws. They aren't as familiar with the peculiarities of cats, including behavior and nutrition. That's why I would always recommend either taking your cat to a feline exclusive practice or finding an individual vet who is more feline-oriented. A good way to do this is to look at a practice's website and read the little biographies on the vets. Look for one who mentions an interest in cats and who has a few cats at home. Also, you can look for membership in the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) as a sign that a vet is up on the latest in feline medicine.
 

jenny82

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Hi Valerie!
Welcome to TCS!

I feed both wet and dry food, and I do think that the wet is more important for health. I also try to find food that does not contain any by-products or other questionable ingredients. If you do some searches on this forum, you can find a LOT of info on nutrition. Good luck!
 

sarahp

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I have no idea why vets give such bad advice. Maybe because they want the future money for expensive teeth cleaning and so forth....

I think you need a good balance. Ideally, a cat should be on a raw diet with bones to chew and the like. Unfortunately most of us don't have time for that.

I go for the natural foods. I feed Wellness tinned food in the evenings and its ingredient list is:

Chicken, Chicken Liver, Turkey, Chicken Broth, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Flaxseed, Squash, Cranberries, Blueberries, Zucchini, Potassium Chloride, Garlic, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, Iron Proteinate (a source of Chelated Iron), Beta-Carotene, Zinc Proteinate (a source of Chelated Zinc), Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Cobalt Proteinate (a source of Chelated Cobalt), Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate (a source of Chelated Copper), Folic Acid, Manganese Proteinate (a source of Chelated Manganese), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Biotin.

I'm comfortable feeding that to my girls. I also sprinkle the Wysong dental supplement on the top of the food which is supposed to be very good for their teeth.

They also get a constant supply of dry food. They are getting Natures Variety dry food at the moment, and the first few ingredients of that are:

Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Menhaden Fish Meal, Flaxseed Meal, Montmorillonite Clay, Natural Chicken Flavor, Alfalfa Meal, Chicken Liver, Potassium Chloride, Sea Salt, DL-Methionine,

I find the Nature's Variety very expensive to feed 3 growing, active cats, so have changed to a different dry food which was a little cheaper, but still had a similar ingredient list. I haven't started that one yet, but the Nature's Variety will run out in the next week or so and I'll change over then.

I'll check tonight when I get home what that one is.

My girls all have beautiful, healthy looking coats, have great teeth, and have plenty of energy, so I'm happy with the balance I have at the moment


Edit: And welcome to TCS!!!! People will have many differing opinions on things here, but we're all cat people who have done a lot of research into what's best for our cats for our budget, you;ll get a lot of good advice
 
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designvhl

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thanks these have been some great responses, much appreciated! I've learned one thing though, don't always listen to your vet...research yourself to make the best decisions - which i've always done anyways - never hurts to double check advice. I'm glad I decided to come on this board!


I'm definitely going to get rid of the fancy feast (apparently it's also known as "Kitty Krack") that gave me a chuckle....my little orange tabby vegas goes crazy when I bring out the wet food...its the ONLY time she purrs. My little girl loves to eat, that's for sure! I could never get rid of her wet food.

That spa select for the dry food has been treating them well also...thought I'd share the ingredients list. Its about $30/per large bag. You may want to give that a shot! Vegas used to NEVER eat dry food till I changed from the crappy Iams to this stuff. Now I see her eating dry all the time, and that makes me happy to know she isn't starving herself to wait for wet food at night.

Blue Spa Select - Indoor Cat formula:

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Fish Meal, Whole Ground Barley, Potato Flour, Oatmeal, Natural Flavor, Dried Cellulose, Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Fructooligosacharides, Cranberries, Whole Ground Sweet Potatoes, Whole Ground Carrots, Psyllium Calcium Chloride, Sea Salt, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Ground Flaxseed, Yucca Shidigera Extract, Dried Kelp, Dried Molasses, Malted Barley Flour, Taurine, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Mixed Tocopherols, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), L-Carnitine, Spirulina, Lecithin, Tumeric, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Casei, Enterococcus Faecium, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum, Niacin, Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamin Hydrochloride, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Calcium Iodate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Vitamin K Supplement, Biotin.

See anything bad in there? Seemed like the best option after looking at the ingredients of just about all the dry food options at pet smart, I went with this one. I'm definitely going to try their wet food selections also - but I have to finish using up the fancy feast krack since I just bought like 20 cans! YEESH!
 

bab-ush-niik

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BTW, PetSmart and PetCo have pretty poor selection for good cat foods. I'd suggest checking petfooddirect.com. They have a wonderful selection of good foods, and the prices are good too. I get Eagle Pack from them.
 

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Originally Posted by DesignVHL

Ok see that makes me mad, lol!! A vet is SUPPOSED to know and understand the nutrition of the animals they see and take care of.
As has been mentioned, vets don't get taught much about nutrition. They deal with the diagnosis and treatment of disease and like most human doctors don't always know a lot about preventative health and nutrition. A lot of what they learn comes from food manufacturers. When you add to that the number of species a vet has to know about and all the different specialties they need to be familiar with it's not surprising that feline nutrition isn't always their best subject. Unless they have a special interest in the subject they're unlikely to be up to date with the latest research. Nutrition is an area where we as pet owners need to do our own research just as we do with our own diet.

I firmly believe that wet food is best. Dry food is a man made food that's low in water and high in carbs - the total opposite of a cat's natural diet. I used to feed dry food (plus a small amount of wet as a treat) believing it to be good for them, but after reading posts on here and doing my own research I've changed my mind completely. I can see little to recommend dry food other than cost and convenience. Dry food used to be recommended for dental care but that view is changing with the general view now being that dry food doesn't help clean the teeth'

Here are a few articles you might like to read re feline nutrition

http://www.catinfo.org/

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...dcleantheteeth

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...needcannedfood

http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4a.php
 
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designvhl

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wow I'm going to have to set some time aside tonight to do some more reading, so much info out there, it's almost an overload, lol!

See now reading this makes me crazy...am i best to stop dry food? Should I increase the wet food more, so they eat LESS Dry food? Charlie barly eats the wet...i don't know why he just never has liked it...and when he was a kitten it used to upset his tummy. But I think I could get him to eat it more...if Vegas would stop stealing it from him! hee hee!

Also just wanted to mention that I posted in the new cat on the block (lol) forum, and included some photos of the cats if your interested in seeing em!


http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=114782

Thanks again you guy's, you've been a big help!!

ps also definitely going to check on that website...can't beat having the food delivered to the door instead of running out and having to run to the store! perhaps I'll order the dog food from there too!
 

semiferal

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Originally Posted by DesignVHL

I'm definitely going to get rid of the fancy feast (apparently it's also known as "Kitty Krack") that gave me a chuckle....
The commercial that says "is it love, or is it Fancy Feast?" always makes me LOL because I know what the answer is! It's Fancy Feast.
 

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Blue Spa Select - Indoor Cat formula:

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meallove seeing both
, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Fish MealI like to know who, Whole Ground Barleyclose realative to wheat if no allergies it is fine, Potato Flour, Oatmeal, Natural Flavor, Dried CelluloseI DONT like this unless stated what as it often is sawdust, Chicken Fat (preserved with Natural Mixed Tocopherols), Fructooligosacharidesawesome fiber, Cranberrieswhole crans arent quite as good for uti as the powder which is more concetrated, Whole Ground Sweet Potatoesgreat wish it were higher up and less grains , Whole Ground Carrots, PsylliumNot thrilled as this is a indiestable fiber Calcium Chloride, Sea Salttooo high for me usually for flavor but this should be flavorful enough, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Ground Flaxseed, Yucca Shidigera Extract, Dried Kelp, Dried Molassessugar , Malted Barley Flour, Taurine, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Mixed Tocopherols, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Zinc), Iron Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Iron), L-Carnitine, Spirulina, Lecithin, Tumeric, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Casei, Enterococcus Faecium, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum, Niacin, Copper Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Copper), Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Manganese Amino Acid Complex (source of Chelated Manganese), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Thiamin Hydrochloride, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Calcium Iodate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Vitamin K Supplement, Biotin.


Overall Blue spa is a good food...

For the cost I look at others that arent holistic and are simple yet good
but that is MHO

Stop dry only if $$ and your cats agree... I like a little dry for snacks
 

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All you can do is try out different things, go to reputed pet food stores, talk to people, then decide what works for you


There's a fantastic store near me called For Other Living Things, which I only just found and they're fantastic. From their website:

Critter Friendly
Observe any animal. How does it look when it's at peace with the world? What conditions existed when it felt at peace? How does it normally live? What actions are natural? What aspects of "normal" life have changed for it in its current surroundings? Which of these aspects may we want to provide our family friend to keep it healthy and happy? For Other Living Things asks these questions and answers them creatively and compassionately. But there is more to this equation. You need to be able to live with this arrangement, too.

Earth Friendly
Let's get real. Earth friendly? Here we are, For Other Living Things, located in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Surely doesn't seem earth friendly at times. We have found a lot of not so earth friendly products that are readily available to help us care for our critters. There are other products that work just as well or better and don't exploit our people, critters or planet. For Other Living Things strives to locate and provide earth friendly products to you. This is an area that will always be evolving. We welcome your comments, suggestions and ideas. Feel free to contact us.
They get my vote if nothing else, because the share my ideals, and the people actually do care.
 

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Why is my vet giving me contradictory advice on wet and dry food?
Because they all have different opinions. So do cat owners. None of them are 'right'. I've learned this over the years.


Feed what you think is best. I personally feed BOTH.
 
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