Food Problems

Hello guys

Well As advised by vet Humphrey has been put on just dry food. At first he did not seem to mind, but now he trots over and just looks at it. I do try to vary it but he is not having it.

I have made one fatal mistake and that is by giving him some treats. They are thedry treats with some cheese in,think they are made by whiskers. He LOVES them and thats all he wants! Trouble is vet said Humphrey is now a good weight and she really does not want him putting any more weight on. He has a litle siamese in him so he should be a slinky version of a cat,not the chubby version he has become!!!

He is really starting to show his disgust at me if I do not put treats down for him.

what do I do

Claire

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Why did your vet suggest dry food? Maybe he's just not keen on dry food (or on the brand you're feeding). Do you give him any wet food?

re the treats - Thrive do some freeze dried chicken/fish treats which are healthy and low cal. Also natures menu do treats which are 70% meat. But it sounds like he's just not satisfied with his main meals and is wanting treats because he's hungry so maybe it's just a case of changing his food until you find something he likes.

My vet said it is much healthier and better for him to have dry food. I have varied the dry food and tried different brands, to start with he enjoys them and then gets very fussy. He is very spolit and I do admit to jumping to his every meow!!

However, he used to have wet food and would do the same. I think I will have to perservethis one out. All morning I have resisted giving in to his treats, and he has gone to his food. He not happy with me and hashis back turned to me as we speak!!! lol

Oh yes, my vet tries to spin me this one too. Hmmmm I wonder if it has anything to do with the large bags of dry food they have for sale?

Unfortunately vets are not experts at animal nutrition - that may surprise you, but most of the info they get comes from the dry food manufacturers themselves, not peer-reviewed veterinary research.

A common term that qualified feline nutritionists (ie. people who specialise and have qualifications in feline nutrition) use for dry food is 'diabetes in a bag'. It is more likely to lead to obesity than wet food.

If your cat is not on a special prescription diet, and is otherwise healthy with no allergies, there is no reason at all to stop feeding him wet food.

In my opinion

Originally Posted by Epona

Oh yes, my vet tries to spin me this one too. Hmmmm I wonder if it has anything to do with the large bags of dry food they have for sale?

Unfortunately vets are not experts at animal nutrition - that may surprise you, but most of the info they get comes from the dry food manufacturers themselves, not peer-reviewed veterinary research.

A common term that qualified feline nutritionists (ie. people who specialise and have qualifications in feline nutrition) use for dry food is 'diabetes in a bag'. It is more likely to lead to obesity than wet food.

If your cat is not on a special prescription diet, and is otherwise healthy with no allergies, there is no reason at all to stop feeding him wet food.

In my opinion

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Says it all really
Mine have a mix, a bowl of JWB dry available all the time and sachets
for meals.

Originally Posted by Epona

Oh yes, my vet tries to spin me this one too. Hmmmm I wonder if it has anything to do with the large bags of dry food they have for sale?

Unfortunately vets are not experts at animal nutrition - that may surprise you, but most of the info they get comes from the dry food manufacturers themselves, not peer-reviewed veterinary research.

A common term that qualified feline nutritionists (ie. people who specialise and have qualifications in feline nutrition) use for dry food is 'diabetes in a bag'. It is more likely to lead to obesity than wet food.

If your cat is not on a special prescription diet, and is otherwise healthy with no allergies, there is no reason at all to stop feeding him wet food.

In my opinion

Click to expand...

I'm amazed at home many vets still spin this one.

I respectfully disagree with your vet about dry food! It's a high carb, low moisture food - exactly the opposite of what a cat needs. If your cat is happy with dry and you're feeding a good quality dry which your cat is happy with then by all means continue feeding it (although I would recommend adding some wet) but if you switched to dry on your vet's recommendation please rethink. Here are a couple of useful articles about why dry food is not the best thing to feed a cat.

http://www.catinfo.org/

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

re the treats - it sounds like Humphrey's got you wrapped around his furry little paw! You'll just have to learn to say No

Epona and urbantigers pretty much summed it up already...I agree completely

I can't imagine any health condition that a cat could have that would prompt a vet to put a cat on a completely dry food diet. They like to push the "clean teeth" issue...but that doesn't even work or apply IMO.

A dry diet contains too many carbs and not nearly enough moisture...among many other things. Those are just the high points.

As far as the treats go, I agree...he's just hungry so he wants more of those.

I just went through a lot of heartache and effort converting my dry food addicts to canned food. It's been a lot of work, but well worth it IMO.

Interesting that your vet thinks the dry would be the best option? My vet told me that canned food is the big thing right now.......for alot of reasons. Wherever possible, they recommend that their clients feed canned as much as they can. She said they typically put overweight cats on a diet of canned food because it contains less carbs and cats lose weight better on it.......plus the add'l water content, etc.

I can certainly sympathize with you about a finicky kitty.........been down that road too many times myself ! One word of caution about switching food constantly until he finds something he'll like--it makes things 10x worse--I learned the hard way!

The last trick I used when I had to switch most of mine to another type of food to accomodate Chandler's urinary condition was to just set out 3 different types of Rx food for about 2 months. It was an expensive way of doing things with 8 cats, but I eventually found the one they were eating the most of and that's their diet now.

If you can, I'd try to pursue the issue of keeping him on a canned diet--maybe just try to switch to one of the weight-loss Rx formulas if that's your goal for Humphrey. Best of luck!

I definitely agree that wet food is best for getting kitty to slim down. Unfortunately a lot of vets believe what the sales reps tell them and recommend that "junk" to us. There was a program on our local radio station recently about this very subject. The gist of the program was the benefits of feeding a wet food over the dry cereal food.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I definitely agree that wet food is best for getting kitty to slim down. Unfortunately a lot of vets believe what the sales reps tell them and recommend that "junk" to us. There was a program on our local radio station recently about this very subject. The gist of the program was the benefits of feeding a wet food over the dry cereal food.

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Yes, it's interesting that you'll often see recommendations on the side of the food cans to feed "75% dry and 25% wet". I disagree with those proportions. More wet is better, IMO.

I believe a big factor for the food makers, and consequently the retailers too...is profit margin. I'll bet the profit margin on dry food is exponentially higher than canned.

Hi Guys

Thanks so much for your replies!

Well Im gonna take on your suggestions and try them out.

LOL yes you are right he does have me wrapped around his paws, gonna have to learn to say no to humphrey, eeeek Im panicking already, dont think I can bear to see his little face when I do it, perhaps I will turn my back to him and say it!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by claire1973

Hi Guys

Im panicking already, dont think I can bear to see his little face when I do it, perhaps I will turn my back to him and say it!!!!!!!!

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Good luck - Bijou and Mika both come and stand up on my leg if I turn my back on them when they want something.