Lite dry food

Hi,
Just wondering if there's any harm in giving my cat lite dry food. She was on regular dry food (Hills science diet) and I recently switched to the 'lite' version, because my vet said she was getting a little fat. What's the difference between them anyway?

Also, she has this habit of only eating at night time - she doesnt seem interested in food at all during the day. I'm thinking this may be why she's gaining a little weight, she'll eat just before bed time, then sleep till morning.

Do you think your cat eats enough in that one sitting? I don't know many cats who will only eat once a day, specially if it's a little amount. Is your cat very active, and have you tried exercise with her instead of just going on the lite diet, or even a combination of the two?

Let's take a look here.

Science Diet Adult:
Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal, Brewers Rice, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA, Propyl Gallate and Citric Acid), Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Digest, Taurine, preserved with BHT and BHA...etc
Protein 30%
Fat 20%
Fiber 2%
Moisture 10%


Science Diet Lite:
Brewers rice, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, powdered cellulose, animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), chicken liver digest, taurine, preserved with BHT and BHA...etc
Crude Protein (minimum) 31%
Moisture (maximum) 10%
Crude Fat (minimum) 8%
Crude Fiber (maximum) 7.7%

IMO, your cat would very well loose weight on this diet over time, you can see a dramatic difference in the fat content. Unfortunatly you also have a higher fiber content. I like to see more meat products in a food as cats are carniviors. I also don't like the BHA & BHT as those are known cancer causing agents.
The fat content in the SD Adult is pretty high to begin with, maybe that's the issue with your cat, and she really doesn't need a certified "lite" diet at all.
I say you should switch brands all together, unless for some reason you have not mentioned in this post you are keeping her on it.

Good luck!

Our cats are on Hill's Light food because vet suggested light food. We've seen a change already, both cats hae lost a bit of weight, nothing dramatic, but enough. Vet said the cats weren't fat but coulnd't gain weight and could lose a bit. So, they eat Hill's food and seem to like it.

I read that its not the high fat content that makes a cat fat (unlike people) but a high carbohydrate content. Has anyone else found any info to this effect? I read it in an artical about feline diabetes but cant find the source of the info any more.

it went something like when the carbohydrate was reduced in the diet the cats lost weight and brought there diabetes into control.

Yes, actually I have done reading that show BOTH is true.
Cats do need some fat, but there are some foods IMO and others that are just a bit too high for our tastes, specially for people who like to give their kitties lots of treats every day on top of a diet high in fat.
Carbohydrates is often compaired with the fiber content, if that is high, you will have higher carbohydrate amounts, which is why I noticed the high fiber content in SD Lite, not too thrilled about that.

I hope someone else can add more to this.

Thanks for your replies,
AngelzOO, I'm assuming she does eat enough in one sitting, I mean her bowl always has food in it, but she only goes to eat at night (I dont know if she eats multiple times at night though)

And no,she's not a very active cat. Only reason I give her the science diet food, is because that's the one she seems to like best. What brand would you recommend I give her?

I'm trying to feed her other things too, but she wont touch wet food or anything else, only dry food (which I find a little strange).

Thanks all else who replied

Originally posted by binkyhoo
I read that its not the high fat content that makes a cat fat (unlike people) but a high carbohydrate content. Has anyone else found any info to this effect?

Click to expand...

Yes, I have read things like that too. Here is a really informative article and if you scroll down there is a whole section on Obesity in Cats. Carbs are mentioned throughout the entire article.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jacm2/_wsn/page2.html

I feed Royal Canin and noticed that it put weight on my outside kitties and took weight off my indoor/outdoor ones. I feed Outdoor 30 for the barn cats and ferals, the kittens get Babycat 34 and my indoor/outdoor kitties get Adult 32. They also have a Slim Blend you can buy. You can click on their link here at the top of the forum, but I would feed my cats their food regardless if they sponsored us or not, because I have seen great results on my crew who have been eating it now for about a year.