I post on another online community, one that's not pet-specific, but pets do come up occasionally.
A thread was started by someone who got a new kitten, first-time cat owner and was looking for some basic advice, including what food to feed. A few people chimed in, including me. Another poster said that holistic and all-meat diets are just a fad and lead to malnutrition and that dry food is better for their teeth, and to only worry about wet food if the cat doesn't drink enough and is prone to urinary crystals. She said as long as the cats fur, teeth and feces look ok, whatever you're feeding it is probably okay.
I replied to that comment and said that dry food is not necessarily better for their teeth because dry foods leave more residue on their teeth than they scrape off and most cats don't drink enough water, so most of them should be eating wet food, and that a low-carb diet was good for most cats....basically all stuff that I've learned here on The Cat Site.
Well, that poster replied to me, that she is a veterinary student and she's seen x-rays of animals who eat high-/all-protein diets and their bones are degraded, demineralized, have pathologic fractures. She said the teeth of cats who are fed all wet food have rotten teeth, covered in plaque and bad breath. And that urinary crystals have nothing to do with water consumption, that it's all about pH of the urine and a well-balance dry food is what maintains that.
Here's a direct quote of part of what she said:
"Obesity is caused by a lack of activity from them being domesticated as indoor pets and from no longer expending energy in reproduction as we neuter them. Cats were one of the earliest domesticated species and have no further ties to any ancestor, desert, forest or mountain dwelling because don't forget about all those cats that live in the other 70% of the world. Vegetable protein is extremely poor and lacking in all the essential amino acids that carnivores need. Like I said, cats can not survive on protein alone because even wild cats eat organs, bones and cartilage for essential vitamins and minerals."
I don't think she's totally wrong- not all wet foods are created equal and there probably are ones that cause teeth problems. I never said cats should be on an ALL protein diet, just that they need less carbs than most dry foods have. I guess I'm confused when she seems to separate organ meat from the rest of meat that is in cat foods...I know there's a difference between organ tissue and muscle tissue, but I never said one is better than the other- aren't they both sources of protein? Organ meats would be richer in vitamins and minerals, right? Do ingredient lists on cat foods differentiate between the muscle and organ meats?
Anyway, I know a vet's opinion isn't the be-all-and-end-all just because they're a vet, but it is making me question my interpretation of what I've read here on TCS and on other websites. Should I go eat crow...er, dry cat food?
A thread was started by someone who got a new kitten, first-time cat owner and was looking for some basic advice, including what food to feed. A few people chimed in, including me. Another poster said that holistic and all-meat diets are just a fad and lead to malnutrition and that dry food is better for their teeth, and to only worry about wet food if the cat doesn't drink enough and is prone to urinary crystals. She said as long as the cats fur, teeth and feces look ok, whatever you're feeding it is probably okay.
I replied to that comment and said that dry food is not necessarily better for their teeth because dry foods leave more residue on their teeth than they scrape off and most cats don't drink enough water, so most of them should be eating wet food, and that a low-carb diet was good for most cats....basically all stuff that I've learned here on The Cat Site.
Well, that poster replied to me, that she is a veterinary student and she's seen x-rays of animals who eat high-/all-protein diets and their bones are degraded, demineralized, have pathologic fractures. She said the teeth of cats who are fed all wet food have rotten teeth, covered in plaque and bad breath. And that urinary crystals have nothing to do with water consumption, that it's all about pH of the urine and a well-balance dry food is what maintains that.
Here's a direct quote of part of what she said:
"Obesity is caused by a lack of activity from them being domesticated as indoor pets and from no longer expending energy in reproduction as we neuter them. Cats were one of the earliest domesticated species and have no further ties to any ancestor, desert, forest or mountain dwelling because don't forget about all those cats that live in the other 70% of the world. Vegetable protein is extremely poor and lacking in all the essential amino acids that carnivores need. Like I said, cats can not survive on protein alone because even wild cats eat organs, bones and cartilage for essential vitamins and minerals."
I don't think she's totally wrong- not all wet foods are created equal and there probably are ones that cause teeth problems. I never said cats should be on an ALL protein diet, just that they need less carbs than most dry foods have. I guess I'm confused when she seems to separate organ meat from the rest of meat that is in cat foods...I know there's a difference between organ tissue and muscle tissue, but I never said one is better than the other- aren't they both sources of protein? Organ meats would be richer in vitamins and minerals, right? Do ingredient lists on cat foods differentiate between the muscle and organ meats?
Anyway, I know a vet's opinion isn't the be-all-and-end-all just because they're a vet, but it is making me question my interpretation of what I've read here on TCS and on other websites. Should I go eat crow...er, dry cat food?
