Hi all! My 9 year old Gus until recently only ate dry kibble. Then he became blocked, which was, trust me, the most horrible thing to experience! Eventually, he had to have P.U. Surgery. He is still recovering. My point is: i was not aware how simply awful dry food is for a cat. I feel horrible! They must must must have as much fluid, via wet food, as you can mange to give them,or you take the risk of the above happening. If I had known, i never ever ever would have given him dry food. The suffering i feel i caused him was tremendous. The guilt i feel overwhelming. Please read sites on this, consider what wild cats survive on.....it is NOT kibble! And whatever you do, please always make sure your beloved kitties have as much fluid, fresh water as possible. Like i said, had i known.....so pass this on to everyone you know with a cat. No cat should ever suffer like poor little gus has! Thank you.
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Dry cat food warning!
- Thread starter gusmom
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- #3
Yes, we went through blockages in three of our males, but no one needed the P.U. surgery. :rub:At the time, our vets recommended dry - and we didn't question it. They no longer do that. But we often don't think to learn about what we're feeding until there's a problem. That was the case for us.
But for anyone reading this thread, here are a few helpful links:
http://www.catinfo.org
And all of these studies are linked to problems with feeding either dry food or carb-heavy foods: http://www.mousabilities.com/nutrition/research.html
for your boy!- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
This article is also helpful: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/tips-to-increase-your-cat-s-water-intake
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- #7
Thank you, very interesting and helpful. The Mouseability site is terrifying. So much horrible food! Right now, i am just trying to get gus to eat something...wet that is! I got to do more reading on this all....my brain feels like it gonna explode, in the last week i have learned so much about blockages, p.u. Surgeryand aftercare, cat nutrition.....still i got to get this right for gus.
That may be difficult if not impossible. FDA rules behind "Made by" and "Manufactured by" and etc have made it a mystery. I sure hope answers are found, though.
Yes I've started to transition Lily to a wet food meal plan. Though I will admit I leave her a bit of grain free kibble while I'm at work for 8 hours. My neighbour just found out her cat has urinary blockage. Apparently her former vet was not very good telling her that she was fine on kibble. I'm thankful I put a little more research into how to feed my girl.
Don't feel bad. A lot of us (including me) fed their kitties dry food until a health problem developed and we came here and learned better. The problem is dry food is treated like it's normal and therefore OK. Every one of us knows people who feed dry food, a lot of vets even think it's OK, and we have huge industries pumping out kibble. There's still a long way to go, but I think a lot of people are wising up.
I felt overwhelmed, too, when my kitty had to have an operation to get a bladder stone removed. I was so tense, feeling like any choice of food was going to be risky. There are always kitties that are very prone to UTIs, but most of the time if you feed a 100% wet food diet with high protein, that should solve the problem. I took the extra step of adding some bottled water (about a tablespoon) to my kitty's food. I also tested the urine with pH strips so that I had feedback. One year later and several urine tests along the way there was no evidence at all of crystals or problems.
If you feel like you need time to educate yourself, you can always feed the prescription food that your vet probably recommended for a little while. Just make sure it's the wet food. Just don't let it go on and on. Prescription food is typically low quality, so ideally you want Gus on something better.
I felt overwhelmed, too, when my kitty had to have an operation to get a bladder stone removed. I was so tense, feeling like any choice of food was going to be risky. There are always kitties that are very prone to UTIs, but most of the time if you feed a 100% wet food diet with high protein, that should solve the problem. I took the extra step of adding some bottled water (about a tablespoon) to my kitty's food. I also tested the urine with pH strips so that I had feedback. One year later and several urine tests along the way there was no evidence at all of crystals or problems.
If you feel like you need time to educate yourself, you can always feed the prescription food that your vet probably recommended for a little while. Just make sure it's the wet food. Just don't let it go on and on. Prescription food is typically low quality, so ideally you want Gus on something better.
I got Lilith & Sophie from the Humane Society and they only feed their cats Science Diet dry. They recommended I keep them on it. Thankfully, I found this site soon after bringing them home and read up on the dry/wet debate. I, like many others, had always been under the impression that dry is better for their teeth. After reading through the threads, I went out and bought wet food. Both of the girls were on the skinny side and were eating, but not enthusiastically. I am transitioning them to a wet only diet, I give them each a little dry in the morning mixed with the wet just to get rid of it. When the bag is gone, that's it. I have tried a few kinds of wet, they really like Sheba and Fancy Feast. I get the pates, and give them mostly chicken, turkey, some beef and the occasional seafood for some variety. since Ihave been adding wet food to their diets, their appetites have increased, they have put on a little weight and their coats are softer and shinier. I asked my vet and she said dry can be OK as long as they drink a lot of water and it is a high protein, low carb kind but she also understood why I wanted to transition them to wet. They have a fountain and they definitely drink a good amount of water but they really seem happier and healthier since they have been eating mostly wet. I am so glad I found this site. It is a wealth of knowledge, especially to a first time cat mom like me,
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- #14
Hi there! First of all, thank you! I am so so grateful for all the good thoughts and support! After a lot of reading, i decided, instead of trying to get him to eat the wet presciption c/u the vet gave me, which he flat out refused! it was much more important he eat something, anything to keep him hydrated and so his liver did not shut down...so i went to pet store and bought a variety of wet....royal canin instintive, soulistic, etc....tried to pick out the wet ones...lol...shaking each little can and squeezing packets to see which ones seemed floating in fluid. Came home, said a little prayer and.....GUS ATE AND ATE!!!!! This morning he ate some more, licking up the fluid, drinking some water, i am beyond relieved. The turn around in him is stunning. He seems like the pre-op little fellow, making a dash for the door....obviously we have a long road ahead of us, stiches out the 8th of april, so little gus is just gonna have to get used to his own private room! I feel like now, i can more calmly read and absorb. I think i understand the main concept. I see a lot of people switch from one to another. I will need to read each and every label. No grains, no iffy ingredients. Water, protein. The simplier the better. I am wondering, how does one know which ones are made in or manurfactured in China? I hope that is not some sort of secret...hidden from labels. Thank you again! Here's to hope and bright future for Mr. Gus! Yay! My cat feels better!
I find that sooo frustrating! For human food as well as cat food. Man, that really ticks me off how they do that. It's just another allowance govts make for corporations at the expense of citizens.That's how I learned too, through my Pushy having recurring crystals.
Very glad to hear Gus is doing better and he's eating some wet. Maybe you'll just have to say grace before his meals.
Yep. I never will forget an exclusive I saw where the bags that contained the seafood for Red Lobster all said "China" on them. Haven't eaten there since.I find that sooo frustrating! For human food as well as cat food. Man, that really ticks me off how they do that. It's just another allowance govts make for corporations at the expense of citizens.
That's how I learned too, through my Pushy having recurring crystals.
Very glad to hear Gus is doing better and he's eating some wet. Maybe you'll just have to say grace before his meals.
Another fun fact: I can only speak for GA, but did you know that the health rating that you see in restaurants, it is only 1 point off the next evaluation if the one posted is not the current one? In other words, if it says "97" but the last one says "57", it is only 1 point off the next evaluation? That shocked me. Yet, and I mean no offense to anyone here, we're shocked to find what we find in pet food.
My mom and I just had an argument about this. She insists that cats need dry food for their teeth but I tried to tell her it's not something they need. I'm quite happy to be well informed now.
Here is the word from a vet, in case you need something authoritative to show mom:
http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/does-dry-food-clean-the-teeth/
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- #19
Hi, I also post on forum"my experience with urinary tract blockage" . If your mom needs any more convincing, please read this forum, (forum on this site). I can not stress strongly enough: the chance of knowing I may have CAUSED a blockage by feeding dry is awful. I doubt i will ever recover completely...it will flipping haunt me. Little gus is doing well. But it was HORRIFIC to see him in such pain. It was costly. It is ongoing. I had a perfectly normal happy cat, never sick a day in his life. Then this. I too so thought i was doing his teeth a favor. Now that i know, well power to the people! Let's spread the word! No cat should suffer, ever and god knows if we can prevent it, let's ! Pass it on, everywhere, to everyone. I seriously was clueless.
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I also experienced this recently with my female calico. Both of my cats were on a dry food only diet and my female started to develop crystals in her bladder. For a while I thought her urinating in the sink in the bathroom was just because she figured out that's where me and my hunny go and so she wanted to do it too (we don't go in the sink, just in the bathroom, lol!). But after Googling around I started to be sure she had a UTI or something similar. Then she started peeing in the bean bag chairs and we noticed the blood. I was so worried but the vet fixed her up just fine and I am looking into getting both my cats on a higher protein dry food diet supplemented with wet food. I went to Pet Club not too long ago and bought a bag of high protein cat food and I noticed immediately that my male has been less hungry throughout the day. I do worry about him though because when I presented wet food to him he was completely disinterested. I read cats get about 75% of their water from their food so I need to find a way to get him to enjoy the wet food before he starts experiencing horrible urinary problems too. I also have one of those cat drinking fountains with running water to encourage them to drink more. My female gets plenty of water though and has a serious fascination with running water in faucets and she will happily drink from it if you turn it on.
After this whole experience I have done a lot of reading and learned quite a lot that I did not know about my kitties. (They are my first cats as well, I grew up with dogs, but I am totally a cat lover now!) I love my babies and honestly if I could afford a grinder and the items needed to make my own healthy homemade cat food I would, but oh my gosh I looked into it and it is such a process, not to mention expensive for a high quality grinder! But still I am definitely going to look into at least getting my babies on a healthier and well balanced diet. I think Kino, my orange tabby, could afford to lose some weight too which I hope this new diet will help with since he'll be getting more nutrients from it and will be eating less and feeling fuller.
I also wish more cat owners knew of the dangers of dry food only diets and of course of the terrible bunk they make grocery store pet food out of. Just bad, bad stuff! I feel like this is something all cat owners could completely avoid if only the knowledge was passed on more. I had to learn the hard way, thankfully only $200 hard because it could have potentially been much worse.
After this whole experience I have done a lot of reading and learned quite a lot that I did not know about my kitties. (They are my first cats as well, I grew up with dogs, but I am totally a cat lover now!) I love my babies and honestly if I could afford a grinder and the items needed to make my own healthy homemade cat food I would, but oh my gosh I looked into it and it is such a process, not to mention expensive for a high quality grinder! But still I am definitely going to look into at least getting my babies on a healthier and well balanced diet. I think Kino, my orange tabby, could afford to lose some weight too which I hope this new diet will help with since he'll be getting more nutrients from it and will be eating less and feeling fuller.
I also wish more cat owners knew of the dangers of dry food only diets and of course of the terrible bunk they make grocery store pet food out of. Just bad, bad stuff! I feel like this is something all cat owners could completely avoid if only the knowledge was passed on more. I had to learn the hard way, thankfully only $200 hard because it could have potentially been much worse.
