Can I Mix Dry Food?

manx · Dec 7, 2015

Hello all

I have a four/three year old male Manx. He's at his ideal weight and has a clean bill of health. However, a couple years ago, we went on a two week vacation and kenneled him at the vet. We gave them his dry food (Blue Buffalo Wildnerness) and many cans for wet food. The vet's office failed to give him any of his wet food and he does not really eat dry, so he went two weeks being exceptionally moisture deprived. Of course, a week after he came home, he had a blocked urethra and needed emergency surgery. The vet then declared he needed prescription food because of this and put him on the Royal Canin Urinary S/O. He's been on it ever since.

It's crap food. I hate feeding it to him.

He gets two cans a day, of either Nature Variety's Pride or Weruva (all lines), though sometimes he gets Wellness Core and Halo. He gets Orijen freeze dried and Wellness Kittles for treats. He never really goes for dry, just kinda nibbles here and there between meals.

I wanted to mix his prescription food with much better food so that he isn't always eating that horrid RC crap. I tried Nature's Variety Chicken Raw Boost but he didn't like it much.

Before I go exploring for a new dry, is it ok to mix the prescription food with the better food?

The brands I were considering were Perfomatrin Ultra and Orijen.

Any tips and comments appreciated.

manx · Dec 7, 2015

Or Halo.

Just read that Orijen is too rich for cats with urinary issues.

jolie0216 · Dec 7, 2015

My cats love the Orijen freeze-dried treats too

It's fine to mix the urinary food in with the better quality canned food, and gradually up the percentage over time - really, the most important thing is getting water into the cat. I'd also look into getting a pet water fountain if you don't have one already - it will encourage your kitty to drink more. It really works too - my cats all use the fountain, they like the running water. I also give them either CatSip (lactose free milk - I get it at Petco) or goat milk (I get the Primal goat milk - look in the freezer section at higher end pet stores, like PetPeople) - anything to get as much hydration I can into my boys. It's unfortunate the urinary canned food is filled w/crap - I applaud your efforts to get your kitty eating a better quality food - good luck!

edit: OOPS, you were talking about mixing dry food! well that works too - when I switched kibble brands (from Orijen to NV Raw Boost, actually) I made a mix of 75% Orijen and 25% NV and upped the amount every week - completed the changeover after one month.

manx · Dec 7, 2015

Yeah, I was gonna get one of those but the problem is finding an outlet that isn't in a weird location.

I really don't think he has urinary issues. He hasn't had a single issue since the surgery. He probably only got a crystal blockage because he didn't drink for 2 weeks. But I'm afraid to fully take him off the prescription food in case he does get another blockage and ends up in a lot of pain.

He didn't like the NV Rawboost. I wondered about the NV Pride Kibble, but it's basically the same formula.

I like Orijen but again I read it may worsen urinary issues?

Performatrin Ultra or Halo would be my next try.

missmimz · Dec 7, 2015

I feed Orijen dry ask a snack without issue. I actually mix it with other dry food (ziwipeak). My oldest male cat who's 13 was on Orijen exclusively for years without any issues. I've now added raw into his diet. I've never heard of Orijen being bad for cats with urinary issues. I have several male cats, but none of them have any known urinary issues.

manx · Dec 7, 2015

missmimz said:
I feed Orijen dry ask a snack without issue. I actually mix it with other dry food (ziwipeak). My oldest male cat who's 13 was on Orijen exclusively for years without any issues. I've now added raw into his diet. I've never heard of Orijen being bad for cats with urinary issues. I have several male cats, but none of them have any known urinary issues.

I read it in this thread

missmimz · Dec 7, 2015

Manx said:
I read it in this thread

I don't really think you can take a couple of people claiming that a certain food caused a blockage and decide that'd evidence that a food can cause that. If there were hundreds of people making that claim, then I think that's something to think about, but one or two isn't really good enough for me, at least. The reality is some cats will block no matter what you feed them, and others won't. I also don't think there's sufficient evidence to suggest that fish contributes to blockages, but i do think feeding a lot of fish is bad because of mercury and toxicity levels.

manx · Dec 7, 2015

Well, the issue here is I'm getting conflicting messages.

People in that thread are talking about how Orijen has high magensium, calcium, and phosphorus which can lead to kidney failure/urinary issues in the long run.

But the Orijen website states that it is a perfectly safe food for cats with urinary issues.

Now, my cat wouldn't be on a completely Orijen based dry. It would be a fifty-fifty mix of the Orijen (should he even like it) and his Royal Canin Urinary S/O.

I don't want to put my cat in a dangerous food situation that can damage his health but at the same time, I don't want to continue feeding him solely the S/O.

missmimz · Dec 7, 2015

Manx said:
Well, the issue here is I'm getting conflicting messages.

People in that thread are talking about how Orijen has high magensium, calcium, and phosphorus which can lead to kidney failure/urinary issues in the long run.

But the Orijen website states that it is a perfectly safe food for cats with urinary issues.

Now, my cat wouldn't be on a completely Orijen based dry. It would be a fifty-fifty mix of the Orijen (should he even like it) and his Royal Canin Urinary S/O.

I don't want to put my cat in a dangerous food situation that can damage his health but at the same time, I don't want to continue feeding him solely the S/O.

I don't know that anyone here can tell you 100% either way. Orijen's obviously going to claim their food is good for cats, even cats with urinary issues. I think if any of my cats developed urinary issues I probably wouldn't feed them kibble at all. Is there a reason you don't just put him 100% on wet? You say he doesn't really like his dry, so why not just cut it out completely? Unless he's a kitten he really shouldn't have/need access to any snacks during the day.

manx · Dec 7, 2015

missmimz said:
I don't know that anyone here can tell you 100% either way. Orijen's obviously going to claim their food is good for cats, even cats with urinary issues. I think if any of my cats developed urinary issues I probably wouldn't feed them kibble at all. Is there a reason you don't just put him 100% on wet? You say he doesn't really like his dry, so why not just cut it out completely? Unless he's a kitten he really shouldn't have/need access to any snacks during the day.

I want to put him on total wet but there are two reasons stopping me from it.

1) His dry food is prescription. And he is technically not "my" cat, he is the family cat. If I were to take him off the food the vet told us to give him to prevent sickness, and he develops another blockage or similar, it will be "my" fault. I also hesitate to take him off his food because I do not want him to get another blockage and be in so much pain again. He hasn't had any issues since his first attack though. But now I fear he's been on this food for so long that taking him off may trigger something. I only wanted to know if it were ok to add some good food to his current dry so that he isn't always consuming that corn and chicken by product stuff.

2) If we were to leave for a day trip or such and leave him at home, there would be no way to feed him. He doesn't touch wet food after it's dried up. By leaving kibble out, he has something to nibble on until we get home. This isn't my argument, this is my parents. We also have two dogs. Obviously, the same applies to them in this situation and my parents aren't concerned about them (we don't free feed the dogs) for some reason.

missmimz · Dec 7, 2015

Manx said:
I want to put him on total wet but there are two reasons stopping me from it.

1) His dry food is prescription. And he is technically not "my" cat, he is the family cat. If I were to take him off the food the vet told us to give him to prevent sickness, and he develops another blockage or similar, it will be "my" fault. I also hesitate to take him off his food because I do not want him to get another blockage and be in so much pain again. He hasn't had any issues since his first attack though. But now I fear he's been on this food for so long that taking him off may trigger something. I only wanted to know if it were ok to add some good food to his current dry so that he isn't always consuming that corn and chicken by product stuff.

2) If we were to leave for a day trip or such and leave him at home, there would be no way to feed him. He doesn't touch wet food after it's dried up. By leaving kibble out, he has something to nibble on until we get home. This isn't my argument, this is my parents. We also have two dogs. Obviously, the same applies to them in this situation and my parents aren't concerned about them (we don't free feed the dogs) for some reason.

Don't they make an wet version of that RX food? I think that mixing his RX food with a high quality dry food wouldn't hurt him, esp. if his blockage was more of a fluke than anything. Start small, of course, and increase the mixture over time. I think if you're concerned about Orijen you could go with something else. A lot of people like the other dry foods on this list. Esp. Instinct and Go.

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/08/best-dry-cat-foods-so-far/

manx · Dec 7, 2015

missmimz said:
Don't they make an wet version of that RX food? I think that mixing his RX food with a high quality dry food wouldn't hurt him, esp. if his blockage was more of a fluke than anything. Start small, of course, and increase the mixture over time. I think if you're concerned about Orijen you could go with something else. A lot of people like the other dry foods on this list. Esp. Instinct and Go.

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/08/best-dry-cat-foods-so-far/

Now there's an idea. I might just go for that. We got him the RX wet once before but I don't remember if he liked it or not. He does like Fancy Feast unfortunately, so maybe he'll go for this too.

How would one go about easing a cat off of dry?

I guess I could still give him a little bit of dry here and there. How does Performatrin Ultra fare? Or should I try Halo or Wellness Core?

missmimz · Dec 7, 2015

Manx said:
Now there's an idea. I might just go for that. We got him the RX wet once before but I don't remember if he liked it or not. He does like Fancy Feast unfortunately, so maybe he'll go for this too.

How would one go about easing a cat off of dry?

I guess I could still give him a little bit of dry here and there. How does Performatrin Ultra fare? Or should I try Halo or Wellness Core?

You could just slowly stop giving it to him if you switched him onto the wet RX. Whenever you change dry you always want to do it slowly. So if you add in some new dry you want to mix it with his current dry so you don't upset his tummy. I don't think Halo dry is very good food, it's really high in carbs. I used to feed it years and years ago and my cat got chubby on it. I'm not a fan of Wellness dry, either. I honestly don't know anything about Performatrin Ultra, I've never even heard of it.

manx · Dec 7, 2015

missmimz said:
You could just slowly stop giving it to him if you switched him onto the wet RX. Whenever you change dry you always want to do it slowly. So if you add in some new dry you want to mix it with his current dry so you don't upset his tummy. I don't think Halo dry is very good food, it's really high in carbs. I used to feed it years and years ago and my cat got chubby on it. I'm not a fan of Wellness dry, either. I honestly don't know anything about Performatrin Ultra, I've never even heard of it.

It's a PetValu exclusive. Made in Canada. Very good food. 5/5 on dogfoodadvisor. I feed my dogs this kibble and sometimes wet (i rotate wet)

Here's a link to the one I was going to test: http://www.performatrin.com/products/performatrin-ultra-grain-free-recipe-cat-food/

missmimz · Dec 7, 2015

Manx said:
It's a PetValu exclusive. Made in Canada. Very good food. 5/5 on dogfoodadvisor. I feed my dogs this kibble and sometimes wet (i rotate wet)

Here's a link to the one I was going to test: http://www.performatrin.com/products/performatrin-ultra-grain-free-recipe-cat-food/

Ah okay. I don't keep up on kibble that much anymore because I really don't feed a ton of it. It looks decent, for sure, but I don't like that potatoes is the third ingredient. I try and avoid as many veggie fillers as possible in my cats food because cats just don't need that stuff in their diet. I think, personally, Orijen is better food. It does contain veggies, but they're much farther down in the ingredients list.

sinnead · Dec 8, 2015

Honestly? After everything I have read and experienced personally I will never do anything but raw feed. Cats are obligate carnivores and cannot digest anything not meat based. According to my vet kibble is directly to blame for the epidemic of feline diabetes.

bonepicker · Dec 8, 2015

I would stick to his current prescription dry and supplement with grain free wet with water added.

manx · Dec 8, 2015

Unforutn

sinnead said:
Honestly? After everything I have read and experienced personally I will never do anything but raw feed. Cats are obligate carnivores and cannot digest anything not meat based. According to my vet kibble is directly to blame for the epidemic of feline diabetes.

Unfortunately, as much as I would love to feed all my furry pets raw, I cannot. The first reason is that I simply have no space to store all the meat. My current fridge/freezer is tiny and can barely fit two frozen pizzas with some frozen veggie bags. Our basement is already clogged with stuff and there's no room for a freezer box. Another reason is that I have yet to find a local butcher. I could get meat from a grocery store, but it would be expensive and there would be no way for me to get organ meat. Not to mention a low variety of meats, just pork, beef, chicken, and turkey. No rabbit, quail, pheasant, or such. And the online programs and pre made raw kibble/loaves (like Primal and NV) are expensive.

The best I can do for them now is to provide the highest quality kibble and wet I can afford. Maybe one day when I am in a different house, I will be able to feed raw. But not in this house.

bonepicker said:
I would stick to his current prescription dry and supplement with grain free wet with water added.

Already doing this. But I want to add some better kibble into the mix, just so he has some better kibble nutrition than that RC crap.

I guess if I can't find a suitable kibble, then he'll have to stay on RC.

I could always ask my vet what she thinks but she's awfully old fashioned and I can kinda already tell she'll say not to.

I still have the NV Chicken Rawboost I can mix in.

How does the NV Pride kibble compare? It's exactly the same thing, right?

A few kibbles of Orijen here and there between every bite of RC can't be totally bad, I suppose.

bonepicker · Dec 8, 2015

Manx said:
Unforutn
Unfortunately, as much as I would love to feed all my furry pets raw, I cannot. The first reason is that I simply have no space to store all the meat. My current fridge/freezer is tiny and can barely fit two frozen pizzas with some frozen veggie bags. Our basement is already clogged with stuff and there's no room for a freezer box. Another reason is that I have yet to find a local butcher. I could get meat from a grocery store, but it would be expensive and there would be no way for me to get organ meat. Not to mention a low variety of meats, just pork, beef, chicken, and turkey. No rabbit, quail, pheasant, or such. And the online programs and pre made raw kibble/loaves (like Primal and NV) are expensive.
The best I can do for them now is to provide the highest quality kibble and wet I can afford. Maybe one day when I am in a different house, I will be able to feed raw. But not in this house.

Already doing this. But I want to add some better kibble into the mix, just so he has some better kibble nutrition than that RC crap.
I guess if I can't find a suitable kibble, then he'll have to stay on RC.

I could always ask my vet what she thinks but she's awfully old fashioned and I can kinda already tell she'll say not to.

I still have the NV Chicken Rawboost I can mix in.

How does the NV Pride kibble compare? It's exactly the same thing, right?

A few kibbles of Orijen here and there between every bite of RC can't be totally bad, I suppose.

I feed 95% grain free wet and 5% dry. I use Merrick grain free chicken in yellow bag, but my cats have had no prior problems.

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