Ouch!! Switching to all wet food could cost me at least $100/month

mysticdragon72

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I have 5 that I feed a combo of wet and dry but the dry is just to keep them from getting sick overnight since all of them, especially the older two tend to vomit bile if they have to go all night without anything. That comes from them being fed nothing but dry their whole lives except for the odd can. I just recently got smart about their feeding since adopting the three kittens and my vet telling me that the dry food diet is what had been keeping the two old ones from losing. I spend about 40 per week right now.
 

donutte

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For what it's worth, and I know some folks will disagree whole-heartedly, we used to feed dry exclusively. AND it's Science Diet, which I realize gets a bad rap. I'm talking about 20+ cats over my lifetime here. We've had five over the years that had major issues, but even in those cases they lived a fairly long and happy life. There were only a couple that died at a relatively young age - one had kidney disease, the other died after he got out.

We only in recent years started giving canned food as a treat on a daily basis. 1/3-1/2 a can each of Friskies six days a week, and a can of Fancy Feast each one day a week. It doesn't sound like a lot but as I stated, it's meant (originally anyway) as just a treat. Their main diet is from the dry food, and will likely stay that way.

The only reason I'm even starting to reconsider the Friskies is because Sara needs to be on a lower-phosphorus diet due to her early CKD. While I can separate her to feed her the k/d, it's impossible to keep her from eating the other food 24/7. So the best thing I can do is try to replace the Friskies with something with less phosphorus. The dry food isn't so bad in the phosphorus department; well, the kitten food is, but it's still not as bad as the Friskies is. We free feed both senior and kitten food (in separate areas) and she eats both probably equally. I figure Fancy Feast once a week won't be a horrible thing at this point.

Ironically, the canned Science Diet 5.5oz cans for adults seem to be the best replacement for Friskies I can find that both has less phosphorus and is relatively affordable. Most of the "high quality" foods have really high protein, and while I realize that protein is something that is up for debate in the kidney disease arena, I don't want to suddenly give her something with really high protein when her entire life it's been not that high. Especially at her age and with all her health issues. She's almost 14 years old and don't want to be doing any major switching of things on her at this point.

Like I said, I know a lot of folks will disagree with this. Sara is really the only cat I've ever had with this many issues. Lucky had issues that were obviously very bad (as he died from acute renal failure) but he didn't start having even minor problems till the last few months of his life. And he lived to be almost 17, and had a very good life at that.
 

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For what it's worth, and I know some folks will disagree whole-heartedly, we used to feed dry exclusively. AND it's Science Diet, which I realize gets a bad rap. I'm talking about 20+ cats over my lifetime here. We've had five over the years that had major issues, but even in those cases they lived a fairly long and happy life. There were only a couple that died at a relatively young age - one had kidney disease, the other died after he got out.

We only in recent years started giving canned food as a treat on a daily basis. 1/3-1/2 a can each of Friskies six days a week, and a can of Fancy Feast each one day a week. It doesn't sound like a lot but as I stated, it's meant (originally anyway) as just a treat. Their main diet is from the dry food, and will likely stay that way.

The only reason I'm even starting to reconsider the Friskies is because Sara needs to be on a lower-phosphorus diet due to her early CKD. While I can separate her to feed her the k/d, it's impossible to keep her from eating the other food 24/7. So the best thing I can do is try to replace the Friskies with something with less phosphorus. The dry food isn't so bad in the phosphorus department; well, the kitten food is, but it's still not as bad as the Friskies is. We free feed both senior and kitten food (in separate areas) and she eats both probably equally. I figure Fancy Feast once a week won't be a horrible thing at this point.

Ironically, the canned Science Diet 5.5oz cans for adults seem to be the best replacement for Friskies I can find that both has less phosphorus and is relatively affordable. Most of the "high quality" foods have really high protein, and while I realize that protein is something that is up for debate in the kidney disease arena, I don't want to suddenly give her something with really high protein when her entire life it's been not that high. Especially at her age and with all her health issues. She's almost 14 years old and don't want to be doing any major switching of things on her at this point.

Like I said, I know a lot of folks will disagree with this. Sara is really the only cat I've ever had with this many issues. Lucky had issues that were obviously very bad (as he died from acute renal failure) but he didn't start having even minor problems till the last few months of his life. And he lived to be almost 17, and had a very good life at that.
It' up to each one of us to decide what's best for our cats and what's good for one may not be best for another. If your cat is doing well on an all dry diet with the occasional canned as a treat  then go with it. What we feed our pets is just as much a personal choice as what we feed ourselves. We have to do what we think is best. 
 

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Skimmed your other posts and just briefly, about crystals I'd say (from personal and friends exp) it def has a connection with a dry diet. Not sure I agree with going the Royal Canin direction, or Hills. Ever since the pet food tragedy of 2006, I kinda became paranoid of "big" pet food processors. I know tho if you're outside the US/Canada, options become limited. A lady I once knew, her female cat frequently suffered from UTI and from what I can recall, her cat was a bit high-strung, and she actually used homeopathy/holistic solutions to deal with the UTI. Maybe starting a thread to inquire about holistic solutions to UTI may give you more options. Just saying opinions aside, I've seen it work for real!

The added ingredients like spinach,blueberries etc supposed to be valuable as far as the vitamins although I rather feed them the actual spinach/blueberry etc. The fish thing, I think ppl freak out because of the Mercury. And Nestle was like, found to be using child labor or some equally horrible thing when harvesting fish for FF. A good alternative to fish oil I learned over this past summer is Krill. One of my cats actually broke into the cupboard overnight and gorged on like 30 krill pills! So make sure to keep your Krill under lock and key :)

Oh to prepare their food/raw diet is def commendable :) but I can hardly boil an egg so for the few years I lived in S.America where pet food is like, the equivalent of a McDonald's diet for pets, instead of actually preparing a raw diet, I used the outdoor gas grill to boil (for like 5-7hrs) a whole supposedly organic chicken every 3-4 weeks and would use the broth in their dry food. Just use plain water (nothing added) and the chicken (minus the actual head, although neck is ok).

And finally, the 15yo cat who's not eating well,(the same with the urinary issue?) I definitely agree, at his age, if he wants to eat FF, let him eat FF! I am so inadequate at handling (cat) death so in my human brain, I tend to emphasize nutrition and natural this or holistic that. When in reality there is so much more to preventing real health issues in our pets :)
 

donutte

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It' up to each one of us to decide what's best for our cats and what's good for one may not be best for another. If your cat is doing well on an all dry diet with the occasional canned as a treat  then go with it. What we feed our pets is just as much a personal choice as what we feed ourselves. We have to do what we think is best. 
I just have to find the right balance with the variety of ages / health concerns involved. I've been trying to research canned foods all afternoon that I can 1) afford and also 2) have lower phosphorus. The Friskies is 1.7%, and k/d is 0.4%, just to show what I need to aim for. I'm looking for a happy medium there. She'll still get k/d on the side, but this is more for the other cats' food that I know she'll eat.

And yes, these canned foods that are even remotely good are expensive as heck.
 
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Kat0121

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I just have to find the right balance with the variety of ages / health concerns involved. I've been trying to research canned foods all afternoon that I can 1) afford and also 2) have lower phosphorus. The Friskies is 1.7%, and k/d is 0.4%, just to show what I need to aim for. I'm looking for a happy medium there. She'll still get k/d on the side, but this is more for the other cats' food that I know she'll eat.

And yes, these canned foods that are even remotely good are expensive as heck.
I was looking over this chart from catinfo.org and I was surprised at how many foods are high in phosphorus. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPhosphorus9-22-12.pdf

Yeah of course they are. I noticed that a lot of the Friskies Selects ranked in the 30's. Of course they have brown rice and veggies in them so you have to take that into consideration too. Some cats can't have those either. It's amazing how we spend so much more time researching what they eat than what we eat. They really do rule the roost and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm sure they agree. 
 

donutte

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I was looking over this chart from catinfo.org and I was surprised at how many foods are high in phosphorus. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPhosphorus9-22-12.pdf

Yeah of course they are. I noticed that a lot of the Friskies Selects ranked in the 30's. Of course they have brown rice and veggies in them so you have to take that into consideration too. Some cats can't have those either. It's amazing how we spend so much more time researching what they eat than what we eat. They really do rule the roost and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm sure they agree. 
Ha, I actually already had that link up! That and the one from Tanya's website. Been looking this stuff up for the better part of the last three hours!!
The whole thing goes like this - Oh, that's got a good phosphorus level. Oh, it costs THAT much?? Well this one looks like something I can afford. Wait, it has THAT much phosphorus?? Oh, this looks like it might be good in both areas! Wait, it's only for older cats. Rinse and repeat, over and over and over.

Also need to make sure and avoid anything that looks like it might be for urinary health, as that's bad for kidney cats (ironically enough).

You're right, I don't research my own food nearly this much. I've been eating potato chips while doing my research for goodness sake.
 

kntrygrl256

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I haven't really looked into it. Mine get free access to dry food everyday and get canned food at night. It's usually Fancy Feast but if I'm out I will pick up Friskie's, not often though. I don't like changing their food because it causes diarrhea.
 

Kat0121

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From what I've read, rotating brands of canned food should generally be fine.

I think though that rotation of dry food is discouraged.
That is correct. My cats eat a lot of different canned foods and have no digestive issues. For me, that was a part of the reason to go all canned. I could give them a varied diet which they appreciate (OK- demand
).  Dry can cause tummy problems if you don't make the change gradually. 
 

crazy4strays

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That is correct. My cats eat a lot of different canned foods and have no digestive issues. For me, that was a part of the reason to go all canned. I could give them a varied diet which they appreciate (OK- demand :lol3: ).  Dry can cause tummy problems if you don't make the change gradually. 
Yep, same here. My cats rarely eat the same canned food for two meals in a row and they don't get any diarrhea.
 

donutte

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I would be happy to leave my kitties on Friskies but since my kidney cat wants to eat both her k/d AND the other food, I have to make the other food a bit better quality. Although with the prices out there, that may simply mean rotating Friskies with another one or two better brands. I think at this rate if I could net around 1% phosphorus, I'd be happy.
 

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I'm a pretty new cat owner (technically I did have cats before but i've never been responsible of feeding) but get paranoid and obsessive over certain things - like my cat's food! I've had her for little over 2 months now. I started with dry food simply because that's what she was fed at the breeder's, and I didn't know any better. On day two I noticed she did drink water but, I figured, that could never be enough to clean her system. So on I went to the internet! To discover cats don't naturally drink a lot of water and that there is lots of water in wet food. Opposed to dry food which is, well, dry. I could go on about all the things I've read about wet food being better but I'm sure most people here already know that. However what I did read a lot was 'I put my cats on wet food after kidneystones, kidneydisease etc etc'. Which all are caused by dehydration. I figured I don't want to risk it, although dry is definitely alot easier.

It wasn't hard to switch her over to wet since she's just a kitten, although she did have dirrhea the first few days. Now, her poop doesn't smell AT ALL. Which is great. I still have dry food around for her to snack on because she's a bit underweight, but once she's no longer a kitten i'll probably only leave it out overnight or when i'm out of the house. The most important thing for me is though that she gets enough water into her system.

So yeah I would say cheap wet food is better than cheap kibble. Try ordering it online in bulk, rather than to buy it in the stores individually. That'll be much cheaper.
 
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crazy4strays

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I'm a pretty new cat owner (technically I did have cats before but i've never been responsible of feeding) but get paranoid and obsessive over certain things - like my cat's food! I've had her for little over 2 months now. I started with dry food simply because that's what she was fed at the breeder's, and I didn't know any better. On day two I noticed she did drink water but, I figured, that could never be enough to clean her system. So on I went to the internet! To discover cats don't naturally drink a lot of water and that there is lots of water in wet food. Opposed to dry food which is, well, dry. I could go on about all the things I've read about wet food being better but I'm sure most people here already know that. However what I did read a lot was 'I put my cats on wet food after kidneystones, kidneydisease etc etc'. Which all are caused by dehydration. I figured I don't want to risk it, although dry is definitely alot easier.

It wasn't hard to switch her over to wet since she's just a kitten, although she did have dirrhea the first few days. Now, her poop doesn't smell AT ALL. Which is great. I still have dry food around for her to snack on because she's a bit underweight, but once she's no longer a kitten i'll probably only leave it out overnight or when i'm out of the house. The most important thing for me is though that she gets enough water into her system.

So yeah I would say cheap wet food is better than cheap kibble. Try ordering it online in bulk, rather than to buy it in the stores individually. That'll be much cheaper.
I totally agree. I have a friend who lost his male cat to a urinary blockage. On dry food, I tended to notice more "droplet pee" from my young male cat. On all wet food, his pee forms clumps.
 

donutte

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I'm a pretty new cat owner (technically I did have cats before but i've never been responsible of feeding) but get paranoid and obsessive over certain things - like my cat's food! I've had her for little over 2 months now. I started with dry food simply because that's what she was fed at the breeder's, and I didn't know any better. On day two I noticed she did drink water but, I figured, that could never be enough to clean her system. So on I went to the internet! To discover cats don't naturally drink a lot of water and that there is lots of water in wet food. Opposed to dry food which is, well, dry. I could go on about all the things I've read about wet food being better but I'm sure most people here already know that. However what I did read a lot was 'I put my cats on wet food after kidneystones, kidneydisease etc etc'. Which all are caused by dehydration. I figured I don't want to risk it, although dry is definitely alot easier.

It wasn't hard to switch her over to wet since she's just a kitten, although she did have dirrhea the first few days. Now, her poop doesn't smell AT ALL. Which is great. I still have dry food around for her to snack on because she's a bit underweight, but once she's no longer a kitten i'll probably only leave it out overnight or when i'm out of the house. The most important thing for me is though that she gets enough water into her system.

So yeah I would say cheap wet food is better than cheap kibble. Try ordering it online in bulk, rather than to buy it in the stores individually. That'll be much cheaper.
I wouldn't say dehydration causes kidney disease. Just like eating 100% canned won't prevent kidney disease. Chronic dehydration is a problem, yes. But there are a number of things that contribute to kidney disease in cats. Just wanted to clear that up.

Also, how old is your kitten? You might want to consider free feeding the dry kitten food until it's older in addition to the other food. Kittens need to eat a LOT more than most folks realize.
 

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I wouldn't say dehydration causes kidney disease. Just like eating 100% canned won't prevent kidney disease. Chronic dehydration is a problem, yes. But there are a number of things that contribute to kidney disease in cats. Just wanted to clear that up.

Also, how old is your kitten? You might want to consider free feeding the dry kitten food until it's older in addition to the other food. Kittens need to eat a LOT more than most folks realize.
Ah no I didn't mean to say dry food causes kidney disease. I have a Persian, theyre more likely to inherit kidney disease, so I know it can be many factors. It just really stood out to me that, when I first looked up basic things about wet vs. dry food, a lot of people were saying they switched to wet after finding out about kidney disease and especially kidney/bladder stones in their cats. None of those are /directly/ linked to dehydration, but it makes a huge difference. Cat urine is already way more concentrated than other animal's because their prey is 80% moisture. They need a lot of water, and have little to no thirst drive. So I think 100% canned food, as you said, won't prevent kidney and bladder problems, but 100% dry might be increasing the risk of kidney and bladder problems. Then again, don't take my word for it, I could very well be wrong. This is just me basing my opinion on what I've read so far, I have no personal expierence with this sort of thing thank god.

She's four months now. I try to feed her as often as she wants and yeah, I leave the dry food out at all times now. She isn't a big eater but I'm trying to really discover what she likes best so she will eat more. She only 'snacks' from the dry food and eats more from her wet meals but she needs to eat a lot of it to get the extra calories, and shes definitely a picky eater.
 

donutte

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Ah no I didn't mean to say dry food causes kidney disease. I have a Persian, theyre more likely to inherit kidney disease, so I know it can be many factors. It just really stood out to me that, when I first looked up basic things about wet vs. dry food, a lot of people were saying they switched to wet after finding out about kidney disease and especially kidney/bladder stones in their cats. None of those are /directly/ linked to dehydration, but it makes a huge difference. Cat urine is already way more concentrated than other animal's because their prey is 80% moisture. They need a lot of water, and have little to no thirst drive. So I think 100% canned food, as you said, won't prevent kidney and bladder problems, but 100% dry might be increasing the risk of kidney and bladder problems. Then again, don't take my word for it, I could very well be wrong. This is just me basing my opinion on what I've read so far, I have no personal expierence with this sort of thing thank god.

She's four months now. I try to feed her as often as she wants and yeah, I leave the dry food out at all times now. She isn't a big eater but I'm trying to really discover what she likes best so she will eat more. She only 'snacks' from the dry food and eats more from her wet meals but she needs to eat a lot of it to get the extra calories, and shes definitely a picky eater.
I know Fancy Feast isn't considered great, but the kitten food isn't too bad in the quality department. You can get it relatively inexpensive on Amazon. And they LOVED it. I also free feed Science Diet kitten food. Every cat in the house loves that stuff. I think they put crack in it. Not sure where the kitten food ranks on the scale, but it's what I used.
 

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Have you tried the 4Health grain free canned food from Tractor Supply? At $0.69 for 5.5 oz, it's very cost effective for a canned food. It has no fillers or vegetable ingredients.
I was reading the holiday issue of Catster and there was an ad for TSC that mentions an online printable coupon of $5 off a $25 purchase of dog food, cat food, treats and supplies so I looked it up. Here's the link to the coupon:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/static/sites/TSC/downloads/coupons/20150812catster.pdf

It's good until 4/30/16 so if you shop there for cat food frequently, I'd bookmark that page as you can probably use it multiple times.
 
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