Is feeding just dry food okay?

I finally found a dry food that all four of my cats will eat! They were eating Purina One (which I thought was a good food until I started doing some research on pet food). They were so addicted to the Purina One that I had a very hard time finding another food that they would all eat. I tried mixing the old and new food half and half, but they would pick out the Purina One and leave the new food. I tried Felidae, Wellness and Eagle Pack Holistic. None of them would even touch the Felidae (which wasn't good considering I bought two 10# bags because the store had a buy one get one free special)! I ended up donating all of it to the local animal shelter. I tried Wellness next (very expensive). They did eat it a little of it, but none of them really seemed to like it. Next I tried Eagle Pack Holistic. They loved the Eagle Pack and I thought I had finally found a food that everyone agreed on. As luck would have it though the store where I found the Eagle Pack (50 miles away) wasn't good about keeping it in stock. They apparantely only order a couple bags at a time to keep in stock. I then decided to try Natural Balance because Petco is a little closer for me (40 miles away) and they do seem to always have sufficient stock. I'm feeding them the reduced calorie version. All of them love it and have been eating it with no problems for about a month now. I then decided to try a few brands of the canned food that Petco sells. I bought Nutro pouches, Nutro Adult canned and Pet Gold (Petco's brand). The first few times I fed them the Nutro pouches they licked their bowls clean! Of course I went and bought a bunch more because it was on sale. They are now licking the gravy off the food and leaving the meat. I thought maybe they were bored with the food already so I gave them some of the Nutro canned (which they hated). They also are not too thrilled about the Pet Gold canned. I was feeding them Friskies canned (1/4 can each twice a day) before I decided to try a better quality of canned food too. A lot of the Friskies flavors they like are in gravy, so I guess that's why they really liked the Nutro pouches (at first). I'm so frustrated with the whole canned food thing! I really don't want to put them back on Friskies canned (junk food) and feed them super premium dry (Natural Balance). It kind of defeats the whole purpose of feeding them the more expensive dry food. Does anyone here feed stricly dry to their cats (because they won't eat the better brands of canned food)?

My cats hate most wet cat food. The stuff that's really good for them (and really expensive), they turn their noses up and walk away! I've resorted to feeding them only dry food Monday to Friday, and Friskies (horrible, I know!) on Saturday and Sunday. The only other treats they get during the week are dry ones.

My cats get Nutro Natural Indoor 24/7
Once a week they get Friskies canned, not a great food to be sure, but a lot better than a lot of them out there.
My stance has always been that some wet food is better than none at all.

If you have any Nutro pouches left...try squishing & mixing the meat squares into the gravy with a fork. Maybe that will get them to eat some of it.
Lei

I have about 12 of the Nutro pouches left. I will try mushing it up with a fork next time I feed them and see if maybe that entices them to eat the meat too. I wonder what it is about the Friskies canned food that cats love? I liked the idea about feeding the Friskies just a few times a week as a treat. There's only one problem with that. My cats are "trained" to go out in the kitchen and line up for their canned food breakfast and again at dinner time. They always got 1/4 can each of the Friskies in the am & in the pm, so that's what their used to. When I first started replacing the Friskies with the Nutro pouches they didn't seem to mind. Now they've grown tired of the Nutro pouches though (after just one week) and won't even try any of the other canned foods I bought for them to try. I'm just wondering if I should cave in and go back to the Friskies or just discontinue the canned (maybe just give the Friskies on the weekends as a treat like the others here do)?? Is junky canned food better than no canned food at all? I'm going to keep them on the Natural Balance Reduced Calorie dry regardless of what wet food I use.

Originally Posted by luvmy4cats

Does anyone here feed stricly dry to their cats (because they won't eat the better brands of canned food)?

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I feed my cats strictly dry because my vet said it'd be better for them. They get canned now and then as a treat. I feed them Iams, and they all love it. My vet recommended Iam, Eukanuba, or Science Diet, so I picked Iams.

My cats won't eat canned food. They just don't like it. I've been giving them Nutro Complete Care for about 7 or 8 mos now, but if Gizmo hasn't lost weight at her vet appointment, I'm going to switch to the Indoor or Weight Management. But no cans, if they won't eat it I'm not going to waste time/money/energy finding one they might like! If you keep offering canned that they don't like, they'll probably eventually lose interest in begging for canned, since every time you serve it, it will be something they don't like.

AMber

I just feed purina cat chow(hard food) to my cats and they are doing good with out wet food...

Both mine eat dry food exclusively -- I've had two vets specifically tell me NOT to feed them wet food. They're doing great on their dry though!

The vets who suggest dry and condemn wet are crazy. Last time I checked dry kibble was not found in nature. Wild cats for the most part do not suffer from the degenarative diseases that domestic cats do. Only differene is their diet. Wild cats eat raw meat, domestic cats eat dry, processed, dead kibble. Nature never intended cats to eat kibble. Wet food is not raw, but it is much better than dry. Raw is best. Feeding cats dry food as sole food is like a human living on water and dry cereal. Sorry im ranting, but I think feeding kibble is wrong. Raw is what nature intended cats to eat, no matter what some arrogant vet says.

this is a good read for a start:
http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html

most of my cats only get dry food and they are doing fantastic

I know several people feed their cats dry food exclusively and they do just fine. When I was doing all the research to find the best food for Dori I did learn that wet food is more natural for them. I free feed Dori dry but she gets 1/2 can of wet every morning. She is very picky about her wet food and has refused so many different brands. She eats Merrick wet now and loves it. The ingredients are great for her and the consistency is like something we would eat, not the pate style some brands are.

I agree with the post above that says any canned cat food is better than none, but it would be good if you could find a decent brand that they like

I also agree that I disagree with the vet who said dry was best and then recommended Iams/Eukanuba etc. Ma-wow...those are simply not the best of what is on the market! Period.

Besides the good link already provided re cat and diets, though I am not a raw diet follower, I think there is good information on these sites:
Click here and then click here
and this article on the changing view by veterinarians as to whether or not (I read this articles as saying "not") canned food diets cause dental disease, click here

I think homecooked diets where possible (with vet approval of the recipe chosen to be used) or quality canned food is the way to go, and when not possible, supplement the best quality dry you can buy, with a quality canned, and encourage water intake by use of pet water fountains.

MIne perfers the dry, but I give him a little wet cause I have learned that is wise.

Tanya...I had not heard of Merrick before. I tried Innova but it did not agree with Sadie & Dexter would not eat the pate texture. I did a search on the Merrick site & found several feed stores near me who carry it. I like the ingredients. If the texture is right, it might be worth a try.
Thanks
Lei

Originally Posted by xocats

Tanya...I had not heard of Merrick before. I tried Innova but it did not agree with Sadie & Dexter would not eat the pate texture. I did a search on the Merrick site & found several feed stores near me who carry it. I like the ingredients. If the texture is right, it might be worth a try.
Thanks

Lei

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The flavors Dori eats are Grammy's Pot Pie, Thanksgiving Day Dinner, Turducken and Cowboy Cookout. I have found she won't really eat the other flavors because they are a thicker almost pate style so I just don't buy them. The fishy flavors especially are like that.

Oh, I alomst forgot, the New Englad Boil she will eat, and it is one of the thicker pate styles but it must be really yummy because she gobbles it.
According to their website they have a new flavor coming out very soon. I am so excited, errrr I mean Dori is so excited

OK Tanya...who is eating the food, you or Dori?
Monday when the feed store near me is open, I'll go see if they carry any of the flavors Dori likes.
Thanks
Lei

Originally Posted by xocats

OK Tanya...who is eating the food, you or Dori?

Monday when the feed store near me is open, I'll go see if they carry any of the flavors Dori likes.

Thanks

Lei

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I promise, it's Dori eating it! Let me know how it goes.

Some of my Persians have sensitive stomachs so feeding them wet food is simply out of the question, one if particular, Muffin will vomit immediatly after wet food and then she will hav the s*its. I'd much rather feed them a dry diet and have firm poos then sloppy ones and sickly cats.