Canned food vs. dry food

[0.0cm]

Thanks for the links, I have read the article, but I doubt it would convince my vet. Maybe if I got another vet and if they could discuss it, and even then, well, people will disagree sometimes!

She did listen to my questions and she answered them, as I have already posted her answer on this particular topic

But who am I to tell a seasoned vet that she is or might be wrong? Unless I get a confirmation from another authority on the subject, there's really no chance of changing her mind, and again, I'm not ruling out the possibility that she might be right. In my mind -- and this is important to stress, from someone who is not a vet -- quality wet food would make more sense. But who am I to know any better, especially when more than one vet has told me otherwise? I really need to get more info. On the topic of diets, by the way, I've read so many opposing views on the internet: people who defend raw diets, people who say these are dangerous, people who defend wet diets, others dry diets, others homemade diets only! It's difficult to know for sure who's right. I will at least try to get the most info that I can gather and hopefully make up my mind about it. I always try to do what's best for my pets. My last pet lived with me for over 11 years (not bad for a canary!). I want this kitty to stay with me for a long time too, so please trust me that I'm trying my best to do what's best for her!

 

[pat]

Oh goodness, I don't doubt how important it is to you and that you will, as we all do, do your best

 

[urbantigers]

Originally Posted by 0.0cm

I really can't argue against a vet because they're in a position of authority,

No they are not in a position of authority! You pay them a lot of money for their expertise and are perfectly entitled to question their advice . Any vet not prepared to discuss things like this and be open minded about what you have to say (and any information you have found on the internet) is not a very good vet, imo. Maybe it's time for a new vet? Think about it - in vet school they probably get no more than a couple of lectures on nutrition (if that) so all they can do is repeat parrot fashion what they were told by someone else or what they read in a book. Given that vets in general practice deal with a variety of specialties in lots of different species, it's hard for them to be up to date with all the latest thinking. Unless your vet is particularly interested in feline nutrition and makes a point of keeping up with the latest research she is unlikely to be up to date with her thinking. Many vets still insist dry food is good for the teeth despite many studies indicating otherwise.


My advice is to do your own research on the internet re wet vs dry for unrinary tract health and make your own mind up. I'm totally convinced that wet food is best for urinary tract health, esp in neutered males and that dry food does nothing for their teeth. I still feed some dry for texture and am not convinced that feeding wet and dry together is in any way harmful. If mixing wet and dry is bad for urine ph I want to see the evidence - I won't take the word of any vet on that. Did your vet say why she believed that? Is she going on recent research?

 

[moggiegirl]

I believe that we as cat owners have just as much, if not more "authority" than the vets do. I'm not undermining the vet's medical experience but we are the ones who live with our cats, observe how they are doing, whether or not they're sick or well on a day to day basis. When you consider how many vets have opposing view points it goes to show you that no one vet has absolute superior authority, they are not dictators and the veterinary profession is a business. You are the one who is paying them, so who's really in charge? I will admit that I have in the past done the opposite of what the cautious vets advised me to and I did not feel wrong about it because I know my cats better than the vets who only see my cats once a year. I see my cats 365 days a year. I don't argue with the vets. But I will do what I feel is right. My cats veterinarians are actually quite reasonable and they did not scold me for my decisions as they have seen my cats are doing quite well. They are not dictators, they are cautious, which is understandable. Plus my cats veterinarians believe that canned food is better than dry and will make reccommendations but leave the decision up to the individual owners and we have a working relationship. Veterinarians are not bosses. The only time they have the right to be bossy is if your cat is sick and you refuse to provide treatment, that can be considered animal cruelty. But if you have healthy cats, you have the right to disagree with your vet on what type of diet to feed them, especially if you can find plenty of well researched, vet endorsed information elsewhere. As stated most vets don't get a lot of nutritional training in vet school. They get a lot of medical training but not nutritional training. If your veterinarian is insisting on her way or the highway, I think it's time to consider going to a different veterinarian. The vet/pet owner relationship is not about authority, or the vet being more superior and far more knowledgeable about everything including your cat's diet than you. It is a working relationship between two people equally authorized to manage the animal's health.

 

[moggiegirl]

I feed wet twice a day and put dry down for them overnight. I want them to accept dry in case I am ever gone and have to rely on someone else to feed them, but wet is my choice by far.

I can understand that. I do the same thing. I feed wet generously and I feed some dry so my cats accept both types of food. Because I don't think pet sitters in general have much patience for wet food, especially if the cat takes a long time to finish it. I know how much wet I often end up putting down the garbage disposal when my cats don't finish it. A pet sitter with much less experience caring for our cats that we do will probably assume our cats don't like wet food if they don't gobble it all up right away or eat all their food each time. I'm considering investing in an automatic pet feeder like these that dispense small amounts of dry food about 7 times a day, so if I do have to depend on a pet sitter, I can ask that she come over and give the cats a 3 ounce can of wet food at least once a day, clean the litter box, refill the water fountain and give the kitties some attention. I think these automatic feeders can make the pet sitter's job easier so they won't mind opening a can once a day.

www.furryfeeder.com
http://www.intwoplaces.com/autopetfeeder.htm

Of course I would only be using one of these if I'm away.

I also think for a lot of people it's more economical to feed dry in addition to canned. So I believe it's either a combination of dry and canned, or wet only but never dry only unless the cat absolutely refuses to eat any wet food. Why deprive them of something that's so much more similar to their natural diet and is so much more meaty, juicy, wet and actually a lot more palatable?

 

[bronte73]

The reading I had done indicated that the dry food was better for their teeth so I had no idea. I am going to feed Ripley wet food then. I want him to be healthy and after all the trouble I had with Reilly and his uti's, I certainly want to lessen the risks of that too! Thanks for the info. It was really helpful.

Ripley doesn't eat a whole lot. He eats some dry food and about a tablespoon of wet food 2x a day. Is that enough??? He doesn't seem to be begging for food.

 

[urbantigers]

I also want my boys to accept dry food as it's sometimes easier to feed that, eg when travelling. I don't want them getting that they'll only eat the wet. I'm thinking of showing Mosi and it will be easier to take dry food with me to shows than wet.

Here's another link about dry/wet food and teeth which is quite interesting (it cites lots of studies too)

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.ph...dcleantheteeth

 

[0.0cm]

Of course, I will be the one who will be feeding the cat, so I will be the one who ends up making the decision. It's not like my vet will be checking up on me and stalking me around!

But I want to be well-informed about this and feel like it's important to at least consider her advice, since she is, after all, a vet. If I made the vet sound like a dry food nazi, that was not my intention. She was just very stern about the advice she gave me and she's basing this no doubt on the knowledge that she has and which is shared by other vets here. Unfortunately, internet research doesn't have much weight, it's generally not regarded as a trustworthy source for important matters (with very rare exceptions). So I really need research published on more traditional sources as a confirmation. Thanks for all the advice though, it's good to get a different view on these things, if anything to know what choices are out there! Most people do take everything at face value, but it's best to find some compromise between total disbelief and blind belief.

I also have to say that I'm a little suspicious of dry food (especially free feeding), because some cats that are fed this way end up being really fat! I'm guessing their owners just find it more convenient and probably don't make the cat exercise that much due to lack of time... I wouldn't want that to happen! Sorry also for sort of hi-jacking bronte's thread!

 

[pat]

Originally Posted by 0.0cm

Unfortunately, internet research doesn't have much weight, it's generally not regarded as a trustworthy source for important matters (with very rare exceptions). So I really need research published on more traditional sources as a confirmation. Thanks for all the advice though, it's good to get a different view on these things, if anything to know what choices are out there! Most people do take everything at face value, but it's best to find some compromise between total disbelief and blind belief.(

I can only understand this when you have forums or chat areas that say "do x, and not y!!!" and never cite more than anecdotal evidence. But this forum is a bit different. Most folks will post other respected websites (that are vet written and/or list published studies that can then be checked), or published articles.

I find the internet a wonderful research tool...one can even access the Merck Veterinary Manual to read yourself online: http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp

and access such interesting articles as contained in The 30th Congress of the World Small Animal Veterinary Asociation (2005): http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proce...2005&O=Generic

So I very much disagree with dismissing Internet research as not carrying much weight. Very much.

 

[moggiegirl]

I also have to say that I'm a little suspicious of dry food (especially free feeding), because some cats that are fed this way end up being really fat! I'm guessing their owners just find it more convenient and probably don't make the cat exercise that much due to lack of time... I wouldn't want that to happen!

I wish you could come to San Diego and see my vets, they're a married couple with at least 5 cats of their own and they're very nice. I take mine to the all care cat hospital, a cat only facility and they tell me they see a lot of overweight kitties that are fed dry food, especially with neutered males, but they are not excluding the idea of female cats getting fat on a dry based diet either. It's the carbohydrates. Dry food is extremely high in carbohydrates. Now I've also seen some cats who can eat all the dry food they want and not gain weight. Like people, they all have different metabolisms. If you were to see my vets, they would suggest starting out feeding a combination of dry and canned to get your cats used to eating both because if you feed your cat only dry food and then your cat needs to go on a wet food only diet due to a medical issue it's going to be tough if your cat won't eat wet food and there are cats who never had canned food in their whole life that won't know what to do with canned food when it's in front of them. Also as soon as my vets see cats gaining a significant amount of weight they will start to reccommend reducing the dry food and increasing the wet food and will start giving out handouts on the catkins diet. They are flexible and they work with their clients. They base their reccommendations on how the cat is doing on a certain diet and how the cat is responding. They have all kinds of clients in their office, those that feed only dry, those that feed only wet, those that feed both. One thing they don't support is the raw diet because of concerns about parasites, bacteria and people not supplying the right amount of nutrients in the right proportions. But if you go to a holistic vet you get a lot of support for it. Who is right? Who is wrong? You pretty much end up deciding for yourself. They've all had medical training. That's basically what we're trying to say. And you're right about the internet. It's full of information overload. You might consider subscribing to catwatch and catnip newsletter. You'll get a lot of medical information from the Cornell University of Veterinary Medicine and also Tufts University of Veterinary Medicine, about a lot of feline health issues and also useful tips for their emotional welfare as well. I love these newsletters. I get both of them every month. http://www.catwatchnewsletter.com/ You can contact the same organization to get catnip newsletter as well. They're so fun to read.

Pat and Alix, I just recently read your quote. I don't mean to dismiss the internet entirely. I too, have found some very informative articles on the web as well, including some of the ones you've suggested.

 

[pat]

Originally Posted by moggiegirl

You might consider subscribing to catwatch and catnip newsletter. <snip> I love these newsletters. I get both of them every month. http://www.catwatchnewsletter.com/ You can contact the same organization to get catnip newsletter as well. They're so fun to read.

I get Cat Watch and very much enjoy it.

 

[moggiegirl]

Originally Posted by bronte73

The reading I had done indicated that the dry food was better for their teeth so I had no idea. I am going to feed Ripley wet food then. I want him to be healthy and after all the trouble I had with Reilly and his uti's, I certainly want to lessen the risks of that too! Thanks for the info. It was really helpful.

Ripley doesn't eat a whole lot. He eats some dry food and about a tablespoon of wet food 2x a day. Is that enough??? He doesn't seem to be begging for food.

IMHO, Feed Ripley whatever he will eat. If he will eat only a tablespoon of wet then feed only a tablespoon of wet twice a day and the rest dry but if he will eat more wet food then feed more wet. More moisture in the diet is always best. Maybe you can increase it to 2 tablespoons twice a day or a quarter of a 6 ounce can twice a day or 1/2 of a 3 ounce can twice a day. Be sure to reduce the dry when increasing the wet so Ripley won't get fat.

 

[sharky]

I finally got Zoey eating a little wet and raw ... I did it by literal fingertip sized portions at first ... she is now up to half a teaspoon at a time

 

[smilla]

My cats get permium dry food only except for special circumstances. One cat has perfect teeth, the other has big problems with his teeth (he gets little holes in them down by the base). They were fed canned food up until age 5 and both of them had bad teeth as well as some other problems. So I can only conclude that one cat genetically has terrible teeth, and the other's teeth do very well on a dry-only diet.

I feed dry food only for a variety of reasons. 1) Their litterbox is much more managable when they eat dry; 2) They're horrible beggars when fed canned food and seem hungry all the time; 3) Their breath is HORRIBLE when they eat canned food. It got so bad at one point that I took them to the vet, I was worried they had an infection or something else wrong; 4) They go through a lot of canned food, which creates a lot of waste and trips to the pet food store.

They seem happy with their dry food, they eat it with gusto and drink plenty of water. Their kidneys are doing great, even though they're both old boys at 15.