Does anyone feed ONLY wet food?

[avocado]

i had a cat that ate dry his whole life and had to have all of his teeth pulled by the time he was 15. my vet told me that the dry food cleaning the teeth thing is an urban legend, and that the starch in the dry food actually creates a film that sticks to the teeth and encourages tooth decay.


to answer the question, i feed as much canned as i can, hah hah. if my schedule allows it, my cats eat all canned, but if i am working a lot i have to give them a dry meals.

 

[chiclett_33]

Originally Posted by Amaruuk

I know a nutritionist who used to work for a posh little dog and cat food store here in boulder (home of the posh, jeesh), and he told me that dry food isn't good for cats at all. That it's just sugar and carbs and makes them fat (my words, not his, but that was the meaning behind the speech).

He has 2 incredibly healthy cats that are fed human-grade canned food - they haven't been ill in 9 years, they shed so minimally that it's not noticable, their coats are shiny and thick. I've known this guy for a while, and he genuinely adores his cats. He took them off dry years ago because of research he's done and feeling the carbs of dry food just wasn't healthy for his boys, as it doesn't occur naturally in their wild diet.

This makes perfect sense to me. I look at the ingredients of the dry and sometimes, even on the really good stuff, I question it. Corn meal. Gluten. Would a cat even touch this stuff naturally? I think not, but I've been wrong before. Pansy is now digging the wet food I give her SO much that she's lost interest in the dry, and I'm wondering if I shouldn't phase it out altogether and feed her only canned/pouched food.

Or is there some benefit from dry food that I'm missing? I thought of the whole cleaning teeth thing, but that's not an issue if I'm brushing her teeth.

Thanks for any input guys.

I kneel at your wisdom.

do you know what the brand of cat food was that he fed his cats?? i need me some of that right now my cat just has friskies

 

[pepsi]

My cats will only really eat wet food,they will take a bite of two of dry food,I tried to wean them onto it as it is expensive with three cats but they would rather not eat at all.

The adult cats were weaned of wet food as kittens from the breeder and I weaned Bono on both,but for some reason Bono cries when eating dry food,I wet it a little but nope it cries when I put it near her

 

[catguy]

Not all cats who eat wet only develop tooth problems and not all cats who eat dry only have perfect teeth.

Dry cleaning teeth is a myth. Get it out of your heads. Besides, dry food is cruel and completely unatural. Cats were desiged to eat food with extremely high water content. Wet is more natural. Why are cats developing the same problems humans do? Because there food is extremely processed and unhealthy.

I consider all people who feed dry, who also know better, guilty of false love. Its the most convenient food, thats why peopel feed it. If you look at benefits of dry food the benefits ALL pertain to the owner, not the cat.

 

[babybee]

My cat eats canned food, 3 times a day. 1/2 a little can in the morning, 1/2 at noon and 1/2 at night. She has texture issues doesn't like to chew...I have dry food out all day, she gets ot nibble on it, but I have never seen her eat more than 3-4 pieces at a time. If I have to go away for a day I leave dry food out, but she doesn't seem to like it very much.
I am doing the same with our new kitten, she gets canned food as well and very little dry, although she does seem to like the dry food more than our older cat.

 

[hannahgirl]

I really see a benefit to increased wet food, after reading all these postings. My cat seems to walk away from her bowl when it's only wet food - but I am going to slowly lessen the amount of dry.

 

[jessalfie]

My elder cat has wet & dry food mixed together which she loves and then dry food in the evening but my kitten has just wet food for his main food and dry on its own in the evening.

I found it made his bum really smelly having wet and dry food together, since I've stopped it, his smells are less poignant!

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by catguy

I consider all people who feed dry, who also know better, guilty of false love. Its the most convenient food, thats why peopel feed it. If you look at benefits of dry food the benefits ALL pertain to the owner, not the cat.

i feel the tone of this is inappropriate. i feed dry & wet- yes, dry's convenient.however, i get ants if i leave the wet out, so when i'm gond all day, should the cats have nothing to eat? i also spend quite a bit on the dry to get good, high-quality food, & leave plenty of fresh water. this is not "false love". your remarks could cause a less confident person to not get a cat because of the expense & hassle of feeding wet food only.