How Does Dry Food Contribute To Urinary Blockage?

[ander35]

I read that the lack of water in dry food is what makes it a factor in the development of futd urinary blockage.

However, Someone in this forum said that the reason dry food causes urinary blockage is because cats cannot digest the grains and/or carbs in dry food.

I was pretty sure if I had a quality "grain free" dry food and I added water it would be safe.

Anyone know about this?

 

[KatKnapper]

I would venture to say it is because the cat is not drinking or getting enough liquids. Dry kibble probably acts like a sponge once its in their intestinal system and absorbing what little liquid is there further dehydrating them. More than likely their intake from a bowl isn't enough to compensate for the loss and provide the water their body needs especially for the internal cleansing of the urinary system.

Here is an excerpt from "Littlebigcat.com" that explains it better:

Another prominent feature of the cat’s natural diet is a high water content. Prey animals like rodents, rabbits, and birds contain 65-70% water. Dry diets containing 10% water are completely unnatural to the cat.

Our feline friends descend from desert-dwelling wild cats who are well adapted to limited water resources. Their ultra-efficient kidneys are able to extract most of their moisture needs from their prey. However, the end result is that cats have a very low thirst drive, and will not drink water until they are up to 3% dehydrated (a level at which, clinically, a veterinarian would administer intravenous fluid therapy). Cats eating only dry food take in just half the moisture of a cat eating only canned food. This chronic dehydration may be a factor in kidney disease, and is a major contributor to bladder disease (crystals, stones, FUS, FLUTD, cystitis).

The site also states that adding water to dry food is not enough. This I would personally have to question. Their statement following, about dry kibble having small amounts of bacteria, which is made worse by adding water...that may have some merit I believe. I add water to 1 part kibble with 3 parts wet for two outdoor cats that I feed at least twice a day. It is eaten right away, and any leftovers are immediately removed. So far there have been no complaints or upset tummies.

 

[maggiedemi]

The lack of moisture, since it's dry. Also it can be high in minerals like Magnesium and Phosphorus. Cats don't drink a lot of water, so those minerals can build up I guess.

 

[tabbytom]

I read that the lack of water in dry food is what makes it a factor in the development of futd urinary blockage.

However, Someone in this forum said that the reason dry food causes urinary blockage is because cats cannot digest the grains and/or carbs in dry food.

I was pretty sure if I had a quality "grain free" dry food and I added water it would be safe.

Anyone know about this?

There's some attached articles in this discussion on dry food. Please read post #10

Dry Food Only?

 

[lalagimp]

If you have a few hours some evening take a look at catinfo.org
Tommy was on dry, and drank from his fountains all the time and still blocked. I moved him onto raw and he still drinks from the fountains and ended up with complications until we got him surgery. Being on dry only and drinking whenever he wanted his pH was at an 8 when he was blocked from struvite crystals. The second time he went to the ER while on the raw diet, his pH was at 7. FLUTD doesn't always mean crystals are involved, and I never had a firm diagnosis why he blocked the 2nd and then 3rd time 48 hrs later but we couldn't afford to keep unblocking him or risk his life every time he blocked if we didn't happen to be around, so he got the surgery to reassign his urethra. I still treat him as a FLUTD kitty and we keep him on raw with Cranberry Relief supplement twice a week and when I'm not diluting his raw portions with additional water, I will use bone broth which is a good supplement itself.