My vet says NO wet food ?

[catz07]

Last time I took my cat to the vet he said I should never feed him wet food just dried food for the rest of his life! I think this is a bit harsh isn't it lol he loved his wet food the vet said because fly can lay eggs in the wet food and it causes worms and fleas...
Can I have your thoughts on this please?
Thanks

 

[xocats]

Wet food cannot be left out or it will spoil just like people food.

I give my babies both wet & dry.
All wet is even better.
Cats need the water.
There are also studies being done about some of the preservatives in dry food possibly being part of the reason kidney problems in cats has been escalating.

 

[sharky]

Unless you are feeding wet food outside I think your vet is off the mark here..

Vets education in nutrition is minimal kinda like your Dr .... Dry food is now finally being seen by many as cereal for cats

 

[dusty's mom]

So Sharky, do you think a combination of wet and dry is OK? Is one better than the other? I'm so happy Dusty likes the Nutro dry. But I don't think she is ready to give up her Fancy Feast yet.

 

[auntie crazy]

Yea, my vet just told me not to feed wet, too. 'Though I've made it a point never to discuss nutrition with him, I couldn't avoid the subject today; my Yorkie has been having problems since I tried her on Nature's Variety all raw and she needed to be seen again (she's long since been removed from the raw diet, but we continue to have problems *sigh*). Since it's a diet-related issue, well... *shrug*

His reasoning follows the "wet food is bad for teeth" line. He said there is an ingredient in wet food that causes water to bind with food so the two don't form separate layers in the can, and that ingredient (I forget what he called it) also causes the food to stick to the animal's teeth, therefore causing tooth decay.

I just nodded my head.

 

[sharky]

Wet is best .. but at least at my house for 90% of my animals 50 wet/50 dry is the start ... one cat eats 75 dry 25 wet the other eats 95% wet raw homaemade and 5% dry ( treats)

any wet will help the moisture in the cat ....

grains cause the water and food to bind together in wet food ... and recent vet school studies of all things have shown wet food actually helps dental care..

 

[babyharley]

After my visit w/ my vet, I don't so much trust their belief in nutrition!
I give my boys a mix of wet and dry- he thought that was good, but then he gave me some food that had by-products in it, um, no thanks!

 

[xocats]

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

His reasoning follows the "wet food is bad for teeth" line. He said there is an ingredient in wet food that causes water to bind with food so the two don't form separate layers in the can, and that ingredient (I forget what he called it) also causes the food to stick to the animal's teeth, therefore causing tooth decay.

I had not heard that before.

Do you think that you could call and ask one of your vet's techs to share his information source about this?

Of course you don't want to alienate him.
My vet is basically clueless about the latest research on cat food.

 

[dusty's mom]

Originally Posted by sharky

Wet is best .. but at least at my house for 90% of my animals 50 wet/50 dry is the start ... one cat eats 75 dry 25 wet the other eats 95% wet raw homaemade and 5% dry ( treats)

any wet will help the moisture in the cat ....

grains cause the water and food to bind together in wet food ... and recent vet school studies of all things have shown wet food actually helps dental care..

Tell me about your wet raw homemade.

 

[batgirl2good]

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Yea, my vet just told me not to feed wet, too. 'Though I've made it a point never to discuss nutrition with him, I couldn't avoid the subject today; my Yorkie has been having problems since I tried her on Nature's Variety all raw and she needed to be seen again (she's long since been removed from the raw diet, but we continue to have problems *sigh*). Since it's a diet-related issue, well... *shrug*

His reasoning follows the "wet food is bad for teeth" line. He said there is an ingredient in wet food that causes water to bind with food so the two don't form separate layers in the can, and that ingredient (I forget what he called it) also causes the food to stick to the animal's teeth, therefore causing tooth decay.

I just nodded my head.

My vet said the same thing about wet food being bad for the teeth. As I am not well-versed in cat stuff, I didn't know what to say. I figure many of you here are just about as good as a vet. You people rock!

 

[sicycat]

I'm a firm believer that both should be fed.

 

[batgirl2good]

Originally Posted by Sicycat

I'm a firm believer that both should be fed.

All of your cats certainly look healthy and beautiful.

 

[persi & alley]

That is the only thing Persi has ever had, dry food. I was worried when I adopted Alley a couple of weeks ago because I wanted them to be eating the same diet. No problem at all, Alley took right to the dry food and that is all they ever get. Go ahead, ask them if I am being harsh. If you ever saw they way they eat this dry food, you would never say it is harsh. They love dry food and I leave it out all the time. Nobody gets fat. Nobody gets sick. Nothing stinks including their litter box. I am so happy they both like and thrive on dry food.

Since there is water available every where including by their food, what is the difference if you wet their food for them or if they drink water while they are eating dry food?? And mine do drink plenty of water with their dry food. I certainly never thought about it in anyway as being mean because I would never be mean to my cats. (Or any other.)

The last cat I had I got at an animal shelter when she was about two and I put her on dry food at the advice of my vet and she lived to be twenty years.

OK, I feel a fight coming on...

 

[trouts mom]

I only feed dry and Trout is very soft and shiny. I don't know why a vet would say NO wet food though..I know many members here only feed wet because it is supposed to be better for the kits..

I am no expert, but to say never feed wet seems wrong to me.

 

[sicycat]

Originally Posted by batgirl2good

All of your cats certainly look healthy and beautiful.

Thank you. And 2 of them are feral!

The wet vs. dry argument is age old and will continue to go on forever. It all pretty much boils down to personal preference and what works for you and your cats. Some vets say an all wet food diet is best because in reality cats born in the wild survive off 'wet food' (meats) i.e. small animals, etc. while dry foods are nothing but grains and corns and do not mimick their natural 'habitat' if I'm explaining this correctly. Others say that dry is best because its good for their teeth etc.

Zoey & Saki both have urinary issues and I feed wet as well as dry so that they take in a decent water content (wet food is made up of almost all water) and so that it helps their condition.

 

[sicycat]

Originally Posted by Persi

Since there is water available every where including by their food, what is the difference if you wet their food for them or if they drink water while they are eating dry food?? And mine do drink plenty of water with their dry food. I certainly never thought about it in anyway as being mean because I would never be mean to my cats. (Or any other.).

Because dry food absorbs a ton of water and some cats dont drink a lot of water, so if they eat wet food you know for sure they're getting their water content.

Have I missed something? Who said you were being mean to your cats and why do you feel a fight coming on?

I thought we are all just having a discussion.

 

[epona]

I feed both wet and dry. I am really against feeding just freeze-dried pellets to most animals. My parrot gets a mix of veg/fruit/seed/nuts/pellets. I think this situation has come about because people want to give their pet something easy to dispense that can be left out for them.

Freeze-drying food is something that has come about due to space exploration, and for that reason is viewed as being 'scientific' - whereas it's actually just an easier way to deliver nutrition to people in a zero gravity environment where preparation of fresh food is difficult.

Mice and other small rodents that would form the natural diet for a cat do not come in dry pellet form. I believe that cats have dental problems because they live longer than they would if they were living wild, because a wild cat would die before his teeth went bad, and therefore we need to consider a dental routine with domestic cats to keep their teeth healthy for longer - this involves use of a brush. There is no easy way to dental health!

 

[carm]

Originally Posted by Sicycat

Because dry food absorbs a ton of water and some cats dont drink a lot of water, so if they eat wet food you know for sure they're getting their water content.

Have I missed something? Who said you were being mean to your cats and why do you feel a fight coming on?

I thought we are all just having a discussion.

I completely agree with you Sicycat.

The difference in moisture between dry and wet food is quite substantial (10% vs. 80%), so it's true that many of us are forking over the big bucks for water. I have a cat that drinks very little naturally and is now on an RX diet for prevention of struvite crystals (not sure if there's any causal relationship there?). After this scare, I decided to put my "normal" boy on a wet/dry diet as well, and have been adding extra water to both of their food. In general, cats have a very low thirst drive and many cats won't drink enough water to promote a dilute urine. This is probably one of the reasons that the incidence of urinary-related illnesses has skyrocketed over the years.

 

[urbantigers]

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

His reasoning follows the "wet food is bad for teeth" line. He said there is an ingredient in wet food that causes water to bind with food so the two don't form separate layers in the can, and that ingredient (I forget what he called it) also causes the food to stick to the animal's teeth, therefore causing tooth decay.

That doesnt' make sense to me - water binding with the food?

Water is a constituent of meat - it is part of the food not something separate. Lets not forget that wet food approximates a cat's natural prey the best - dry food is dehydrated food with lots of grain added to make it hold together. I can't think of anything good about dry tbh, except for the convenience factor and it's cheaper! It's just not a natural food for a cat to eat - way too many carbs.

I also believe that wet is actually better for dental health. The high carb content of dry food can make it much worse for teeth than wet food, as explained in this article

Veterinarians urge cat owners to feed their cats solely a dry, commercial cat food. The theory is that the crunching of a dry food, and the friction created on the teeth when biting on pellet like feed, will reduce plaque and inhibit tartar build-up. And, a theory it is because in real life, dry cat food has proven to have marginal tartar fighting properties. Since cats purposely avoid biting on hard bits, dry food pellets are subsequently swallowed whole. The grain based make-up of dry cat food gives a hard baked, cracker nature, which, if actually crunched to bits and moistened with saliva, will more likely clog the dentition, as well as leaving a starchy coating which encourages plaque growth.

http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bpo_ch4a.php

Originally Posted by Persi

Since there is water available every where including by their food, what is the difference if you wet their food for them or if they drink water while they are eating dry food??

The difference is that domestic cats have evolved from desert animals and have a low thirst drive. They are designed to get their water with their food and most don't drink enough if they eat food that has an extremely low water content, eg dry food. Studies have shown that cats fed on dry food produce more concentrated urine than those fed on wet.

The water content of the commercial foods commonly fed to cats varies from 8% in dry foods to over 75% in canned foods; thus the amount of drinking water required is affected substantially by the water content of the food. When fed canned food (80% moisture) with access to drinking water, cats obtain over 90% of their total water intake from the diet, whereas on dry food, 96% of the total water intake is obtained by drinking. The total free water intake (from food and drinking water) decreases when cats are fed dry food only, so that the water to dry matter intake ratio when fed on commercial dry foods varies from 2.0 to 2.8: 1 whereas on canned foods it varies from 3. 0 to 5.7: 1. Thus for any given dry matter intake cats have a higher water turnover on canned than on dry foods. (National Research Council [National Academy of Science] Nutrient Requirements of Cats).

Diet moisture content is related to the observation that cats fed dry food drink more six times more water than cats fed canned food but that much of this water contributes to fecal moisture so that urine volume is lower and urine specific gravity higher in cats fed dry food. The urine concentration of all solutes, including potentially calculogenic crystalloids, depends on urine volume. Cats increase voluntary water intake when fed dry food but not in sufficient amounts to fully compensate for the lower moisture content of the food. In a recent study, cats consuming a diet containing 10% moisture with free access to drinking water had an average daily urine volume of 63 milliliters (ml). This volume increased to 112 ml/day when fed a canned diet with a moisture content of 75%. Urine specific gravity was also higher in cats that were fed the low-moisture food. Decreased urine volume may be an important risk factor for the development of urolithiasis in cats. Diets that cause a decrease in total fluid turnover can result in decreased urine volume and increased urine concentration, both of which may contribute to urolithiasis in cats.

http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm

I've never discussed nutrition with my vets, but if they suggested to me that dry is better than wet for whateve reason I would ask them to show me the proof - ie studies that show conclusively that there is an advantage to health in feeding dry food. Given that a cat's natural prey is more similar to wet food, I think the onus is on those that promote dry food (speaking generally here - not having a go at any posters in this thread) to prove the benefits, not those that recommend wet food.

 

[reddicequeen]

There are so many differing opinions on the subject. But I agree with Sharky, Drs get a couple hours of nutrition...then they get brain washed by reps from different cat food companies pushing their products.
http://www.blakkatz.com/dryfood.html
http://www.catkb.com/uwe/Forum.aspx/...at/65/Cat-Food
I think you need to research it out...find a *healthy food* your cat will eat. I feed Natural Instinct i order online for wet, and Felidae dry for *grazing* What they dont eat of the wet within 45 minutes I toss. If you left YOUR food out all day...flies would lay eggs in it too! But that doesnt mean you could only eat cereal to avoid this problem.. Some vets have NO common sense! Everyone wants the best for their babies....you will find what works for you