There are many good, grain free dry foods out there now, check them out. Some cats will only eat dry food. Why make them miserable?
Our butcher shop sells a cheap "dog grind" of raw meat that I don't feel is balanced at all, but is a good topper or addition for a dog or a cat. It's pretty much just a ground up mix of perfectly good meat/some organs (ratio is questionable) that can't be sold for human consumption. If a butcher can sell you some raw meat, I say try it but if they're not used to raw ask that they grind it down first and only buy a little to see if they'll eat it. If it's boneless and will be used as an addition vs. a diet, you can cook it as well (don't cook any food with bone in it!) And don't overdo heart or liver, as these are very rich and can cause loose stools, so know what the butcher is selling.I'd maybe try to find out if there's any grain and sugar free dry food options available, and try to keep cats moisturised as well as possible. Many cheap wet foods might not contain grains, but there's added sugar, and there's no point of feeding sugar instead of grain. So in my opinion wet food is not always better than dry, cats don't need grain or vegetables, but they don't need sugar either.
I checked ingredients of purina pro plan and friskies, they both contain sugar (at least those which are sold in Europe). I also checked American web site but they didn't mention sugar so it's possible that regulations or recipe are different in here. Of course raw food would be cheaper too. Minced pork heart is my kitties favourite, it's cheap and good quality since those parts are not valid for human food. So if you have a butcher near by, maybe you could ask if there's some budget meat they can sell?
Fancy Feast pate is my go-to meal for my cats when other supplies are low or limited. Goof had a dietary indiscretion (he got into the treats...ALL of them.... ) that lead to a bowel malfunction today. After a clean up effort in the room he spent the day confined in, he happily gobbled his fancy feast and is laying with his sister in Tag's recliner, purring up a storm.I always say feed what you can afford and your cat will eat without causing you to tear your hair out with frustration. Mine eat Friskies and Fancy Feast pate mixed with kibble,they are doing very well ,but as others have said what works for my cats might not work for you.
You should start a new thread in the Grooming and General Cat Care forum to ask about dental care. Some people brush their cat's teeth with pet toothpaste. Using a yummy flavored toothpaste helps. Others use dental gels or use additives that go in the water bowl. Raw feeders give uncooked bone and poultry gizzards.Question: if dry food does nothing for their teeth, what's a good alternative to trying to brush their teeths?
Reason for asking is I thought the dental dry food was the equivalent of brushing their teeth, and my Willow *will* anger-bite a brush when I even attempt to do her teeths (she anger bites the harness if I try putting the harness on her as well, but thats a different thing altogether)
oops sorry for the thread hijackYou should start a new thread in the Grooming and General Cat Care forum to ask about dental care. Some people brush their cat's teeth with pet toothpaste. Using a yummy flavored toothpaste helps. Others use dental gels or use additives that go in the water bowl. Raw feeders give uncooked bone and poultry gizzards.
Not a problem.oops sorry for the thread hijack
When I got my Levi I decided to go all holistic. Minimal vaccines, raw/organic food, green cleaners and at 6 years old my poor cat was a mess. He did live a long time, but he was never vibrant and never enjoyed good health. The cat I had as a kid was obese his entire life, and ate nothing but dry cat chow (fed free choice) and lived to be 18.Feline nutrition is so confusing and, as someone said here, the only studies are the ones from Purina. Everything else is anecdotal.
When George the cat started having kidney issues, I thought this was because of his addiction to dry food.
Then when Holly got squamous cell carcinoma, I read that one of the factors is wet food (she did not like dry food).
At the end of the day I think it’s all genetics and luck. Like in humans. Yes, we know smoke causes lung cancer but I know so many people who lived until their 90s and they were smoking every single day and I know people super careful about their lifestyle and food and they died very young.
I've been listening to some more videos where regular pet owners as well as vets share their opinions and experience with 'healthy' vs 'unhealthy' diets, and one guy said it so well. He said that you can feed your pet the best diet ever, and the pet still dies young at age 6. So at first thought, it seems as if the diet didn't help. However, we don't know if that pet would have died at age 3 instead if it had been fed a crappy diet instead. So in the end it really does come down to genetics I think. Some animals (as well as people) are just lucky and can get by on a horrible diet/lifestyle, while others can do the best for their health and still have health issues or die young. But the thing is that we don't know what will happen, so offering a healthier diet/lifestyle is still a better way to stay safe in case that pet (or even ourselves) actually turn out to be prone to lots of issues later on. The same guy who said this though also said that if a pet is perfectly healthy on a lower quality diet, sometimes its best just to stick with it. One of his dogs was adopted as a senior (something like 12+ years old) and was on a cheap kibble diet his entire life. He had no health issues, so instead of changing his food, the guy decided to keep feeding the same cheap food and the dog is still alive and healthy, I think now 14 or 16 years old. However, if your pet is young, the risk with feeding a low quality food is that we don't know how the animal will be doing years down the road. I really liked hearing this guys perspective on this topic, as well as hearing everyone share their own advice and experiences here.Minimal vaccines, raw/organic food, green cleaners and at 6 years old my poor cat was a mess. He did live a long time, but he was never vibrant and never enjoyed good health. The cat I had as a kid was obese his entire life, and ate nothing but dry cat chow (fed free choice) and lived to be 18.