Thinking About Making Changes To My Cat's Diet...

[kgropp16]

Hi all,

I've been considering making some changes to my cat's food, but it seems like I've heard a lot of conflicting information, so I'm not sure what's best.

I currently feed her Instinct dry 2x a day. I'd heard that feeding wet is better due to the high moisture content, but at our last check-up the vet said that she wouldn't recommend wet over dry.

And as far as dry food goes, I know that Instinct is a pretty good brand, but are the better options out there? What are your favorites?

Any input/advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[LTS3]

It's ok to disagree with the vet on food Many vets feel that dry food is best but it's really not. It's YOUR cat and YOU make the decisions, not the vet. The vet may make recommendations and suggestions but you do not need to take them.

Vets don't get very much education in nutrition during vet school. Catinfo.org goes into details on why dry food isn't ideal and all the health problems associated with it. Some dry food in the diet is ok, just try to limit it to snacks in between canned food meals.

NV Instinct is good. There's a few different dry options now. Some people like to feed Dr. Elsey's or Young Again.

 

[Tobermory]

It’s confusing and hard to know what to do, isn’t it! I will say that the vet I took my kitties to in Colorado who specialized in cats and the two vets who see my girls here in Oregon (a traditional medicine vet and a non-trad vet) would disagree with your vet. In fact, when I lived in Colorado and Max developed diabetes and Lily got fat, my wonderful vet said, “Get them off dry food and meal feed rather than free feed.” So I did. Max lived to be 20 and the girls are flourishing on a wet food diet. I was feeding Rawz canned food (high protein, low carb, no fillers) before I switched to raw. Both of my current vets have seen and approved of their current diet so I feel pretty confident we’re in a good place. The traditional vet feeds only canned and the holistic vet feeds raw.

Why are you considering changing your cat’s diet? Instinct seems to be a good food if you’re going to feed dry. An outstanding dry food is Dr. Elsey’s which I use as treats.

Here’s a good site about feline nutrition to read through. Dr. Pierson is a vet who specializes in feline nutrition. Although she advocates for a homemade diet (she’s very anti-dry), her site is full of great information and she’s provided a great resource for canned food. Her website is www.catinfo.org. Another good resource for looking up information on both wet and dry cat food is www.catfooddb.com.

 

[mizzely]

So I try to remember that a mouse is a perfect meal for a cat. It is high protein, moderate fat, and low carb. Mice, like humans, are also made up of considerable amounts of moisture. So that's what a good diet should try to aim for.

Kibble is generally moderate to high on carbs, and of course low in moisture. Which is why it's not ideal for cats.

There are some low carb kibbles, but they are still low in moisture and a lot of cats simply don't drink enough to offset it because biologically they aren't supposed to.

Some low to zero carb kibbles:

Young Again
Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein
Wysong Epigen and Epigen 90

Insinct isn't a bad food by any means, though! I believe their formulas area under 20% carbs which is better than a lot of other kibbles!

 

[maggiedemi]

I recommend at least half their diet being canned food. Cats need the moisture.

 

[lalagimp]

If you can get them to eat wet and you can afford it, then YES give them wet food. The pricing scale ranges on cheap to "I've got to get creative".
I did Nature's Variety dry for years. $40 a month for the two girls and $40 a month for the two boys.
Then Tommy got sick. As soon as his urethra blocked the first time, I moved him to their Instinct canned. Then I realized he eats too much to afford it, so I asked their customer service for help with trying out their Instinct frozen raw and they hooked me up with some very nice coupons. I knew he would eat raw after that, so I invested in start up costs and then started making my own at home from rabbit and turkey.
And that is how I afford to feed my boys at about $90-110 a month. They eat A LOT OF FOOD, and I'm not using just chicken, so this cost isn't typical.

Then came that summer, and Dr Elsey's launched cleanprotein. I moved the girls to their chicken kibble because it's lower carbs and higher animal protein, and they are over age 7.

Princess Yue Pajama Pants got her teeth cleaned that late summer with Tommy. Her gums were kind of sensitive, so I started offering her wet food in a split dish along with the kibble. The ladies have been combo feeding now for a year and a half. They go through about 3 lbs of Dr Elseys a month. They have a large variety of wet food, but they will not eat raw, and even still Amalie doesn't even prefer wet food! - so I am unable to lower my costs.