What Is Better Dry Or Wet

[MyBellaGurl]

I've been feeding my cat wet food (Friskies Pate') once in the morning then at night. Up until the last few days she has been taking it well, now I've noticed she is throwing up her food. Should I be giving her some dry food also?

 

[KarenKat]

I think the only time I hear dry food helping with throwing up is if the cat tends to go to long without eating and tends to do that.

Has she seen a vet recently? Might be a good idea if the throwing up is a new behavior. IBD for one can cause that.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ The only time my cats throw up is hairballs & dry kibble . I never use it as a meal - only as a snack . Sometimes l sprinkle a few on wet food .

 

[Roxane0470]

According to my new vet that I switched over to wet food is better because cats need alot of protein, so she said its good to mix dry and wet twice a day.

 

[Daisy6]

I’m sorry but your vet seems deeply misinformed.

More lile not informed at all. Vets only take one nutrition class in four years and it is taught by pet food company representatives, not liscensed nutritionists.

 

[Daisy6]

My brother lives on pure junk food and he's healthy as a horse. Ticks me off, lol.

As healthy as what horse? You should know all horses can get sick on junk food too.

 

[cheesycats]

Vets only take one nutrition class in four years and it is taught by pet food company representatives, not liscensed nutritionists.

This is not a correct statement, however I do agree in the fact that vets know little about nutrition. Let me explain, the vet school I intend on attending at some point down the road makes you take an animal nutrition course before entering vet school. So it’s a pre req that goes along with you’re prevet degree. Its a general 16 week course covering most basic mammalian nutrition (herbivorous, omnivorous, and the two carnivorous types of pets).
Then after you enter the program you have the option to take another more focused nutrition class for small companion animals, ie, cats and dogs. It is not taught by joe blow from Kokomo like most believe, it is taught by a professor, a certified DVM usually with a specialty in nutrition just as a virology class is taught by a veterinarian doctor trained or has much experience in that subject. However this second class is only an elective. It is an elective of year three, semester two of which you have to take 5 credit hours of electives that semester. There are about 12 electives to choose from and they range in .5-1 credit hour. So it’s not necessary to take and i do question the amount of vets who actually choose to take it.
Whenever I finally get to that point I will be taking that class.
Now on the subject of hills (purina, Royal Canin, etc) reps or whoever teaching classes. I do believe they do something like conferences where veterinarians can go and listen about how the food is made and get free things, endorsements, and there are programs for vets to sell their products and inturn get their food free or heavily discounted. These reps DO NOT teach classes at veterinary colleges. At least not at the one in my state. Nor would they be allowed to. And keep in mind. Most of the people talking at those conferences and selling the food are certified veterinary nutritionalist. They are the vets that formulate the foods and in turn explain at events how it is beneficial. And as a vet whom is freshly out of school with a decent understanding of science but limited understanding of nutrition why wouldn’t one be swayed by the big fancy science terms and processes Hill’s foods go through?
Anyway I digress, but when ppl make the statement that vets are only taught by food reps it’s kinda irritating because it isn’t true. I understand basic vets are under educated in the nutrition field, but there’s not really anywhere to fit more in. Vets take a minimum of 18 credit hours a semester. It’s intense, super focused classes to learn surgeries, diseases, and so much more, there’s just not a lot of room for nutrition unfortunately. :/

 

[Azazel]

This is not a correct statement, however I do agree in the fact that vets know little about nutrition. Let me explain, the vet school I intend on attending at some point down the road makes you take an animal nutrition course before entering vet school. So it’s a pre req that goes along with you’re prevet degree. Its a general 16 week course covering most basic mammalian nutrition (herbivorous, omnivorous, and the two carnivorous types of pets).
Then after you enter the program you have the option to take another more focused nutrition class for small companion animals, ie, cats and dogs. It is not taught by joe blow from Kokomo like most believe, it is taught by a professor, a certified DVM usually with a specialty in nutrition just as a virology class is taught by a veterinarian doctor trained or has much experience in that subject. However this second class is only an elective. It is an elective of year three, semester two of which you have to take 5 credit hours of electives that semester. There are about 12 electives to choose from and they range in .5-1 credit hour. So it’s not necessary to take and i do question the amount of vets who actually choose to take it.
Whenever I finally get to that point I will be taking that class.
Now on the subject of hills (purina, Royal Canin, etc) reps or whoever teaching classes. I do believe they do something like conferences where veterinarians can go and listen about how the food is made and get free things, endorsements, and there are programs for vets to sell their products and inturn get their food free or heavily discounted. These reps DO NOT teach classes at veterinary colleges. At least not at the one in my state. Nor would they be allowed to. And keep in mind. Most of the people talking at those conferences and selling the food are certified veterinary nutritionalist. They are the vets that formulate the foods and in turn explain at events how it is beneficial. And as a vet whom is freshly out of school with a decent understanding of science but limited understanding of nutrition why wouldn’t one be swayed by the big fancy science terms and processes Hill’s foods go through?
Anyway I digress, but when ppl make the statement that vets are only taught by food reps it’s kinda irritating because it isn’t true. I understand basic vets are under educated in the nutrition field, but there’s not really anywhere to fit more in. Vets take a minimum of 18 credit hours a semester. It’s intense, super focused classes to learn surgeries, diseases, and so much more, there’s just not a lot of room for nutrition unfortunately. :/

It sounds like an issue here is that vet school is modeled such that graduates are expected to be a jack of all trades but a master of none.

 

[Daisy6]

It sounds like an issue here is that vet school is modeled such that graduates are expected to be a jack of all trades but a master of none.

Cheesy is right about veterinary colleges being unable to teach a class specifically on feline nutrition. To do that, they would need to have separate programs for the different mammalian pets.

 

[KarenKat]

Thanks cheesycats ! It’s nice to hear from someone with experience in at least one state of how vets are taught.

To me it sounds like a vicious cycle - nutrition is so important and poor nutrition can cause a variety of health effects. Which means vets need to study how to address these health effects and don’t have time to study feline-specific nutrition. Maybe if they studied more nutrition they could provide advice on preventing illness with appropriate diet, but they wouldn’t know to do that since they didn’t have time to study nutrition.

From this I see how important it is for anyone getting any type of pet to care for doing independent research on appropriate diet.

 

[Daisy6]

Absolutely Karen. A poor diet may not be the only cause of IBD in your kitty, but I know many other cats have the same problem for that reason. The same is true for cats with various other problems including IBS, CRF, UTIs, and diabetes. Veterinary colleges need to find a way to put two mammal nutrition classes in the third year and require them.