ANYONE WHO IS FEEDING DRY FOOD

[opus88]

I'll probably get some flack for this but I want to post it anyway.....since a cat of mine was dx'd with urinary crystals I've done alot of reading and found out alot of disturbing things about a dry food diet....ANY dry food even the high quality ones.
My cat has been on one of the best rated EVO which has NO grains therefore is low in carbs and high in protien....however it is STILL A DRY FOOD. the lack of moisture content is what leads to these urinary crystals and a host of other health problems.....also dry food is loaded with chemicals so it appeals to the pets, the fats become rancid with storage and mites grow on the kibbles...disgusting right!!
This (independent Vet)  has written that even the poorest quality can foods are still better than the highest quality dry foods......yes this does include anything the Vet clinics will sell you for prescription diets.
everyone please read.
www.catinfo.org

[PrettyKitty1]

Opus...OMG you will be feeding Nemo partially cooked food? YAY!!!! Way to go honey. Our little carnivores deserve to be fed the right way. The bones will provide calcium....so that is excellent! Make sure to add salmon oil if you can. It's great for the coat and to prevent constipation. Probiotics and Digestive enzymes will help your little one's digestive system and will even improve it! With that food hon..............you will NEVER face that problem ever again....no more crystals.....a happy Nemo. Chicken naturally contains water so you won't have to worry about how much water he is getting with this diet.

Give that beautiful cat a kiss for me. Poor baby...

I'm still trying to convince Abby to eat his raw foods. Will have to start cooking it again. He seems to like that better. For now I'm just talking to them....really...I'm talking to my cats lol to get them to eat the food......just being patient and hoping I won't have to buy any more prescription food. I hope everything will go back to normal soon: PK's kitties eating raw food. *sigh*...

[Piparskeggr]

Hmmm...

I've always fed my kitties a mix of Purina/Friskies dry n wet foods.

Vet in Ohio recommended "Science Diet," fur-pers picked out the SD and ate the Purina...guess they didn't sense the "health benefit."

Save for one anomaly (Dancer at 6 1/2, anaphylacsis), all my girls have made it beyond 16 years.  They see the vet once a year, for the legally mandated rabies shot, even thought they do not come into contact with any other animals.

[Jade59]

Pip...I grew up with 3 female cats who all lived to be 20 and older and were fed wet and dry food like yours.  While all cats need the extra moisture benefit of canned food, I believe the crystal problem happens more in male cats and especially ones who are on dry food only.  Jade had a tiny problem a year ago, but before us, she was fed only dry food for 5yrs and I'm sure crystals don't form overnight.  She was prescribed the very expensive Hills, but wouldn't touch it.  We've always fed her wet food along with the dry and after her "incident" I increased the wet food and she's been fine since (fingers crossed.)

[margypops]

oh crumbs I have been feeding dry and the wet but she likes the dry now I dont know what to give her, I will go to the link you have put up for info .

[opus88]

obviously the wet/dry mix keeps your babies healthy...thats great...the trick is really to be sure they are getting the required amount of moisture and I guess with that combo they are!.
the Vet on the website mentioned particularly dislikes the HILL'S SCIENCE DIET for some reason, and appears most cats do too....must either be some missing or added ingredient that makes it unpleasant for them.
yeah those fur-pickers know what they want don't they!

margy try going back to the half and half mixture, if she ate if before she should accept this again with some patience....best of luck!

[PrettyKitty1]

I still go with the natural, either raw or partially cooked meal for cats. Dry foods have ingredients, or combinations of ingredients that cats cannot digest and acquire absolutely no benefit from. Let’s see, will we ever see a cat in nature go to a corn field to eat the corn? Nop. Will we ever see a cat running towards a wheat or rice field to eat that? Nop. What is a cat’s natural diet? Mice, birds, lizards: Other animals.

So what if the dry food contains high quality ingredients and it is all heavenly?  Still, the lack of water is inevitable. The cat does not get a good quality of life. We may think our cats are doing well on dry food, and they may be, in fact, healthy. But optimizing a pet’s health is what this post is about, so we can finally prevent unnecessary health problems. Right now………the healthy ones are MINORITY. The ones who never have any health related issue are, simply put, in very MARGINAL AMOUNTS.

Always remember that dry foods are convenient for us………………..not them. They deserve better than that, people.

I saw a guy run over a squirrel this morning. Guess he was too late for work when he was driving 50 mph on a 35 mph road and could not stop when he saw the poor thing crossing the street with food in its mouth. The poor animal was still alive and trying to get out of the road when I passed by just seconds later. I started shaking. Almost stopped my car, and for not stopping completely and going to that poor creature, I feel guilty.  But my reasoning was: I’m pregnant, and that is a scared, wild animal. The unpredictability of the situation and my bebe made me keep going. But I was shocked and cried so, so much. I wanted to share this with you guys just in case you think I’m coming off too aggressive in my posts. I’m just really messed up today.

You guys take care.