Info Dry Food - PLEASE consider more than just carbohydrate content

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Lisa dvm said:
You old timers know that I used to frequently post the link to Opie's story and I am very grateful to all of you who have picked up the baton and continue to remind newbies that diet is NOT just about carbohydrates but it is also about WATER.

Opie's story - suffering from a urethral obstruction

Yes, I truly am shouting.

I can't think of anything else that causes me as much emotional pain as seeing a cat suffering/dying from a urethral obstruction which in probably well over 95% of all cases is caused by humans and their love affair with dry food.

It pains me to read about Young Again Zero Carb or any other low-carb DRY food that come about when people get so focused on only the carb content of the food........and they neglect to keep in mind that a cat's urinary tract is much healthier when there is plenty of water flowing through it.

A cat on wet food consumes double the amount of water compared to a cat on dry food when all sources (food + water bowl) are considered. More water in => more water running through the kidneys and bladder to flush out debris (crystals, mucus, blood, protein, white blood cells, etc.) that could potentially lead to an obstructed urethra.

Feeding a low carb dry food as a treat is no big deal. What I am talking about is when people think that ANY dry food is a healthy substitute for a water-rich diet of either canned or homemade.

I would be beyond wealthy if I had a dime for every time someone said "but my cat won't eat canned food" or...."but my cat loves his crunchies!" (Oh how I hate that word "crunchies" to describe a food format that often causes such tremendous suffering.)

Or...."but my cat drinks a lot of water" which neglects to recognize a cat's inherent low thirst drive and the fact that they do consume more water when on a wet diet.

And, no doubt, some people will throw rocks at me but I will also say that in so many cases (but not all....), the human has simply not tried hard enough...they have not implemented enough tricks or the right ones....and have given up far too quickly.

Believe me, I know that there are some die-hard dry food addicts on this planet having dealt with my own cats (7 back in 2002 when I started the transition) + some stubborn foster cats which were all awful dry food addicts that did not even recognized wet food as food. It was a nightmare to get them all switched but all I had to do was think about the screams in agony of a cat with a blocked urethra and that was all I needed to stay the course.

Please see Tips for Transitioning Dry Food Addicts to Canned Food

I want to make it clear that I am not unsympathetic to the stress that a diabetic cat caregiver goes through.....which is seriously compounded when faced with a dry food addict. Quite frankly, you all amaze me with your dedication when so many people simply euthanize their cats when hearing the diagnosis of "diabetes."

However, I also hate to see a cat caregiver add more problems to their cat's 'plate' by contributing to urinary tract problems due to being fed a water-depleted diet.

Opie's obstruction: His medical costs came to $4,350. Ouch. Urethral obstructions are not cheap ($2K is not uncommon) and, again, they cause a tremendous amount of suffering.

Other urinary tract problems are also expensive. It can cost ~$200 just to run a culture and sensitivity to prove that an infection actually exists for supposed "UTIs" which is an acronym that should never be used. People should state "UT INFECTION" (as proved by a culture & sensitivity) or UT INFLAMMATION" but never just "UTI" which simply leads to antibiotic abuse.

See Urinary Tract Diseases for more information.

I often hear people using the excuse that they are gone for 12 hours at a time as a reason for leaving dry food out. Canned food can be left out for 12 hours at a time. See my post below that discusses leaving out a good portion of the 12 hour needs in a frozen chunk to prolong freshness. I also do this every night in my house when I go to bed. 25% of their overnight needs are left out at room temperature or cold out of the refrigerator and 75% is left out as a frozen chunk.

Again, I want to thank all of you wet-food proponents for keeping at this mission to remind people that the water content of the diet is truly a critical component to feeding cats. I don't think you realize how much your help in this area is preventing further suffering of cats by keeping them from ending up with ruptured bladders.
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Hi, thank you for this - I have always fed my cats half and half, but I seriously take on board what you say and reduce the ratio until they’re off it.
 
Lisa dvm said:
You old timers know that I used to frequently post the link to Opie's story and I am very grateful to all of you who have picked up the baton and continue to remind newbies that diet is NOT just about carbohydrates but it is also about WATER.

Opie's story - suffering from a urethral obstruction

Yes, I truly am shouting.

I can't think of anything else that causes me as much emotional pain as seeing a cat suffering/dying from a urethral obstruction which in probably well over 95% of all cases is caused by humans and their love affair with dry food.

It pains me to read about Young Again Zero Carb or any other low-carb DRY food that come about when people get so focused on only the carb content of the food........and they neglect to keep in mind that a cat's urinary tract is much healthier when there is plenty of water flowing through it.

A cat on wet food consumes double the amount of water compared to a cat on dry food when all sources (food + water bowl) are considered. More water in => more water running through the kidneys and bladder to flush out debris (crystals, mucus, blood, protein, white blood cells, etc.) that could potentially lead to an obstructed urethra.

Feeding a low carb dry food as a treat is no big deal. What I am talking about is when people think that ANY dry food is a healthy substitute for a water-rich diet of either canned or homemade.

I would be beyond wealthy if I had a dime for every time someone said "but my cat won't eat canned food" or...."but my cat loves his crunchies!" (Oh how I hate that word "crunchies" to describe a food format that often causes such tremendous suffering.)

Or...."but my cat drinks a lot of water" which neglects to recognize a cat's inherent low thirst drive and the fact that they do consume more water when on a wet diet.

And, no doubt, some people will throw rocks at me but I will also say that in so many cases (but not all....), the human has simply not tried hard enough...they have not implemented enough tricks or the right ones....and have given up far too quickly.

Believe me, I know that there are some die-hard dry food addicts on this planet having dealt with my own cats (7 back in 2002 when I started the transition) + some stubborn foster cats which were all awful dry food addicts that did not even recognized wet food as food. It was a nightmare to get them all switched but all I had to do was think about the screams in agony of a cat with a blocked urethra and that was all I needed to stay the course.

Please see Tips for Transitioning Dry Food Addicts to Canned Food

I want to make it clear that I am not unsympathetic to the stress that a diabetic cat caregiver goes through.....which is seriously compounded when faced with a dry food addict. Quite frankly, you all amaze me with your dedication when so many people simply euthanize their cats when hearing the diagnosis of "diabetes."

However, I also hate to see a cat caregiver add more problems to their cat's 'plate' by contributing to urinary tract problems due to being fed a water-depleted diet.

Opie's obstruction: His medical costs came to $4,350. Ouch. Urethral obstructions are not cheap ($2K is not uncommon) and, again, they cause a tremendous amount of suffering.

Other urinary tract problems are also expensive. It can cost ~$200 just to run a culture and sensitivity to prove that an infection actually exists for supposed "UTIs" which is an acronym that should never be used. People should state "UT INFECTION" (as proved by a culture & sensitivity) or UT INFLAMMATION" but never just "UTI" which simply leads to antibiotic abuse.

See Urinary Tract Diseases for more information.

I often hear people using the excuse that they are gone for 12 hours at a time as a reason for leaving dry food out. Canned food can be left out for 12 hours at a time. See my post below that discusses leaving out a good portion of the 12 hour needs in a frozen chunk to prolong freshness. I also do this every night in my house when I go to bed. 25% of their overnight needs are left out at room temperature or cold out of the refrigerator and 75% is left out as a frozen chunk.

Again, I want to thank all of you wet-food proponents for keeping at this mission to remind people that the water content of the diet is truly a critical component to feeding cats. I don't think you realize how much your help in this area is preventing further suffering of cats by keeping them from ending up with ruptured bladders.
Click to expand...
My cat was recently diagnosed with Diabetes in November and like a lot of others on here was and is a dry food connoisseur. We were told to try fancy feast pate and we did and the most he would do is lick up some of the juice. Are there any other wet foods or any homemade diets we could feed him? Currently he is on Dr. Elseys Clean Protein Dry Food. We are getting desperate as we are having trouble regulating his BG.
 
Ryan Mays said:
My cat was recently diagnosed with Diabetes in November and like a lot of others on here was and is a dry food connoisseur. We were told to try fancy feast pate and we did and the most he would do is lick up some of the juice. Are there any other wet foods or any homemade diets we could feed him? Currently he is on Dr. Elseys Clean Protein Dry Food. We are getting desperate as we are having trouble regulating his BG.
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@Sienne and Gabby (GA)
 
Ryan Mays said:
Are there any other wet foods or any homemade diets we could feed him? Currently he is on Dr. Elseys Clean Protein Dry Food. We are getting desperate as we are having trouble regulating his BG.
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There are lots of other canned foods you can try. Friskies pates, 9-Lives ground and Special Kitty (Walmart) are all under 10% carbs and are easy to find and affordable, but there are lots of others too. Weruva, Tiki Cat, BFF, Wellness, Sheba, Purina One...the list is too long! On the website discussed in this thread, there's a chart which lists a lot of foods (but it hasn't been updated in a long time)...However, a lot of the numbers are still valid. When looking at foods, read the ingredients. There shouldn't be any grains like corn, wheat, soy, barley, rice, etc. or any starches like potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas or chickpeas. A lot of foods have foods that look good and healthy (for HUMANS who are the ones that buy them) but do nothing for the cat, like fruits and vegetables. Ingredients are required to be listed in order, so the first ingredient should be the highest amount...so if chicken is listed first, chicken should be the main ingredient. Generally, if the first 5 ingredients are protein sources, water, protein by-products, it's more than likely also going to be low carb. Here's the food chart: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

There are also a lot of raw diets you can feed, as well as freeze dried raw like Stella & Chewy's and if you're really dedicated, there is a recipe for making homemade raw here: Making Cat Food
 
Chris & China (GA) said:
There are lots of other canned foods you can try. Friskies pates, 9-Lives ground and Special Kitty (Walmart) are all under 10% carbs and are easy to find and affordable, but there are lots of others too. Weruva, Tiki Cat, BFF, Wellness, Sheba, Purina One...the list is too long! On the website discussed in this thread, there's a chart which lists a lot of foods (but it hasn't been updated in a long time)...However, a lot of the numbers are still valid. When looking at foods, read the ingredients. There shouldn't be any grains like corn, wheat, soy, barley, rice, etc. or any starches like potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas or chickpeas. A lot of foods have foods that look good and healthy (for HUMANS who are the ones that buy them) but do nothing for the cat, like fruits and vegetables. Ingredients are required to be listed in order, so the first ingredient should be the highest amount...so if chicken is listed first, chicken should be the main ingredient. Generally, if the first 5 ingredients are protein sources, water, protein by-products, it's more than likely also going to be low carb. Here's the food chart: https://catinfo.org/docs/CatFoodProteinFatCarbPhosphorusChart.pdf

There are also a lot of raw diets you can feed, as well as freeze dried raw like Stella & Chewy's and if you're really dedicated, there is a recipe for making homemade raw here: Making Cat Food
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Thank you. I just ordered the Stella and Chewys freeze dried chicken morsels to see if he’s interested. Would you say the freeze dried to be healthier than the fancy feast or 9 lives? Is it ok to leave freeze dried out? He is a grazer and eats alittle at a time all throughout the day.
 
Always know that when a cat grazes and it’s time to test, you might not get a true reading since food always raises the glucose level, that’s why is good to have a diabetic cat on a feeding schedule the two main meals prior to shot and 3-4 small meals throughout the day to keep the insulin in check
 
CORKY said:
Always know that when a cat grazes and it’s time to test, you might not get a true reading since food always raises the glucose level, that’s why is good to have a diabetic cat on a feeding schedule the two main meals prior to shot and 3-4 small meals throughout the day to keep the insulin in check
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That makes sense I just don’t know how I could feed during the day since I’m gone for work almost 12 hours a day. What are your suggestions?
 
Ryan Mays said:
That makes sense I just don’t know how I could feed during the day since I’m gone for work almost 12 hours a day. What are your suggestions?
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You can purchase a wet food feeder and program, one of the models have cameras
 

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Ryan Mays said:
Would you say the freeze dried to be healthier than the fancy feast or 9 lives?
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Stella & Chewys is a high quality food, so in that sense, it's probably better than the lower cost options, BUT, it's also designed to be mixed with water to rehydrate it. There are a lot of members who use the freeze dried foods as toppers or as something to leave down during the day, but the most important "ingredient" in cat food is water. If you haven't read the website at catinfo.org, it's well worth the time to read. Cats are desert creatures who were designed to get their moisture from prey (that 80% water mouse). They have a low thirst drive so even though you may think he's drinking tons of water, it's never enough.

The other problem with cats is their kidneys. They just aren't built to last. Pretty much all cats over about 10 have some level of kidney disease. Increasing their water intake by feeding a canned (or rehydrated) food helps to keep them as healthy as possible.

It is best that they don't eat for the 2 hours immediately before shot times so that when you do Pre-shot blood glucose check the number's not influenced by food. Getting a digital auto-feeder would be your best friend because you can program it to open and offer fresh food while you're at work, and then program it to move to an empty slot 2 hours before shot times. That way you'd know he didn't have any food for those 2 hours. The other good thing about having an auto-feeder would be you could put canned (or rehydrated) food in it. Since the food stays covered until the feeder opens, it doesn't get dried out like most wet food does. Some of them also have ice packs that help keep the food fresh. That would kind of be the best of both worlds. The added moisture in the canned, with the higher quality protein in the freeze-dried.
 
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