? Dry food thoughts?

Allie & Gen

Member Since 2025
Background: my cat has always had a wet/dry combo diet. He has shown a preference for the dry over the wet overall, but always eats both (though there's often at least a little wet leftover - possibly because he likes to eat in little nibbles throughout the day, and I think it eventually starts to taste less fresh? I've gotten some great suggestions for dealing with that here).

When he was originally diagnosed with FD in 2021, we switched to Hills m/d, both wet and dry, which he stayed on until this fall. I briefly switched him to another (unfortunately fairly high-carb) wet food before his rediagnosis, and then more recently, I have managed to move him from the Hills m/d wet food to Fancy Feast Classic Puree based on recommendations here. (I may consider other lower-carb wet food at some point but I'm trying not to overwhelm him with too many changes at once.)

I've also managed to shift him to more wet and less dry over time. (Basically, I give wet and dry in the mornings, but I give wet again in the evening, instead of the additional scoop of dry he got for most of his life.)

Current dilemma: Based on all the recommendations, I know it would probably be best to eliminate dry food entirely. However, I'm loathe to do that just yet, because when his appetite fluctuates (as it always has, over all the years before FD as well), he's much more likely to (mostly) eat his dry food. And he needs to eat! (We don't want another hypo event, or poor nutrition and the risk of DKA.) But his numbers are also really high, and I'd like to reduce his overall carb intake.

I'm contemplating an intermediary step of moving him to a lower-carb dry foods. I was wondering if I could get input from the board re: general advisability, as well as any thoughts on what products might be good choices/if anyone has experiences to share. (And money is, unfortunately, an object, although thankfully the switch from Hills wet to FF has definitely reduced his food costs quite a bit!)
 
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I remember feeling similar to how you are and being in a similar spot when we started. Dr. Elsey’s and Young Again were the ones recommended to us. We were on the Dr. Elsey’s for a few weeks in late 2024. That helped, but more importantly, when we ditched the dry entirely, we saw a major shift into more regulated numbers. Like a distinct line.

Then again, in my limited time here I have seen cats regulated and in remission still having some low-carb dry. So I don’t think my situation is a blanket statement for all cats.

You probably know the benefits of wet versus dry outside of diabetes management. It was scary at first though having been a dry grazer all his life!
 
I mean, something I should have noted above is that Gen went into remission while on that wet/dry Hills m/d diet (with a stead y 1u dose of Lantus), back in 2021. Rather rapidly, too ... from DKA to remission in less than four months. So while I don't doubt the benefits of dropping the dry overall, well, ECID, and I know firsthand that it's not an absolute requirement for regulation. (The benefits beyond FD matter too, but we're not there right now anyway.)

My guy also has major dental issues which are almost certainly a disregulation factor (I'm working to address them).

It feels right to go slow and take intermediate steps where possible right now. (For another thing, I'm also anticipating probably trying to leave him with sitter care for at least a few days in just a couple of weeks, and I think that's most likely to go well if we can keep a reasonably set routine before and during that absence.)

Thank you for your thoughts. I'm glad ditching the dry food completely had such a positive effect for Pookey!
 
My first cat eateat insulin for 2 months and I had switched her to a MUCH better food. Dry food at that.
My cats aren't into eating wet. Most refuse it, but will drink the watery part. And then leave the dried up food. That gets expensive, throwing all that away. So! All but 2 eat dry.
They all eat Young Again Zero.
And are doing amazing with it. I'm happy, knowing that I'm feeding them better than any commercial or manufactured cat food out there. It's called Zero, because it has less than 1% carbs. The only food I feel is better, is raw or homemade cooked. Nico USED to eat that, but got to liking FF better.🙄
I'm hoping he'll switch back soon.
IS dry food bad? ONLY if your cat isn't a drinker. If he/she isn't? It's worth investing in a fountain to two and encourage it. What I've found, is having a water bowl ALWAYS within sight. I have 5 water bowls in a 750sqft open area. 😅 And they stink all the time from them. It's improved since I put out more of them.
My Young Again Zero is healthier than any wet food. No grains, no plant protein, no fillers of any kind. If it doesn't need to be in there, it's not. And it's so high protein packed? My 10lb cats only eat 1/4 up all day long. I don't care what anyone says. It's an amazing food.
So if you want to feed some (or all) dry and you think it's what's best? Do what you think is best. Just please have a lot of available and fresh water everywhere. ;)
 
Tone of the following message: Inquisitive, not combative :)

Young Again Zero is healthier than any wet food.
Maybe healthier ingredient-wise compared to some wet foods? I haven’t looked that close personally but there have to be some good minimal-ingredient wet foods out there…

Happy to read any research you have though and to learn. I think the truth is there probably isn’t a ton of concrete evidence just with how little cats are studied. I will say the stuff I have read does talk about benefits of wet over dry for other conditions, not so much the other way around.
 
My first cat eateat insulin for 2 months and I had switched her to a MUCH better food. Dry food at that.
My cats aren't into eating wet. Most refuse it, but will drink the watery part. And then leave the dried up food. That gets expensive, throwing all that away. So! All but 2 eat dry.
They all eat Young Again Zero.
And are doing amazing with it. I'm happy, knowing that I'm feeding them better than any commercial or manufactured cat food out there. It's called Zero, because it has less than 1% carbs. The only food I feel is better, is raw or homemade cooked. Nico USED to eat that, but got to liking FF better.🙄
I'm hoping he'll switch back soon.
IS dry food bad? ONLY if your cat isn't a drinker. If he/she isn't? It's worth investing in a fountain to two and encourage it. What I've found, is having a water bowl ALWAYS within sight. I have 5 water bowls in a 750sqft open area. 😅 And they stink all the time from them. It's improved since I put out more of them.
My Young Again Zero is healthier than any wet food. No grains, no plant protein, no fillers of any kind. If it doesn't need to be in there, it's not. And it's so high protein packed? My 10lb cats only eat 1/4 up all day long. I don't care what anyone says. It's an amazing food.
So if you want to feed some (or all) dry and you think it's what's best? Do what you think is best. Just please have a lot of available and fresh water everywhere. ;)
Thank you for your input! I think I'd read your thoughts on Young Again Zero before, and it's clear that you're deeply passionate about your kitties' health. ❤️

With both my cat and myself, I have to balance the desire for ~ideal nutritional options with a rather limited budget. Young Again Zero is very expensive, especially because they don't sell through Chewy, which offers helpful discounts for Autoshipped orders that make it possible for me to buy pricier items. Especially given how much I'm needing to spend on FD supplies right now, I have to take that into consideration. Doesn't mean I wouldn't try it! But depending on what research, information, testimonials etc I'm able to access and compare, I might choose something I can get more affordably. I'm hoping more people will weigh in with their personal experiences! Thank you for yours.

I will say that I'm fairly swayed by Dr. Lisa's pinned post about dry food and the benefits of an all-wet food diet, so I will probably wind up going in that direction eventually, but right now nothing is entirely certain.

@Tim & Pookey Seriously, the lack of evidence-backed information on feline dietary health is a source of significant frustration to me. There's so little to go on that I find really solid and convincing; part of what I like about this board is that while it's not exactly a regulated scientific trial situation, the combined experience of so many FD cat owners goes into many of the recommendations (especially around things like dosing) that there is some quasi-evidentiary basis to it.
 
I'm not sure what research you want me to find.:/
And I don't mean to come off combative either. But I'm so tired of wet food pushers telling me the famous....
'The worst wet food is better than the best dry food.'
Well since I found a cat's claw in a can of Friskies several years back, I really do beg to differ.
Thing is, I can't even pronounce many things on the ingredient list for most cat foods, wet or dry. And granted, I had to ask Michelle how to say her cat's name. But I'm usually pretty good at that sort of thing. There's just so much crap in them. Whether you think you're getting something good or not. Whether you pay $70+ for a small bag/case or not. It's just not things any cat should be eating. That's why, in my opinion of course, the dry food I feed to most of my cats will keep my babies healthier than wet canned.
And just in case it's a thought, Nico had been eating home cooked, shredded chicken and pork tenderloin long before the diabetes came about. I'm honestly thinking stress might've had a huge part in it triggering. Because it had been a very hard 7 months on everyone in the house, and he had just lost his 3rd and last brother that year. To say he adored & treasured his big brother would be an understatement. If possible, I believe that could've been it.
Anyhow, that's just my take on it. It's not research, but I believe that saying.... 'You are what you eat'. I just want to feed them healthy ingredients, so they'll be healthy.💕
 
Something else to consider is that dry food is not only hard on a diabetic cat because of its carb value, it's often seen to be the leading cause of UTI/kidney issues in cats because of its lack of water, which cats typically get from their food. This is a good write up by a Dr. Lisa Pierson (a DVM) on this: Info - Dry Food - PLEASE consider more than just carbohydrate content

When Jude has gone through periods of inappetence just recently, I resorted to small amounts of LC Dr. Elsey's kibble because it was the only thing he would eat. We do what we have to do in those circumstances to get food into them. But it's not his regular diet, and when I found ways to reinvigorate his appetite, I didn't give him any more kibble (to his GREAT displeasure).
 
Something else to consider is that dry food is not only hard on a diabetic cat because of its carb value, it's often seen to be the leading cause of UTI/kidney issues in cats because of its lack of water, which cats typically get from their food. This is a good write up by a Dr. Lisa Pierson (a DVM) on this: Info - Dry Food - PLEASE consider more than just carbohydrate content
That's why my current plan is to transition away from dry altogether, yeah. Gen drinks well, but as Dr. Pierson says, cats should naturally get more water via their diet (though I will also say that it's hard to know exactly what a "natural" diet for a domesticated animal is in some respects, much as it is for humans - not that I want to open a can of worms discourse-wise there).

I'm thinking in terms of intermediary steps only. Harm reduction, one could say, where a complete cessation is tricky.

("Harm" is debatable, as is "any wet is better than any dry" and many other things. ECID, and none of these things seem to be as well-researched and understood as I would like them to be. But working with what I have, this is the path that makes sense to me. I'm open to learning more.)

I'm getting the sense that there are really just these two brands of dry food that are considered reasonably low carb/healthy for cats (with FD, or in general), at least per what consensus exists on FDMB. Does that seem accurate?
 
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