"Duplicate post - ignore" Dry Food???

[TheBowHuntress]

I took all my cats off all dry food when Gobbles got his DX. I even kinda freaked out and got rid of the (vet pushed it on me) dry & cans of DM; gave them to a woman who feeds strays (I was told, once purchased, that it couldn't be returned).

So all three of my cats (just one is diabetic) now eat canned ONLY, 6% carbs or less, with water ALWAYS mixed into the food.

I seen somewhere on the board talk of a dry cat food? Wellness maybe?

Are there ANY dry cat foods that I can feed my cats, 6% or less?

 

[Blue]

Re: Dry Food???

I took all my cats off all dry food when Gobbles got his DX. I even kinda freaked out and got rid of the (vet pushed it on me) dry & cans of DM; gave them to a woman who feeds strays (I was told, once purchased, that it couldn't be returned).

So all three of my cats (just one is diabetic) now eat canned ONLY, 6% carbs or less, with water ALWAYS mixed into the food.

I seen somewhere on the board talk of a dry cat food? Wellness maybe?

Are there ANY dry cat foods that I can feed my cats, 6% or less?

If you have fully switched over to low carb wet food, why would you want to introduce dry food again?
What purpose would it serve? It's not healthy food for your cats, not good for teeth, and certainly not good for urinary tract.

 

[TheBowHuntress]

Re: Dry Food???

If you have fully switched over to low carb wet food, why would you want to introduce dry food again?
What purpose would it serve? It's not healthy food for your cats, not good for teeth, and certainly not good for urinary tract.

Geez, if it was definitely OK to feed them dry, I could save some money. That's all I was asking. Is there anyone here, well versed in FD, here in LL, that feeds dry? Or wet and dry?

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

Re: Dry Food???

Dry food is strongly discouraged. You may want to read up on the reasons on Lisa Pierson, DVM's website on feline nutrition. The only time people may feed dry is if they are in the process of transitioning their cat to canned food. Ultimately, dry is not a particularly healthy option and it tends to be the subject of most of the major cat food recalls.

(Just a housekeeping note: We try to open one condo, per cat, per day. LL is very big and very busy. Having multiple threads going means that other threads get pushed to the bottom of the board. You can ask the questions in Gobbles' condo and indicate you've got questions in your subject line. It's not a big deal but just something for you to consider.)

 

[Bruce & Simon]

Re: Dry Food???

Hi there :smile:

There are several (and more being introduced) dry foods that are low carb, however if you're looking
for cost effectiveness, all the ones I've seen are expensive (certainly compared to Friskies, Purina etc.)
I have a bag of Nature's Variety Instinct that I "treat" the civvies with occasionally, but not Simon (FD)....

The issue with dry isn't just the carbs....

"Water is an extremely important nutrient that contributes to overall health in every living creature. Couple this with the fact that cats do not have a very strong thirst drive when compared to other species, and you will understand why it is critical for them to ingest a water-rich diet. The cat's lack of a strong thirst drive can lead to low-level, chronic dehydration when dry food makes up the bulk of their diet.

A cat's normal prey contains approximately 70 - 75 percent water. Dry foods only contain 7-10 percent water whereas canned foods contain approximately 78 percent water. Canned foods therefore more closely approximate the natural diet of the cat and are better suited to meet the cat’s water needs.

I hear the reader saying: "But my cat drinks a lot of water so he must be getting enough!"

A cat consuming a predominantly dry food diet does drink more water than a cat consuming a canned food diet, but in the end, when water from all sources is added together (what’s in their diet plus what they drink), the cat on dry food consumes approximately half the amount of water compared with a cat eating canned food."

 

[TheBowHuntress]

Re: Dry Food???

Dry food is strongly discouraged. You may want to read up on the reasons on Lisa Pierson, DVM's website on feline nutrition. The only time people may feed dry is if they are in the process of transitioning their cat to canned food. Ultimately, dry is not a particularly healthy option and it tends to be the subject of most of the major cat food recalls.

(Just a housekeeping note: We try to open one condo, per cat, per day. LL is very big and very busy. Having multiple threads going means that other threads get pushed to the bottom of the board. You can ask the questions in Gobbles' condo and indicate you've got questions in your subject line. It's not a big deal but just something for you to consider.)

Is there a way I can (copy & paste question) delete my post? I didn't give a thought that it was pushing posts, but that makes sense. I would like to delete all the posts (except Gobbles' BG post) I've made today...

 

[Blue]

Re: Dry Food???

If you have fully switched over to low carb wet food, why would you want to introduce dry food again?
What purpose would it serve? It's not healthy food for your cats, not good for teeth, and certainly not good for urinary tract.

Geez, if it was definitely OK to feed them dry, I could save some money. That's all I was asking. Is there anyone here, well versed in FD, here in LL, that feeds dry? Or wet and dry?

Feeding dry food does not work out to being cheaper in the long run. Many cats are DIET CONTROLLED, just by switching to the 'expensive' low carb wet food, and they need no insulin or other related expenses.

There was a cat who was getting 20units of insulin twice a day..... because the cat was being fed dry food. After switching to wet food, the cat needed only 1unit of insulin each shot.

If you read the info on Dr. Lisa Pierson's site, you will see that there really is no $$$ savings in feeding dry food. If any of your cats have dental issues, you will see a decrease just by switching from dry to wet food.

I think the people on this site who are feeding dry will tell you that they have been unable to switch their cats from dry to wet, and that's the main reason they are feeding dry food. I, myself, have one non-diabetic cat who refuses to switch, and there are a handful of owners here who also have stubborn cats who are also diabetic.

 

[Angela & Blackie & 3 Others]

Re: Dry Food???

Unfortunately, the dry food is the reason why my cat, Blackie, became diabetic. She, and the others, all used to be free fed each and every day. Then, I noticed she was drinking an excessive amount of water. I pretty much knew after seeing her do the same thing the next day what was up. When we got to the vet's office, and did the full bloodwork, I knew she was diabetic. Dry food, although economical, isn't good for any cat. In the wild, big cats typically hunt prey, and that's where they get their protein from. Same thing with stray domestic cats. There's no protein in dry food; only grains, which aren't good for cats anyway.

 

[squeem3]

Adding my two cents here... nailbite_smile

I agree with the others about feeding dry food, especially to a diabetic cat. It keeps blood glucose levels too high, there's no water, it's one reason why some cats get diabetes in the first place, it doesn't do anything for dental health, etc.

There are a few low carb dry foods that are recommended for newbies who are transitioning their cat to canned food, have other cats in the household who will only eat dry, etc. Wellness CORE, Innova EVO, Nature's Variety Instinct, and the supposedly no carb Young Again are recommended. Young Again dry food has been discussed recently on the Health board if you want to search for it.

If your cat is eating canned food just fine, there is no reason at all to also feed dry food. Cats really don't miss dry food at all. If for whatever reason you feel that your cat needs something hard and crunchy, there are some crunchy low carb treats that you can buy. Or you could feed a few pieces of freeze dried raw food, which is a lot healthier than any dry food. Just limit the treats to a few pieces per day and consider adding extra water the canned food to make up for the lack of water in the treats.

 

[Lisa and Do Lou (GA)]

well I am one of the ones who still use dry here even for Do Lou some yes its frowned upon but each of us has our own unique cat situation do deal with at home I have used wellness and evo both and consider them both good foods I prefer wellness over the evo cats seem to do better on it just my 2 cents....