Info. & Links on why canned is better than all dry diet

[Two Siamese]

Well I made it through all 17 pages of this thread, and I still don't know what brand of wet food to buy my babies, lol. I'm going to look into Nature's Variety frozen raw or canned, Avo Derm, Evo 95% meat, and Wellness Core.

The different posts on bacteria and mold were quite interesting. One of the subjects I teach (I teach at a culinary school, but I strictly teach the classroom, not kitchen, subjects) is ServSafe or the study of food safety. Every place in the US that sells food must have a ServSafe certified person on the premises. I have one step above that, a certification to teach ServSafe. I'm reasonably knowledgeable about keeping food safe for human consumption -- cat consumption is out of my range of knowledge; however, I wanted to comment on a few things I read.

Bacteria, Viruses, Parasites, and Fungi are all different pathogens, or disease-causing organisms. One of the posters who said mold is not a bacteria is dead-on correct.

Yes, it's true that in order to thrive, a pathogen typically likes a water content of .85 or higher on a scale of 0.0 to 1.0, with water having a rating of 1.0. That's why you are more LIKELY to get a foodborn illness from a moist food like chicken salad than a drier food like a cracker.

That having been said, BOTH dry food and wet food can become contaminated by bacteria. Keeping food safe is highly dependent on how it's handled, not just the physical water content of it. Dry food can become contaminated; moist food can become contaminated.

Again, these are based on human consumption -- I can't speak for a feline digestive system; however, it would seem to me that the rationale behind dry vs. wet should have much more to do with how your baby thrives/grows/lives on the product than whether or not someone thinks that wet food grows more bacteria or dry food grows more bacteria. Both, if mishandled anywhere from the manufacturer to my house can be contaminated. Some bacteria are aerobic -- they thrive in the air. Some are anaerobic -- they thrive when cut off from oxygen (botulism for example). Parasites are a whole other subject.

Someone said about not leaving wet food out for more than 30 minutes. I'm curious as to what the proven time is that you can allow cat food to sit in the temperature danger zone (41 - 135, with 70-125 being the worst of the danger zone). For human consumption, you generally have up to about 4 hours before the bacteria could multiply to a number that will make you sick. Is there something published on what that time frame is for cats? A half hour seems to be overly-precautious, but again, I know how to keep human food safe, not feline food, so I'm not saying that the poster who suggested 30 minutes is wrong.

Anyway, just my 2 cents on the subject....still don't know what to buy though!

[MinkaMuffin]

Just wanted to let the OP know that links 1, 3, 4, 5 and 8 don't work anymore :[

Two Siamese - It's best to buy many brands anyways, and everything you listed seems great, so just head out to the store, pick out some flavors and see how it goes.

[saitenyo]

Originally Posted by Two Siamese

Well I made it through all 17 pages of this thread, and I still don't know what brand of wet food to buy my babies, lol. I'm going to look into Nature's Variety frozen raw or canned, Avo Derm, Evo 95% meat, and Wellness Core.

The different posts on bacteria and mold were quite interesting. One of the subjects I teach (I teach at a culinary school, but I strictly teach the classroom, not kitchen, subjects) is ServSafe or the study of food safety. Every place in the US that sells food must have a ServSafe certified person on the premises. I have one step above that, a certification to teach ServSafe. I'm reasonably knowledgeable about keeping food safe for human consumption -- cat consumption is out of my range of knowledge; however, I wanted to comment on a few things I read.

Bacteria, Viruses, Parasites, and Fungi are all different pathogens, or disease-causing organisms. One of the posters who said mold is not a bacteria is dead-on correct.

Yes, it's true that in order to thrive, a pathogen typically likes a water content of .85 or higher on a scale of 0.0 to 1.0, with water having a rating of 1.0. That's why you are more LIKELY to get a foodborn illness from a moist food like chicken salad than a drier food like a cracker.

That having been said, BOTH dry food and wet food can become contaminated by bacteria. Keeping food safe is highly dependent on how it's handled, not just the physical water content of it. Dry food can become contaminated; moist food can become contaminated.

Again, these are based on human consumption -- I can't speak for a feline digestive system; however, it would seem to me that the rationale behind dry vs. wet should have much more to do with how your baby thrives/grows/lives on the product than whether or not someone thinks that wet food grows more bacteria or dry food grows more bacteria. Both, if mishandled anywhere from the manufacturer to my house can be contaminated. Some bacteria are aerobic -- they thrive in the air. Some are anaerobic -- they thrive when cut off from oxygen (botulism for example). Parasites are a whole other subject.

Someone said about not leaving wet food out for more than 30 minutes. I'm curious as to what the proven time is that you can allow cat food to sit in the temperature danger zone (41 - 135, with 70-125 being the worst of the danger zone). For human consumption, you generally have up to about 4 hours before the bacteria could multiply to a number that will make you sick. Is there something published on what that time frame is for cats? A half hour seems to be overly-precautious, but again, I know how to keep human food safe, not feline food, so I'm not saying that the poster who suggested 30 minutes is wrong.

Anyway, just my 2 cents on the subject....still don't know what to buy though!

This is informative, thank you! I have no formal education in any of these things but have become so interested in nutrition and the food industry that I spend a lot of time reading about it. I always enjoy learning more.

I agree with what Minka said as well. You're going to get a lot of different opinions on which canned food is best, and that's because there are just a lot of really good options! Don't feel like you have to settle on one. My cats get 3-5 different brands on any given week. Rotation feeding has a lot of benefits, such as the cats not getting bored, avoiding nutritional problems that can be caused be always feeding the same food, and having multiple options in case of a recall or if the store just runs out of one food.

[Bambi]

Hi everyone! I'm really surprised about this canned food thing, never knew about its bennefits. Our vet has always recommeded dry food and we've never given canned food to our cats as part of a steady diet, thinking it wasn't as good. However, this really seems to make sense...

I was wondering, is there any place where I could find scientific papers or scientific articles about the bennefits of canned food?

My dad is very caring of our cat, and he's the one that buys her food. He's VERY stubborn, and he won't believe anything that isn't written on a scientific paper (he's a doctor, so that might explain it). I tried telling him about the wet diet thing, and he told me we'll be asking the vet next time we see him. The thing is, Lenore's next appointment with the vet is still a few months away. And anyways, last time I checked, our vet wasn't too keen on wet diet for cats.

Hope anybody could help me! I tried searching on Google Scholar, but couldn't find anything (not for free, at least :s).

[SallyGracie]

I like to give my babies wet grain-free food – I find it keeps away UTIs in my older cat. As long as the ingredients are top quality (I feed natural balance Platefulls) then wet food can be very beneficial.

[Violetzephyr]

Originally Posted by fusion

We just adopted a cat from the ASPCA. Their new cat materials recommend solely wet food for cats. In the past they'd recommended dry or a combination. They say wet food is lower in carbs and higher in water and protein and this is a healthier and more natural diet for cats. They say dry food, even high end dry, is really "kitty junk food" and too much can lead to problems. They even refer to Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition :: healthy cat diet, making cat food, litter box, cat food, cat nutrition, cat urinary tract health

Progress!

That's so awesome!

[cinderflower]

Originally Posted by Bambi

Hi everyone! I'm really surprised about this canned food thing, never knew about its bennefits. Our vet has always recommeded dry food and we've never given canned food to our cats as part of a steady diet, thinking it wasn't as good. However, this really seems to make sense...

I was wondering, is there any place where I could find scientific papers or scientific articles about the bennefits of canned food?

My dad is very caring of our cat, and he's the one that buys her food. He's VERY stubborn, and he won't believe anything that isn't written on a scientific paper (he's a doctor, so that might explain it). I tried telling him about the wet diet thing, and he told me we'll be asking the vet next time we see him. The thing is, Lenore's next appointment with the vet is still a few months away. And anyways, last time I checked, our vet wasn't too keen on wet diet for cats.

Hope anybody could help me! I tried searching on Google Scholar, but couldn't find anything (not for free, at least :s).

this site seems more lay-person friendly than scholarly, but lisa pierson dvm wrote it. if you wanted something more scientific, you could probably write and ask her. she seems very willing to get information out there:

www.catinfo.org

[ibbica]

Originally Posted by Bambi

I was wondering, is there any place where I could find scientific papers or scientific articles about the bennefits of canned food?

Dr. Pierson's site is an excellent resource

This seems to be the study that the whole 'cats fed a dry diet don't take in as much water' thing comes from:

http://www.hillspet.com/media/_refac...actDisease.pdf

Disclaimer: yes, it was conducted at Hill's. There is unfortunately little funding and few resources or support available for systematic research into pet diets outside of pet food manufacturers

But anyone can test this on their own cats at home! *If they're already used to a varied diet and eating both wet and dry food, and aren't prone to UTIs.* Please use your best judgment!

Feed only dry food for a week, then only wet for a week, another week of dry and another week of wet (to avoid order effects). Keep careful track each day of how much they're drinking (use a weigh scale for the water bowl, in a home kitchen it'll be more accurate than trying to measure volume directly) and add that to the moisture content of the diet. If you use clumping cat litter you can try to estimate urinary output (total weight or volume of urine clumps); although you'd likely miss subtle differences, major changes should be detectable.

Hm... I actually keep meaning to try this with ours, as I'd like to compare water intake on a mixed vs. wet vs. dry diet. Anyone (with healthy cats NOT prone to UTIs) want to join me?