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

[ihave4kitties]

I just want to say thank you for all the good information and links. I've tried canned food several times but my cats weren't too interested, Marcellus was alwasy totally disgusted by it. I've become convinced though and decided my cats WILL eat canned. Until joining this site I never knew about all the better brands. I would always buy the better brands at the petstore but I knew nothing about brands such as Wellness, Innova, etc. I've finally convinced my cats. Even Marcellus, whom I thought never would switch (another post) did! He eats both but more and more I see him eating the canned. I've tried many different brands but he is much more willing to eat the "real meat" types. I've been feeding my cats Felidae (tried it last week) and even Marcellus likes this. I tried Chick Soup too, the other cats love it but Marcellus wasn't interested in that. All 3 like the Felidae. I think the thing that really convinced me the most was the weight issue. Of course there are all the other reasons but the weight one was looking right at me. I was always so careful about not "over feeding." Feeding even less than the bags called for and I had scheduled feedings with little or no treats. Amazingly, my cats are overweight, not by a ton but they're still young. Marecellus has a huge saggy belly and Wallace has one, although not as big. Lewis, who's only one year is getting a saggy paunch! Well I just couldn't figure this out....I am thinking, after this great information on the this site, it must be the dry food as that was all I fed them. So....now we're feeding canned and I'm feeling quite good about that. And I'm so happy to have found a store that carried the "real meat" brands ( I had to do some research here as the big petstores don't carry it) and I'm so happy my cats like it! Thank you!

[buster's owner]

Better late than never...

Just discovered this thread - been off this forum for quite a while - still love my cats though!

Didn't yet read all the links at the start of this - quickly read thru previous post; esp. ones that seemed most informative. Like the one from Australia - comments sound good - yes, raw meat can be part of a good diet - wonder what all the incredible amount of food that restaurants and butcher shops throw out - why not grind it all up into a pet food mix - freeze it and sell it???

Anyway seems its not a good idea to feed only one type of food, but are we forgetting something? It's not just Dry vs Wet, what about QUALITY? IOW, whatever you feed, get the BEST you can find...and by best, I mean quality, close to natural ingredients(?) Agreed? Or no?

Cats ARE finicky - one time they like a certain food and the next time...??
Variety seems to be the key and hey....aren't people the same...would YOU want to eat the same thing for every meal??

In the wild, cats (big and small) will eat a variety and most prey would be semi-moist (oooo, blood, yuck!!!) wouldn't it?

Wouldn't the ideal food be , shall we call it, meatloaf? IOW, a mix containing raw or cooked meat plus all the usual ingredients in a meatloaf plus the extras (alll natural) that are good for your cat buddy? But try other things...let your buddy decide....and love 'em to pieces, eh?

Had an unusual occurence a month ago - got talking to a lady in a local dollar store about cats (she had a big bag of dry in her cart). Told her that I had lost my best buddy (see my story and pics elsewhere here) - didn't know what took him - he sort of choked to death...BAM, immediately she told me he had died from too much protein in his diet which causes cats insides to "crystalize" (the term she used) - probably from canned food diet (I believe she said) - I asked her how she knew and she said it had happened to her pet(s) too - I really should have had an autopsy done with my pet, but.... ...you know.

to be continued...

[moggiegirl]

Had an unusual occurence a month ago - got talking to a lady in a local dollar store about cats (she had a big bag of dry in her cart). Told her that I had lost my best buddy (see my story and pics elsewhere here) - didn't know what took him - he sort of choked to death...BAM, immediately she told me he had died from too much protein in his diet which causes cats insides to "crystalize" (the term she used) - probably from canned food diet (I believe she said) - I asked her how she knew and she said it had happened to her pet(s) too - I really should have had an autopsy done with my pet, but.... ...you know.

The lady at the dollar store didn't know what she was talking about. You get that a lot because a lot of people are misguided like that and will try to tell you that wet food is "not good for cats."

I totally agree about variety. No I wouldn't like to eat the same thing day in and day out and I don't expect my cats to do that either. Spotty made it very clear to me that he doesn't like to eat the same wet food every day and will seek out Rosie's food if feed him a special diet. A vet once told me I had to feed only one special diet food(canned and/or dry version) for the rest of his life and stay away from regular canned cat food. But at his next check up I'll be telling her that Spotty is eating a huge variety of different types of wet food(and some dry food), with different proteins and flavors and from different companies and he's doing great and has a lot of energy. The vet won't have any authority to control his diet with him doing so well. If she insists I feed a special diet I will refuse and if she points out his medical record I will tell her that she doesn't live with Spotty like I do and has no idea how well he's doing on many varieties of wet food. Hopefully she'll understand.

[thecatspot]

I think a mixture is best...we feed dry and canned.

[brutis and miep]

It is nice to hear from people who do research

[brutis and miep]

I wish some vets would do the research you have. I used to work for a pet supplies store and people would ask about cats with urinary tract infection and kidney problems all the time. It was nearly impossable to convince them to feed a canned diet. They always said "but my vet said that dry food was bad for their teeth." Great, choose your cat's teeth over its kidneys! They'd always pick up Purina One Uninary Tract Health and then wonder why their cat never got any better.

[brutis and miep]

Opps, never mind. How do you erase a message thats accidentally submitted twice.

[gizmocat]

I have tried canned Wellness, Felidae, Innova, Merrick's and one cheap fish wet food.
The cat won't eat anything but the cheap fish wet food. She won't eat the others even when she is hungry.
Dry food: she eats only California Natural Chicken and Rice. And yes, she drinks a lot of water.
Since she picks at the food throughout the day I'm not getting raw diet for her; it will simply go off.
Some cats just won't eat canned food, 'period'. My girl is one of those.
I'd like to do what is best for her but haven't the time or the money to buy every cat food brand on Earth and offer it to her. So this is making the best of a not-so-good situation. The cal natural is not making her fat and she appears to be thriving on it. And her teeth are much better than when I first got her, though she'll still need a cleaning.

[gizmocat]

update: Gizmo was put on a rabbit-only diet for her allergies.
She loves it and even eats the wet food--but only very small amounts. She is a small cat. But this is a major change for her, and for the better.
I put out some dry for her too since she likes the mix.

[jab]

One of the podcasts I listen to talked about how canned food (with it's higher water content) is great for treating and eliminating FLUTD. Here's the link:
http://www.tacomacat.com/podcast.html episode 'Elmer needs to go.'