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New Member
 
Cats owned: British Shorthairs
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14
Darwin is Male
29-08-2010, 10:38 AM   #11

Re: Complete Dry food


I feed a small amount of dry food to my cats, but only when I have to leave them alone in the daytime. I have recently become better educated on the content and quality of commercial cat foods. In my opinion cats should not be fed grains (carbohydrates) as part of their diet and for this reason the dry cat food I choose is Orijin, as it does not contain grains. Cats digestive tracts are not designed to digest grains. Wild cats do not eat grains. Most commercial dry foods contain LOTS of grains. I would not feed a rabbit meat, so why would I feed any of my cats grains?

Otherwise my cats eat a raw meat/bone/offal diet.

I do realise cats often LOVE dry food but that does not mean it is good for them. Kids love McDonalds but I would never let them eat it.

Finally I know vets plug certain dry food diets but they do this as they are sponsored to keep the manufacturers food in their clinics and some vets income is approaching 50% from the sale of such foods apparently- go figure why they plug it as the optimum diet! Much of the info they have on feline nutrition comes from the maufacturers of dry food, so I think they are biased.

But the choice is yours, these are just my informed opinions



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angieh's Avatar
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Cats owned: Magnificent moggies
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Location: Hampshire, UK
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29-08-2010, 01:39 PM   #12

Re: Complete Dry food


Further to the point made by Darwin above that cats do better without being fed grains, I have looked more carefully at this cat food that is now available in U.K. I have had communication with the man who began importing this food and he sent me a sample last year. Certainly it was eaten with gusto, but it was a period of change for me after losing Merlin and I can't really remember all the details. I am thinking of giving it another go. No cereals, but I am not sure that cats are natural eaters of sweet potato

Anyway, here are the nutritional details just in case anyone is interested .....



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MrsH's Avatar
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Cats owned: 2 blue-eyed moggies
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29-08-2010, 04:10 PM   #13

Re: Complete Dry food


The trouble with discussions about what to feed one's pet is that they often get a bit controversial.

Orijen is a really excellent food and Angie is wise to give it another go, but I have to take some exception to the way in which Darwin has worded his response. To say that he is now better informed is (to my mind at least) to suggest that those of us who feed other dry foods are ill-informed.

My cats are very happy on James Wellbeloved (which does contain grains - rice and maize gluten) Fair enough, cats weren't designed to eat grains but there are a lot of ingredients in all cat foods including Orijen which fall into the "unnatural for cats" category. Blackcurrants, turnip greens, sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin etc. are surely not natural foods for cats yet are in Orijen and I'm sure there are very good reasons for their inclusion, but please, don't imply that by feeding other brands we are feeding our cats the equivalent of McDonalds ie junk food.

If we avoided all "unnatural for cats" foods, we'd be queueing up to source fresh, live mice!



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dandysmom's Avatar
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Cats owned: Leia: blue torbie
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29-08-2010, 04:17 PM   #14

Re: Complete Dry food


If I'm not mistaken, cats in the wild eat the stomach contents of their prey which contain grains and vegetable matter. Just a thought.



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angieh's Avatar
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29-08-2010, 04:41 PM   #15

Re: Complete Dry food


Yes, that's a good point Eileen. There's only ever "that" bit left, which I think is the gall bladder.



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New Member
 
Cats owned: British Shorthairs
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14
Darwin is Male
29-08-2010, 04:48 PM   #16

Re: Complete Dry food


Quote:
Originally Posted by MrsH
The trouble with discussions about what to feed one's pet is that they often get a bit controversial.

Orijen is a really excellent food and Angie is wise to give it another go, but I have to take some exception to the way in which Darwin has worded his response. To say that he is now better informed is (to my mind at least) to suggest that those of us who feed other dry foods are ill-informed.

My cats are very happy on James Wellbeloved (which does contain grains - rice and maize gluten) Fair enough, cats weren't designed to eat grains but there are a lot of ingredients in all cat foods including Orijen which fall into the "unnatural for cats" category. Blackcurrants, turnip greens, sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin etc. are surely not natural foods for cats yet are in Orijen and I'm sure there are very good reasons for their inclusion, but please, don't imply that by feeding other brands we are feeding our cats the equivalent of McDonalds ie junk food.

If we avoided all "unnatural for cats" foods, we'd be queueing up to source fresh, live mice!
I am sorry you take exception to the way you think I expressed my views. Of course the problem with forum discussions is that you can not detect the tone of the response. I never had, nor have, any intention of being offensive. I do feel better informed (than I was) but I was not insinuating you, or anyone else, was poorly informed, although I am sure some cat owners are

However, my interpretation of what I have read and now consider to be valid evidence, is that cats should not eat grains and I do consider much of the commercial food available, both wet and dry, not to be best suited for a cats ideal nutrition. Even Orijin is not ideal but of all the dried foods on the market I do consider it to be one of the best available.

I do still consider many of the foods people feed to be the feline equivalent of fast food, but I stand by peoples rights to feed them to their cats if they choose to. I would not (although have in the past). It is just my opinion, which is what a discussion board is about, the expression of different opinions. People may agree or disagree as they wish. I know many consider owners like me who feed raw food to cats to be reckless, placing their cats at risk of salmonella or choking on bones, but that is their view. There are lots of viewpoints, we are entitled to our own.

As for the mice, well I do know some people do indeed feed thawed frozen mice occasionally to their cats (you can get them from pet shops for reptiles). A step too far for many people I expect

But I suppose the bottom line for me is that dry food is not a good option for cats, it is convenient for owners, myself included, and in small proportions probably does no harm, but I would never again feed my cats dry food as a major component of their diet.

Peace out



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New Member
 
Cats owned: British Shorthairs
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14
Darwin is Male
29-08-2010, 04:51 PM   #17

Re: Complete Dry food


Quote:
Originally Posted by dandysmom
If I'm not mistaken, cats in the wild eat the stomach contents of their prey which contain grains and vegetable matter. Just a thought.
A valid point! But the grain in a rodents gut must be a tiny percentage by weight of the overall meal whereas in many commercial dried foods the grain content percentage by weight is HUGE, way beyond what they would get from eating rodents gut contents.



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Elaine's Avatar
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Cats owned: 2 moggies
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Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
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29-08-2010, 05:52 PM   #18

Re: Complete Dry food


The following was taken from the felinecrf.org website.
Cats are obligate carnivores. This does not mean they can only eat meat. It means that unlike other species, such as humans and dogs, they cannot manufacture certain amino acids essential to life. In order to obtain these amino acids, they must eat food which contains them, and ideally that means they must eat meat.

It is a myth that our domestic cats are miniature versions of the big cats such as lions. Big cats are part of a pride, and hunt together. Domestic cats, in contrast, are solitary predators, and if they are living in their own version of the wild, normally they would only eat what they could catch. They catch mice, insects, whatever passes by or what they can hunt. This means they have evolved to eat little and often. They eat very little plant material, only what would be found in a mouse's stomach. They eat very few carbohydrates for the same reason.

Originally cats were desert animals, so they evolved not to want to drink much. Since a mouse is approximately 60% water, historically this was not an issue - they got sufficient fluid intake from their food. Therefore ideally cats also need to eat wet foods.

So to summarise, cats need a food containing a large percentage of meat-based protein, with limited vegetables and grains. They need to eat little and often, and ideally a wet food.

That is the ideal. However, back in the real world, there can be problems.





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Elaine's Avatar
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29-08-2010, 05:56 PM   #19

Re: Complete Dry food


Some of you know that I am not a fan of dry food diets but would never condem anyone else who feeds them to healthy cats.
I have fed dry foods in the past and my experiences tell me that it was more convenient for me than for my cats. I now feed an all wet diet.



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dandysmom's Avatar
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Cats owned: Leia: blue torbie
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Location: Washington, DC, USA
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29-08-2010, 07:52 PM   #20

Re: Complete Dry food


I agree that sometimes it's easy to misinterpret a post, as we don't have the advantage of hearing the tone of voice, facial expressions and body language that we do in a face to face conversation. That said, I am a convert to wet food with a little additional water added, and only a tiny sprinkling of dry on top for increased palatability, and small but frequent meals - 4 daily in my case. Dry is a convenience for the owner as Elaine has said, and most cats do like it, but there is also the danger of cystitis.



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