Is dry food reeeeally that diabolical for our cats?

[Kim]

I think there are some very good complete kibble foods out there, Burns and Royal Canin are very good. My cats have been fed Royal Canin for many, many years are they are very healthy. I also feed wet too as I think a 'dry' only diet can cause cystitis and it is good to keep up their fluid intake.

[paulinef2]

My two are fed mainly on dry but each get a sachet of Hilife a day, they are both great drinkers and relish both types of food. Tiger gets jwb senior and Lester gets jwb kitten.

[Hevvur]

My 2 are fed on [dry]Arden Grange (kitten) with Whiskas kitten pouches for breakfast!
They don't drink an awful lot of water, but drink 1/2 bottle of Whiskas milk on an evening.

[Elaine]

I, personally, dont like an all dry diet for my animals, especially the cats. I feel that because cats are not naturally draw3n to water as dogs are, there are exceptions to this ofcourse, my worry is the damage to the kidneys by making them work harder as well as UTI's.
It is a personal choice though as many cats do well on whiskas or an all dry diet, and live to a ripe old age. It's just that some of the experiences I have had have made me rethink feeding dry food.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by Elaine

I, personally, dont like an all dry diet for my animals, especially the cats. I feel that because cats are not naturally draw3n to water as dogs are, there are exceptions to this ofcourse, my worry is the damage to the kidneys by making them work harder as well as UTI's.
It is a personal choice though as many cats do well on whiskas or an all dry diet, and live to a ripe old age. It's just that some of the experiences I have had have made me rethink feeding dry food.

Slightly off topic however twice Harvey (dog) has had dry kibble "dry" & twice he has bloated (gastric torsion) - too much of a co-incidence for me

[Elaine]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Slightly off topic however twice Harvey (dog) has had dry kibble "dry" & twice he has bloated (gastric torsion) - too much of a co-incidence for me

Since Raynes' liver incident, I now soak her kibble.

[sarah5]

See, this thread has proved exactly why I like this forum!

Helpful, open, honest and polite replies from like-minded people that don't assume you earn millions and subsequently are able to afford to feed your cat on the 'nutrionally perfect food' which has to be imported from Switzerland!

[alexgirl73]

Hmmm, my preference would be to feed a mix, however Broxi, my eldest male, wont eat anything but dry, and he's the one that needs wet the most having had 2 bouts of cystitis!! Dry is convenient, but it does seem to cause a higher incidence of health problems in males from what I've read.
I've just started my lot on Jack&Jills, saw it in my local supermarket and they really seem to be enjoying it. This is good cause they can be a fussy trio.

[mandyb]

Hello All,
Well after reading this I really dont know what to do. I took my three to the vets the other day for there boosters. The vet gave them the once over but when he looked in there month he asked what food I fed them. I've always fed them wet food with dry as a treat he told me not to feed them wet because of the amount of plauqe on there teeth. He told me this can lead to all sorts of problems kidney liver things like that. So now they are booked in to have there teeth sorted out.
Any advice would be great thanks
Mandy.

[Velvet]

I think ( no expert) you need to balance it off against one& another. You could try giving quarter dry & rest wet & dwindle it down to half & half. You can buy Thomas dry hard crunchy biscuits to give as treats

Up until he was 12 months Tim's diet was mostly wet. At his booster vet checked him over including his teeth & said he was in perfect health & teeth were in excellent order & did i feed dry food. Told a fib & said half & half as didnt want to get into argument over food

See what other more experienced folk here think