Do you mostly feed your cats dry food?

[oasis]

We had an awful weekend... :crying:

 

One of our two cats started behaving as though he was feeling sick this Sunday. He wasn't moving around much at all, and wasn't eating/drinking.

 

He's only 5 years old, and we took him to the emergency vet. Come to find out, he had urinary crystals which were preventing him from being able to urinate. (I'd never heard of the issue!) Sadly, he died after emergency surgery. :crying: My dd8 is so brokenhearted.

 

We're wanting to attempt to prevent this for our other 5-yr-old cat (from the same litter), so I've been researching online. It looks like a possible cause for urinary crystals is feeding mostly dry food.

 

Now I'm feeling really terrible, because we used to feed our cats a can of tuna about every two days, but lately finances have been tight, so they've been stuck with only dry food. I'm wondering if we'd kept up feeding the tuna, would our missed pet still be alive? :crying:

 

We'll definitely go back to feeding canned tuna to our other cat, and I'm looking into a more expensive dry cat food which doesn't contain so much grain. (We've always fed them Purina Cat Chow.)

 

We're trying to watch our other cat closely; we're worried about him. He keeps looking around the house, meowing for his brother. :(

 

I was wondering if most people mainly feed their cats dry cat food?

Edited March 27, 2012 by oasis

[Erica in OR]

So sorry to hear about your family's loss.

 

We have fed our cat dry food his entire life (15 years) and haven't had a problem with crystals. We do feed him one of the little bit pricier foods, PUrina One, and have used different formulas of that food—hairball, weight management, indoor, urinary tract health. I wonder if their urinary tract health type has anything to do with preventing crystals?

 

Erica in OR

[Butter]

We've never fed our cats anything but dry food. They've never had issues.

[catz]

Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. :grouphug:

 

I had one cat that had this issue, but he recovered and went on to live to be 16. After that we switched to science diet dry food and never had any more issues with crystals. The vet told us it was fairly common for cats that were fed only cheaper, dry food. Both our current cats are 9 years old and have only been fed science diet dry and are super healthy.

[Plucky]

I'm so sorry! What is the percentage of cats that get these crystals from dry food? I feed all 4 of mine only dry food.

[ktgrok]

Some cats are more prone than others, and it is almost always the boy cats that get blocked like that. More moisture in their diet is definitely a good idea. Some cats will eat their dry food with water added, like a soup, some won't. Cheap canned cat food would be cheaper and better for the other cat than tuna....just get the big cans and refrigerate the unused portion.

[ktgrok]

So sorry to hear about your family's loss.

 

We have fed our cat dry food his entire life (15 years) and haven't had a problem with crystals. We do feed him one of the little bit pricier foods, PUrina One, and have used different formulas of that food—hairball, weight management, indoor, urinary tract health. I wonder if their urinary tract health type has anything to do with preventing crystals?

 

Erica in OR

 

Yes, that is what the urinary tract formula is for.

[Mommy_of_4]

We have always fed our cat dry food. He is now 6 and has never had any issues.

[mommymilkies]

Some cats are more prone than others, and it is almost always the boy cats that get blocked like that. More moisture in their diet is definitely a good idea. Some cats will eat their dry food with water added, like a soup, some won't. Cheap canned cat food would be cheaper and better for the other cat than tuna....just get the big cans and refrigerate the unused portion.

 

:iagree: I have a male cat who is allergic to fish. Any in his food and he pees blood. It's horrible. None of the other cats have issues and we feed dry food. Sometimes we get wet food, but it's expensive and messy. I tried going raw with them but they would not eat. At all. For my male cat with uti issues, I pour a bunch of water in his food so he has to drink and we have a circulating filtering water bowl for the cats & dog.

[Acorn]

I am sad to hear about your cat. My parents also lost a cat from a similar situation. Their cat ate canned food, but still had a blockage. I have only used dry food with my current cat, but I don't worry about urinary problems with my female like I would if we would have a male.

[Ellie]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

Yes, we feed only dry food, but we use expensive dry food: Innova or Evo (Evo is made by the same company, Naturapet). No grains, people-quality ingredients. PetSmart (or PetCo, maybe both) now carry a grain-free Innova. We've been using Innova and Evo for close to 20 years. When we get new furry babies (whether they are young or old, feline or canine), we can see an improvement in their coats within a month of living here, even if their previous owners fed them good-quality food.

[Perry]

My male cat used to have frequent urinary tract problems. We changed to canned Innova several years ago and haven't had a problem since. His weight is also better.

 

Here is a great article about cat nutrition.

[swimmermom3]

I am so sorry about your loss. :grouphug:

 

We have two older male cats who are 14 and 15. I am a life-long cat owner and have had more than one cat that has vomited frequently. I honestly thought it was something cats just do.:blush: We thought we were doing our cats a favor by feeding them "good quality" dry food and wet food.

 

One afternoon I stopped into our locally-owned pet supply store to pick up some PetroMalt and got to talking with the owner about the vomiting issue. He explained that cat food is not what it used to be; many of the companies have been bought out by larger companies (ie Nestle) with little expertise in pet nutrition. More and more "filler" - grains that cats would never eat on their own- were making their way into the foods. Long story shorter, we nixed any product with wheat in it. The vomiting outside of the occasional hairball stopped immediately in both cats. A while later, it picked up again, but this time we discovered that when the teens fed the cats, they weren't closing the container on the dry food all the way causing the food to become stale.

 

Now we feed a high quality wet food grain-free wet food and call it good. It is more expensive, but Cowboy Bob and Butler lost their middle age paunches, have beautiful glossy coats, don't vomit, and no longer experience problems with their teeth. I had always thought that dry food was good for their teeth. Not so, said our vet if it's made by a candy company.;)

 

I hope this helps.

[J-rap]

I'm sorry about your cat. :(

 

We had two cats, although we had to give away all of our pets during my husband's health crisis. However, we had our cats for about 8 and 10 years, and only fed them (and our dogs) dry food. We never fed them generic, but something quite basic like Purina. I don't believe they had health issues, although our older cat at some point didn't want to use her litter box anymore. Perhaps that could have been a urinary problem?

 

Our son feeds his cat raw, organic eggs!

[oasis]

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone!

 

Wow, I feel bad - not feeding a pet cat only dry food sounds like basic info I should've known when owning a cat.

 

Thanks for the link to the fantastic article, Perry, and we'll definitely start feeding our other male cat the way the article suggests.

[Elinor Everywhere]

Cheap canned cat food would be cheaper and better for the other cat than tuna....

 

Can you elaborate on why it would be better for the cat? I've always assumed natural food to be better than processed. :confused:

[Perry]

Can you elaborate on why it would be better for the cat? I've always assumed natural food to be better than processed. :confused:

ASPCA

WE'RE TALKING TUNA: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH FOR YOUR CAT?

Several cat caretakers visiting ASPCA Pet Nutrition

online have inquired about feeding tuna to their animal companions. Mindy Bough, veterinary technician for the ASPCA Pet Nutrition and Science Advisory Service, dishes out the facts on this savory feline fave:

 

"An occasional tuna treat for your cat is generally harmless," says Bough. "However, if a large part of the cat's diet consists of tuna--or if the cat is fed tuna exclusively--some problems are likely to arise."

 

Tuna does not contain significant amounts of vitamin E, for example, so too much of the fish can lead to vitamin E deficiency, resulting in yellow fat disease, or steatitis. Symptoms include loss of appetite, fever and hypersensitivity to touch, due to inflammation and necrosis of fat under the skin. Felines who are fed too much tuna can develop other nutrient deficiencies, too, because most de-boned fish are lacking in calcium, sodium, iron, copper and several other vitamins.

 

Mercury, frequently present in tuna, also presents a potential danger. "At low levels, this may not be a concern," explains Bough, "but if tuna is fed nearly exclusively, it could pose significant problems."

 

The bottom line? "I recommend premium commercial food for domestic cats," Bough says. "These foods are formulated to meet all of a cat's dietary needs. Then you can feed an occasional tuna treat for your pet's enjoyment. And remember," she adds, "no more than five to ten percent of a cat's diet should ever be table food."

[LaxMom]

I'm so sorry about your kitty. :sad:

 

Our (now deceased) cat would. not. eat wet food, until he was about 19 and had trouble chewing his dry food. Then, he seemed to accept the wet food situation, but he seemed put out. He never had any urinary issues, and he liked Pro-Plan or Purina ONE (I can't remember which).

 

Unfortunately, it seems they're either prone or not. My mother's cat is on a special wet food from the vet because he is prone to urinary issues, even with the "urinary tract health" formulas.

[Ellie]

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone!

 

Wow, I feel bad - not feeding a pet cat only dry food sounds like basic info I should've known when owning a cat.

 

Thanks for the link to the fantastic article, Perry, and we'll definitely start feeding our other male cat the way the article suggests.

We have *always* fed dry food. It's the quality of the dry food that makes all the difference. I never buy anything in the grocery store (unless it happens to sell Innova, but that's extremely rare), and I'm fussy about what I buy at specialty pet food stores, too.

[jenangelcat]

We used to feed only dry and had endless problems with over a dozen cats (my mom's, sister's and ours). Now we mostly feed raw and leave a little dry out that he rarely touches. I read somewhere that cat's can't drink enough water to compensate for the dry among other issues with dry food.

[Trish]

We had only used dry food (Iams), but when I read about that problem online I started giving them a wet can of Fancy Feast twice a week. I split it between the two of them. We feed them twice a day. Sorry about your loss!

[SonshineLearner]

My kitties get dry because it's less $$$. I purchase grain free food, unless I have to have an emergency pack from the grocery store. They like the canned tuna from the pet store.... I tried raw but they threw it up on the bed... (ugh) I'd feed raw if there was a raw cat food mix I could purchase. I think that the dripping water in the tub helps... My boy cat pees like a sailor. Also... the fountains that circulate and keep the water fresh are suppose to be great.

Sorry about your loss :(

[fourcatmom]

I am sorry for your loss :grouphug:. My cat Rocky had several blockages almost two summers ago. He would walk around the house "crying" and squatting but not able to urinate. We took him in and found out he was partially blocked so they had to unblock him (which took two of the Vets) but within a week he had re-blocked. We had to give him IV fluids at home to make sure he went but we knew it was just a matter of time before he blocked again. I knew that he needed what they call a PU surgery - but I knew after the expensive we had already paid out, we couldn't do it. He blocked again and I reached out to an online non-profit organization that helps save animals in danger of loosing their lives due to health issues. In one day they raised enough funds for Rocky to have his surgery. He has basically been fine except for one time when I though he could come off the vet prescribed food, as he was doing fine. I fed him BLUE which is suppose to be very healthy. He started urinating blood within days.

 

Now all four boy cats are on a prescription dry food - Royal Canin and it's a Urinary formula. We have not had any more problems and we are hoping to avoid it with the other boys. The food has sodium in in which causes them to drink more - so they are urinating more frequently.

 

We have four male cats and I had been feeding a combination of store bought dry and wet food. He was the oldest cat. Rocky blocked a total of 3 times within a month or so.

 

Again, I very sorry for your loss and hopefully by sharing this information it will help save a pet. :grouphug:

Edited March 28, 2012 by fourcatmom

[Lacie]

We had cats growing up. Only one out of eight got those crystals. They all ate the same dry food. There are a few different car foods for urinary health. I'm sorry about your cat.

[swellmomma]

I always fed my cats dry food all the time. My kitty had a UTI that had to be dealt with and for a while after that I used the urinary health dry food before transitioning back to regular dry food. Wet food or tuna was an extremely rare treat around here.

[Elinor Everywhere]

Thank you! That was informative. I don't feed my cat tuna, but I will give him the tuna water from the can now and then as a treat. Boy, am I popular then. :lol:

[jennsmile]

We have a 14 yo cat that eats dry food. We had some issues when she was younger and switched to Purina and haven't had issues since.

[Mergath]

I'm so sorry for your loss. :grouphug:

 

Our cat ate only dry food for a good year while dh was unemployed, but she's a female, so that probably made a difference. We try to buy the better quality stuff, too, because she gets whiny if we try to feed her the cheap kind.