What to feed them??

[BAILEYSMUDGE]

Okay... I'm still fairly new here but I've been reading alot about preferences on what to feed my two boys. You say "nay" to dry.... and "yeh" to canned. Smudge (orange & white) had some irritated gums about a year ago... (he's okay now)... I take my boys for yearly check-ups and I have a favourite vet that I've been seeing for many years (for my previous kitties)... I totally trust him. When he saw Smudge... he immidiately booked an appointment to have his teeth cleaned and his gums looked after... he then put them on TD Formula... I know, I know... the grain...but... his gums are fine now... I've always understood that the dry is good for their teeth...and the canned is "fattening".. admittedly, his gums are fine but his is overweight... I love my boys and I want the best for them... but I'm finding it difficult to distrust the word of my vet... a cat owner himself. Please feel free to be brutally honest....

[SARAH]

Doctors also allow their kids to eat burgers and fries and ice cream, that doesn't make it healthier.

Sorry to say, but the medical profession in general (there are exceptions!!) is not very well informed about nutrition, the honest ones admit it too.

Mine have about 3 fork-fulls of canned for breakfast, any amount of raw whatever-we-have-for-dinner while I prepare it, and dry in the self-service cat dish. I've always done it this way with my cats and never had any troubles. I'll switch brands from time to time so as to avoid overdoses of whatever is in the different things ... just as I also switch water-bottle brands so we get different amounts and types of minerals. Just makes sense (to me).

[BAILEYSMUDGE]

Originally Posted by SARAH

Doctors also allow their kids to eat burgers and fries and ice cream, that doesn't make it healthier.

Ok.. they're people too, I guess.


Mine have about 3 fork-fulls of canned for breakfast

May I ask what canned product you use???

[Frenchy]

The canned food is mostly so the cats get some water in their system. Since they don't drink a lot of it. What I do is mix kibble with a small amount of canned food and add water to the mix. They love it.

[BAILEYSMUDGE]

There's a water "fountain" next to their food dish and they like to drink from a dripping tap which I'll turn on for them... but, isn't the crunch of the kibble supposed to be good for their teeth?? Isn't that the whole purpose???

[jessi76]

i have 2 cats. one is a healthy 12lbs, and the other is a pudgy 15lbs. they get dry during the day (about a cup) and 1 small helping of wet food for dinner.

I provide dry because it doesn't spoil, and they can munch on it when they need to. but they look forward to, and even demand, the wet food feeding. it definitely helps get more water into them. cats generally don't drink enough water - even with a fountain or running tap.

I feed Merrick canned, which they LOVE.

[want4rain]

we feed raw meat and bones and offal to all of our pets, dogs and cats alike. if you look through the raw homemade forum you shoudl see quite a few of my posts. id give it a serious serious looking at. its just as easy to home feed your pets as it is to feed your children with some proper understanding of kids AND pets nutritional needs.

-ashley

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by BAILEYSMUDGE

I take my boys for yearly check-ups and I have a favourite vet that I've been seeing for many years (for my previous kitties)... I totally trust him.

That's great that you have a vet you trust, it's really important. However, vets are not a good source of info on nutrition. Their focus is treatment, not prevention. Here's an interesting article that pretty much sums up feline nutrition as it pertains to the veterinary profession: Dry cat food -- a conflict of interest on the part of veterinarians

Originally Posted by BAILEYSMUDGE

I've always understood that the dry is good for their teeth...and the canned is "fattening"..

It's a longstanding myth that dry food has any dental benefits. Read this: Does Dry Food Clean the Teeth?. And as for canned food being fattening? Not if you don't feed too much. Dry food, with at most 10% moisture, is much more calorie dense than canned, which averages around 75% moisture. It's like eating a bowl of raisins vs. a bowl of grapes. The raisins have way more calories.

The other big factor with dry food is the carbohydrate content (needed to maintain the kibble shape). Cats have no use for carbs and store the excess as fat. They also tend to overeat high carb foods because their appetite "shut-off valve" is triggered by sufficienct protein intake, not carbs. So they eat more food to try to get enough protein.

Originally Posted by BAILEYSMUDGE

I love my boys and I want the best for them... but I'm finding it difficult to distrust the word of my vet... a cat owner himself. Please feel free to be brutally honest....

I understand wanting to trust your vet on this, but they really are not gods when it comes to feline nutrition. My suggestion is to do your own research and come to your own conclusions. Maybe you can even educate your vet in the process (if he's not one of the overly defensive ones who resents a proactive pet-owner). Here's a fantastic paper (written by a vet) that you could print off for him: http://www.catinfo.org/zorans_article.pdf

[Bluedrake]

Someone beat me to posting a link to the "does kibble clean teeth" question. It really doesn't help with their teeth. As for canned foods, the high quality ones are not so bad. The ideal of course is raw food, with chunks of meat the cats can chew. THAT keeps the teeth and gums healthy.

As for the fattening part, that depends on the quality and the amount you feed. Dry food is about as bad as you can get if you want to keep your cats slim. Of course, not all cats put on weight in the same way, but thye are better off on canned food.

Also, the high level of carbs in the dry foods can induce diabetes in a cat, so that is something to think about.