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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Dry food

26 replies

Dilbertian · 04/07/2021 23:38

I get the impression that it's better for older cats' kidneys if they eat mostly wet food, but that dry food is better for their teeth. Is this right?

OP posts:
ScottishNewbie · 04/07/2021 23:54

My vet told me to ditch dry food completely. It's a myth about the teeth. Apparently dry food is really detrimental. The worst wet food is better than the best dry food.
I really trust her advice. Very no-nonsense and knowledgeable.

Original poster
Dilbertian · 05/07/2021 00:05

What is bad about dry food?

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 05/07/2021 06:09

It is that there is a huge variation in dry food, there is nothing wrong with a good quality dry food as long as the cat has access to fresh clean water at all times.
Wet food alone, however is really bad for teeth as it hangs around the teeth encouraging plaque, tartar and eventually feline oral neck lesions on teeth.
Ordinarily I like a combination of the two, but current cats has IBD and Atopy and cat only eat hydrolyse dry food.

Cazzovuoi · 05/07/2021 06:24

Dry food almost killed one of mine despite it being a super expensive, no grain no cereal one.

Cats don’t really drink much so dry food causes issues with kidneys and bladder. I spotted my boy’s behaviour had changed and tried to catch him peeing to see if he was. I saw him “pee” twice in two minutes but nothing came out so I knew he had a blockage. I rushed him to the vet where they gave him a catheter to release the trapped urine luckily before it damaged his kidneys. He would have died if I hadn’t known what to look for.

Ditch the dried food, I wish everyone knew this!

Cazzovuoi · 05/07/2021 06:26

Also the teeth thing is a myth, probably based on good marketing from dry food manufacturers.

Cats don’t naturally drink much because whole prey food means they eat the entire mouse/bird etc so get plenty of liquid. Trying to get a non drinking cat to drink enough water to protect them from kidney and bladder blockages is impossible!

Allergictoironing · 05/07/2021 08:47

Bald statements like "cats don't drink much" can be misleading. Both of mine are good but not excessive drinkers, they have a mix of wet and dry food, they pee normally & poo is of a "good" consistency i.e. not to dry or wet. Their health is "perfect" to quote the vet. And yes one is male, so slightly more likely to have urethral issues.

I go on what my vet tells me, and he's very happy with their diet (high quality dry always, Felix wet just 'cause they like it).

Dilbertian I suggest you talk to your own vet about this. Some of the people on this forum are themselves vets, vet nurses, or directly concerned with the health of cats in general. Some are enthusiastic, well read owners (like me). Some don't have a clue, and still act the way our grandparents did (e.g. shutting the cat out at night, letting queens have a litter before spaying). Until you've been here a long while, it can be difficult to tell which of these people are.

dementedpixie · 05/07/2021 08:54

Mine have a mix of grain free dry and any wet food they will deign to eat. My vet suggested dry was best. They drink out the pond

Lonecatwithkitten · 05/07/2021 09:07

@Cazzovuoi

Dry food almost killed one of mine despite it being a super expensive, no grain no cereal one.

Cats don’t really drink much so dry food causes issues with kidneys and bladder. I spotted my boy’s behaviour had changed and tried to catch him peeing to see if he was. I saw him “pee” twice in two minutes but nothing came out so I knew he had a blockage. I rushed him to the vet where they gave him a catheter to release the trapped urine luckily before it damaged his kidneys. He would have died if I hadn’t known what to look for.

Ditch the dried food, I wish everyone knew this!

The biggest risk factors for bladder stones and crystals have always been and still are being overweight, middle aged and sedentary.
bruffin · 05/07/2021 09:13

@ScottishNewbie

My vet told me to ditch dry food completely. It's a myth about the teeth. Apparently dry food is really detrimental. The worst wet food is better than the best dry food. I really trust her advice. Very no-nonsense and knowledgeable.
my vet was shocked we were giving our cat any wet food at all. We give them dry in the morning and wet for tea.
Cazzovuoi · 05/07/2021 09:45

The biggest risk factors for bladder stones and crystals have always been and still are being overweight, middle aged and sedentary

But not only. Dry food consumption is up there too. My boy is neither overweight or sedentary.

claireb7rg · 05/07/2021 12:14

My vet told me to give mine both wet and dry. Wet for kidneys and dry for teeth.

I give mine untamed wet food and grain free dry food

Original poster
Dilbertian · 05/07/2021 13:14

FattyCat is a 10yo, obese, neutered male who doing roam far or do any climbing. He ticks all the boxes! We've only had him a couple of months, and I haven't been able to get him to the vet. We had a telephone consultation. I stuck at first to what the rescue had been feeding him, and have gradually modified it. I give FC two pouches of wet and up to 40g of dry. Vet said that sounded right for slow weight loss. Didn't suggest I change the type of food. FC likes Waitrose ownbrand senior, which is better than other brands because they are slightly smaller pouches. GoCat doesn't mention grain on the ingredients, but I was wondering whether I should change to a 100% meat dry food. I want to continue giving him dry food because eats less and more slowly with dry food from the slow feeder, often eating much less than 40g.

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 05/07/2021 13:17

Go cats first ingredient is cereal is it not? It's not a good option anyway

dementedpixie · 05/07/2021 13:18

Thrive dry is 90% chicken. I make a mix with thrive and encore which is 80% meat

ViperAtTheGatesOfDawn · 05/07/2021 13:32

GoCat is pretty awful for male cats (anecdote but have heard enough stories and witnessed the effect on my last old boy after he had it in an emergency).

My latest came to me on Purina One, it's not what I'd have chosen, but she point blank refuses anything else except a couple of higher quality dry foods that gave her diarrhoea at tiny amounts when I attempted to transition. She's perfectly healthy with perfect non-smelly poo so I'm not going to attempt switching again! She won't eat wet food, won't even eat raw or cooked meat. She drinks well.

The best thing for teeth IME is hunting spoils, which can be substituted with raw chicken wings if the cat isn't a hunter.

ScottishNewbie · 05/07/2021 13:40

@bruffin Really?
It looks like there seems to be a big difference in the opinions of vets!
I'm choosing to trust mine, but that's all we can do!
We just have to do what we think is best so we have no regrets at the end of the day Smile

The view that dry food isn't great is quite widespread and gaining traction, but then a lot of cats have lived to ripe old ages on dry alone...so who knows.
I've spent hours and hours reading and researching after unexpectedly losing my beloved boy two years ago, so I feel quite confident in saying that especially for male cats, a mostly if not completely wet diet is best.

dementedpixie · 05/07/2021 13:58

My cats are very fussy with wet food so I doubt they would eat enough of it if that's all I offered. They eat dry and have half a pouch each of wet twice a day and often some chopped cooked chicken too.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 05/07/2021 14:27

Harry has wet food for breakfast and dinner and dry for lunch and nighttime snack. He has an issue with his jaw and the vet told me to keep giving him some dry food as his jaw will get more use, although he does tend to inhale it sometimes so I'm not sure!

He's very good at drinking though, once he's eaten some dry food he has a drink pretty much straight away.

Original poster
Dilbertian · 05/07/2021 16:08

@dementedpixie

Go cats first ingredient is cereal is it not? It's not a good option anyway
My mistake. I will try a different dry food. Though not for a while, as other things are happening and I don't want to make too many changes at a time.
OP posts:
Original poster
Dilbertian · 05/07/2021 16:46

The best thing for teeth IME is hunting spoils, which can be substituted with raw chicken wings if the cat isn't a hunter.

That's the effect I thought dry food was supposed to have on teeth.

Because DCat is a lazy fatso, I feel I ought to be quite strict with his intake until he reaches a healthy weight. So no treats yet Sad

OP posts:
Original poster
Dilbertian · 09/07/2021 20:20

I bought this Lily's Kitchen dry food. It does have 20% potato, but was the only grain-free dry food for adult cats. I offered a few bits to FattyCat and he ate them happily enough. So on Wednesday evening I gave him a mixture of half and half GoCat and Lily's Kitchen. And on Thursday morning I came down to piles of puke in my kitchen. I reverted to straight GoCat. He hasn't puked before or since.

Could it be the new food?

Dry food
OP posts:
Original poster
Dilbertian · 09/07/2021 20:21

Every cat thread needs a photo Grin

Dry food
OP posts:
dementedpixie · 09/07/2021 20:58

You would normally introduce it very gradually over a week or so

Mia184 · 09/07/2021 21:37

@Dilbertian

What is bad about dry food?
Dry food is sprayed with sodium phosphates to make it more palatable to cats. Sodium phosphates can lead to kidney disfunction. They are also often in wet food but there are brands that use calcium phosphates (bone meal) that appear to not cause any kidney problems.
XelaM · 09/07/2021 23:54

Be very careful with dry food. In case you (or anyone is mot away) there is a whole lot of grain free/ hypoallergenic dry food that is linked to a deadly cat disease and anemia and some (although not all) affected brands have been recalled. Be very careful