My BSH only eats dry food. Is this ok?

[Aabbaas]

My BSH cat will only eat dry food. We have tried dozen of brands and textures of wet food, she tolerated some but has now gone off it completely again. We have wasted hundreds of £££ ovee wet food in the past year and most of it has been thrown in the bin. I know it is very important for hydration but she seems to be using the litter regularly and drinks just fine. Would it be really wrong to just keep her on dry food with the off licky treat?

We asked our vet about this as our siamese has periods where she only eats dry food and he said as long as she drinks it’s fine .

The only thing is, how do we know how much water is enough? I guess by having at least 1 pee in the litter each day?

can you add some water to the dried food?

You can measure the water in the bowl of you're worried. Most cats need about 50ml/kg per day. Some of that will come from food, even dry food has about 10% moisture.
All my cats have only ever had dry, current cat wouldn't eat soft meat even after dental extractions. They have all lived to a healthy age and none had urinary issues.

My Persians only ate dry. I loved it! So convenient and non smelly. They were really good drinkers though. Penelope had wet food, she was such a messy eater, so that wasn’t fun. 🤣

That’s very helpful to know. It’s my first cat and I want to do the right thing and I’d hate myself forever if her health was compromised because of the way she is fed. But then, she isn’t eating it even though I do try so I guess the end result is the same!!!

My daughter and her dad only give their cats dried food, and the cats (they have many!) are incredibly healthy. obviously they buy high quality dried food which is designed to provide a complete diet.

My brother has a Ragdoll who often refuses pouch, and prefers only dried. He and his partner spend a lot of time trying to compel their cat to drink water, even squeezing it into his mouth with a pipette! But it seems to me that cats are generally able to know what they need, and will not allow themselves to dehydrate (unless seriously unwell, obviously).

My own cat is very fussy about pouch. She only eats the ones in gravy, and only Sheba or Gourmet pearl. She rejects any pate style ones, or anything in jelly.

I think in general, if your cat seems happy and healthy, let her eat what she prefers to.

One of my Ragdolls will only eat dry, the other wet 🙄 Both very healthy and active, neither overweight. I checked with the vet & they said as long as the dry eater regularly drinks water, she’ll be fine.

We give her royal canin BSH kibble, which is complete and made specifically for her breed. I worry because I know that official guidelines say they should be getting additional moisture from wet food, especially in old age. My fear is that if she is is used to dry all her life, she’ll never eat the wet food again. But I she doesn’t seem to eat much of it anyway so I think we need to make a decision as we are just wasting money currently!

Make sure you have a bird bath filled in the garden and leave your toilet seats up. Ask me how I know…

Will she eat any "human food". Chicken or fish? Some cats do, and that clearly has water in it.

Could you give her some of that cat milk? Not all cats like it, and I know you have to limit the amount given, but it would be one way of giving liquid.

I have also known cats who will only drink water when a tiny amount of milk is added - just enough to turn it opaque? Could be worth a try.

But I do think that generally you will know when your cat is well or unwell?

My 7-year-old will lap the liquid from wet food or cat soup & loves lick-e-lix but she only really eats kibble. As long as she pees regularly & I see her drinking I’m not worried.

When I adopted her I got her a fountain, which was rejected in favour of a plastic jug, the watering can & the shower mat when it’s dripping.

My Persian X prefers dry food, but can’t have it. I saw him going into the tray, but he was unable to wee, and was distressed. I called the vet and they had me take him in urgently. The dry food was causing a buildup of crystals in his urine, which caused a blockage. He was ok, but they said it can life-threatening. It’s my belief that an all-dry diet is not healthy, but I’m sure many people will disagree.

Have you tried some of the various cat soups that are available now? My cat would happily eat nothing but his beloved Royal Canin biscuits for ever more, and he’s not keen on the water bowl either (unless I manage to procure some rainwater for his lordship 🙄) but after a few false starts he will happily tuck into some cat soup. OBVIOUSLY he turns his nose up at most of them but the Canagan and Purina Pro Plan Hydra Care go down well.

I thought many vets recommend a dry only diet.

Thanks all. To answer some of the points above:

• yes we give her licky treats and she loves them but they shouldn’t be an every day thing I believe as ingredients aren’t great. I have never tried cat soup, will look into that
• she isn’t that keen on human food, no. The only thing she likes is yogurt and we occasionally give her a teaspoon of white yogurt but, again, not every day
• she seems to drink regularly and we scoop out 1 or 2 balls of wee in the litterbox every day, which I think is a healthy amount
• Interestingly a breeder I spoke to in the past only ever gives her cats dry and they have never had issues. I do know that urinary issues are more common in male cats though