Wet vs: Dry-which is better?

[Mary K]

I have an experience I wanted to share. I currently have 3 cats, but this story is about 2 cats that I had before them, that are now deceased.
I had 2 cats from the same litter of kittens. I kept them indoors their entire life. I didn't have them vaccinated, except once (when it was required, in order to have them spayed/neutered). I fed a combination of canned and dry food, usually the cheaper ones. In later years I upgraded to Science Diet Lite. The male loved dry food, and this is what he mostly ate. The female loved the canned, and ate mostly that. The male developed chronic renal failure at age 16. He had oral lesions, fur loss, weight loss, all the usual symptoms, and CRF was diagnosed. He died several months after.  At that time, I was told the female had early stage liver and kidney disease.  I attributed it to the food they had eaten, long term. I immediately changed her diet to Science Diet KD, stretching that out with canned meats and fish (the low protein ones) and stopped all dry food. She lived to be 18; 2 years beyond her male sibling. She died from a laryngospasm, supposedly common in older cats. This isn't scientific evidence, but it appears the cat who ate canned lived 2 years longer than the cat that ate dry, for that reason. What do you think?

[Davis]

It's difficult to say.  I strongly believe that a wet diet is healthier and more suited to a feline, but I still like the idea of feeding a little dry as an addition, although I'd prefer a raw dry food.  I may change my mind down the road, but as someone else on the forum said, right now I'm thanking God that I've been feeding my cat dry or he might be dead due to the greater amount tainted canned foods (or so we think). 

I think genetics is a strong factor in longevity.  Cats from the same litter often have different fathers.  Some cats can probably tolerate dry food better than others, but the real question is whether those cats of higher tolerance would live even longer with a wet diet.  It would seem so.  Surprisingly, I have heard stories of cats living into their 20s who ate nothing but a dry diet, and then other stories of cats who ate wet and did not live as long.  I had a cat who had slow, progressive renal failure that began when she was 11, and she finally passed away at 19.  That was before I knew what I was doing, and she was on a dry kidney maintenance diet for the last 8 years of her life.  Knowing what I know now about foods, it's amazing that she lived that long.  I still miss here.     

[Mary K]

Hmmm...I agree about the dry right now. I am very anxious when feeding my guys the dry Felidae, still wondering if there are undiscovered toxins at large. But I am more terrified to open a can of wet, just yet. I know it is better for them but the association is still huge. Another strange thing is that when I read those foods on the recall list, it really does make me feel ill. Those brand names flash through my mind when I am trying to sleep, thinking of all the poor animals that were poisoned. I will never be able to buy any of them again. They may change their names, but with our research group going, here, let them try to fool us! And I know what you mean about still missing your cat. My 18 year old was my "life cat" and she died 3 years ago this Wednesday; I still mourn for her. I can't imagine the pain others are going through right now with deaths that should not have occurred. 

[knotty]

This is not scientific at all, it's just by reading a lot of posts and having had two crf kitties a couple years ago. It was the general consensus many times over  that dry food is bad, bad for kidney health. In fact, I've never heard anything good about dry foods. I think this is  because of the very dry nature of the food and the propensity of cats to not drink enough water anyway.

[Mary K]

I agree; if I had to do it all over again, all my cats would have gotten canned food instead. But you know what? I think I am going to stick with home-made. It is a lot of work; like having children at home to cook for. But it has helped me 'work out' the frustration about the current situation with pet foods. The cats seem to like the variety-tonight they had wild snapper-which I de-boned. Soon I will move on to raw. Stay tuned for how that goes! I feel like I am making a difference and being pro-active. I have read too many stories of heartbreaking loss. I may be of a small majority who choose this route. Back to wet vs dry,  I think all of my cats would have lived a few years longer without the dry food. Plus, leaving it down 24/7 can produce some overweight cats. My best wishes are with you all, whatever you choose to feed!

[knotty]

This recall has raised so many questions. I wonder how long kitties would live if they never touched that filth these companies made. That rendering business makes me ill thinking about it. I bet there is a lot more toxic junk they just throw into the vat like a huge garbage can.

I will never use rendered food again. It's just so sad all the poor kitties of the past you know? we never knew these criminals were making toxic junk.

[Cindy Nevarez]

Boy, you hit the nail on the head...these ARE criminals. But the problem is that current laws only see our precious fur-family members as "property." That in itself seems criminal, since it lays open the very loophole that allows the pet food industry to get away with these things that they have been doing all this time. It's a Catch-22 situation.

[knotty]

I remember long ago back in the early 1980's when my mother was a cat feeder in the park, there used to be tales of the horrid things they put in pet food. They suspected back then this toxic concoction caused most of the diseases and short lives our poor pets.

I'm hoping since we are becoming pet guardians in a lot of states, our pain and suffering for a pet loss will be compensatable in court. Wouldn't that be great? watch out you companies!

[kaffe]

I have long suspected that a dry kibble diet is inappropriate for cats who are obligate carnivores and who are known to be lazy water drinkers. Dry cat food, no matter how good the quality, is amost always packed with grains and un-needed carbohydrates that are not bio-available to a feline. Many cats fed on a dry food only diet are almost always somewhat dehydrated and at risk of developing kidney and bladder stones. I really beleive that a dry food only diet is why we see so many cats now that are over-weight, have sensitive tummies, have various allergies, develop UTI's and crystals in bladder and kidney...

Don't get me wrong - I do feed my cats dry kibble - but only as a treat becuase the younger cat enjoys the kibble so and I am not so heartless as to deprove him of this simple pleasure. The hype about dry cat food preventing tartar and teeth issues in cats? That's a load of humbug. Fact is, dry cat food only MINIMALLY if that, help tartar build up becuase dry kibble disintigrates very fast in a cat's mouth to be any real help at all. The mainstay of my cats' diet is wet, protein rich, grain free cat food - home-prepared and in cans. The young one gets no more than 1/2 cup of dry kibble a day (if that). 

I have lost a beloved cat from feeding him an all-dry diet.  That was back in 1994 when I knew next to nothing about cat nutrition.  NEVER again... so I am educating myself continuously.

 

[Calico]

Great article on cat nutrition http://www.catinfo.org/

I will be trying the tips on how to transition a dry-food-addict kitty to wet food, as one of my girls is being very stubborn about giving up her kibble.