Okay to Feed Dry Only to Cats?

[workinatsavin]

Do you all think cats get enough nutrition from dry food alone or do they really need canned too? This is just for average 9 mo. olds with no health problems. (I've been feeding Purina Kitten Chow only and am now switching to Friskies Seafood Sensations.)

[TBEventer2002]

As long as it is a high-quality dry food (ie, Science Diet, Purina ONE, Iams, etc) then it might be fine. The risk you run feeding dry-only to male cats is that the dry alone can alter the pH in their urine and they can block on lower-quality dry foods (I would put Friskies dry in that category).

Many vets prefer cats be on dry and canned together. But that is only an opinion. Every blocked male cat that I've seen come thru our office was on dry-only, low-quality food.

[thorrocks1]

I have been feeding my cats dry food for 9 years .. they are indoor/outdoor cats (they do catch their share of birds, mice, squirrels etc.) .. both are very healthy cats and have had no health issues.

We have another cat that is just a year old and he is fed dry as well .. no problems.

Once in a while we might give them a small piece of chicken or turkey .. and they love to clean the ice cream bowls .. but that's it.

Every animal is different but if you are concerned, ask your vet!

[workinatsavin]

As long as it is a high-quality dry food (ie, Science Diet, Purina ONE, Iams, etc) then it might be fine. The risk you run feeding dry-only to male cats is that the dry alone can alter the pH in their urine and they can block on lower-quality dry foods (I would put Friskies dry in that category).

Many vets prefer cats be on dry and canned together. But that is only an opinion. Every blocked male cat that I've seen come thru our office was on dry-only, low-quality food.


Wow, didn't know that at all! I have one male and one female inside. So you think Friskies dry is not very healthy for them? I could change to something better. I buy big bags of Friskies for my 3 outside cats and I was just going to feed it to my inside cats too, but maybe I will reconsider. It is just all so expensive, but I don't want to risk their health.

[mama22qts]

I have always fed dry to our cats, and I had one to live to 21 years old, one was 18, and the others died due to other issues -- not health related.

I have one right now that is 2 years old, and she's fed mostly dry. I do give her the occasional piece of chicken or eggs or steak (last week she had fresh fish!) but mostly dry. Never had a problem. Both of mine that lived so long were female though, so I can't speak to the blockage issue. I do feed Kitten Chow and Iams to my kitty I have now.

[PirateQueen]

My cat will only eat dry food. The only wet food he likes is canned tuna which he only gets 4 or 5 times a year. I cringe when i think of how many cans of cat food went to waste sitting in his bowl, I finally gave them to my sister for her cats.

[Tiffany]

I and my mom have only ever fed dry food to our cats. Most of them wouldn't eat the canned food. They've all lived long, healthy lives.

[TBEventer2002]

Wow, didn't know that at all! I have one male and one female inside. So you think Friskies dry is not very healthy for them? I could change to something better. I buy big bags of Friskies for my 3 outside cats and I was just going to feed it to my inside cats too, but maybe I will reconsider. It is just all so expensive, but I don't want to risk their health.


By most vets' standards, Friskies dry is not considered "high-quality." Unfortunetly, you get what you pay for in pet foods, so cheapest isn't always healthiest. :wink7: But for a sure answer, just call up your vet's office and ask them what store-brand foods they reccommend. Lots of people call us asking about foods, and they are often pleasantly surprised when we suggest store-brand foods, not necessarily prescription diets. :wavehi:

In addition to that, dry foods tend to be high in calories and carbs. Most cats (not all) who are only free-fed dry food are the ones more likely to become overweight and that can lead to other issues such as diabetes. By adding canned food, you are adding less calories but more volume so the cat feel fuller for longer. :BigHand:

[meems]

Mine won't eat canned, she licks the gravy a little then leaves the rest to stink.

[unhinged]

Cats are carnivores. The closer their food is to their natural diet, the healthier they are. Most dry foods are, unfortunately, full of fillers like corn and wheat that are cheap to produce but really not very good for cats. I did a lot of research and became much more careful about which cat foods to buy, after our beautiful cat Sheba died in late 2006 as part of the tainted pet food disaster. You can find some good information at sites like Pet Connection (http://www.petconnection.com/), News for cats, dogs & pet owners (http://www.itchmo.com/), and Pet Food Tracker (http://petfoodtracker.blogspot.com/).

[Spanelli8706]

My husband is a vet. We have only fed our cats dry food. We use Science Diet mostly. And dry food helps keep their teeth clean very well, as opposed to wet food.

[unhinged]

I didn't mean that all dry foods are bad, or that all wet foods are good. We feed our cats a combination of wet and dry food. There are some good dry foods out there, and plenty of bad wet foods. The most important thing is to read the ingredients! If the first ingredient isn't a specific meat (not just "by-product" or "animal digest"), I'd put it back on the shelf. It's shocking, how many pet foods have something like corn meal as the main ingredient, with some kind of meat or fish coming much farther down the list. There should be more meat than grain. And I look for foods that don't contain any corn - a very common allergen for cats - and preferably without wheat or soy.

[debbiepete]

We have a 5 month old Himalayan, The picture in my profile was her when she was 6 weeks. Her name is Princess.

She is fed Science Diet dry food and every other day she gets a can of science diet canned food. She is doing very well with this.

[Liz]

I have always fed dry to our cats, and I had one to live to 21 years old, one was 18, and the others died due to other issues -- not health related. And one of the world's oldest people (over 100 years old) smoked cigarettes for over 80 years and was perfectly healthy. But I wouldn't advocate smoking; anecdotal evidence does not equal fact.Do you all think cats get enough nutrition from dry food alone or do they really need canned too? This is just for average 9 mo. olds with no health problems. (I've been feeding Purina Kitten Chow only and am now switching to Friskies Seafood Sensations.)Here are 2 websites from vets with quite a bit of information on the issue: http://catinfo.org/ (http://catinfo.org/) and http://www.felinediabetes.com/hodgkinsarticle.htm (http://www.felinediabetes.com/hodgkinsarticle.htm) Though its a great idea to ask a vet about diet, most know very little about diets beyond what is taught by Hill's reps during vet school. Science Diet, Iams, Eukaneuba, Kitten Chow, Purina, etc are not quality foods. They may meet the arbitrary AAFCO guidelines, but they are garbage; you can go through their ingredient list and with a quick Google search to learn what the chemicals, additives, and by-products truly are and why they're bad. While I do feed a combination of wet and dry, the dry food my animals get is about 50% protein and very very very low in carbs (Innova EVO diet).

[Rene S]

Though its a great idea to ask a vet about diet, most know very little about diets beyond what is taught by Hill's reps during vet school. Science Diet, Iams, Eukaneuba, Kitten Chow, Purina, etc are not quality foods. [/COLOR]

Sadly, this has been my experience (and the reason I have switched vets several times.) The catinfo.org article is an excellent one.

I feed a combination of raw (pre packaged, Nature's Variety) and grain-free canned (Wellness, Nature's Variety, and Innova Evo.)

[OsweetchildrenO]

I mainly feed my 4 cats dry food. I get canned food every once in awhile and feed them the canned food maybe 1-2 month. I have a hard time with my older cat...he grew up with a dog and growls when he gets wet food so we have to segregate him from the others.
I did some research and cats often get very dehydrated. So I guess that would also be a reason to feed them wet food more. Just be sure to also change/give them new water on a daily basis.
All 4 of my cats have very nice coats.

I did get told from someone that Friskies wasn't very good food. So I go with Purina now(I was told that was okay). The other food is pretty expensive, I do sometimes buy Science Diet. My cats will eat just about anything. I do like to get Royal Canin from a rep that comes into DH work on occasion.

I am actually looking to change foods to a better kind.

[GaPeach76]

I have 7 cats and all are on pretty much dry only all the time. And it's Goodlife right now b/c that is what I got on sale. I figure that my family and kids have to eat what is cheap or free and that rule applies to my animals as well. Our income has been cut dramatically lately and I will buy them canned food once in a while as a treat...but in no way is it regular. They are all free-fed all day long and they are extremely healthy and happy kitties.

:soapbox: I'd love to be able to afford to feed them organic, high quality food but the truth of the matter is...that there are unfortunately alot of us missing some part of our income right now and making people feel guilty about how and what they feed their animals ranks right up there with the breast/bottle feeding debate IMO.

So to answer OP's orginal question...there is nothing wrong with just a dry diet as long as you provide clean water everyday. If you are in a $$ bind like me, you can always wet the dry food with water and let it soak for a few min's and then feed. They will survive :smile83:

[neelia]

I have only ever fed my cats dry. I used to give them a little wet food now & then when i'd get it for free/cheap, but I don't anymore because they don't seem to care much.

I feed them Innova (really high quality) mixed with Purina Indoor Formula. If I could afford to only feed them Innova ($35/bag) I would, but I can't so they get the nutrition from the high quality food and the fullness from the lower quality food. I do a mix of about 50/50.

I don't think any of the foods you can buy at a grocery store is good for your pet. I even feel bad feeding them Purina. It's been my experience that once I switched my pets all to high quality food they've had nicer coats, more active and less vet visits. In the end I think it's worth it.

[ladyeeyore7]

My 13 yo Tabby gets what ever is on sale just like the rest of us. The only health issues she has had was a couple of bad teeth removed. She never let on that anything was wrong until hubby went to pet her face one day and she winced. She got wet food after her teeth surgery because she couldn't chew the dry stuff. Now she is back to the dry food. My previous cat lived to be 20 and only got dry food but she was female too. I haven't had a male cat since I was little.

[wealthybarney]

I fed my cat of 18 years dry food every day. She disliked the wet.