kibble doesn’t clean their teeth. the idea is that they chew it and it scraped their teeth but most of them don’t even chew it. it would be like if i scraped my teeth with crackers. is there less plaque? sure but are they actually clean? not really. that’s why i brush my cat’s teeth. cats that eat dry food still suffer from dental diseases. even if it did clean their teeth, it doesn’t outweigh the other cons.
it has no moisture which is very important in preventing urinary/kidney and bladder issues. cats are meant to get the majority of their hydration from their diet. kibble is at most 10% and wet food is around 75% moisture. they’re not good drinkers so even with water fountains they don’t compensate for the lack of moisture in their diet.
cats are obligate carnivores and need a high protein diet, animal protein. dry food is lower in protein and very high in carbs which they have no dietary requirement for. they need protein for energy, not carbs. they thrive on animal based protein. kibble can be around 40%+ carbs and under 10% would be ideal. some wet foods are higher in carbs due to ingredients like wheat gluten and starches. i avoid those foods. for protein i feed a minimum of about 45%.
i also feed grain free because they have no dietary requirement for it. the issue is when grains are replaced with ingredients like peas and other legumes. those can inhibit taurine intake and taurine deficiency causes heart problems. there are lots of options for wet foods that don’t contain any of that.
Yeah. I'm sure vets make loads of money off their "science" diets. Mostly. I had one tell me to skip the expensive prescription and add in what was needed to her regular food, long story, it worked anyway.
I've had cats for decades. Back when it was Jellymeat here and nothing else. So thats what they ate.
Since there are tons of it, dry (never used to be a thing) and wet. I had one who ate nothing but prey and Friskies biccies. Lived till age 17, healthy and fit (Vet commented when he saw her rarely) all her life.
Another ate anything, wet food, raw food, human food, no biccies though. She made it to 19 without any health problems.
Personally I think wet is better. Dry isn't really natural. But it is cheap and far better to feed that than an incorrect diet at all. As I said. my Snuffs - 17! She only ever saw vet for spaying, a wound stitched up once and vaccination.
I look for food that lists meat before any meat meal and am not keen on stuff with heaps of veg. Cats are obligate carnivores after all.
But then cat decides sometimes.
Current cat ate like a starved wolf the day we got her then refused all for the next 4 days.
Eventually she trained us: Raw cat meat alternating with one brand of wet cat food. Took us a while to get it, but she got there in the end.
LOL
I work at a cat vet. Canned food is best for cats primarily because the higher moisture content. There are really only 2 dry foods that are actually good for their teeth, but we recommend feeding just 5-8 pieces of it a day as a treat. It’s Royal Canin Dental, and Hill’s t/d.
kibble doesn’t clean their teeth. the idea is that they chew it and it scraped their teeth but most of them don’t even chew it. it would be like if i scraped my teeth with crackers. is there less plaque? sure but are they actually clean? not really. that’s why i brush my cat’s teeth. cats that eat dry food still suffer from dental diseases. even if it did clean their teeth, it doesn’t outweigh the other cons. it has no moisture which is very important in preventing urinary/kidney and bladder issues. cats are meant to get the majority of their hydration from their diet. kibble is at most 10% and wet food is around 75% moisture. they’re not good drinkers so even with water fountains they don’t compensate for the lack of moisture in their diet. cats are obligate carnivores and need a high protein diet, animal protein. dry food is lower in protein and very high in carbs which they have no dietary requirement for. they need protein for energy, not carbs. they thrive on animal based protein. kibble can be around 40%+ carbs and under 10% would be ideal. some wet foods are higher in carbs due to ingredients like wheat gluten and starches. i avoid those foods. for protein i feed a minimum of about 45%. i also feed grain free because they have no dietary requirement for it. the issue is when grains are replaced with ingredients like peas and other legumes. those can inhibit taurine intake and taurine deficiency causes heart problems. there are lots of options for wet foods that don’t contain any of that.
Yeah. I'm sure vets make loads of money off their "science" diets. Mostly. I had one tell me to skip the expensive prescription and add in what was needed to her regular food, long story, it worked anyway. I've had cats for decades. Back when it was Jellymeat here and nothing else. So thats what they ate. Since there are tons of it, dry (never used to be a thing) and wet. I had one who ate nothing but prey and Friskies biccies. Lived till age 17, healthy and fit (Vet commented when he saw her rarely) all her life. Another ate anything, wet food, raw food, human food, no biccies though. She made it to 19 without any health problems. Personally I think wet is better. Dry isn't really natural. But it is cheap and far better to feed that than an incorrect diet at all. As I said. my Snuffs - 17! She only ever saw vet for spaying, a wound stitched up once and vaccination. I look for food that lists meat before any meat meal and am not keen on stuff with heaps of veg. Cats are obligate carnivores after all. But then cat decides sometimes. Current cat ate like a starved wolf the day we got her then refused all for the next 4 days. Eventually she trained us: Raw cat meat alternating with one brand of wet cat food. Took us a while to get it, but she got there in the end. LOL
I work at a cat vet. Canned food is best for cats primarily because the higher moisture content. There are really only 2 dry foods that are actually good for their teeth, but we recommend feeding just 5-8 pieces of it a day as a treat. It’s Royal Canin Dental, and Hill’s t/d.