Recomend a dry kitten food

robert_harper_2000

Cats are natural hunters and would naturally get 90% of moisture from food. I would say wet food is essential at least once a day. I sometimes do dry in morning and wet at night. Overally RAW is best. My cat loves raw duck wings raw chicken wings and Natures Menu make raw cat nuggets. No cooking means the goodness stays with it. Plus the bones clean their teeth. No way dry biscuit cleans their teeth. Otherwise I'll just eat a biscuit at night!

Celli

I tried mine on raw but they just weren't having any of it, they will take the odd bit of raw lamb or chicken, but that's it.

borderlakland

if you pop over to pet forums there are many threads about how and why wet food is far better for a cats health than dry, also loads about which foods are better and why (both wet and dry)

GwylimT

Our cat used to have dry food but we used to add water to it to make a kind of gravy so he got enough water.

Dimey

On the toothpaste front. I've given mine Logic Oral Hygiene Gel for the past 15 years. They have excellent teeth and gums, never need to be scaled at the vet and don't have bad breath.

I realise it may be pot luck but my vet believes I've made a difference using it and I tend to think so too.

I don't use a brush (though a finger brush is provided with the tube). I just put a bit on my finger and they lick it off. It's a kind of treat before bedtime along with a grooming brush and a cuddle.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Personally I wouldn't feed dry food. Cats don't drink enough fluids, so do get some fluids from eating wet food. Feeding dry food only diet can lead to complications with kidneys, diabetes.

As for dry food helping to keep teeth clean, I disagree. Dry kibble can get stuck in between the teeth & cause infection & decay.

Cats are carnivors & need a good protein diet. Dry kibble tends to be packed out with cereals & other fillers which isn't good for cats. When cats kill prey, they pretty much eat every part.

Obviously it is up to you, however, I would encourage you to either ignore the vet & go for a wet food diet or do some research into wet food vs dry.

Dimey

I'm so glad to see so many people on this thread advocating feeding wet food as well as dry.

I tried to say that but get told I'm wrong so often I tend to shut up about it now.

I fed my cats Hill dry food - kitten, adult and senior, because I worked long hours and they could just graze. I didn't realise until too late that dry food doesn't give sufficient moisture so my cats got kidney disease.

They had water dishes and a water fountain but I wasn't there during the day and of course asleep at night, so didn't see how often they drank the water. One cat must have drank less water than the other and she died of kidney failure at 14 after 3 years of obvious deterioration. I changed vet and she confirmed it was due to the cat's dry only diet.

The other cat has the kidney disease too but is now on a mix of dry and wet food. I have to syringe 100mls of water to him a day and he takes Fortekor pills.

Now this kidney failure took a long time to progress. I appreciate no cat will succumb for many years but why take the risk at all. Give dry for grazing but also give wet food morning and evening to get that moisture down and help the kidneys.

I apologise if I've offended anyone again by speaking out but I was encouraged by the earlier postings.

For those who say there's nothing wrong with a dry only diet. That's fine. I must be wrong. No argument from me.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Dimey..you have every right to offer advice. It's up to others whether they agree or not, or even whether they take the advice offered.

I learnt a lot after my old girl developed Diabetes. The vet at the time gave the totally wrong advice & she ended up nearly overdosing on insulin. I obviously had to follow the vets advice initially, however, I made it my business to research feline diabetes. I learnt a lot & with care and attention, managed to get her into remission. If I had continued to follow instructions from the vet, she would've ended up dying.

You have to follow your gut instinct or if you are new to owning a particular animal, then do some research on the animal.

I have always only had kitties. However, when my old girl died I couldn't face getting another cat. I got a rescue dog & have discovered how different a dogs needs are to that of cats.

Dimey

Thanks Devil Made Me Do It. I appreciate your words.

I guess having learned the hard way, I don't want anyone else's kits to suffer unnecessarily but some folk can be so aggressive in their stance on here can't they?

Now I research everything and I don't take the vet's opinion at face value. I'm the responsible adult for my cats so I have to know what's going on to make informed decisions.

In fact I'm in the process of weaning my boy off Atopica because I wasn't comfortable about the potential side effects. He certainly needed it initially and it worked well. But now his fur has grown back and he's calmer so it's my decision to stop it. The vet had said he'll need it for life.

If stopping doesn't work I can always put him back on it. Years ago, I would have blindly followed what the vet said.

Of course I've kept the vet informed all along and the other day she agreed that its working and I'm doing the right thing.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

It's water off a ducks back so to speak. It doesn't matter to me how aggressive or rude someone is, it's a forum at the end of the day & there are folk who use forums to start trouble.

You just have to develop broad shoulders