Can I change wet cat food for dry?

Rev

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. I don't even know where to start with this. There must be a little team of elves that do all the testing and treatment behind the scenes then. Obviously the only work a vet ever does is within the confines of the consulting office. Perhaps the in-house clinical diagnostics unit was all a figment of my imagination.

You forgot to mention nurses. They are the ones with the extensive training in diet and nutrition, running the obesity clinics and offering clients dietary advice. But do you seriously think vets don't have a clue about nutrition and the effect certain foods have upon animals? It's one of the primary questions asked and doesn't take very long to notice correlations between certain types of diet, even specific brands, and various conditions and illnesses.

And for the record, I've not used nor recommended Hills Science Diet since the early '90s. Your vets must be extremely outdated if they still do.

Please. I could run an Obesity clinic. It's not hard. Anyone with an ounce of common sense could. The nurses in the vets I use bang on about royal canin constantly. Funnily enough the shelves in the waiting room are stacked high with royal canin.

Yes I think the majority of vets know a bare minimum about food. In the same way I think doctors know a bare minimum about food. A vet is an animal doctor. Not an infallible source that knows everything and anything about all animals.

I've heard numerous vets telling people bakers is absolutely fine and not full or crap. Pedigree is a great food. Feed away!

arbroath_lass

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I was responding to the claim Haffiana made that all dry food is bad for cats. It's not. If it is then why have both mine and many more hundreds, if not thousands, of cats I know and have known lived incredibly long and healthy lives having been fed on dry food. I merely used my own cats as an example.

At no time have I ever stated it is suitable for every cat or that cats should be fed entirely wet food or a mixture of both. People really need to read what is written rather than assuming something completely different.

As far as I am aware, you can't tell which cats will be affected until they are. Unless you can watch them all day, every day and measure how much water they drink. Is that true?


So, again, I'll ask, why take the chance?

~Chameleon~

arbroath_lass wrote: »

As far as I am aware, you can't tell which cats will be affected until they are. Unless you can watch them all day, every day and measure how much water they drink. Is that true?


So, again, I'll ask, why take the chance?

You would soon know if they weren't drinking enough as they'd become dehydrated. There's no taking any chances. If you know your cat and are observant you know when something is wrong and would seek veterinary advice. And the majority of cats spending considerable time outdoors will know where to get water and will also no doubt be catching their own prey which contains water.

arbroath_lass

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

You would soon know if they weren't drinking enough as they'd become dehydrated. There's no taking any chances. If you know your cat and are observant you know when something is wrong and would seek veterinary advice. And the majority of cats spending considerable time outdoors will know where to get water and will also no doubt be catching their own prey which contains water.

You can lead a cat to water but you can't make it drink! Cats have a low thirst drive. I'm certainly not taking the chance with much loved pets just for convenience.

~Chameleon~

Rev wrote: »

Please. I could run an Obesity clinic. It's not hard. Anyone with an ounce of common sense could. The nurses in the vets I use bang on about royal canin constantly. Funnily enough the shelves in the waiting room are stacked high with royal canin.

And funnily enough, the shelves in the waiting room of this practice are stacked high with the following products! Not a packet of Royal Canin in sight!






Maybe you should consider changing vet if you're not happy rather than slagging them all off universally

spike241

A few in my area are stacked with Royal Canin and that's what we're given any time the cats have to have anesthetic (pouches though, not dry).

I've read about cats having low thirst drives and I'm guessing I've just got a group of weirdos. Mine love water, I have to fill up their fountain daily. If it starts running low, Sweep will sit by the bathroom door, yowling. They jump up on the side of the bath so I can put the tap on for them as well. Mad!

I will be switching them to raw in the next few months but they've done well on dry.
I certainly don't believe all dry foods are worse than the grain filled crap they sell in supermarkets.

~Chameleon~

spike241 wrote: »

A few in my area are stacked with Royal Canin and that's what we're given any time the cats have to have anesthetic.

I've read about cats having low thirst drives and I'm guessing I've just got a group of weirdos. Mine love water, I have to fill up their fountain daily. If it starts running low, Sweep will sit by the bathroom door, yowling. They jump up on the side of the bath so I can put the tap on for them as well. Mad!

It's a bit of a myth to be honest. Cats will drink water when they need it.

~Chameleon~

spike241 wrote: »

A few in my area are stacked with Royal Canin and that's what we're given any time the cats have to have anesthetic (pouches though, not dry).

I've read about cats having low thirst drives and I'm guessing I've just got a group of weirdos. Mine love water, I have to fill up their fountain daily. If it starts running low, Sweep will sit by the bathroom door, yowling. They jump up on the side of the bath so I can put the tap on for them as well. Mad!

I will be switching them to raw in the next few months but they've done well on dry.
I certainly don't believe all dry foods are worse than the grain filled crap they sell in supermarkets.

I missed this before and for the record I have to agree with you but have absolutely no problem with feeding Royal Canin foods to cats. My cats have lived well into their twenties purely on a diet of RC. I also have many clients whose cats have done the same. There are good & bad foods out there, some I'd never touch with a barge pole. But animals are like people, you need to find a diet that suits them as well as being convenient and affordable to yourself.

spike241

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I missed this before and for the record I have to agree with you but have absolutely no problem with feeding Royal Canin foods to cats. My cats have lived well into their twenties purely on a diet of RC. I also have many clients whose cats have done the same. There are good & bad foods out there, some I'd never touch with a barge pole. But animals are like people, you need to find a diet that suits them as well as being convenient and affordable to yourself.

Sorry, I should have clarified, not all supermarket food is crap. I'm talking about Go Cat, Whiskas, Felix.
Butcher's Classic is probably cheaper than all of those.

I often hear that dry food is bad and even a crap wet food is better and that's just not true.

I wouldn't feed RC but that's because I only buy grain free food now. I didn't say it was a bad food.