A cat food question

[moosmom]

My vet feeds her cats nothing but canned, Fancy Feast. She says that dry food (any kind) causes dehydration, causing the kidneys to work harder. I do leave out dry food (with 30% protein) that they munch on during the day, though. Because Bart is so old, he gets fancy feast canned whenever he wants!!!!

I have found that in garbage food, it can cause crystals in males.

[kaycountrygal]

I've had cats all my life & until Dec 2010 I fed them food that I got at the grocery store. For Luke until December 2010, I fed him DRY Purina One Hairball Formula & DRY Purina Indoor Formula (I mixed it) & a small amt of canned Nine Lives or Fancy Feast. I would also give him Laxatone for constipation.

However, in Dec 2010 (here we go again) he had severe constipation and vet put him on canned Hill's w/d. From reading here on PT, I decided to put him also on canned no-grain Wellness.... and Laxatone for constipation & hairballs. I mix the w/d & the Wellness & Laxatone & it's working for us.

I get the w/d from the vet & I order the tall cans of Wellness from 1-800PetMeds as the tall cans dont cost as much as the flat cans & my Petsmart does not have the tall cans.

I cannot tell you how much better Luke feels these days. (He's 10 yrs old). Because of the moisture & ingreds in his food now, he is not constipated but I still have to put Laxatone in his food EVERY day. I can tell he feels better; he is more active & more like a cat. He likes to go on walks with us & is more active. He even plays some now.

So, the reason I went from basically DRY cat food to expensive canned food is because Luke just cannot handle dry food anymore & needs something better, something wet with good ingreds. Yes, his food is expensive but so was his constipation (over $500 counting everything) & I dont want him sick again so I'll pay for the expensive food. Pay now or pay later I guess is my motto... Kay in NC

[cassiesmom]

Thank you, everybody! You've given me a lot to think about and some questions to clarify with the doctor.

Cassie's water is in a Pyrex glass bowl. I can wash and rinse it, then put it in the microwave with water in it, zonk until the water boils, let it air-dry and refill it. (I don't have a dishwasher) She got bottled water for awhile when our pipes were being worked on, so she'd prefer only that. I give her filtered tap water.

I want to back up and explain. The shelter from which I adopted Cassie is no-cage as well as no-kill. When the cats are fed, more than one may eat from one plate, so there's no way to know exactly who's eating what. They are given wet food twice a day. The cats in the medical room get individual food and water, because they are in cages. Part of medical room care involves keeping track of what they drink and eat. but the cats in the remainder of the shelter have shared water dishes.

When I brought her home I kept her on the same schedule, wet food twice a day and dry food always available. Food has never been a problem unless she eats too fast and barfs. Now I feed her smaller servings 3 times a day. She would be happiest eating nothing but turkey or chicken, tuna, pureed baby food meat, and tuna juice! But that's not an option. I give her a bit of cooked chicken, tuna or pureed baby food meat as a treat, but not as her regular food. I love her tons and i want her eating an appropriate food. She also likes yogurt (especially licking the tin foil lid), peas, canned pumpkin, and milk. My sister's (RB) Siamese cat liked ham from the supermarket deli, of all things. If she was making a sandwich, he would come running when he heard her unwrapping the deli meat! She'd give him a bit as a treat. He also liked steak!

So - again - thank you ALL! I appreciate your help so much! Thank you! Could you please give your well-fed kitties some petting and hugs from me.