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Is dry cat food good enough, or do they need canned food too?



 
 
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  #1  
Old February 6th 05, 02:43 PM
Lewis Lang
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Default Is dry cat food good enough, or do they need canned food too?

Hi. Is dry cat food good enough, or do they need canned food too? I
don't mean the cheap dry food. I mean Science Diet or Iams.

Thanks.

Lewis Lang

  #2  
Old February 9th 05, 11:01 AM
Phil P.
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"Lewis Lang" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi. Is dry cat food good enough, or do they need canned food too? I
don't mean the cheap dry food. I mean Science Diet or Iams.

Thanks.

Lewis Lang



Your cats would be much better off on the same quality canned food. A
little dry food is ok, but canned food should make up most of your cats'
diet.

Canned food is especially important for male cats since they are susceptible
to potentially fatal urinary tract obstructions.

Phil



  #3  
Old February 9th 05, 02:07 PM
PawsForThought via CatKB.com
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You might want to check out this very good article on why cats should be
fed a wet food diet: http://www.catinfo.org/zorans_article.pdf

Lauren

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com
  #4  
Old February 9th 05, 03:03 PM
Jean B.
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"Phil P." wrote:

Your cats would be much better off on the same quality canned food. A
little dry food is ok, but canned food should make up most of your cats'
diet.

Canned food is especially important for male cats since they are susceptible
to potentially fatal urinary tract obstructions.

Phil


I can attest to this because of my recent experience with Mingy.
I am coming to the conclusion that one of the most important
factors is whether our cats eat wet or dried food. The latter
seems to be good for teeth, but the former leads to much less
concentrated urine, which is a very good thing.
--
Jean B.
  #5  
Old February 9th 05, 05:20 PM
Phil P.
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"Jean B." wrote in message ...
"Phil P." wrote:

Your cats would be much better off on the same quality canned food. A
little dry food is ok, but canned food should make up most of your cats'
diet.

Canned food is especially important for male cats since they are

susceptible
to potentially fatal urinary tract obstructions.

Phil


I can attest to this because of my recent experience with Mingy.
I am coming to the conclusion that one of the most important
factors is whether our cats eat wet or dried food. The latter
seems to be good for teeth, but the former leads to much less
concentrated urine, which is a very good thing.


Jean,

Very few dry foods are beneficial for a cats teeth. The few that are, do
very little. The individual cat's oral chemistry plays a larger role.

Most dry foods are small pellets or small nuggets which most are swallowed
whole. For a dry food to have any benefit, the nuggets must be large so the
cat's teeth can sink all the way down into them. Also, the nuggets should
be soft enough so they don't shatter when the cat sinks her teeth into them.
Since cats don't (can't) chew as in mastication, dry food doesn't have the
same effect in cats as it does in dogs - whose jaws are capable of lateral
and rotary motion.

The cats jaw hinge (condyloid process) is shaped like a bar (like a door
hinge) precisely to limit lateral motion when a cat is holding struggling
prey.

http://maxshouse.com/anatomy/Dentary...edial_view.jpg

Humans' and dogs' condyloid processes are oval-shaped so they can rotate.

When cats close their mouth, the upper and lower carnassial teeth slide
across each other like a scissor to *cut* meat into smaller pieces. That's
why cats have pointed teeth and not fissured crowns. In nature, cats keep
their teeth clean by sinking them into meat. Ever see a picture of a tiger,
leopard, lion, or cheetah with dirty teeth!?

Its also possible for little pieces of dry food to get driven into the gums
at the gumline between the gum and the teeth.

You can keep your cats teeth clean by feeding chunks of chicken and turkey
breast and by wiping the teeth with a gauze sponge dipped in saline and
wrapped around your finger - or a Q-Tip.

hth,

Phil


  #6  
Old February 11th 05, 12:53 AM
Jean B.
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Default

"Phil P." wrote:

"Jean B." wrote in message ...
"Phil P." wrote:

Your cats would be much better off on the same quality canned food. A
little dry food is ok, but canned food should make up most of your cats'
diet.

Canned food is especially important for male cats since they are

susceptible
to potentially fatal urinary tract obstructions.

Phil


I can attest to this because of my recent experience with Mingy.
I am coming to the conclusion that one of the most important
factors is whether our cats eat wet or dried food. The latter
seems to be good for teeth, but the former leads to much less
concentrated urine, which is a very good thing.


Jean,

Very few dry foods are beneficial for a cats teeth. The few that are, do
very little. The individual cat's oral chemistry plays a larger role.

Most dry foods are small pellets or small nuggets which most are swallowed
whole. For a dry food to have any benefit, the nuggets must be large so the
cat's teeth can sink all the way down into them. Also, the nuggets should
be soft enough so they don't shatter when the cat sinks her teeth into them.
Since cats don't (can't) chew as in mastication, dry food doesn't have the
same effect in cats as it does in dogs - whose jaws are capable of lateral
and rotary motion.

The cats jaw hinge (condyloid process) is shaped like a bar (like a door
hinge) precisely to limit lateral motion when a cat is holding struggling
prey.

http://maxshouse.com/anatomy/Dentary...edial_view.jpg

Humans' and dogs' condyloid processes are oval-shaped so they can rotate.

When cats close their mouth, the upper and lower carnassial teeth slide
across each other like a scissor to *cut* meat into smaller pieces. That's
why cats have pointed teeth and not fissured crowns. In nature, cats keep
their teeth clean by sinking them into meat. Ever see a picture of a tiger,
leopard, lion, or cheetah with dirty teeth!?

Its also possible for little pieces of dry food to get driven into the gums
at the gumline between the gum and the teeth.

You can keep your cats teeth clean by feeding chunks of chicken and turkey
breast and by wiping the teeth with a gauze sponge dipped in saline and
wrapped around your finger - or a Q-Tip.

hth,

Phil


REALLY! I do hear Mingy crunching on dry food, but then his old
dry food (Nutro) was much bigger than the Wellness, Wysong, Hill's
etc. that I have seen more recently.

Speaking o' such, dare I ask whether Persian-type cats have
particular trouble with some kinds of food? I began to wonder
whether Mingy was having trouble eating the c/d, which comes in
little round balls. I am not sure whether he has an easier time
eating the Wysong Uretic formula. Also, he was eating some canned
Wellness Chicken today (which he seems to like!), but it seemed
pretty laborious for him. Maybe it's just me though....
--
Jean B.
  #7  
Old February 11th 05, 04:28 PM
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Default

Thanks for that link. There are some other good articles catinfo.org
too.

The "Carnivore Connection" article raises a few questions:

The article describes the foods eaten by wild cats as birds and
rodents. Since cats have been living in the company of humans for many
millenia now, to what extent (if any) have they evolved to thrive on
whatever their human companions have? Based on the article, we see
that an *individual* cat's digestive system is not very adaptible, but
how much variation is there between breeds, or regions? There is
tremendous variability in human diets: Inuits can subsit on seal meat
while a west african's diet is based on cassava (although I don't think
either of these two example cultures keep cats).

What about the indigestibles in the diet of wild cats? Does rodent
hair have a role in the digestive process despite its lack of actual
nutrition, the way cellulose fiber does in humans?

Lastly, why can't I buy canned food that has "squirrel," "sparrow,"
"meadow vole" or "rock dove" on the label? I know part (most?) of it
is marketing: We want to buy food that sounds good to our own tastes,
but can't pet food companies use the "wild cat" angle? It's amusing to
think of our pet cats downing and devouring a buffalo, or snatching a
fat salmon from the air as it leaps up a rapid, but these are not
reality. Why so much "fish" and "beef" cat food?

  #8  
Old February 11th 05, 06:46 PM
---MIKE---
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Default

Jean,

What kind of dishes do you use? I used to use Melmac soup dishes but
the raised sides seemed to "tickle" the whiskers so I switched to flat
butter dishes. Maybe Mingy has trouble eating the canned food if you
are using soup dishes. For dental, I give Tiger six pieces of Friskies
Dental Diet in the evening (Amber won't eat it). The pieces are round
and quite large so the cat has to break them apart. Phil once mentioned
that the Friskies Dental Diet was one of the few foods that might be
beneficial.


---MIKE---

  #10  
Old February 11th 05, 08:39 PM
---MIKE---
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Default

I heard that some company (Iams?) tried a mouse flavored canned food.
The cats would not eat it!


---MIKE---

 




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