Dry Food vs. Wet Food

Don't know if any of you live in the Washington D.C. area and read the
Washington Post regularly, but they have a weekly column -- on Tuesdays
-- devoted to pet questions sent to Dr. Fox, the Animal Doctor. There
have been a few questions lately that brought up the issue of dry food
vs/or in combination with wet food. (I've posted two below with the
answers but without the names of the person submitting the questions.)

I usually give my kitties dry food in the morning and wet (canned) food
in the evening, but lately I've been varying that with the addition of
some wet food with the morning dry food -- mostly because I have an
elderly cat who has a little more trouble munching on kibble.

I'm curious. I've read this doctor say that you should treat kibble as a
treat. However, I'm buying pretty high quality kibble the first
ingrediants of which are meat and fish. Do you think all kibble should
be fed more sparingly than canned food? Clearly, some must be better
than others.

Sandy


********************

ANIMAL DOCTOR

Tuesday, October 14, 2003; Page C10

Dear Dr. Fox:

I noticed in your column that several readers have the problem of a cat who
wants breakfast way too early in the morning.

I had the same problem with my cat Cozy, who has dinner at 5 p.m. and
fussed for her breakfast at 5 a.m. I purchased a battery-powered, automatic
feeder from a pet store. When I retire, I place her breakfast in it and set
it to open at 5 a.m. Yes, she still meows a bit and touches the box with
her paw, but this occurs in the kitchen, which is far away so as not to
disturb me.

I also placed Velcro on the bottom of the feeder and attached it to a heavy
piece of wood so Cozy could not bump it all over the kitchen floor. Problem
solved.


************************
Answer:

Thanks for your high-tech solution to the problem of cats who awaken their
owners in the early hours for food. I see no problems, provided the amount
of dry food dispensed is just enough to take the edge off of her hunger and
that the rest of her meals are not dry cat kibble. More health problems are
caused by such food than the inconvenience of scooping dry food out of the
bag could ever justify.

No cat should be fed a dry-food diet exclusively, because such health
problems as cystitis, irritated bowel syndrome and diabetes have been
linked to this dietary regimen. Ann Jablonski, a cat owner whose cats
became ill on such a diet and then dramatically improved when fed moist
foods, has a Web site on this topic. It's at www.catnutrition.org.


ANIMAL DOCTOR

Tuesday, November 4, 2003; Page C10

Dear Dr. Fox:

Lexie, our cat, was 7 months old when we brought her home and has blossomed
into a warm, affectionate, smart and wonderful pet. Her behavior has been
fabulous, except for one weird quirk that manifested itself about a month
ago: Lexie has been hiding some of her dry cat food under a rug or in a
door track.

Since we feed her every day, twice a day, at the same time and give her
more than enough food, this new behavior is quite perplexing to us.


**************************************************
Answer:

First, I hope Lexie isn't being fed just dry cat food, since such a diet
can cause a variety of health problems. Also feed her some home-prepared
cat food or good-quality (ideally organic) canned, moist cat food.

As for Lexie's food-hiding behavior, many cats (and dogs) will do this.
They often have a history of food deprivation, having been hungry,
abandoned and fending for themselves. So always making sure that they have
some food at hand is understandable. Some pets will hide food down the
sides of sofa cushions or try to bury and cover the food in a corner of the
room. Many cats will paw around their food bowl when there is food left
over. This is their attempt to cover it up, as they would in the wild, to
consume at a later time. Lexie's behavior reveals her wild-side wisdom,
which you can appreciate and accept rather than try to prevent.

Sandy McDermin wrote:

I'm curious. I've read this doctor say that you should treat kibble as a
treat. However, I'm buying pretty high quality kibble the first
ingrediants of which are meat and fish. Do you think all kibble should
be fed more sparingly than canned food? Clearly, some must be better
than others.

The problem with feeding dry food exclusively isn't so much the quality of the
food itself--as you say, some are better than others--but a good quality canned
food is more like a cat's natural diet. Cats are inefficient drinkers and some
cats will not drink sufficient water when fed exclusively dry food. A dry food
diet has been linked to the development of urinary tract disease.

Different vets have different ideas about the dry food vs. canned food
controversy, and Dr. Fox has voiced his. My own vet would agree with him, but
other vets disagree.

Sandy McDermin wrote:

I'm curious. I've read this doctor say that you should treat kibble as a
treat. However, I'm buying pretty high quality kibble the first
ingrediants of which are meat and fish. Do you think all kibble should
be fed more sparingly than canned food? Clearly, some must be better
than others.

The problem with feeding dry food exclusively isn't so much the quality of the
food itself--as you say, some are better than others--but a good quality canned
food is more like a cat's natural diet. Cats are inefficient drinkers and some
cats will not drink sufficient water when fed exclusively dry food. A dry food
diet has been linked to the development of urinary tract disease.

Different vets have different ideas about the dry food vs. canned food
controversy, and Dr. Fox has voiced his. My own vet would agree with him, but
other vets disagree.

Sandy McDermin wrote:

I'm curious. I've read this doctor say that you should treat kibble as a
treat. However, I'm buying pretty high quality kibble the first
ingrediants of which are meat and fish. Do you think all kibble should
be fed more sparingly than canned food? Clearly, some must be better
than others.

The problem with feeding dry food exclusively isn't so much the quality of the
food itself--as you say, some are better than others--but a good quality canned
food is more like a cat's natural diet. Cats are inefficient drinkers and some
cats will not drink sufficient water when fed exclusively dry food. A dry food
diet has been linked to the development of urinary tract disease.

Different vets have different ideas about the dry food vs. canned food
controversy, and Dr. Fox has voiced his. My own vet would agree with him, but
other vets disagree.

Yngver wrote:

Sandy McDermin wrote:


I'm curious. I've read this doctor say that you should treat kibble as a
treat. However, I'm buying pretty high quality kibble the first
ingrediants of which are meat and fish. Do you think all kibble should
be fed more sparingly than canned food? Clearly, some must be better
than others.


The problem with feeding dry food exclusively isn't so much the quality of the
food itself--as you say, some are better than others--but a good quality canned
food is more like a cat's natural diet. Cats are inefficient drinkers and some
cats will not drink sufficient water when fed exclusively dry food. A dry food
diet has been linked to the development of urinary tract disease.

Different vets have different ideas about the dry food vs. canned food
controversy, and Dr. Fox has voiced his. My own vet would agree with him, but
other vets disagree.

My vet agrees that it's the moisture content of wet food that really
benefits cats. He also said that wet food isn't as nutritionally dense
to dry food, so cat's need to eat more of it. Eating more contributes to
the cat getting more moisture, too. But wet food spoils faster, so if
your cat doesn't eat it in a few hours, bacteria could grow on it. Dry
food is more resistant to bacteria growth (maybe because it doesn't have
the moisture bacteria needs?).

Of course, our cat decides what she eats and she prefers dry food. So we
have to make sure she has enough water available... and she likes to
drink from a faucet, so we have to attend to that need, too. :-)

Warren

--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Great gifts for cat lovers at http://www.officiallycute.com
Cute cat pictures, too!

Yngver wrote:

Sandy McDermin wrote:


I'm curious. I've read this doctor say that you should treat kibble as a
treat. However, I'm buying pretty high quality kibble the first
ingrediants of which are meat and fish. Do you think all kibble should
be fed more sparingly than canned food? Clearly, some must be better
than others.


The problem with feeding dry food exclusively isn't so much the quality of the
food itself--as you say, some are better than others--but a good quality canned
food is more like a cat's natural diet. Cats are inefficient drinkers and some
cats will not drink sufficient water when fed exclusively dry food. A dry food
diet has been linked to the development of urinary tract disease.

Different vets have different ideas about the dry food vs. canned food
controversy, and Dr. Fox has voiced his. My own vet would agree with him, but
other vets disagree.

My vet agrees that it's the moisture content of wet food that really
benefits cats. He also said that wet food isn't as nutritionally dense
to dry food, so cat's need to eat more of it. Eating more contributes to
the cat getting more moisture, too. But wet food spoils faster, so if
your cat doesn't eat it in a few hours, bacteria could grow on it. Dry
food is more resistant to bacteria growth (maybe because it doesn't have
the moisture bacteria needs?).

Of course, our cat decides what she eats and she prefers dry food. So we
have to make sure she has enough water available... and she likes to
drink from a faucet, so we have to attend to that need, too. :-)

Warren

--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Great gifts for cat lovers at http://www.officiallycute.com
Cute cat pictures, too!

Yngver wrote:

Sandy McDermin wrote:


I'm curious. I've read this doctor say that you should treat kibble as a
treat. However, I'm buying pretty high quality kibble the first
ingrediants of which are meat and fish. Do you think all kibble should
be fed more sparingly than canned food? Clearly, some must be better
than others.


The problem with feeding dry food exclusively isn't so much the quality of the
food itself--as you say, some are better than others--but a good quality canned
food is more like a cat's natural diet. Cats are inefficient drinkers and some
cats will not drink sufficient water when fed exclusively dry food. A dry food
diet has been linked to the development of urinary tract disease.

Different vets have different ideas about the dry food vs. canned food
controversy, and Dr. Fox has voiced his. My own vet would agree with him, but
other vets disagree.

My vet agrees that it's the moisture content of wet food that really
benefits cats. He also said that wet food isn't as nutritionally dense
to dry food, so cat's need to eat more of it. Eating more contributes to
the cat getting more moisture, too. But wet food spoils faster, so if
your cat doesn't eat it in a few hours, bacteria could grow on it. Dry
food is more resistant to bacteria growth (maybe because it doesn't have
the moisture bacteria needs?).

Of course, our cat decides what she eats and she prefers dry food. So we
have to make sure she has enough water available... and she likes to
drink from a faucet, so we have to attend to that need, too. :-)

Warren

--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Great gifts for cat lovers at http://www.officiallycute.com
Cute cat pictures, too!

Warren O com wrote:

My vet agrees that it's the moisture content of wet food that really
benefits cats. He also said that wet food isn't as nutritionally dense
to dry food, so cat's need to eat more of it. Eating more contributes to
the cat getting more moisture, too. But wet food spoils faster, so if
your cat doesn't eat it in a few hours, bacteria could grow on it.

Well, it's also unnatural for a cat to have food constantly available, and can
contribute to obesity. It's often recommended that what the cat doesn't eat
within a half hour or so, you should pick up and throw away. I wouldn't leave
canned food out all day.

Dry
food is more resistant to bacteria growth (maybe because it doesn't have
the moisture bacteria needs?).

It may be more resistant, but bacteria can still grow on dry food because often
when cats eat kibble, they drop little half-chewed bits back into the food.
Combined with saliva, bacteria can then grow on the kibble. I've noticed in
particular with the dental health kibble, which tends to be larger in size,
that the bowl soon contains little half-eaten pieces. Best to throw this out
every day and sanitize the bowl.

Of course, our cat decides what she eats and she prefers dry food. So we
have to make sure she has enough water available... and she likes to
drink from a faucet, so we have to attend to that need, too. :-)

I know what you are saying. We have three cats, and while two are happy with
canned food, the third usually refuses it. If we don't have dry food for her,
she gets too thin and she's not a plump cat to begin with. Unfortunately the
other two will get too fat if dry food is constantly available, so it's hard to
manage an optimum diet for all three. I figure if they get some dry and some
canned, that's better than a diet that's exclusively dry.

Warren O com wrote:

My vet agrees that it's the moisture content of wet food that really
benefits cats. He also said that wet food isn't as nutritionally dense
to dry food, so cat's need to eat more of it. Eating more contributes to
the cat getting more moisture, too. But wet food spoils faster, so if
your cat doesn't eat it in a few hours, bacteria could grow on it.

Well, it's also unnatural for a cat to have food constantly available, and can
contribute to obesity. It's often recommended that what the cat doesn't eat
within a half hour or so, you should pick up and throw away. I wouldn't leave
canned food out all day.

Dry
food is more resistant to bacteria growth (maybe because it doesn't have
the moisture bacteria needs?).

It may be more resistant, but bacteria can still grow on dry food because often
when cats eat kibble, they drop little half-chewed bits back into the food.
Combined with saliva, bacteria can then grow on the kibble. I've noticed in
particular with the dental health kibble, which tends to be larger in size,
that the bowl soon contains little half-eaten pieces. Best to throw this out
every day and sanitize the bowl.

Of course, our cat decides what she eats and she prefers dry food. So we
have to make sure she has enough water available... and she likes to
drink from a faucet, so we have to attend to that need, too. :-)

I know what you are saying. We have three cats, and while two are happy with
canned food, the third usually refuses it. If we don't have dry food for her,
she gets too thin and she's not a plump cat to begin with. Unfortunately the
other two will get too fat if dry food is constantly available, so it's hard to
manage an optimum diet for all three. I figure if they get some dry and some
canned, that's better than a diet that's exclusively dry.

Warren O com wrote:

My vet agrees that it's the moisture content of wet food that really
benefits cats. He also said that wet food isn't as nutritionally dense
to dry food, so cat's need to eat more of it. Eating more contributes to
the cat getting more moisture, too. But wet food spoils faster, so if
your cat doesn't eat it in a few hours, bacteria could grow on it.

Well, it's also unnatural for a cat to have food constantly available, and can
contribute to obesity. It's often recommended that what the cat doesn't eat
within a half hour or so, you should pick up and throw away. I wouldn't leave
canned food out all day.

Dry
food is more resistant to bacteria growth (maybe because it doesn't have
the moisture bacteria needs?).

It may be more resistant, but bacteria can still grow on dry food because often
when cats eat kibble, they drop little half-chewed bits back into the food.
Combined with saliva, bacteria can then grow on the kibble. I've noticed in
particular with the dental health kibble, which tends to be larger in size,
that the bowl soon contains little half-eaten pieces. Best to throw this out
every day and sanitize the bowl.

Of course, our cat decides what she eats and she prefers dry food. So we
have to make sure she has enough water available... and she likes to
drink from a faucet, so we have to attend to that need, too. :-)

I know what you are saying. We have three cats, and while two are happy with
canned food, the third usually refuses it. If we don't have dry food for her,
she gets too thin and she's not a plump cat to begin with. Unfortunately the
other two will get too fat if dry food is constantly available, so it's hard to
manage an optimum diet for all three. I figure if they get some dry and some
canned, that's better than a diet that's exclusively dry.