Friends of mine compared dry food to doughnuts, candy, or chips recently. They noted that a little bit given to a healthy cat, probably won’t hurt them. I actually agree – but if your cat is anemic, vomiting and/or has diarrhea/constipation, is borderline diabetic (or full-blown diabetic), obese, or has a tendancy to develop urinary tract stones – I would argue (once again) they should be given absolutely NO DRY FOOD!
I DO understand about some special cases, but in my opinion there’s a difference between understanding your choices and the risks and benefits of those choices and choosing something for which you feel the benefits outweigh the risks… and making a choice ignoring the evidence, justifying your decision with “my vet said” or “well, all my cats in the past” or “I know cats that”… like the people that *know* canned/raw is better for diabetics but don’t want to bother with the “effort” required to open a can twice a day.
Likewise, I do understand that some people have cats that will NOT eat wet food – and they have to work with that. While I don’t blame them I do NOT appreciate them encouraging others to feed dry food or telling them “dry food is okay” or “dry food is not bad”. I DISAGREE. It’s BAD. If it’s all your cat will eat, well then, that’s what you have to deal with and I’d still encourage you to try and get them switched over… but don’t go telling people it’s not bad – it’s bad.
Just like if a kid will only eat McDonald’s. That’s not good. They should be encouraged to eat other foods. Maybe they only get McDonald’s once a week and you can live with that (and they can to – if they are NOT diabetic or obese or suffer from allergies) – but don’t use it as an excuse to just feed McDonald’s every meal.
Growing up, my younger brother would ONLY eat:
* Breaded chicken patties on a white bun
* Hamburgers (plain)
* Nacho cheese Doritos
* Chicken-in-a-biscuit crackers
* Pepperoni pizza
I do NOT think that is a healthy diet. My mom got sick and tired of trying to get him to eat anything else and by the time he was about 10 he had just learned how to make his own meals, as she wasn’t cooking him a separate meal every time. But, still, that is NOT good.
One of my cats, Rumpelmintz, makes me CRAZY in the picky-eating department. I usually just ignore her. I weigh her monthly and she does not seem to be wasting away. Today was another example of:
“What are we having for breakfast, I am starving!”
“OMG, what IS this? OMG, I think it’s chicken. I HATE chicken!” (It was a chicken/turkey blend.)
“What does Ralph have?” (bops Ralph on the head) “OMG, it’s CHICKEN! I hate chicken!”
“What’s up here on the TV tray?” “OMG, it’s CHICKEN!!!!”
I just kept ignoring her and eventually I saw she was on the TV tray kind of licking at the food, kind of flinging bits of it all over the kitchen…
Rumpelmintz was a HUGE pain in the very-large-butt to get transitioned on to wet food. It took MONTHS to get her there. However, I didn’t just plunk down some canned food and say “Oh well, she won’t eat it (or won’t eat it all) – so I guess I’ll just give up and feed her the dry food she likes”. I worked with here, meal in and meal out – first putting something she liked on a plate *with* wet food, but not touching the wet food – then gradually moving the foods closer and closer until they were touching – then touching a LOT, then gradually less of the favorite and more wet… and eventually, she’d eat straight-up healthy wet food. I experimented with brands and flavors. I coerced, I begged, I bribed. She’s healthier because we stuck with it.
If I had a young, perfectly healthy cat – I still would choose not to feed ANY dry food EVER. Why?
1) I see no need to “reward” manufacturers and retailers behavior with my money for food that is harmful to my cats
2) I see no need to feed an addiction in my cats, and have them continue to clamour for the “junk food” rather than eat a healthy diet.
Life of the Lintee Bean 
Dry food almost killed my cat. The vet pulled him through, and he is home from the hospital now, healing.
Nine days ago my cat, a 6-year-old neutered male, became ill. I called the vet at 1 AM and reported the cat being symptomatic of urinary blockage. Vet did not believe he had a blockage because he was not crying but, after much persuasion on my part, she agreed to meet us at the clinic at 2 AM.
My cat was, in fact, mere hours from death. He was hospitalized for two days. Even though dry food almost killed this sweet boy, the vet sent him home with a prescription dry food.
I read the label, and I did not like what it said. Brewer’s rice, meat by-products, corn and wheat gluten, various preservatives. No meat!
ME: “What about nutrition?”
THE VET: “He needs a urine acidifier and this food provides that.”
ME: “He needs proper nutrition, including fluids. His problem was caused by dehydration from a dry food diet.”
THE VET: “Cats cannot live on wet food, it causes dental problems. Dry food prevents dental problems.”
I went on to question why my cat had to have two teeth extracted a year ago if his dry food diet was preventing dental problems but the vet shrugged that off. I believe her final words were, “He has to have the prescription diet for 3 months, end of discussion.”
At home, with the prescription food safely in the trash where it belonged, I popped open a can of grain-free Wellness Turkey Formula cat food. My cat took one taste and he was hooked!
I often add additional water to the canned food due to his urinary tract problem. He continues to improve daily, his urine output is good and he has more energy now than he has had in a very long time. This is after only one week of proper diet.
I will not feed my cat dry food ever again. I am appalled at how vets buy into the propaganda fed to them by pet food manufacturers. Vets not only recommend these junk-food diets to cat owners, they often sell the food out of their clinics.
Cat owners need to be aware that veterinarians typically have little to no formal training on cat nutrition.
Vets need to understand that pet owners often rely on them for advice and that the advice they give must be in the best interests of the animals, not profit-motivated.
Cats may survive for several years on dry food without obvious problems but, sooner or later, those years of poor diet will take their toll, such as what happened with my cat.
Lynette, I applaud you.
Barbara,
I applaud YOU for sticking to your guns. Good for you, and your cat!
Lynette
ME TOO! I got off that crap after 3 rounds of meds for UTI and bladder and god knows what all. All the while buying that damn kd cat food from the vet!
No more – I’m working with a holistic vet and my cat is eating real meat and is fairly versatile for an old woman. Even though she’s slowed down some, she’s still in my game and I still have a few marks to prove it.
Get your cat/s off any dry food and make them real meals. You will be paid back with longevity and watch them (and You) grow old gracefully.
Fairbanks, Alaska