Straight dope on dry cat food

Factual Questions
1

I’d like to hear from knowledgable specialists, like veteranarians or nutritionists, as to whether sites like this and this are correct about the dangers of dry cat food. Even Wikipedia is against it, but muddies the water a bit by citing the dangers of “pop top” canned food. (Why the type of top should matter is beyond me, but they do cite a source.) I can’t really find much out there that’s pro-dry, other than from manufacturers.

I’m hoping this won’t devolve into a battle of the anecdotes. With respect, if you’ve fed your cat this food or that food for ten years with no problems, that really doesn’t prove anything overall. Likewise, just because your cat had kidney failure after eating dry food could be a coincidence.

We have two cats: a very old female cat who lives primarily outdoors though she comes inside during bad or cold weather. She does kill and eat rodent-type critters and small birds while out. But our other cat is indoor-only. In fact, she won’t go anywhere near a door that’s opened to the outside. She’s my primary concern. We presently feed only (allegedly) high-quality dry foods. Should we change?

2

FWIW, here’s one vet’s opinion (ours): Wet food is best only as an occasional treat. If fed full-time, it will decay the cat’s teeth. Dry food, conversely, tends to clean the teeth.

3

Our veterinarian said substantially the same thing, recommending high-quality dry food as the main food, with canned food only on occasion.

4

Our Vet recommends high quality dry food for Dogs and Cats. Iams and Science Diet were both highly recommended. For the dog, rather than can food, the Shelter recommend occasional table scraps, but not a lot. Again for the cats, can food was not recommended.

Currently we have some concerns with the older cat enjoying the Dog food too much. We worry she might not be getting enough protein as to my understanding Cat Food has a higher protein amount than Dog Food.

Jim

5

I’ve never been one to randomly forward news stories and whatnot, so I hope you’ll forgive me for this. Given that the OP is about kibble, I thought it might be worth it to mention it here given the nature of the views this thread is likely to get. Oh, and I’m not trying to be alarmist, just to give everyone a head’s up.

The story appeared in the New York Times, and I checked Hill’s (makers of Science Diet), Menu Food’s, and Snopes’ Websites, so I’m about as certain as I can be that this is a legitimate recall. The recall is extensive and covers brands sold in places ranging from Wal-Mart to pet stores. Given the nature of what’s at risk and just in case someone may not see it, I’m taking a step into sidetrack-land. Let’s see how this works…

The opening paragraph of the New York Times story:
Pet Food Is Recalled After Link to Animal Deaths

More than 60 million cans and pouches of dog and cat food sold under dozens of brand names were recalled on Saturday after being linked to the deaths of 10 animals.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/business/19pet.html?hp

A complete list of the brands affected (about 60-70 between pooches and ridiculous fuzzy things) is on Menu Food’s recall website:

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html
Rhythm

6

Our Vets said the same thing and directed us to this website with reputable docs weighing in on the subject of best dry food.

Check it out Lib - no anecdotes just straight up info.

For what it’s worth, Mrs. Phlosphr and myself purchase food from these guys - and when in a pinch we purchase Royal Canin. Again, look under Knowledge Center sub-category Veterinary Publications or Professional Publications. You’ll find the info you seek.

7

I’m curious about this too - mostly I’ve just had dogs, fed on dry food. Since I’ve gotten cats lately, I’ve fed them on dry also. However, I took Eddles to the vet for his persistent eye drainage and sneezes, and she said I should feed wet for the lysine powder I’m dropping in there. (I’ve since found that he’ll also eat it on dry food.) She also said it would help with his weight (he’s a kitten but a little chubby.) I’d always thought it was the other way around, that animals get fat off wet food. I don’t like serving wet all the time - for one thing, it’s expensive, and I just don’t feel like it’s good for them!

8

I hear straight dope on dry cat food makes its own gravy. :smiley:

9

I’m not a veterinarian or a feline nutritionist, but one statement in the first cite is absolutely true: “Unfortunately, acidified dry cat food can lead to formation of calcium oxalate crystals. A cat’s natural diet (raw meat) maintains a proper pH balance. For many cats, dry cat food does not.” Most high grade dry foods do maintain a (more) correct pH balance; this combined with supplemental water will generally prevent calcium oxalate crystal formation.

The claims regarding the uselessness of grain-based carbohydrate-laden foods in felines are also correct. This doesn’t necessarily make them harmful, but they do bulk up the food to no good purpose (other than to make it easier to process into storable food). Cats cannot digest grains and merely pass them through, resulting in bigger stool. This may or may not be a problem; I don’t find any consensus on the matter. The rancidification or of unpreserved lipids is a fundamental problem with storing fats, and particularly saturated animal fats; by the time you get to the bottom of an economy-sized bag of pet food, you can pretty much guarantee that all non-mineral based fat-soluable nutrients have decomposed.

However, cats do require dietary sources of carbohydrates, like any mammal; they just get them (in nature) from fresh raw meat, particularly the organ meats. A canned food that is left over from rendering may not provide adequate nutrition in that regard. So just feeding a cat raw muscle tissue or canned tuna doesn’t cut it. Cats have a very limited ability to consume carbohydrates in bound (grain) form, and have a much greater capacity than omnivores to synthesize carbohydrates from dietary and stored fats, as befits their lifestyle as a stalking/ambushing hunter that doesn’t migrate great distances or maintain long distance movement.

In general, the cat food industry is pretty young, even in comparison to prepared dog foods, and a consensus on correct nutrition balance is limited to the amount of required protein (2-3g of lean protein per day per lb of body mass), with questions about the types and amounts of dietary fats being contended. I don’t think any authoritative source would contend that cereals do anything good for cats, though I don’t see any strong evidence that they cause long term chronic health problems, crystal production aside. Certainly many cats live very long (15+ year) lives eating dry food, so it can’t be the absolute feline death knowl some make it out to be; on the other hand, dry food has been promoted as a convenience for both manufacturers and owners with little consideration given to replicating the diet of a cat in the wild.

With regard to tooth decay (as mentioned by Beware of Doug): I’ve heard this before but haven’t and don’t find anything authoritative on the topic from sources like AJVR or NRC. It sounds to me like more of a marketing ploy by pet food manufacturers to sell their product. In any case, resistance to tooth decay–a long term health issue that is likely to manifest itself after the natural lifespan of a feral cat–says nothing to the dietary compatibility of dry food to feline digestion.

This is the standard reference on feline nutritional requirements, and here is the Cornell University CVM Guide on selecting cat food. Here are recommendations by a vet, albeit sans any primary references. (She claims carboydrate-intense kibble is bad, but again in the context of water content.)

Stranger

10

I take my pets to Broadway Vet Clinic. My two vets there, Richard Chaille, DVM and Marcie Short, DVM, are both dismayed at how many obese cats and dogs they see in their practice. Almost without exception, the vets say, these fat pets are fed canned food. Dry pet foods, they both say, have all the nutrients your cats and dogs need for healthy muscles, bones, and coat.

We all want to be good to our little furry pals, and advertisers play on those feelings. They tell us how pampered our cats will feel when we dish out those fatty, gravy-laden cans of stuff. It’s yummy, of course, and the stuff is made to look and smell yummy to us, too. We’re the ones picking up the tab, so it has to look good to us. The truth is that it’s just like feeding a child nothing but ice cream every day.

When a 15 pound cat bulks up to 18 pounds, he has gained 20% of his body weight. Imagine yourself 20% fatter. It’s a tremendous strain on a cat’s health.

I’ve had a succession of long-lived, fit cats, and they all were fed Purina dry foods on an on-demand basis. That is, the food’s there all the time; the cat eats when he wante to. On a previous cat, we tried Iams dry food, and my little buddy got chubby. Dr. Chaille said really yummy “premium” foods taste so good that cats overeat. We switched back to Purina, and his weight returned to normal.

My present cat Freckles is so fit and strong that Dr. Short declared him to be “the perfect cat.” Who am I, to blow against the wind? :slight_smile:

11

Well, we’ve had lots of cats in the last 20 years and they’ve all had nothing but dry cat food (and usually just the cheap stuff) and they’ve all lived to be very old, with the exception of one who had oral cancer and one who came to us with kidney problems. Everyone else lived to 17 - 21 years, so anecdotal or not, I stick with what works.

Our cats are not fat either. Well, Big Boy is, but he’s a big ol’ Tom Cat and he came to us at 24 lbs and dropped down to 21.

12

Apparently no one bothered to thouroughly read the o.p., specifically:

Just 'cause Uncle Jed smoked four packs a day for fifty years and never got lung cancer doesn’t mean smoking isn’t bad for you. The o.p. is looking for informed opinion, not anecdotal conjecture.

Stranger

13

Read my post. I don’t like anecdotes either, especially when they are not asked for.

14

Can’t many cats over many years, and recommended by the vet count as an informed opinion?

15

The OP asked for quotes from veterinarians, and I provided just that. What do you want, a phone number and address?

Broadway Veterinary Clinic
1639 Broadway
Anderson, IN 46011

Phone 765-642-3181

Richard Chaille, DVM
Marcie Short, DVM

16

Just so, I understand, are you objecting to the relaying of what our vets have told us on the subject?

I did not think that was what was meant by anecdote.

Jim

17

Your best bet when looking for authoritative information, is not to go to a site that’s selling stuff (like the second) or one that’s the equivalent of Joe Blow’s Blog (the first).

Your best bet would be to call or email some veterinarians or a veterinary association.

18

Same from our vets.
They even specified how to tell which is high-quality cat food: read the ingredients.
The first one should be some kind of meat, rather than a grain. Thus “beef” rather than “corn meal”. Even non-detailed mixtures like “Beef and pork byproducts” still count as meat.

But once you’ve done that, they said not to worry much about the brand, or how it’s advertised, what flavors, etc. Buy the cheapest one that your cat eats readily.

Note that feeding dry cat food assumes that your cat has plenty of water at all times. An always-available water dish is needed. One of those constantly-circulating water ‘fountains’ is even better – most filter the water, and cats seem to drink more when the water is flowing.

P.S. It was interesting to note in this recall that even “luxury” pet food brands like Iams and Euk. were made in the same factory as the generic Wal-Mart pet food, and apparently used the same recipe & ingredients. So what were customers gaining by paying the higher prices?

19

I had a cat live to be sixteen on mostly wet food. Back in the day, from what I gather, dry food wasn’t as good as it is now-it was very hard on kitty’s kidneys and urinary tract.

Now, of course, with foods like Science Diet, dry food is much better. Unfortunately, our littlest one won’t eat it. She’ll play with it, but to her, it’s not food. When we brought her home, she was starving-she had refused to eat the dry food the vet’s office (from whom we adopted her) was feeding her. So my mother tried wet food, and now that’s what she eats. (In addition to any and all human food she can get her furry little paws on).

20

I concur.

That said, I think that every animal is an individual case and should be treated as such. A canned food diet fed in a way that ideal weight is maintained can work well. Some cats need the increased fluid intake provided by a caned diet. Certain breeds are predisposed to dental problems and do best on a dry diet.