Best/worst Feeding Mistakes

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rugbychick16 said:
I would just like to thank the other vet students for backing me up. I don't like to get involved in big debates, but I'll just say when I see a peer-reviewed study done and published on how horrible certain brands on dog food are, I'll believe it. Not "my best friends sisters dog got cancer from purina" or "the best vet ever that I work with recommends bison meat"

My cats get canned and dry science diet nature's best, and some canned innova evo. My ferrets get innova evo dry ferret food. My parents dogs at home get science diet natures best, a step up from the old roys they used to be on. My parents cat with FLUTD gets purina UR

I believe that MOST brands of dogfood out there (above the scale of old roys) are decent enough for the majority of dogs, and that a vet can recommend whatever they feel comfortable with and what the clientele in their area can get. If you want to get natural organic food shipped in from the specialty pet store two hours away that your breeder told you is the best thing for your dog-go for it! Its your decision.
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I wanted to add to this...My family has been feeding my dogs Iams since I can remember and all have turned out fine. My dad's dog lived to be 14. We currently have a happy and healthy 11 yr old daschund who looks like he's 7 and a happy 9 year old lab. I have an 8month old english mastiff who has had many GI health problems already and recently switched her from Royal canin to Iams Lamb and Rice (yes, I'm feeding a Giant breed puppy Iams) and now she has had the longest vomit-free spurt since all this stuff started.

I feel like nutrition has gotten a little too complicated. I mean, our parents and grandparents didn't have the info or the foods that we have today and their pets did fine. I'm not saying that the other foods out there like wellness and blue buffalo aren't better but I feel that most dogs do just fine on Iams and Hills. Again, this is my opinion based on my own experiences. Just thought I'd throw it out there 🙂
 
The UC Davis link mentions "Sean Delaney, DVM, MS, ACVN, is currently a Hill’s-sponsored lecturer in the Nutrition Support Service. Dr. Delaney has helped to integrate nutrition with other hospital services at the VMTH. Nutrition Support Service members routinely attend hospital rounds with other services such as Medicine and Critical Care/ICU and give presentations for journal clubs." I am not entirely sure what they mean by Hill's-sponsored lecturer, whether they simply pay for him or they had a hand in choosing him. That is the issue I have.
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Ah, well, Dr. Delaney is also the vice president of Natura pet foods (Innova, California Naturals, EVO, etc)... so I wouldn't exactly put him in the pocket of Hills.

He's also dreeeeeamy....... but that's beside the point. 😉
 
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Hahahaa. Too funny. I recommend Natura products over Sci Diet any day.

Earlier in the thread, someone mentioned illness and Sci Diet Rx: Those who have pets with serious conditions like kidney/liver/seizures might first contact a PhD in Animal Nutrition to see what diet options are available. A custom-homemade diet should be balanced by an animal nutritionist and approved with a vet, but it is a far better option than the Rx diets available IMO. I don't even feed kibble so I guess I have a bias point of view. Of course, that might change with my economic situation, but I really think owners should feed as best as they can. The way I see it...and I may be alone...

Raw>Home Cooked>Addiction/Honest Kitchen>Orijen/Acana>Evo>TOTW>Wellness CORE>Sci Diet>Purina>Ol' Roy
 
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Ok...I am going to jump to the other side of the coin here. We had an owner who was so obsessed with feeding her dogs well...she cooked them breakfast and dinner every day. She told us it could sometimes take her hours to get their food prepared. When she brought the two dogs in to be boarded for two weeks she had pre-cooked all of their food and labeled what each dog was to eat and when. She had Tupperware containers with cooked beef and rice to be given every morning and then she had another kind of beef-stew looking stuff to feed them at night. Then, every morning with the beef and rice we were supposed to also give them dry kibble with shredded cheese on it. I remember the vet saying that she doesn’t even cook that much food for herself! What was really funny was the dogs actually preferred the dry kibble over the beef and rice. It was insane trying to keep up with their feedings as well as trying to keep up with medicating them. They both had arthritis and needed pain medication as well a joint supplement. Then the one dog had a thyroid problem as well as diabetes. The entire two weeks was a pain in the you know what.
 
annie800 said:
A custom-homemade diet should be balanced by an animal nutritionist and approved with a vet, but it is a far better option than the Rx diets available IMO. I don't even feed kibble so I guess I have a bias point of view. Of course, that might change with my economic situation, but I really think owners should feed as best as they can. The way I see it...and I may be alone...

Raw>Home Cooked>Addiction/Honest Kitchen>Orijen/Acana>Evo>TOTW>Wellness CORE>Sci Diet>Purina>Ol' Roy
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Personally, raw diets make me nervous. Too much risk of salmonella - not for the dog, but for family members as the dog sheds it. Especially in a home with children. Just a personal opinion based on my nutrition courses.

Also, the amount of people that are willing and able to see a nutritionist for their pet's food is questionable. And when you do homemade diets wrong, there are a lot of health and wellness issues (not the least of which is calcium imbalances). Just my two cents.
 
dyachei said:
Personally, raw diets make me nervous. Too much risk of salmonella - not for the dog, but for family members as the dog sheds it. Especially in a home with children. Just a personal opinion based on my nutrition courses.

Also, the amount of people that are willing and able to see a nutritionist for their pet's food is questionable. And when you do homemade diets wrong, there are a lot of health and wellness issues (not the least of which is calcium imbalances). Just my two cents.
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Everyone is definitely entitled to their own opinions and once upon a time, I felt the same way. I have fed raw for 2 years without an issue. I really have never experienced or heard of a salmonella problem in the home. If I had children, I might re-think that statement. Then again, I do not feed ground items, only whole, so it's not something I have experienced and I may never experience it. We are really clean around here, but I wouldn't feed raw to just any pet and I wouldn't do so in any household.

Either way, a cooked/balanced diet is eons better than most diets out there. I understand people don't want to balance Ca😛 ratios, make sure the needs for Selenium, Copper, etc are met and that's OK. There are phD nutritionists who can custom make diet plans for most pets.

When/if my financial situation changes, I might have to go another route, but for now, we are so happy feeding raw. We give 5-6 or so different proteins, salmon oil, honest kitchen preference mix, nupro, and a kelp/alfalfa green mix. We also supplement with Selenium, Copper, Brewer's Yeast, crushed eggshells, and some ground nuts. Whatever safe fresh veggies/fruits we eat, the dogs get some too. My boyfreind helps butcher and we feed the dogs together. 😉 Could I do the same thing with a cooked diet? Absolutely. Both are great. When I do get into school, I will try my best to afford raw/cooked, but if I can't, I might do Honest kitchen/addiction/ziwi peak, but who knows. I am open to most diets that are not kibble-based. 🙂
 
Medic_9 said:
For bad feeding mistakes:
I do alot of wildlife rehabilitation.

People have brought in raccoons...one was feed garbage and cheese popcorn for a month, many many others were fed cows milk (not the right protein/fat ratio), and the most surprising...the lady that fed a baby raccoon her OWN breast milk, out of a bottle though.
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Uggggh tell me about it! I was involved in wildlife rehab too...
I raised 7 raccoons a few summers ago and this is what they were fed before I got them...3 raccoons (around 250 g) fed mashed bananas and strawberries, along with gatorade for a week and a half (how did they live?!?!...especially with no physical/mental long term issues?)...another pair fed cows milk...the last pair fed goat milk with human protein shake powder mixed in. And yep, baby seal fed with a woman's breast milk...HONESTLY!!
 
Since we have all of the nutrition fanatics on here, does anyone know anything about Wysong products? Their website was something I just stumbled across a couple months ago, but their kitty kibble is mostly chicken with less filler than most dry foods. I don't know much about cat nutrition (my course focused on LA), and I'm probably too much of a pushover when it comes to making sure the cat eats what she's supposed to. I have a 17 y.o. cat who is an extremely picky eater, has CRI/CRF (on SQ fluids q48h), and has a history of digestive issues which are actually almost gone now.
 
eventualeventer said:
Since we have all of the nutrition fanatics on here, does anyone know anything about Wysong products? Their website was something I just stumbled across a couple months ago, but their kitty kibble is mostly chicken with less filler than most dry foods. I don't know much about cat nutrition (my course focused on LA), and I'm probably too much of a pushover when it comes to making sure the cat eats what she's supposed to. I have a 17 y.o. cat who is an extremely picky eater, has CRI/CRF (on SQ fluids q48h), and has a history of digestive issues which are actually almost gone now.
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I would go with a high quality grain free food...cats are stictly carnivores and reeeeeally do not too need much in the way of starch/carbs/veggies and definitely do not need any grains, corn, soy, gluten.
Our favorites are honest kitchen prowl, ziwi peak venison, evo, and orijen in terms of stuff I recommend to people other than cooked/raw diets. Definitely ask your vet before commiting to a new product for this senior kitty!
 
annie800 said:
I would go with a high quality grain free food...cats are stictly carnivores and reeeeeally do not too need much in the way of starch/carbs/veggies and definitely do not need any grains, corn, soy, gluten.
Our favorites are honest kitchen prowl, ziwi peak venison, evo, and orijen in terms of stuff I recommend to people other than cooked/raw diets. Definitely ask your vet before commiting to a new product for this senior kitty!
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Unless you recently became a doctor I would not be giving advice to other people whose animals have medical problems especially since diet is an important factor in chronic renal failure.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=&A=2615&SourceID=
 
david594 said:
Unless you recently became a doctor I would not be giving advice to other people whose animals have medical problems especially since diet is an important factor in chronic renal failure.
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I was recommending ideas that the user could bring up to her vet. I think the honest kitchen and ziwi are lower in protein.
"Definitely ask your vet before commiting to a new product for this senior kitty!"
 
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Yes, but the fact that you recommended a high protein diet for AN ANIMAL WITH RENAL FAILURE shows that you should not be giving any type of feeding recommendations whatsoever until you become a veterinarian or get your PhD in animal nutrition
 
rugbychick16 said:
Yes, but the fact that you recommended a high protein diet for AN ANIMAL WITH RENAL FAILURE shows that you should not be giving any type of feeding recommendations whatsoever until you become a veterinarian or get your PhD in animal nutrition
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Ok, maybe you read it wrong. Maybe I typed it wrong or I ddn't provide enough details.
I did not recommend any specific renal diet. 😉

I suggested nothing more than grain/soy free ingredients and for the user to contact her vet.

Then, I listed my favorite brands since they contain no grains/soy/gluten and no, they are not all high in protein. I figured the member would look over the ingredients and check the protein levels herself, with her vet. I figured it could give her ideas to mimick the ingredients in a homemade balanced diet, which again, was what we were talking about earlier in the thread. I did not say "I recommend X for your pet who suffers from Y". And I didn't mean for it to be construed as that.
 
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PicklePie said:
I think some people in this thread need to take a deep breath and remind themselves that this is the internet.

Eventualeventer, I'll just leave this little article here for you.
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I'm sorry, but I couldnt see where the peer reviewed study was quoted. I saw a link to a small article from 1999, and that was it.

Here are some, if you were wondering. You might need a university or library internet connection to access these, not sure

http://www.uco.es/organiza/departam...logica/peques/master/joseignacio/JSAP2000.pdf

http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/content/abstract/157/7/185
 
rugbychick16 said:
I'm sorry, but I couldnt see where the peer reviewed study was quoted.
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Here ya go! They cite a review article so it is a bit more palatable, though it is about canines. I figured someone who is asking an internet forum about diets is looking for light reading to discuss with their licensed veterinarian. 😀
 
VitaHound said:
A friend tweeted this post to several colleagues and caught my interest. Social media seems to alert the masses as to the pop culture idea of the moment. The humanization of pets is new and well accepted among the modern dog owner although dog breath is as undesirable as fleas. Dog owners rely on the advice provided by organizations considered experts in the field of dog health. For example www.VitaHound.com provides research on dog oral care products including Plaque Attack and PetzLife. This information helps dog owners determine the most effective formulations for eliminating bad dog breath.
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:troll:...

(not the best use for the sign, but I've wanted to use it, soo....there ya go)
 
Just a reminder that if something seems like spam, trolling or otherwise inappropriate you can report a post by clicking on the little red/white triangle in the lower lefthand corner under someone's username. 🙂

--One of Your Friendly Moderators
 
PicklePie said:
But the average dog/cat is not medically dependent on a specially formulated prescription diet. When a vet decides to push those products exclusively, I think it is very unfortunate. I like walking into my vet's office and seeing a wide range of options to suit any taste or allergy, I know that each brand is there because of competitive quality. Grain-free foods and raw diets can be fantastic alternatives to corn and byproduct meal. I think providing more education to owners about all of the options rather than recommending from one range of products, engages them more and allows them to take responsibility for the health of their pet.

And even if you disagree with that, can we at least agree that brands like Ol Roy are horrible crap?
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I'm not going to get into a debate about the quality of RX diets...but to address the above point specifically...I work at a clinic and we get maybe a handful of people per month that come in looking for a non-RX diet - a smaller vet that kept "a wide range of options" on their shelves would be throwing away lots of bags per month - we can't compete price-wise with the big stores, and people are more likely to go and buy something from a pet store anyway than making a specific trip to the vet to buy it. There are lots of vet clinics that are smaller, and they simply can't afford to keep a pet-store like variety of a bunch of expensive, highest-quality options on their shelves all the time.

Now, maybe your point was that they shouldn't just push one brand, and I agree with that, but I think it makes more sense for the vet to stock the stuff that you can only get at the vet, ie the RX diets, and let the owner go to the pet store for the regular food where it's gonna be cheaper anyway. Certainly the vet could steer a client towards a type of food s/he felt was best for the dog (grain-free, etc) but carrying all of those at the vet really isn't a very viable option because there will always be a wider range at pet stores.
 
twelvetigers said:
Does any other brand besides Hill's have a low residue type food for stone control or reduction? I have no personal qualms with Hill's, but I would at least consider something else given the chance, but my pup has had one $3000 surgery already and I'm not too keen on another. Do I have any other options here? The canned S/D really does help when her bladder stones appear bigger in a radiograph. She has to pee every two hours, though. :d
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Two posts in a row...forgot to do the double quote thing...whoops.

I was feeding my dog C/D for awhile but (a) it made her fat and (b) it stopped working for her. I tried pretty much everything under the sun, including several different types of Science Diet, as well as premium brands with and without Methaio-form. I even tried another OTC supplement that I forget the name of now.

What ended up working, finally, was Royal Canin Urinary SO. I feed her both canned and dry. Her urine has been balanced with no crystals for almost a year now. Fingers crossed it keeps working b/c the next step is going to a nutritionist! :xf:

And like your dog she has to pee ALL THE TIME!!! I mean, I know that's the point, but I'm going to have to get her a litterbox or something when I'm in Vet School! LOL
 
My gerbils came from a pet store that was soooo bad at giving advice that I've been boycotting them for about two years now.

When I got them from the previous owners, they were in the wrong housing, weren't given sand baths and were being fed these hamster pellets that were incredibly high in fat. They sell two or three different types of gerbil mix and they told the owners to buy hamster pellets... seriously?

So who knows what would have happened if they were being fed that long term.

Also, I've found it extremely difficult to find food around here with the correct nutritional values. It's usually either too high in fat or too low in other nutrients. So I tend to mix it up, and usually have two different types of food on the go, along with the occasional treat (fruit, veggies, pasta, cheerios, bread).
 
Umm aside from the random Food Fight everyone seems to be having...

Worst Owner Food Situation: BCS 2 Horse, seized for neglect - the owners were feeding her instant mashed potatoes...

Craziest thing I've seen a dog eat: 6lb 4 month old Yorkie ate a fist-sized lump of OPEN safety-pins. I have the xray for that one if anyone wants to see it. amazing..
 
We have owners that feed their dogs exclusively cooked yams, rice, and people meat. All 4 of them are ridiculously obese too 🙁 They come in and have their own marked tupperwares with yams and cooked rice, and a little butter pat (yes, kid you not). Then some dogs get a hamburger patty, and the other two get diced pre-cooked chicken (the people kind, Tyson brand only). One dog will only eat if you hand feed him. Literally if the chicken or yams gets on the floor or stays in the dish he'll stand and look at you like, "are you going to pick that up or what?"
 
Let's see all the interesting things people do...

My grandma had alzheimers so she fed her dog oh let's say at least 10 times a day. I mean it wasn't something you could truly blame her for, but my dad ended up taking the dog cause she was killing her slowly. We felt bad because it was her company.

In the clinic... needle in the GI tract, mcdonalds because the pet "cries" when they see the sign, gunpowder "cause that makes them manly and mean," large super sized cups... cause that's how you measure food, seroquel (anti psychotic med) "cause the dog seemed bi-polar"... list I think could be endless

On the great debate... I feed c/d to my cats because after all the other 7 foods I tried I have not paid for a 4th surgery, nor more antibiotics to clear UTIs... Works wonders, so corn it is, because if I had tiny urethra like my lil guy I sure wouldnt want a crystal coming outta it, corn would be fine by me =)
 
We had a client that had a dog with reoccuring pancreatitis. The owner kept assuring us that the dog was eating "Purina" and was receiving no table scraps. On the 5th time back in for sever pancreatitis the vet managed to extract the information that the dog was on a diet of Mountain Dew and pork chops :smack:
Owner claimed it was the dogs favorite meal.
 
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On the topic of cats eating weird things, my kittens eat (not with my encouragement) :
cheerios
aloo gobi
yogurt
almond milk
soy milk
rice krispies
mayonaisse
spinach
bread
tortilla chips

and would probably eat lots of other weird things, too, if i had a more varied diet.

meanwhile me like the sucker i am shell out $40 bucks/bag for "healthy" cat food :laugh:
 
nuevaburra said:
On the topic of cats eating weird things, my kittens eat (not with my encouragement) :
cheerios
aloo gobi
yogurt
almond milk
soy milk
rice krispies
mayonaisse
spinach
bread
tortilla chips

and would probably eat lots of other weird things, too, if i had a more varied diet.

meanwhile me like the sucker i am shell out $40 bucks/bag for "healthy" cat food :laugh:
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My calico will literally knock you down for a tortilla chip. The baby (Dorian, who is actually 2 yrs old and puma-sized), learned to sit on command for honey nut cheerios. He gets peeved when I eat other kinds of cereal. 🙄
 
Got a phone call the other day about a very sick guinea pig. In the course of getting a history, I asked what it was eating. The answer? Dry dog food. No veggies or even fruit. I talked him through what guinea pigs should eat and how to transition and what he could get that night to feed her. At that point, he asked if he could go outside and pick grass from his front lawn to feed the GP instead of hay.
 
My worst feeding mistake: There was a fat, Appaloosa pony named 101 at the barn I worked at in middle school. During lunch break on my Saturday shift I would go share bites of my PB sandwich & cream soda (his favorite!). Not so good when I realized how sensitive horse GI tracts are, but nothing ever happened to him. He was a good egg 🙂

I find all of the different nutritional standpoints interesting, but I find it frustrating that there is so little hard data available. My SA vet just tells clients to purchase decent-quality food unless they're dealing with a specific problem that a Rx diet could help. He actually doesn't normally ask clients what brand they feed unless they're dealing with allergies or weight problems. I'm not sure what I will feed when I (finally) get a dog...
 
People are always shocked when they hear that horses drink beer but it's actually pretty common.

My old trainer used to have a gelding that would not only drink coke, but he would actually open the can with his teeth and if you held it up for him he would drink the whole thing out of the can! He lived to be like 35 so that must be the key.

My boyfriend's friend ran out of cat food a while ago and has been feeding his cats fruit loops. I don't like the guy but I will be bringing him a bag of cat food tomorrow.
 
I know this is an old thread but I have some new things to add:

-An owner who was feeding his dogs nothing but ground turkey (he has three 200 pound labs; not kidding). We have told him multiple times what to feed his dogs but he will not change their food.

-Dog who had eaten a tennis ball whole, the ball was still completely whole when we removed it. Not the first tennis ball we have removed from the dog and the owner refuses to stop giving the dog tennis balls because it is his favorite toy.

-Lady calls us because her dog will need feed the newly born box**** (boxer, shi tzu) puppies and wants to know what she can feed them. I inform her to go to a pet store and purchase puppy milk replacer and feed them with a bottle, explain to her that they need to be kept warm, clean, and encouraged to urinate/deficate. Lady calls back 15 minutes later complaining that the puppy milk replacer costs too much money and wants to know if she can just feed them gatorade or cow's milk.

-Owner with pregnant dog: Wants to know how her dog is going to produce milk for the puppies since the dog refuses to drink the cow's milk they keep trying to get her to drink.

-Multiple people who claim that they have to feed their dogs people food of various sorts because the dogs just will not eat dog food (of couse when asked how long they leave the food down or give in and give their dog people food it is always less than 24 hours.. 🙄)

-Not really a "food" story, but couple brings dog in because it got hit with the car door and has been having pain in face/muzzle area. Owner had given the dog: One full baby aspirin and three full acetaminophen (not all at the same time). Owner also gave dog 1/2 a phenobarbital because it was "shaky" afterwards and the dog has had seizures before and another dog they had at home has seizures, but neither dog takes the phenobarbital regularly just whenever it is "needed".


And probably many, many more that I just can't even recall.
 
We did have a puggle in that ate 3 tampons (and obstructed, naturally). From the trash can. :barf:
 
I swear my cats are like raccoons, they get into everything. The fat one will eat anything, she even likes beer. They get the packet of gum off the counter, unwrap the individual pieces, and chew up the gum (luckily without swallowing it). I can't leave bananas out because they will chew them up, it looks like a dog's chew toy. It's funny because I'm pretty sure they don't even like the inside of the banana, just the peel. And of course my one cat loves hair ties, they are her favorite toy, but she likes to eat them. Luckily she passes them, but I can't leave any hair ties out. They chew up pens, the remote, LOVE playing with the batteries that fall out. I think it just makes life all that more entertaining 🙂
 
my cat loooooves spicy korean noodle soup. and canned corn. and pretty much anything else meaty that i eat. i was cooking bacon lasts week and she almost dove into the hot pan.

my cats in japan (tinkerbelle and minnie) love dessert. the creamier the better. when tinkerbelle was my foster, and she was being force fed because of long term inappetance, she started sniffing very intently when my family was eating fish for dinner. so we decided to offer her really nice sashimi grade fatty tuna. she didn't want it. i was shocked 😱. i even microwaved it in case she liked it flaky. no dice. next day, my mom had just baked a cake for my sister's bday and had it out on the table to cool down before she could decorate it. we look over, and tinkerbelle and my other foster cat at the time had devoured a third of the 12 inch cake! (we still covered it in cream and ate it 😀). even til this day, dairy>>>fish of any kind for both kitties.
 
At the wildlife rehab center I volunteer for, a pair of quaker parrots came in that had been fed human breastmilk for a few weeks 😕...... they had been taken in by some sort of nursery. I didn't get all the details but the quakers' feathers grew in all weird and they had to stay another year until they were able to molt.
 
peachykeenies said:
At the wildlife rehab center I volunteer for, a pair of quaker parrots came in that had been fed human breastmilk for a few weeks 😕...... they had been taken in by some sort of nursery. I didn't get all the details but the quakers' feathers grew in all weird and they had to stay another year until they were able to molt.
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you'd be surprised at how often that happens. i've seen it happen multiple times not only in wildlife rehab, but also at the shelter.

people seem to think that if they find any spp of animals, that they're doing the animals a favor by taking them in and feeding a combination of: breast milk, cow's milk, or dog food. why?????????
 
Minnerbelle said:
you'd be surprised at how often that happens. i've seen it happen multiple times not only in wildlife rehab, but also at the shelter.

people seem to think that if they find any spp of animals, that they're doing the animals a favor by taking them in and feeding a combination of: breast milk, cow's milk, or dog food. why?????????
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:barf: where do all these lactating crazy animal torturers come from? who just has extra breast milk lying around for fostered animals??? I am so confused.
 
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I don't have any very interesting ones...

I was told about this patient: a dog had run away and was missing for two weeks. When they found he, he was obstructed. Apparently he ate a basketball. As they were closing him up, they noticed a really thick rope coming out his butt!
 
so i'm not entirely sure if this is an urban legend or something that actually happened but the vet that I work for told me a story about a dog that came in with a foreign body. surgery produced a pair of womens panties, when the owners were shown the culpret of their dogs discomfort the wife looked over at the husband and said "those aren't mine".... :laugh:
 
BlacKAT33 said:
aww what a cute pic!! oman that tiny bed is sooo adorable


i have no idea which types of food are better/worse than others. my vet has never mentioned anything wrong with feeding my cat iams dry and friskies wet. is there anything nutritionally wrong with these brands? my cat loves them. i tried natural choice once but my cat wouldn't touch it. so i've just been staying with these. it is especially nice because i can get the friskies canned at costco in bulk.
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I grew up with a cat who is now 17 years old and has eaten Purina indoor dry her whole life and has never had any health issues to note. That said, now that I work in a feline only veterinary practice, I have switched her to canned food only (proplan salmon, because that is all I can get her to eat so far). Now that I know the benefits of feeding cats canned food only (higher protein, fewer carbohydrates, cats get their hydration from food in the wild and generally don't drink enough water because of it) also feeding dry food leads to obesity and gave my newer cat crystals. My younger cat now eats canned food only and does not need a prescription diet for her urinary issues as long as I keep her on canned food. I'm amazed by the fact that many veterinary students I have talked to have not been told about the benefits of canned food vs. dry food in cats. I worry that cats are being treated as small dogs in this case. Anyway, I thought some of you might be interested in the benefits of canned food for cats, and here is a great article to back me up:

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&C=5&A=3041&S=0

Certainly some cats do fine on dry food, but in my experience the majority of cats on canned food only are healthier (do not get crystals in their urine), and slimmer (due to lower carbs, and therefore are less prone to diabetes).
 
I think there's some kind of idea that the kibble can help clean their teeth. I don't know if I buy that, especially because cat kibble is so small and requires little chewing if any. I've seen plenty of cats on all kibble diets with horrid teeth, and plenty of cats that eat only canned and have fine teeth (cats are of comparable age). I think good dental care is much more effective at maintaining dental health than is the kind of food you feed 😛
 
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