As there was a robust response to mt last post on the subject, I thought I'd update how we feed our 4 cats.
We feed ONLY wet catfood, and the best one we've found is Butcher's Classic - as it contains '...no cereals, grains or vegetables.'
Cats have a VERY poor drinking reflex and can become dehydrated very quickly, especially if ill. However, tinned food like Butcher's contains 80% water, and that is where they get their water from. They NEVER drink from the bowl we put down for them. So, it's something of a rip off, however, we put up with it and feed them reformed ham, chicken and scraps as treats.
Our 5-year-old cat got into a fight and suffered a very bad bite. He went missing for 2 days and laid up. We were frantic. Eventually, we caught him and took him to the vet as a precaution. He got a jab and an afternoon on a drip as he hadn't drunk anything. When he urinated (out of fear) it smelled awful, as he'd been holding it in.
He took it very badly with me and refused to have anything to do with me - scattering on sight. Only just forgiven me and re-established communication - see photo.
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MikePollard
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I'm afraid we have a fat cat - she was big when we "inherited" her and has never looked back. She gets tinned tuna "natural" ie in brine but 0.8g per 100 of salt so not too bad. She also has now got used to being fed in the evening too - scraps from when we're trimming meat, or a cheap fish we keep in for her (bought frozen). She does have a bowl of dried stuff put down too - bog standard friskies - but doesn't eat much of it, plus she does drink water.
I'm sure if we took her to the vet they'd put her on a "special" i.e. extortionately expensive diet of dried food to "help" her lose weight. We lost one that way before (kidney problems rather than weight) and would rather be guilty of giving her what she wants even if it probably is too much!
So sorry to hear about your cat, he looks lovely and it looks like you’re forgiven now! We have 3 cats and I was concerned about dehydration so I have nearly always fed them dry in the morning and wet food in the afternoon.
They get occasional treat of fresh meat or fish leftovers too.
The dry food is supposed to help with teeth; my vet was concerned about one of my younger cat’s teeth. I try and brush them with special paste but obviously they don’t like that very much!!
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