March is Pet Nutrition Month

Posted by Cecil the Cougar: at 4:16 AM

Saturday, March 1, 2008

In lieu of March being pet nutrition month, I thought I would review a recent article that compares canned food to dry food.

Upon reading the article entitled “Canned food has the same nutrition as dry,” I found that it was very obviously written by a human and not a fellow feline. The article compares canned food to dry food, and states that the nutritional values are the same. I am not so sure I agree with this; very often my belly tells me it is much more satisfied after eating canned food. My taste buds agree with my tummy 110% of the time on this matter. If my tummy and taste buds are more satisfied, than my nutritional needs must have been met in a most satisfactory way!

Anyway, let us get to the facts that this article presents. The article states that canned food simply has higher water content but holds no additional nutritional value over dry food.

It says one common side effect of feeding a canned food only diet is a higher rate of dental disease because the dry food causes more friction and may clean tarter off teeth. However, the article suggests that for a cat with a sensitive mouth, a canned food diet is recommended because the dry food may irritate the teeth and gums. It is also suggested that if one of us cats has a decreased appetite that our humans should feed us canned food because the aroma will help bring our appetite back. Now THAT is something I think we can all agree with! Purr!

My V-E-T suggests to my human that she give me at least five wet foods per week to help with normal kidney function. He says that cats are not prone to drinking a lot of water because we originated in the dessert, where most of our hydration came from eating our hunted food. Yay for a medical reason to get Stinky Goodness (wet food)! Personally, I suggest that you talk to your human about getting at least five wet foods per week. Tell him or her to read this article by me!


Here is a link to the article:
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/LIFE/802220302/1059

Until tomorrow,
Cecil

8 opinions:

Daisy said...

Very interesting and informative, Cecil! I am supposed to eat wet foods on account of my history of bladder stones. More water is better!

Tesla and Hansel said...

But if you get that much stinky goodness... you will get bad poops... momma has to stop giving me it so frequently because of the poops....

Diamond Emerald-Eyes said...

I have dry food most of the day and canned food for dinner. But sometimes I will eat my dry food over the canned food. (I eat Purnia Pro-Plan Salmon. That stuff is GOOD!) I drink a lot of water anyway.

Astrid (…and the kitties too) said...

A very interesting article! thanks Cecil!

Othello prefers dry food over canned food and will only lick the joose off the canned food.
But he does drink a lot of water so our VET said it is ok. Momma only has to make sure he drinks enough.

Kashim however will not drink very much but loves canned food over dry one.

We both love real life fresh beef or turkey which we normally get once week.

Milton said...

Cecil,
I gets wet stinky goodsness for dinner. Here is what I really likes; mine mombean mixes hot water with the clod from the fridge leftover food. Not only does it get warmed up its like gravy -- which is the best part.

Dragonstar said...

This is all very important information for us humans. These things we need to know. Thank you.

Angel MoMo and Charlotte said...

I have wet food all the time and only have dry food occasionally because of teeth problem. SS worries about it but it seems to be OK all these years.

4 Boys and a Lady said...

We serve only wet food to our kitties over here. We give them dry food very, very sparingly for the occasional treat.

Regarding the runs, both Nico and Virgil used to get the runs from any food (wet or dry) that has grain in it. When we switched them to grain-free, 95% protein canned food, the bad poops problem went away!