04/14/2023
⚠️ Attention cat lovers! ⚠️
Reading an article this morning on CBC Windsor about pet food banks has me concerned. The article was about how challenging it is right now for many individuals in our community to afford pet food on top of their regular bills with rising prices. Specifically the article talks about wet cat food vs dry.
Trust me when I tell you that I completely understand how hard it is to have to decide whether to pay my Enwin bill or buy cat food. I've been living this way since I officially began this rescue in 2013. I have always chosen to buy cat food which is why Enwin hasn't been paid on time and I've been behind with them for the last decade.
When money is tight, cat guardians often turn to dry food which is usually the cheaper, more convenient option. But feeding your cat a 100% dry food diet comes with some very real health risks. Cats are by nature an animal with a low thirst drive. This means that not drinking a lot of water on top of an exclusively dry diet means that their bodies are ALWAYS in a state of dehydration. Chronic dehydration is the NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF ALL BLADDER PROBLEMS as well as a leading cause of kidney disease.
It is the bladder issues that I want to urgently address. When cats don't drink enough fluids, their urine becomes more concentrated because they don't need to void as often. This can and usually does result in their bladder being in the perfect condition to form crystals that can turn into bladder stones (as well as bladder infections!). The formation of bladder crystals and/or stones will eventually lead to life-threatening health effects when they can no longer urinate. The bladder is like a balloon with the urethra being the drain, but if the urethra gets blocked, the bladder keeps filling up until it eventually bursts!
This is especially true for male cats due to the anatomy of their urethra. It is also true for skittish cats, semi-feral cats or cats being bullied by another cat, because these cats often hold their urine until it is safe for them to access a litter box. While there are other variables which can increase or decrease the occurrences of crystal and /stone formation in the bladder, the overwhelming single cause is feeding an exclusively dry diet!
I would like to add that urinary dry foods are NOT a magic bullet and will NOT guarantee that your cat does not have bladder issues. Some cats are just more prone to these issues than others. It is also counterintuitive to expect any animal to have good bladder health if they are being fed a diet containing only 4 - 8% moisture.
Ok, so now you know all this but still haven't won the lottery what do you do?
I have a few suggestions that I use when money is so tight I'm having to make tough decisions.
1. Buy them some wet food. Any wet food they will eat. Then add as much water to the food as they will tolerate and still eat. Getting a cat to ingest their fluids through food, rather than relying on them drinking plain water, is the best and most reliable option for good bladder health.
2. Buy zero sodium or low sodium animal based broths from the grocery store and add this to as much wet food as you can afford. Never ever use full sodium products meant for humans!
Pickier cats will prefer this option over plain tap water.
3. Encourage your cat to drink from a tap with slowly dripping water. Cats instinctively prefer moving water which is more oxygenated vs standing water in a bowl.
4. Make LOW SODIUM tuna broth ice cubes and add to their water. Playing with the cubes or the smell of the tuna may incourage them to drink more.
Remember, your cat is 'just fine' until they aren't. Most people are too busy to notice their cats have stopped using the litter box or are struggling to urinate. On top of this cats instinctively mask all signs of illness or injury until it gets so bad they cannot do so any longer, and once you are in this position with your cat, it is now a veterinary emergency. Or a euthanasia.
It gives me such anxiety to know that there are people whose cats are extremely vulnerable to these bladder issues and if only they had known how to avoid a medical emergency, or worst case scenario, losing their precious family member.
Dry food is not an ideal diet for cats. All dry food is bad no matter how much it costs.
It is a convenience food developed for the benefit for humans and the shareholders of the companies who sell it. Cats are predators who are biologically designed to eat a diet with 60-70% moisture like birds, rodents or rabbits as they would do if they had to fend for themselves in nature.
Many of us do feed SOME dry food for either economic reasons or convience, but it is critical to the heath of your feline family members that you understand the detrimental effects that a 100% dry food diet will have on those you love.
Please share and help me to educate people on this crucial diet issue.
