I got this letter from a listener to CAT CHAT® and it really made an impression on me. Here it is, see what you think — and whether you would have taken the time to admit this – I can’t say I would have been so honest and generous!!
“I have long been a skeptic on dry vs. wet. All my cats, my whole life, had been on dry and have done well. I listened to your show, and your phrase “kitty crack” to describe dry food, and I must say I have blown you off for quite some time. Then I inherited a fat kitty, as well as having a skinny kitty already (I attributed his thinness and other health problems to his age). Well, I took my dog to the vet, and asked how to get my fat cat to lose weight. He told me to use canned food; that this was the current thinking. Then, I took the fat cat to another vet (I had to move her out of state temporarily) and that vet said that ideas were shifting and it was now recommended to feed wet food, as cats are obligate carnivores. So I was finally convinced: I moved all my kitties to wet. Well, my fat one is getting skinny, my skinny one is getting fat and on top of that is gaining a great coat, urinating less, shedding less, and now has incredible skin, as well as attitude. He looks better than I have ever seen him, even at age 14.
“I just wanted to apologize for blowing you off, but I really was a pretty big holdout. If I changed then anyone can. You can use this message to help others. Love your show on SIRIUS.”
– Carol
So doesn’t that just blow you away? Her generosity of spirit in describing her reluctant “conversion” to Thinking Outside the Bag, her humility in admitting to being skeptical of me, then and moving beyond that prejudice and finally her generosity in taking the time to tell me so that I could use her story to help others “see the light” for their kitty cats. This was therefore the coolest letter I have ever gotten – and I was so grateful that I thanked her by sending a signed copy of THE CAT BIBLE, something I had never done before (wish I could do it more often, but I’d go broke buying my own books, even with the author’s discount!). The only thing that struck me was that these two vets praised wet food as thought it was the usual thing to do and I am sorry to say that most vets still tell people to feed dry only and have not caught up with the research showing the harm in doing that. How many of you have vets who are on the bandwagon to feed cats the wet food that nature intended??
Tracie
It is surprising that so many vets still say dry food is OK — there is lots of good data from many sources — example:
http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm
I just had my 8 year old siamese mix diagnosed with peridontal disease. He is going to have to have some surgery involving a large amount of his teeth being pulled. This is such a shock to me because last year there was no signs of his teeth bothering him and he has given me no signs up until this point that he was hurting.
This is my problem. I’m trying to switch him over to canned food. I have fed him dry food all his life because I was raised believing that it would be better for their teeth. (My vet tells me that over all the years he’s been a doctor he finds that it’s a coin toss, because genetics is what causes the good or bad teeth unless you’re able to brush your cat’s teeth everyday and that’s usually not feasible.) Who would have thought? Well now I’m trying to transition him to canned food and if I even give him a little bit of canned food a few hours later he is vomiting up everything he ate during the day. How can I switch him over to canned food? I don’t want my kitty to starve. If I need to, I will cook for him chicken or whatever if that would be good for him but I’m not sure he can chew it….
Hi Susan – Boy , you have your hands full with your kitty’s bad teeth and then not keeping the food down. Poor fella! He is living proof of the false claim by dry cat food companies that the kibble cleans teeth – since the vast majority of people still have their cats solely on kitty crack and the vast majority of cats have serious dental problems!
As for his throwing up, by the sound of it you are still giving him kitty crack,right? But the problem is that the move to canned food needs to be done “cold turkey” – the highly processed carbohydrates that are so bad for him (and his teeth) and the indigestible plant fiber in kibble often cause digestive upsets. I think you’ll see an incredible difference if you could take that nasty dry stuff away completely and feed any of the Cat Chat approved canned foods (the list just got longer – it’s on the website). Small portions of wet food – so that he doesn’t gobble – are the way to make the transition until he can pace himself. Thank you so much for taking my advice and getting him on a healthy diet – soon you’ll have a lot less to worry about!