And if you have a male cat it’s important to also make sure they’re getting enough liquid, especially if they’re on a dry food diet. My cat almost died while I was out of town because he stopped drinking from stress I guess and was only on a dry diet. Now they’re on a can diet and healthy.
Very good point. My cats get wet only. The male I mentioned in my other comment is underweight since he never regained his full appetite after his urinary issues, so at some point I started allowing him to snack on a bit of dry food at night to get his weight up. A month or two later he developed urinary problems. This ended up being caused by crystals in his bladder, which are associated with not taking in enough liquids. Now, I'd rather he be a little skinny than risk that again. Water fountains help, but aren't enough.
There are interesting sections on Feline Idiopathic Cystitis and blockage, which talk about water management as well. On page 23, there is a table called "Table 1. Clinical features of cats diagnosed with cystitis with (n = 8,220) or without (7,862) concurrent
pyuria in 2012."
At the bottom of the table are a few rows on diet. ~3.5% of cats in the sample were on a canned-only diet. ~19.2% were on a mix of dry and canned food. 77.3% were on a dry-only diet (percentages slightly varied for those with pyuria).
Yep. My cat was dry only, and almost died from a blockage. He’s been wet only, and no issues, since
When I hear other cat owners feeding only dry I tell them this. They don’t usually want to change, likely believing that wouldnt happen to their cat, but at least they’re informed.
