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Cleo only eats wet food when there is also hard food or treats in the bowl as well. (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by favrion@lemmy.world to c/cat@lemmy.world

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Is this a bad habit that needs to be broken? Otherwise she won't eat.

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[-] nezbyte@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago

I was advised recently by my vet that male cats should be fed wet food once a day if possible. They are more prone to urinary obstruction which is common if they don’t get enough liquid in their diet. Bladder surgery for a cat is not fun for anyone involved.

Thanks for the tip on dental issues, I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for it.

[-] garbagebagel@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

I was also told by my vet that wet food (even in small amounts) is huge in helping prevent kidney disease in cats as they stay better hydrated. I think a good mix is healthy, and of course, we should be paying attention to the ingredients of any food we give them.

[-] Anbalsilfer@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

Regular dental checks are really important for cats, I"ve learned. They can stop eating completely due to deteriorating teeth and once the problem has reached that stage it's quite difficult to reverse.

[-] transientpunk@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

You should ask your vet to show your how to check your cat's hydration level. It's pretty easy to do, and give your a good idea on your cat's overall health. You essentially just pull up on all the loose skin on your cat's back and ensure it returns to normal relatively quickly. If it slows down they are dehydrated.

[-] SLaSZT@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah, my male cat formed a full urinary blockage after a few months of a kibble-only diet. He had developed calcium oxalate bladder stones in his urinary tract. It cost me like $1200 to treat him and he nearly died. If it had progressed any further, he would have required surgery and a week-long stay in the animal hospital, which would have been around $5000.

Both of my male cats now eat a 100% wet food diet supplemented by the occasional kibble or lickable treat. I am going to start brushing their teeth soon for this reason, but I would rather give them wet food and brush their teeth than give them kibble and cross my fingers, hoping that they drink enough water. If I give them a mix of wet and dry food, they will only eat the wet food, like this post mentioned is happening with their cat.

Of course, every cat is different and bladder stones can still form on a wet food diet or still not form on a dry food diet. But managing risk has been really important for me since rates of bladder stone recurrence are high in male cats.

[-] nezbyte@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

My cat ended up needing the surgery and had to stay for a week with a catheter. One of the concerns was that he wouldn’t regain control of his bladder and we would have to assist for him to urinate. Luckily, he made a full recovery. We were fortunate that our primary vet was equipped to handle it because they charged us around $750 USD for the whole ordeal and I have no doubt the animal hospital would have been thousands.

We switched to a prescription dry food afterwards with the occasional wet food. 3 years later and he had stones forming again and intestinal lymphoma. That’s when he started on daily steroids and a primarily wet food diet based on the vets advice. We had to say goodbye a few months ago when it progressed too far. All that to say, do anything and everything to spoil them and keep them healthy.