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this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2024
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Asklemmy
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You should consider wet food instead, it's much better for cats.
For the gulpers you can get bowls that are complicated to slow them down.
Note those complicated bowls may result in your cat being noticeably more disagreeable than before, from experience. My guy hates that damned bowl with such a passion it's funny to watch him try and figure out how to destroy it so he doesn't have to deal with it anymore.
I'm struggling to imagine what a complicated bowl looks like. Do you have a link to one I can take a geez at?
We've tried a few over the years. This is one of the ones we've used.
https://a.co/d/8JpfK3A
Probably something like this
Ok I'm with the cat on this. That bowl would piss me off.
they're commonly known as busy bowls.
we had to get one for a young dog we took in. he was used to food being scarce, and would gulp down any given to him. the busy bowls make them work for it, so it slows them down a bit.
This sounds so crazy imma need u to elaborate
He is a used cat, no idea how he grew up so not sure what caused it, but he is quite aggressive with food. He eats so quickly when using a normal bowl that he sometimes will even throw it right back up.
There is a clear difference in his demeanor when he gets fed with a bowl that forces him to eat slower. Not quite angry, but he clearly hates it and his demeanor shows it. He is not a happy kitty when he eats from those bowls.
We used to exclusively use dry food until one of our cats had crystals form in their urethra which lead to a blockage and a very expensive emergency surgery. We tried the expensive prescription dry food for a while (it just makes them drink more water so their urine isn't so concentrated) but wound up ditching it for an exclusive wet food diet. Since then, they've had zero issues.
This is weird, I've heard the opposite that dry food is better. Lord help me I'm goin on a Google fest.
nah, wet food is better. If cats don't get enough water they can get crystals in their urinary system. Very painful and can create blockages at are fatal. If your cat is ever straining in the litterbox and not producing it's an instant emergency vet.
We even put extra water in our cat's food
Cats don't really drink enough water and are frequently bordering on a state of dehydration. Pretty much everywhere will recommend wet over dry.
We just add a bit of water to the dry food.
I believe the logic is that dry food is better for their dental health, because the firm texture is better at scraping away plaque, although there's definitely disagreement on that, and there are other ways to address dental health.
The argument for wet food is that it does a much better job at keeping them hydrated, which is important for a number of bodily functions, including urinary health. Studies say that while cats fed primarily dry food likely drink more water, their total fluid intake is still lower and they're often still chronically dehydrated (which is also not good for dental health). Moistening kibble can help, but it's still not as effective as wet food for ensuring your cats are well hydrated.
My oldest strongly prefers kibble, but after his urine test at his 1 year check up indicated early signs of urinary troubles, the vet said to either switch him to 100% wet or to a prescription kibble. It took some trial and error, but he's on 100% wet now, and only gets crunchies as treats. His urine tests have been great, and the vet also said his teeth look good.
We feed our 2 twice a day. First is dry and the second is wet. Before wet food our cats had really bad shedding and one of them developed a clump on his back that wouldn’t go away. After adding wet in daily it’s gone, their shedding is way down, and their coats are silky smooth. Plus one has lost weight and is more fit.