# cat won't eat dry food anymore



## isubeatle (Dec 19, 2008)

So a few weeks ago we had to put down one of our cats. turned our she had a bad mouth infection for a month or so and we didn't know until it was too late. The vet said he wanted to check out our other cat. we brought him in and he had the very early stages of the same infection and had to have 2 teeth removed.

while he was recovering the vet gave us some wet food for him to eat. he was eating that for about 2 weeks. prior to that, they both had always eaten dry food.

now he really won't eat the dry food at all, but will scarf down any wet food we give him. he's starting to loose a bit of weight, but the vet said it's not good for his teeth to only feed him wet food.'

can anyone help? thx


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

Your vet is misinformed about canned food being bad for your cat's teeth. Fact is, canned food is MUCH healthier for your cat than dry kibble, and you should count yourself fortunate that your cat prefers canned. Your cat will be better off never having to eat kibble again.

If your cat is losing weight on canned food, feed more of it and/or buy a higher quality canned food that does not include carbohydrate fillers like grain products. If you want to improve your cat's dental (and overall) health, consider feeding him some meaty raw bones like pieces of raw chicken necks. The chewing of small, raw bones does wonders to clean the teeth and improve gum health. Just be sure NEVER to give any sort of cooked bones to your cat. Cooked bones are brittle and can splinter and cause big problems in the digestive tract.

Laurie


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## nanook (Jun 12, 2005)

I'm so sorry to hear about your cat. How awful!
As for the wet food, it would be great if vets would do some catch up reading on nutrition and get with the times! The myth that dry food is better for their teeth has long been disproved. In fact, some say it's worse (all those starchy sugars coating the teeth). And wet food so much better for your cats all around health. Especially if you have him on a high quality (no by products, low or no grains, no soy, no glutens ad no artificial colorings or flavorings.) wet. But, in my opinion, even a low quality wet is better than dry food.
So many people here have struggled for weeks, even months to get their dry food addicted cats onto wet food. You should consider yourself lucky!  
I think, as your cats infection fully heals and is out of his system, you will notice a big difference in your cat. Shinier fur, less shedding, easier to maintain a healthy weight and more energy. At least, that was my experience.
Here are a couple of articles you may find useful:
www.catinfo.org
www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=l ... cannedfood


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## vanillasugar (Nov 11, 2004)

I just want to chime in and agree wholeheartedly with what nanook and laurief have already said.

Also, you're going to want to look into getting a HIGH QUALITY canned food, the stuff you got from the vet was more than likely full of fillers and by-products, which are things to avoid.

There are some fantastic brands out there, but you'll have to go to an actual pet supply shop to find most of them. Grocery stores, walmart, and vets offices don't have healthy foods (as a rule).


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