I think the wet food can't be harmful to cats. It's mostly meat and some jelly, so I can't see why would it be bad for them, honestly. From what I've read the thing about dry food being harmful is that it mostly has corn and other subsititutes, and their kidneys can't deal with that very well, which shouldn't be a problem when it comes to wet food.
Speaking of living affordably with pets, you almost always see homeless people keeping pets. Now, I am not sure if these animals are stray, and are just chilling by these homeless people. But most of the time, it does seem as though the homeless people own the animals. I've always wondered how they afford to keep animals??
@Aladar, The odd thing about it is that the manufacturers don't seem to want to change the ingredients of their products so that it won't be harmful to animals. @DreekLass, I think they just get the food from thrash bins. After all, there are lots of unwanted leftovers there.
We give our cats fresh fish and cat food. Our dogs get to eat dog food and some canned goods (e.g. sardines, corned beef or preserved viand). We try not to give them fruits and vegetables because according to experts, they don't have the necessary enzymes to digest those kinds of food. Cats, for instance, shouldn't be fed chocolates and tomatoes to name a few. They'd get sick eating them.
I don't think the ingredients are hamrful to the animals. Cats are omnivores, and I doubt that corn/starch is actively harmful to them. The issue, if I understand correctly, is that cats don't usually drink too much water, and if they only eat dry food, their kidneys can't handle it.
@Aladar, If that's the case, then they should make an effort to change what's in it to be more stomach-friendly to cats. Because it's impossible for the cat to change it's nature, right? Luckily, I have read that the expensive cat foods like Science Diet are safer than Whiskas.
Again, it doesn't seem to be an issue of the companies, as I don't think any of those ingredients are actively harmful to cats. It's not the company's problem that the owners choose to only feed their cats dry food.. I mean, humans can't eat only dry bread forever either, doesn't mean the bread is harmful..
@Aladar, From my experience, I never thought that food that was specifically made for pets can be harmful, so unless your pet gets ill, you won't be aware of it. I also never thought that cheap pet food has substandard ingredients, so at least, now I know. You tend to get complacent when you know you're feeding them food that's meant for pets, thinking that nothing bad can come from it.
Well, as I said, the food itself probably isn't (there tend to be very strict restrictions enforced about pet food), but it's about the lifestyle of the pet itself. If you don't make sure it gets enough water, then yeah, it won't be healthy.. it the same with people.. we can eat the best organic stuff, but if we don't live healthy, it's all for nothing.
Obviously dogs are canines, but I know of dogs who are mostly fed a vegetarian diet, and they are doing remarkably well. In fact, one of my acquaintances has a 17 year old poodle who can still jump around like a puppy. And that dog has lived all his life on grains and vegetables, supplemented by fish once or twice a week. Of course, he gets his bones to chew. But the only supplement he is given is dolomite powder. So, it really isn't necessary to spend a lot of money on commercial foods for dogs. As for cats, they will eat any meat as long as it is fresh and not processed. My cats never touch anything that comes in a tin. And probably for a good reason.
In my case, our cat always had a bowl of water available to him, so it's not like he's not getting enough water. I noticed that cats don't drink as much as other animals, so no wonder wet food is better than dry food, since it can add fluids to their body.
I own a cat and let me tell you it's expensive to own a cat in my area. - I had to have proof of spaying my cat within 2 weeks of owning it - I have to pay a yearly $50 fee to have a proper tag on my cat, otherwise they take it away - Pet food is rediculously priced locally, a 4 pound bag runs about $34-$36 dollars - I brought my cat in to get stiches once after it got into a fight with a neighbors dog on my back steps, the final vet bill was $1,280.00. The reason is because the vet wanted to hold the cat overnight since he couldn't get to it right away and then, for some unknown reason, decided he wanted an xray of the cat since he didn't have one. The xray alone was $700 and he never got authorization for it from me first. They look at pets as a way to gouge residents for money in my area, make sure you know your local laws before you buy a pet.
Bowls of water unfortunately aren't often enough. Cats are kind of stupid when it comes to that, and won't drink enough even if they need it. We're lucky that our cat drinks normally, but we had to move her water bowl away from her feeding place (apparently, for some reason, cats won't drink water that's in the same place their food is..). I know that our vet told us that many people need to buy mini drinking fountains for their cats, because they just don't get enough water otherwise, and tend to die from kidney failure.
@Aladar, That is interesting to know, so I guess we can't really change the fact that cats aren't inclined to drink water, so we really must be discerning in what we give to our cat/pets. In my case, I noticed that my cat is picky with the water that he drinks. He doesn't like it if the water is more than 12 hours old already, and he will go to the bathroom to drink water. Sometimes, he also comes to drink in his water bowl after drinking from the bathroom dipper, so maybe the "taste" of both water are different.
Yeah, cats tend to be picky about that, apparently. We have 3 bowls of water placed around the house for the cat to drink, and it seems to be working. She also loves to drink bathtub water whenever someone's bathing. :x But yeah, you should definitely be checking out if your cat drinks enough water, regardless of what you feed it, not enough water will cause them to pass away earlier..
