Again, three times this week, upon giving behavior clients advice to stop feeding dry food, I hear "But I can't get my cat to eat canned food; I've tried and she only eats the dry." Here's the thing, cats don't like change, so any attempt on your part to try to improve (change!) their diet or environment, is likely to get met with trepidation at best. I like to use the analogy of a two year old child; when they start to boycott the vegetables and only want to eat sugars and carbs, you don't let them get away with that! Why? Because it's bad for them! The same is true for your cat - and you love them like family, right?
So if The Kibble Conundrum Part 1 were not enough to convince you to stop feeding dry food, then maybe these additional reasons dry food is bad will.
Dry food contains:
✦ bacterial contamination (can lead to vomiting and diarrhea),
✦ fungal mycotoxins (contained in grains and are extremely toxic),
✦ insects and their feces (can cause respiratory problems),
✦ ingredients that often cause allergic reactions, and
✦ all dry food is harshly cooked which destroys/alters vital nutrients.
So what should you be feeding instead. To begin with, any canned food is better than the best dry food. Secondly, canned food that is grain free and does not contain by-products is even better. Finally, the perfect, species-appropriate diet is raw food. Making raw food for your cat consists of more than just cutting up an uncooked chicken breast. Thankfully, there are commercial raw food manufacturers who do the heavy lifting for us!
I've fed many of the raw food brands over the years but my cats' current favorite is Vital Essentials. They particularly love the rabbit!