Raw vs. Dry

[CrispyStatic]

So my Nathan, almost 10 months old now, has been on dry food since birth. (Royal Canin Kitten).

Should I start the transition to adult food now? If so, how long should the transition last? I'm also looking to find a different food. The Royal Canin has done well for him, but I've read a lot of negative things about it. I don't feed him wet/raw food and I don't have any plans to in the future.

With that said, the one thing i'm concerned with, Am I hurting my cat by sticking with strictly dry food? I want what's best for him, but the investment in the raw diet seems very pricey, and I don't have a lot to spend.

I'd like to find a good dry food that covers this basics of what he needs.

From what I've read here on the site, BLUE Wilderness Grain Free Salmon seems to be what i'm leaning towards. Any feedback would appreciated.

 

[KitCatty]

This is my honest opinion based on my experience.... We started ours out on high end no grain kibble but they had horendous poops, gas, and strong urine. We had researched raw and gave it a go. It did wonders but it was messy and time consuming (we did raw chicken, whole mice and turkey).... So we had to put them back on kibble, still high end grain free but a different brand and within a month we could tell they had changed. Not as energetic, poop smelled wicked and they drank a lot more water. We knew we had to put them back on raw but didn't want to make it ourselves so we found a frozen raw that works. Granted it is not pure protien, it does have some fruits and veggies in it but In my opinion better than kibble. Our 3 cats have more engery, the litter box rarely smells, poop is firm and never soft, and they don't pee as much because they utilize the nutrients appropriately

Kibble is fine and cats have been eating it for a long time but nutritionaly it lacks a lot! Cats need high protein and water. Kibble is processed so a lot of the essential nutirents are stripped out in the process, then you add shelf life and the lack of water and you get a poor diet. Some kibbles are better, no grain being the best because they lack fillers like rice which cats wouldn't eat if finding their own food. However some of those add garbage meat because its cheeper like chicken by product.

I say if you feed kibble just read the labels. If your cat is well and has no health issues than just make sure the kibble is quality.

Some problems cats can have due to diet are kidney problems, frequent URIs, and diabetes (lack of protein)

Hope this helps.... I have never fed royal cannin but I have heard mixed reviews. We fed blue wilderness and fromm. We now feed natures variety which isn't that expensive. We pay $26 for 6lbs split between 3 cats every 5-6 days. So for 1 cat it would last much more. They do sell patties and madallions and have different meants to choose from, like rabbit and chicken. Prices vary based on the meat so the price I gave was chicken. We alter the types of meat weekly or by-weekly.

 

[CrispyStatic]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to try out this BLUE Wilderness Grain Free Salmon and see how things go. If he's not happy with it or there are problems, I might just have to go down the raw food diet road. Not looking forward to the cost though.

Thanks again for the info.