I totally admire Jackson Galaxy for this! By shooting this video, he has blown off all chances of getting high-paying endorsements for commercial cat food companies. Yet, he chose to speak the truth for the cats’ benefits! Thank you so much!
After watching the first half of this video, how kibble is made, I walked over to my cat's food dish (has kibble) and threw it away. I then apologized to her...
I’ve lived catless on this earth for 76 years. Tomorrow I pick up my first cat from his foster. Will skip the dry on your advice, and I’ll give him three mealtimes, no grazing. Treats for training, though. (If i invest the time and energy, I *ought* to get a treat, I’d say.)
Good for you! I had been catless for the past 15 years (I'd had cats before that, though), until late October, when someone gave me their 14-yr-old cat. I tell the cat every day how grateful I am that he lives here--I couldn't've asked for a better cat. I hope everything goes well with your new little buddy!! :)
@@lovewingdovewing jackson recommends 4-5 meals a day because in the wild cats eat about 30 meals a day :) im feeding my cats 3 times a day but every one has there own preference 🙈
Learned this lesson the hard way when I adopted my current girl, Bug, 7 years ago. Had grown up with indoor/outdoor farm cats who were fed kibble, so naturally just assumed that kibble was the thing to feed cats. I bought the "fancy" kibble and thought she was getting the very best. Then at about 1.5 years old, Bug suddenly got very sick. Constant diarrhea and puking. We kept going back to the vet, who kept prescribing her meds that didn't help. Finally, he suggested giving her expensive Royal Canin "sensitive tummy" kibble. Horrible advice. The diarrhea became less constant, but was not eliminated. The big thing was she ballooned in weight. Put on 3 lbs in 3 months. She couldn't even clean herself anymore due to her weight. Then, because her back end was so badly burned from months of diarrhea, she developed a fear of her litter box and started holding her pee in for hours and hours, then having big accidents on the couch or the rug when she couldn't hold it anymore. It was horrible, and the vet was worse than useless to help us. I finally couldn't take it anymore, and started trying to find resources to help her on my own. Discovery one: if the cat experiences pain in her litter box, she may develop a fear of the litter itself. Rushed out and bought all new boxes and a new brand of litter that very morning as soon as stores opened. That cat was in the new box going potty before I even finished adding the litter. Her little face looked so relieved. Discovery two: cats literally cannot digest carbs. And what was that sensitive tummy cat food made of? Almost entirely plant material. WTF. No wonder she'd exploded in weight. Discovery three: kibble is terrible and totally species inappropriate. Spent days finding the perfect wet food and studying ingredient lists and calorie breakdowns so that her diet was measured to the last calorie going forward. Once we transitioned to quality wet food, she got so much better. But what I was able to eventually figure out (because I knew every ingredient she was eating and could track flare ups) was that the poor kid simply had food allergies. She had never been sick at all--just allergic to beef and other red meats. She suffered all those months and all those prescription pills I had to shove down her throat when all she needed was appropriate food. I was so mad at myself for not knowing better, the pet food industry for lying to us about what is good for our animals, and especially mad at that vet's total lack of awareness of cat nutrition or ability to help her in any way. Better believe we've got a different doctor now. Super long story short: feed wet food, and always know what your cat is eating.
@@susanw7290 I started reading all the labels & if it had “meal” after the protein, like chickenmeal, as the top ingredient, it’s a no. Ingredients are listed in the order in which they are in the can, with the largest ingredient listed first, the next largest listed next, & so on. Also, I don’t buy if it has cornmeal, soy, or gluten. I’m fortunate to have a Whole Foods store near me. I buy their Whole Paws, large cans are only $1.09. I refrigerate, at night, any leftovers in the can (covered) & give it the next morning. Petsmart carries a variety that’s good, (I think it’s called Wellness) with meat as top ingredient and little or no grains.
@@celeste-236 just be aware that Ingredients are listed by order of weight that includes water. Whole chicken weighs substantially more simply because it includes that large percentages of natural water in it, plus bone.
My senior cat, Bebe, is currently on her weight loss journey. She ate Purina Cat Chow kibble which I had always thought was heathy. But then she got severely overweight, her hair started falling out, and she had massive poops many times a day. I researched, and dry food was done for. She eats only canned food now, and is already do WAY BETTER!
Just switched my cats to wet food (had them on kibble for financial reasons, unfortunately) and I swear their coats have never been more soft and the dispositions more lovey and snuggly!
not all dry food are bad. depending on the quality. i find when my cats eat wet food, their poop smells pretty strong. it is very minimal on dry food. and my cats coat is shinier and softer. i think there's good companies that add lots of salmon oil, which is also good for their heart and health.
I've had two cats die from nutrition issues... One directly, one a little more indirectly. The first one developed bladder crystals from his dry food, and I still feel awful because I was a kid and asked my mom to get him Meow Mix because the commercials were cute. He died shortly after due to the crystals forming in his bladder... My other one I had for over 18 years before she passed away from kidney disease because she wasn't holding down enough water. The kidney toxins eventually leaked into her brain and made her zombified just overnight it seemed. DEFINITELY research brands and spend the extra money on your cat's nutrition. It's more than worth it.
@@littlekitsune1 that cat ate dry food and lived to 18 and you say it died because of the food? Sure it wasnt old age? if cats were in fact turning into piss zombies and dropping dead from food related kidney disease left and right, your meow mix would be out of buisness. Is it healthy? Not really, but is it poison?
@@zackjoseph9127 You clearly didn't read my post at all because you mixed up the cats I told separate stories about. But thanks for your rude and uninformed comment, I guess. Real nice to hear my deceased family member referred to as a "piss zombie" and to be insinuated as a liar. But I'll answer your question anyway and say yes, I'm sure he died from the food because obviously I took him to the vet and they were able to tell me what likely caused it. No, it was not old age because he was only 3. The 18-year-old cat was a completely different cat with completely different circumstances, as I said in my post.
Can you do a “how to switch from dry to wet?” Video for those who may want to switch. Also maybe include some low cost wet foods that are good quality that you recommend.
My oldest refuse to eat his dry food I still don’t know why and now he just eat chicken, meat, tuna , salmon and eggs. I realize bcs he stole it from my plate. But the younger just eat dry. Please a video how to switch to wet or half and half.
Try transitioning one step at a time.Start with ur normal dry food intake and add alittle bit of wet food.Every each day increase the wet food SLOWLY and decrease the dry food see how it goes.If this does not help google if ur next place for answers
@@sumdude4 the most healthy food for our cats is real Whole Foods, an actual animal protein with for ex a lil spinach, quinoa, rice (without condiments) on the side. Please read the list of veggies/ fruits that cats can eat, always in small amounts since the animal protein is the most important content for their feline nutritional needs 😺
@@rominacerati9417 Ah ok thanks! I wonder if it's possible to do meal prep for cats too. And sounds like opposite of humans to be honest. Need mostly fruits and veg, but lower amount of meat. If that makes sense.
@@rominacerati9417 cats usually need a taurine supplement (at least) on top of any "home made" diet. please look into that. They will probably need a mineral supplement unless you feed them bones of some kind.
Got my first cat in years. She is a barn cat, was gonna feed her cheap kibble. Fell in love with her. She’s now a pet who lives in the bar, bought her better food. And now I’m watching cat videos. Oh my.
Same lol got my first cat in years…actually now I have two…I ended up getting siblings…now I’m watching a bunch of Jackson videos lol…learning a lot I didn’t know about cats before
I had to take my female cat to the vet recently because she was suffering from a UTI and had crystals in her pee. She only eats dry food.I never knew this about dry food. This has been an eye opening experience. Definitely switching
Well i didnt know abt dry food being bad for them. My cat had crystals in his pee too and our vet gave us a pack of dry food but specialy for urinary health ... What a irony, huh!? 🤦🤯
@@fannyboni472 yeah. The irony. The thing your vet may not have told you, or perhaps didn't even know him/herself, is that depending on the make up of the crystals in your cat's urinary tract, a "special" urinary health diet can actually make it worse! They have to actually run a sample of the crystals through a lab for testing to know, and if your vet didn't do that, shame on them!!! In my world, any vet who suggests any kind of dry food is fired now. I had to try a few until I found our current vet.
@@lisar3944 Would you mind sharing what you feed your kitty now? Got the same advice from my vet, to switch to Royal Canin s/o urinary after an emergency bladder-drain due to crystals... Tried the Hills brand first and he absolutely hates it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
@@charlottebergogne My cat had a history of crystals, put on Hills Prescription Urinary food(dry) for many years. Vet never recommended wet food as my cat only ate dry. He lived to be 18 but had Kidney Failure for almost 1 full year. I had to give him daily SubQ fluids(under skin) to maintain hydration. If I only knew sooner over those 18 yrs, I would have given him mostly/all wet food. He hated wet food though 🤷🏻♀️. Hopefully, making the changes will improve your cat’s situation.
I give my cat a handful of dry food to start her day with something different. Then wet food for lunch and dinner. With a fresh bowl of water each day she seems to really dig it.
I'm rewatching this again, and good golly Jackson. You're a real gem. This is genuinely pro-cat, educational, and funny! I needed a good laugh. I love this. Thank you!!!
I just had the same problem with my cat, terrible smell of her poop. I was told to get dry sensitive dry food for her. Now I want to switch to wet food for my cats I have two Russian blues rescues! Thanks Jackson
I am gonna give you a tip. If you still decide to give your cat dry food, becaus its just cheaper and more convenient as Jackson said, or maby you mix between dry food and wet food like i do, mix the dry food with a bit of warm water. My cat LOVES the water that is ”flavoured” by the food lmao. He drinks it all. I give him this in the morning and then i give him wet food in the evening. My vet also said this is a very good tip wich she is gonna recommend to people!🥰
It's really reccomended not to do that, just buy wet food, don't put water in it, it doesn't hydrate them the way you think it does and its still mostly fillers that isn't proper for a cats diet anyways.
@@foolybaby i give my cat wet food, raw food and grain free dry food mixed with water. Im pretty sure he gets enough water. He rarely drinks from his bowls. I do this because its cheaper to give him dry food once a day. And it does hydrate them. For people that cant afford any other food than dry food, this is still better than just giving them dry food. And also btw who said they dont recommend it? My vet literally said its good to do this.
I’m so happy I found your comment. I can’t really afford just buying wet food so I mix dry food and wet food. I’ll try your idea and see if my cat likes it. I feel guilty for not knowing this but I’m just glad I know now. I have a question though, do you give your cat dry food mixed with just water or do you add wet food too? And for dinner do you only give your cat wet food or do you mix it with something?
@Cecilla J your comment was very useful! I have a mixed diet for my cat and I knew only dry food couldn't be healthy for him. But now I've been watching and reading with how apparently bad dry food is (I give him mostly wet food in the morning and a small part dry food over the evening). He obviously doesn't drink much so I am a bit worried if he could get sick even though he gets only a bit of dry food. But the idea of putting warm water with the dry food, I definitely need to try it out. Then at least I'll know he still takes in the nessaccary liquid, even during the evening. Thanks so much!
This tip definitely works! We are going to switch to raw food in a near future, so dry food is only temporary. (Didn’t know dry food was bad until our vet told us. And thanks to Jackson, now we know dry food is really bad!)
Hey Jackson, I really appreciate this advice, but it's really hard to follow suit when all vets in my country tell otherwise. In my country, minimum wage is 600€ and 85G of good quality wet foot is around 1,60€. Times 31 days = 49.6€, times two (in my case) cats that's 100€ a month IF I feed 1 satchel of wet food a day for each cat. If they were to eat the advisory amount, it would be at LEAST 3 times a day, which would equal to half of a minimum salary. For that reason, I order wet food online so I can get it cheaper, but, inevitably, I have to feed them some dry food. For this reason, I opted for the highest quality I found of dry food available (Brand Royal Canin), which from what I understand, is still less than Ideal. It baffles me how much I am judged by the vets for not feeding ONLY dry food. They consider wet food as some sort of treat. Thanks to your advice, I am now feeding at least 1 satchel of wet food for each cat a day, but it's absolutely not sustainable to feed more than that a day, and I can only do that because I earn more than minimum wage. But for people who really do get minimum wage, it is absolutely unthinkable to spend ~130€ a month on cat food. For this reason, I ask you, what DIY options can we provide our kittens so they can have a healthier feeding? Maybe cooking something that I could eat and they could eat too? Feels super contradictory when I ask for vets advice and they laugh saying DRY FOOD IS ENOUGH, PERFECT AND NOT HARMFUL WHATSOEVER. I'd love your input on this.
My vets always said that a bit of wet food in the morning or at night and dry food for the rest of the day is the best option. But of course, it all depends on the type of wet food you get. Brands like Friskies is out of the question for example.
I don’t know much about cooked meals, but I have been feeding my cats a “raw diet” for a while now. Youngest one used to have diarrhea and all sorts of other issues with even the best wet food, so I transitioned them. If you want to feed your cat cooked meals, please make sure to get whatever supplements needed in order to make the meal “complete.” For example, cooking beef will cook away the Taurine (water soluble vitamin that is ESSENTIAL for cats to function), because Taurine is sensitive to heat. So when you cook a meal for you and want to feed it to the cat, a Taurine supplement is a must. Another supplement you should probably add is ground bone to mix into their food (do not give them cooked bone to chew on because it may splinter and hurt your cat), to make sure that your cat is getting enough calcium and phosphorus and their poop will be solid (well-cooked vegetables will also help with their fiber, but they have to be well-cooked because cats are carnivores and cannot breakdown plant matter the way humans can). You should also supplement their food with cheap oily fish (cooked sardines, mackerel, herring, or smelt) for Omega 3s, a scrambled egg about 2 times a week for vitamin e, good quality cranberry juice for iodine and urinary tract health, and if you can find it, beef liver and chicken liver are great for zinc, manganese, and vitamin a that your cat might not potentially get in a “normal” human meal (should be only 5% or less of their plate though). Sorry that I couldn’t be more helpful. Definitely look up on RUclips how to feed your cat a BALANCED cooked food diet. It would be terrible if your beloved cat were to become ill because their diet was missing something.
sorry to hear that, I would consider the fact maybe cats are not for you at this moment in your life :( , I was in a similar situation with a dog when I was younger and had to give him away due to financial reasons, it sucks but it would be better for your cats if you vetted a new owner, making sure they had the means and the knowledge to properly feed and take care of your cats and give then a new healthier life with them instead, you can always get new kittens when you are able to provide for them
@@harrytomdick problem is not me. Is everyone else. I am, fortunately working abroad. However, if we're following your logic, 95% of my countries population wouldn't be able to have pets. And we all know they aren't better in the streets
I feed a combo of wet and dry purely because the dry food has a probiotic in it. We're still learning a lot about gut bacteria in humans but it's clear it's hugely important. I still believe wet food is a necessity, but I think the blend gets the best of both worlds. I feed my cats Nulo if anyone wants to look into it.
My family and I are getting prepared to adopt 2 cats. We decided to watch your videos to help us get ready and we have learned so much! I had planned to hide and cover litter boxes, not doing that now! Had planned to feed kibble, not doing that now! Thank you for educating us!
I was a "high quality" dry food feeder with all of my previous cats and I can't even count the ways that I regret that. I simply didn't know any better, and the vets never tipped me off either, even when they eventually came down with urinary problems, kidney stones, all of the hallmarks of the damage dry food does to a cat! My current cat has only ever had wet food (premium, real meat) and his physique, alone, is so completely different from my previous cats. He's quite petite for a tomcat, but he's so lean and muscular, even at a now lazy 3.5 years old, I am sometimes in awe. He has zero belly sag - zero! When I pet his back and shoulders it's all rippling muscles underneath. When he stands up you can easily see that he has a bonafide, grade A, rock solid, badonkadonk butt! And he sleeps about 21 hours per day - where can I get these genes?! Anyway, the difference is night and day. I won't know until he's a bit older whether this diet has done as much as I hope to avoid the "typical" urinary problems that my previous cats had. So far so good, though. I so wish we had a Jackson Galaxy spreading this knowledge about how detrimental dry food is for cats years ago. That would have saved my previous sweet boys a lot of pain and suffering, I suspect.
As your cat ages you also need to look at calcium and phosphorus levels, etc which cause liver issues. They are usually way too high in these so called “premium” cat foods that manipulate the ingredients just to have meat as their first five ingredients but the quality of the meat and other ingredients are poor. It was finally explained to me why vets recommend science diet. It’s because they’ve hired top scientists for decades to correctly formulate dog and cat food for each life stage that won’t cause disease as they age. The new dog manufactures just hire the best marketers who know exactly how make the package labeling look and read the best but there’s no science behind it. It’s all very frustrating
what kind of wet food do you use? im trying to give my cat good wet food (that preferably wont break the bank) thats still good for him as my parents still want me to give him dry food as well. When i can take his health into my own hands/make enough money for better food, hopefully ill be able to cut the dry food completely. He doesnt like it a ton anyway.
@@lynxii3234 I'm new to learning about all this but currently I'm feeding my cats Wellness Turkey pate wet cat food in 12.5 oz cans which is much more affordable through Chewy. I'm waiting to hear back from Wellness on the calcium, phosphorous and salt content in this food, which unfortunately isn't ever on the packaging for any pet food. The best thing you can start with is looking to see if your pet food says "for all life stages". If it says this, look for something else. A one size fits all will be nutritionally unbalanced for some aspect of their life. A kitten needs much higher minerals than an older cat, etc. Male cats are more prone to diseases as they age and we need to tax their liver as little as possible. Honestly though, I don't think there is any perfect pet food out there. We just do the best we can, which in my opinion is giving them affordable AAFCO approved wet cat food that doesn't contain carrageenan or artificial ingredients of any kind.
@@orangebpumpkin5676 i found some by Nulo but they made my cat vomit and had sharp bone fragments in them so i can't recommend them. apparently, it's common with freeze-dried treats. it seems impossible to find a good treat that's healthy, especially if you're also looking for humane. just thought i'd share my experience in case it's any help, even just as an "i get it". :)
I hate the pet food industry so much it's unreal. On top of not being very healthy, many major pet food companies have a history of their dry food causing seizures or other deadly reactions in pets, with no apparent cause (though I kind of doubt it's been properly researched). It's really frustrating how much harm we can cause our pets because of a lack of knowledge & companies that only care about profiting off cheap food. Thanks for the video!
I knew someone who managed a cat food processing plant. He told me they have monthly meetings with pharmaceutical companies to create and incorporate the dry food with a more addictive chemical every month as the pet food industry is so competitive. How f#@*ing sick is that? 👹
Can you talk about cats who only like dry food and how to transition them to wet ?! My little one only will eat dry every time I give her wet she won’t eat it.
I transitioned my three picky cats with relative ease, using the following technique: I figured out their minimum daily caloric requirement (I forget what it was now, but you can find that info online - don't use the nutritional guidelines on the bag, as they way overestimate how much the average housecat needs) and fed them about 75% of that in kibble. Cats are susceptible to fatty liver disease if they don't eat for a day or two, and I knew it would stress me out if they just refused food, so I wanted to be sure they were getting enough to live, but not enough to be full. Beside their small portion of kibble (twice a day) I would give them a small portion of wet food. I tried various different brands, formats, flavours, temperatures, and additives and kept track of which they liked best. I started with the cheapest kinds because I know they are more palatable, and I'd waste less money if they didn't eat it. So, what they would do is eat their kibble, then walk away, then return and sniff the wet food. Sometimes they'd eat a small bite. I left the wet food out for about 8-12 hours at a time. If I walked into the kitchen and one of them started yelling at me for kibble, I'd make them a small plate of a different flavour of wet food. Sometimes they'd sniff it, sometimes eat a little, sometimes walk away. I did a lot of dishes around that time! I just kept doing that every day. Because they were always a bit hungry but never starving, they gradually started to become more interested in the wet food. I'd say it took about 2 weeks for them to start actually eating all of the wet food. Around that time, I reduced the kibble I gave them and increased the wet food. After a week of that, I phased out dry food altogether. Then I shifted to getting them to eat better quality wet food by mixing the cheap stuff with the expensive stuff, and tracking which expensive foods they would eat more readily than the cheap foods. If they didn't eat much or any of the wet food after about 6 hours, I'd offer them a different flavour. After a few weeks of that, they were eating pretty much anything I put in front of them. My next goal will be to get them to stop grazing (even on wet food they take a few bites and wander off.) I'll do that by just taking the food away after a certain amount of time so they're more hungry for their next meal and hopefully eat more of it in one go.
@Carmina Burana I avoid Science Diet. Too often it has corn in it. The vets seem to push it because Hills pushes them. Your vet is not always the one to ask about your cat's diet. Most get very little training on nutrition. Fed Science Diet years ago thinking I was giving my cats a good diet. Found out that at least at that time they were using a preservative that was a carcinogen. Also the food lacked enough taurine. So one of my cats went blind, developed a heart condition because of that. I lost another to cancer. Check out the doctors Jackson has listed.
I'm in the same situation. I adopted a 9 year old cat and I feed her wet food and a tiny portion of dry for the evening. She'll leave the wet food but devour the dry. I'll stop feeding her the dry and see how she does during the night.
These videos are INVALUABLE. I feel so bad for feeding my precious girl dry food only diet, after my vet told me that was what was best as it "cleans their teeth" I'm so angry that I trusted someone to give me honest advice, and instead they told me to do something that I now know, causes harm to cats. Thank you, Jackson. I'm going to watch every single video of yours because I truly trust you and think you know what you're talking about. Much love 🐈❤️
I told one of the ladies at my cat's vet that we were switching her over to wet food, because I'd seen your videos about kibble being bad for them. She tried to tell me that cats need to eat dry food because it's better for their teeth. I was a little annoyed because after seeing your videos I've done my research and you are 100% right on most kibble being horrible for them. Since she's been on wet food she's much happier and less gassy lol. And she doesn't drink from her water bowl a billion times within an hour because she's getting water from her food too. I still have some of her old dry food, but I normally use it as treats or if she acts like I'm starving her between meals I'll give her a very small serving to hold her over for a bit. I also have some other treats that I give her maybe once or twice a day for dental health, but I don't like giving her dry food or treats besides those moments, and she seems to appreciate it lol.
Omg I can’t believe none of this was covered in all my training at pet supplies plus 😵 makes me want to get rid of all the dry food for all my friend’s and family cats
My cat got an ulcer recently, stopped eating because of pain... I ended up switched her over to Rachel ray's wet food completely... And it saved her life. She didn't like my home made chicken meal, so I have to give her the expensive stuff. It can get really expensive, so I don't know if this is really practical for families who are having trouble feeding themselves during a pandemic.
I'm so glad I saw this. My little guy is still 4.5 months and on wet kitten food. I was thinking about the canned food that you get from the vet when he gets a little older. I've heard good things. I'll also cut way back on the dry treats. He just started liking them so I've been leaving them out. Thanks Jackson!
hey! I would still be wary of vet branded wet food, they still contain byproducts, and do not fulfill the needs of a cat's ancestral diet (household cats have nearly no difference to wild cats in how they process food)
dietitian here, just a quick aside, the glycemic index is the "unit" used to compare how fast a food will raise blood sugar. so saying a cat's glycemic index rises is incorrect. sounds like jackson just got a little mixed up in his words, but everything else is still sound info.
Man, I do not only agree totaly with wat you're teaching us all here - as a Cat Dad with over 50 years of experience I should know something by now too - but the way you present and tell it!! You're ACE boyo, so please DO keep up the good work and spreading the word; I wish I had your presentation skills (and looks too)! My little PiPi-puss sends you her love from over here in The Netherlands where cats are plentifull
We always gave our cats wet food but our one year old kittens have got overweight and the vet said we should be giving them dry only. So it's hard to know who to believe when the apparent experts tell us to give dry only! It's not even cheaper. The specialist dry food is incredibly expensive!
I had a cat that would only eat dry food, never any kind of wet food. His coat was super shiny and soft. My current cat eats wet and dry but he won't finish the wet and sometimes barely even touches it. I keep an eye on the ingredients, and his coat is also very shiny and silky soft, so I'm with you, not sure what to make of this either 🤷🏼♀️
Ask people you know that have old cats.20+ yrs what they feed their cats. Ask people with cats that only got to about 10-12 yrs old? And you will get your own answer.
Lower the amount of wet food, kibble is never ever ever the right option. The cat I adopted who was obese was fed kibble all her life before I switched her to wet food. She had a thyroid problem and kidney failure. The cat I adopted when she was a kitten and fed wet food (specific brands I nutritionally checked) lived to 26 and only developed early kidney failure within the last few months of her life.
Jackson, thank you so much for sharing and educating us! So many dry cat foods claim to be nutritionally "complete" so they make you think its OK, will definitely be making the switch with our cat Bella. She goes through phases of being "off" the wet food we'd been feeding her so we ended up mainly feeding her dry which I now realise was a big mistake. Thank you so much again for highlighting something so important, you're the best! Now off to research the wet food options!
I just wanted to add a quick comment here. I am so happy you have given such an informative video on dry cat food . I work with diabetic cats and many are on dry food . We encourage changing them to canned pate to help try to get them regulated!
We give our cats both dry food from an automatic cat feeder, along with some wet food for dinner. They will eat the dry, but meow in happy anticipation for their wet food. And they have remained between 11 and 12 pounds which their vet has been happy about. I think the main thing is using the automatic feeder which limits their total intake to a certain amount, and thus cuts down on grazing.
I’m in the same situation. it’s always hard for me personally to feed them wet food more times than dinner since I have ADHD. and also, when we feed our cats just wet food, they’ll get diarrhea or wet poops. this is not good for our older cat since he has long fur. we end up having to constantly try to brush or cut the stuck diarrhea out…
As great as all the information is with the abundance of cats there are in rescues or strays we need to just encourage people to adopt and provide a loving home where the cat is loved and fed.
I agree that dry food may not be the best choice, however it really depends on the quality of the dry food. A lot are crap quality (the common commercial brands) but there are also some specialty brands of dry cat food that actually are high quality. I feed my kitty "Orijen Cat & Kitten" and the first 10 ingredients are fresh or raw meat ingredients, no byproducts, no wheat, no corn. I also mix in some wet food & a bit of extra spring water to make sure she's getting enough water for at least two of the total daily meals (I feed her 3-4 meals, she's still a growing kitten) and replenish her drinking bowl with clean spring water frequently.
Agree, Orijen is one of the good brands. A quality, protein forward, grain free dry can be part of a healthy balanced diet in addition to wet food and water fountains.
One of my senior kitties take THYROID Medication. Another just had her FORTH surgery to remove cancer . Vet said that was the best he could do. I WASN'T READY to give up on her. Retracted her eyeball Last resort to do Everything I can. SO FAR SO GOOD Cancer hadn't returned 🤞🤞🤞🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏♥️
Thank you Jackson! It all makes sense now. When I fed my cat dry she’d come for a drink like 3+ times a day. Now I feed her raw she barely comes for a drink.
This video is honestly a great help! I just adopted a kitten a week ago, so it's good to know these things early on. Jackson is the kitty guru. My Umbry prefers to eat wet food anyway lol, but sometimes I'll use very little dry food in interactive food toys as treats. Umbry also LOVES churu lol. I don't free feed him and he memorized his feeding schedule, tho he can be really sassy about it sometimes 😂
This is such critical information Jackson! My cats have been on my homemade supplemented raw food for 20+ years because I was dealing with health issues and very unsatisfied with commercial cat foods. Making raw is expensive and a lot of work. Thankfully there are solid alternatives these days.
All of the vets I've spoken to in the Netherlands say dry food is fine, as long as you get ones that are tailored for your cats lifestyle. My cats are indoor cats so they get fed Hill's or Royal Canin's Indoor dry food. Vets say this has the required nutritional values as it's made specifically for cats. They do strongly recommend not getting cheap cat food though.
That's the problem really. Which dry food you choose. Most people probably buy the ones you see at the supermarket which is usually the worst ones so of course most cats are obese and develop problems overtime. I would never feed my cats those dry foods. But if you pay attention to the ingredients, there's ton of good options that you can order online or buy at pet stores and vets.
vets are not nutritionists. they believe dry is the best because there are "scientifically proven" researches but the thing is these researches are usually funded by millionbuck kibble companies.
@@butterflyfairy6730 she’s absolutely wrong. She’s prob excellent at treating illness but vets are often not knowledgeable about nutrition. Just like human doctors and nutrition - I work for surgeons, they are excellent at surgery but shitty at nutrition.
I just use fancy feast gourmet naturals. Studies have shown that dry food does not make their teeth better, you still need annual dental cleaning and daily teeth brushing .
I am slow-blinking at J. Galaxie! You are grrrrrrrreat! It's all about your cat. Prove me wrong. This is great education and compassion - and I soooooo appreciate your approach. Learning so much - and I've bonded with cats since the (uh hem) 80s! Thanks.
Very good info! I lost my cat due to the dry food I was told to feed him by a lazy vet. After researching this topic, the best and brightest minds in the feline industry and top veterinarians mostly agree dry food is no good. I'm really sorry that I leaned this too late but I won't make that mistake again. Thanks Jackson for taking the time to research this new way of feeding cats and letting everyone who follows you to now know the truth about what cats were designed to eat. God bless.
I believe that cats need both - wet and dry. The wet for meat and water and the dry for their teeth. I think the cronchin - especially a larger food kibble size helps clean their teeth. You can get a dental kibble. I also believe that most cats do self regulate their intake but there are a few that don't.
That's what I was always told that dry food is better for their teeth I give my cat wet food once a week as a treat cuz I was also told that it's more unhealthy
@@Aj_Leigh Wet food can make them fat. They don't need the moisture if they drink plenty of water. My cats eat a lot of dry food and they seem ok with that despite what JG says.
Definitely same boat here. My kitty won’t eat it no matter the brand, flavor, prep etc.. we finally had to donate all of our unopened wet food to a shelter so the money wouldn’t go to waste lol.
Same here! I’ve tried every single thing to transition my cat to wet food, but he won’t eat it. I’ve tried everything. Mixing it, wetting dry food, raw meat, 43 different types of wet food (brands and flavours, everything).He won’t eat anything but dry food.
@@michaelparness2896 maybe start with slightly adding water to their current dry food and mix it till its softened. if they eat that then after a while mix in wet food with the dry food until its all moist. some cats have slow transitions and just giving them moisture to start will help the transition.
If you haven't tried this already, think somtimes slightly heating the wet food can help. Just a bit to allow the aroma to be more tantalizing. But like others said before, some cats just need very very slow and sneaky introductions. It's like feeding kids veggies 🤭. I hope you find something that works!!
@@rhondaarnesen6684 It's been done, but it's hard work (search RUclips for "Herding cats: Don't let anyone tell you it's easy...Classic Super Bowl Commercial EDS 2000") 😺
Wow. I wish I knew this years ago. Last year, my long-haired domestic best friend, Hope, died of complications from diabetes. I let her nibble all day on dry food. I feel responsible for her demise. She was 16 years old when she passed. She would still be here if I had only known. BUT, at least I learned - and thanks to Jackson and all his videos and tv shows, I am much more knowledgeable. I waited a year to bring in another furry rescue, Chloee, a Maine Coon mix. She is 2 years old, and already needs to be on a diet! Thankfully, dry food will NOT be on the list! Thanks, again, Jackson, you helped saved my cat from an early demise.
Don't be so hard on yourself, you didn't know better. There is a big industry that told you dry food was fine for your cat. Also, 16 is a very nice age for a cat. You will know better from now on, that's what counts!
16 years is older than most cats get. Dry food is not bad for your cat, this is BS. Okay, if you buy the cheap stuff on supermarket, that is probably bad for your cat. Buy high quality food, wet, dry, raw or whatever.
Not only is this an amazing series by itself, but it might make people question what they themselves eat, and believe is healthy without any real justification. As a native person, I have always thought that us animals are adapted to eat preindustrial foods. I have certainly witnessed the illness and early death that the modern western diet creates. Glad to see a logical, empathetic conversation about the issue!
This was an awesome break down on dry food! Can you make a video (if you haven't already) what is a good amount of wet food to feed our cats to keep them at a good weight & what are some good or bad brands or what to look for in the food? Thank you your amazing !
You've cleared up about the dry food! when I was a kid we had 2 cats and all we gave them was dry food and tuna too. I just found a stray with 5 kittens so I've been doing so much research and learning so much, and about the dry food. Thanks for the informative information! So, dry food is like feeding them McDonald's all day smh
I know I’ve been needing to watch this video for quite some time now as far as the cats nutrition goals and I’m already sold on the dry cat food production process
Ugh, I'm unfortunately in a sticky situation where the pandemic has severely cut my income, so I've had to start adding kibble into my cat's diets (it's just generally so much cheaper per serving compared to high quality wet/raw food) It's still mostly raw or canned, and the kibble is as high quality as I can possibly can find, but it's still such a bummer.
Whole Hearted pet food, I know Petco carries them. Inexpensive compared to other grain free cat food. Limited income is limited 😿 Also, ask for assistance from local cat rescue groups!! Never hurts to ask 🖤💚🖤
I hope there's pet care assistance in your state! But I, personally, think needing to mix is fine when budget is a concern. I totally think this advice is more for folks who CAN do better but, choose not to because it's easier.
@@PrincessIzusu Thanks for the heads up! I actually don't live in the States, but I work with local animal rescue groups in my city and I think they would be willing to chip in if I asked, but frankly, a ton of people are doing much, much worse than me and I would rather their time and resources go towards them :) But I'm glad you brought up pet care assistance, I'm sure someone reading these comments will find it super helpful to know it's an option!
You could try home made food, using inexpensive parts of the chicken or turkey--I had to do that last month when I ran out of food and my cat food delivery was late, and didn't have much money to spend on prepared cat food. Buying the "innards" was much cheaper than regular cuts of turkey (it was the weekend before Thanksgiving so there was a huge supply of fresh turkey giblets on sale at the local market). I bought some really cheap turkey backs, hearts, livers, and gizzards, baked them, and then ground them in my blender, and found a few recipes online that my kitty seemed to enjoy. I froze the leftovers (haven't used them yet, don't know if it will work after I thaw them and try to feed him). Just a suggestion!
Great advice here. But don't stress yourself, you're doing the best you can by your cats at the end of the day and you should feel good about that. The fact you care so much about their nutrition is wonderful. It is what it is for now but I'm sure they will be fine. Many situations in life, permanent or temporary aren't always our ideal but we have to work with what we have. You sound as though you're doing a great job
I'm watching this and crying. I love all four of my babies, but there's no way I could afford really good raw or canned food for all of them. One of them refuses to eat anything BUT kibble. We've tried filets, bits of turkey, soups, pate, EVERYTHING. She will ONLY eat kibble. We even prompted her with some baked salmon, nothing.
Cats are different than dogs. They’re more “food insecure”, meaning they’re not inherently adventurous with their food. A lot of times you have to show them that the new food you’re offering is safe. It’s good to slowly incorporate new foods into their old food and start building it up until you’re able to make a full switch. It will take a while but, if that still doesn’t work there’s other brands that make a healthier kibble like tiki cat. As to help her get water if you do continue using kibble, you can just add a bit of water to the kibble Hope this helps!
Give her raw chicken and raw salmon. Pound for pound, raw meat is cheaper. I ain't seen no cat food cheaper than raw bone-in chicken thighs. Cats need raw meat, raw bones, and raw organs. Cat's don't need expensive cooked salmon.
@Tensei Maybe because my financial situation changed due to no fault of my own? And they have food, water, toys, and love? And did ya miss the part where I said REALLY GOOD like high quality raw food is what I can't afford?
@@bunnillabean What do you mean 'really good like high quality raw food'? What is pound for pound cheaper than human-grade raw meat bought in bulk? Also, why can't you go get a fishing pole and fish for trout or other fish that don't have thiaminase? You're making excuses, and using the 'too expensive' route is not believable. What do you eat yourself? A 10lb cat doesn't need more than a quarter lb of meat a day. I make my cats raw food and it's approximately $3 per pound of chicken, bones, fish, heart, and liver. Per cat that eats only 1/4 lb a day, that's a mere $0.75 or 75 CENTS per day per cat to feed my cats RAW human-grade food. What's your excuse again???? Pound for pound, ain't no Fancy Feast cheaper than that.
I feed half dry and half wet at the moment - the dry is there to provide calming to them as a vet prescribed calming feed as I move home by royal canin - i haven't yet been able to find anything similar in a wet version. It is definitely not for cost and my cats seem to be very happy with it - it is only for the short term and i think in moderation it's okay. After first watching this - (Already understood about carbs and the processing) I then felt so bad, but I know this is the right thing for these babies at the moment. Greta video though and thought provoking for us to research and take responsibility :)
Loved this very informative video. Especially the beginning 🤣 Already took one of your advice about not free feeding. My cats tend to only eat their dry kibble in the morning and evening times but have seen them graze and thought it was normal myself. As I said before, I'm glad I followed you as I care about my cats just as I do about my own human children's well-being. I want them to be happy and live a long life, so thank you Jackson for creating these videos ❤
I loved this video! About 3-4 years ago I switched my cats from dry food to a scheduled, wet food diet. I mainly did this because one of my cats had crystals in his urine which ultimately resulted in an overnight visit to the vet after he could not urinate.. I share my experiences with anyone who has overweight cats or cats who are also having urinary issues. My cats are much slimmer, healthier and happier now!
my cat also had urinary issues and i switched to three raw meals for him. Even though he was not overweight, it was still a much better choice of food for him.
This was so helpful. Never knew how bad dry food is. My baby has had some litter box aversion and now I’m pretty sure she’s been constipated. Feeling pretty awful about it, but will be getting her something better quality today.
Hi, Jackson! I´m Carol from SP, Brasil and I´d like to thank you SO MUCH for this (these...) videos! I always liked the way you take care of them, and you deal with different cats, but this video is A-MA-ZING and "life-changing"... we decided to do as you said and we have totally different cats. I never heard of something like that, but I can assure that everything is true and our cats love you even more! I'd also like to thank you about ALL your videos and tips... they help us become better tutors
Thank you! I switched to wet food a couple months ago based on my Vet's recommendation (my cat was a little too fluffy) and noticed that the water bowl is now touched sparingly. I used to fill the bowl up twice a day because they drank so much water before. Now I know what is going on... Thanks!
hey! could you explain what you meant by ‘too fluffy’? i thought a softer, fluffier coat meant they were healthy. no hate, just wondering for future reference
You made me have hope that not all vets are blinded! I would really like to switch my cats to fully wet. HOWEVER, my mother is easily influenced and I'm afraid if I ask the vet about what they think.. And if they insist on dry food, my mother will follow in their steps.
I really love your advice, and I take it for most things when concerning my furbabies. I also don't disagree with you about the negativities of dry food, but I do want to correct you on something. I don't feed my cats dry because its convenient, in fact the mix of dry, raw, wet and water that I had to measure out and do the math for myself is more work then just dumping a handful of kibble in a bowl. I put dry food in the mix, because I can't afford to buy them only raw. I can't afford to buy the high quality wet. I barely have enough money to buy meat for my partner and I after regular groceries and necessities. The dry is there, because if it wasn't my babies wouldn't be getting the amount of food they need to actually live healthily. With enough calories to sustain them, their growth (youngest is 4months) and the energy they spend playing and exercising with us everyday. I do it because I have to, and because it fits in my budget. So please don't say I'm feeding them dry, because I don't have the energy to give them something better.
This ^^. I also am extremely concerned that MANY people just simply don't have the knowledge to put together a safe, raw food meal plan. Food-born illness is a thing. One wrong step and you can make your cats seriously ill. My vet also recommended cutting OUT the wet food because of weight issues, and feeding my cat ONLY dry, because we can control her calories and because she needs the crunchy food for her teeth (to help with plaque buildup). I'm very tired of people saying that Vets don't know anything about nutrition and we should just ignore them in favor of the latest and greatest fad on the internet. My vet has more knowledge than some random dude with a RUclips channel. Jackson is a great behaviorist (I remember the tv show), but I think its extremely dangerous for actors to be promoting nutrition when they aren't educated veterinarians.
I agree that feeding dry food is often NOT about the owners convenience and ig does sting for Jackson to make that suggestion, but I think we should also know this guy well enough from all his video by now - he I trying to advocate for our cats and get us to consider things from their perspective. However, I think the suggestion JG is speaking without research unto this area is just plain wrong and rude - he clearly links some citations in the description which he also mentions in the video. Also I can tell you from experience that many Vets, like doctors, get minimal training on nutrition and that they rely on food companies for advice or links to their veterinary nutritionists, and they will have an obvious bias. If a vet wants to know about nutrition they need to research it. Many don't so will advise that dry food is best - more 'accurate' content and helps dentition. Also food companies do not label their product well. As an experienced dietitian I still struggle to work out what pet food is best and how much to give. In answer to someone's query about being advised to use dry food for weight loss. I think this probably came from the fact that most "diet" branded pet food is dry and these products tend to have more detailed feeding guides. They are also likely to have more research behind them as they are products developed especially for losing weight. Versus using a decent wet food and feeding less - how to identify said "decent" brand and the how much to feed as jnder feeding a cat and too rapid weight loss is also a problem. Finally, I also have a cat with diabetes ( as well as one with hyperthyroidism and endocarditis). My vet just slavishly told me to use "diabetic food" and brabd as long as the label saud diabetes.... no advice on feed timing, not grazing, timing of insulin,changing insulin. Move to 100% wet food (from dry). I had to make all of the suggestions and do a lot of research to find good quality high meat content wet foods that are complete (a lot of very expensive brands are not and therefore described as complementary). I inherited her on a regimen of free feeding of dry food with 7U insulin twice per day at random/variable times and highly variable blood glucose levels of 2.5-20+ (mmol/L I live in UK). She is now on wet food in two meals per day (I work) given at 12hr intervals with her 1.5U insulin and has blood glucose between 5 and 15 mostly. It's not perfect but she isn't a perfect patient and will decide to eat more or less some meals - however she is maintaining her weight and 15 y.o. going strong 4+ years after diagnosis of diabetes. I know I probably won't have her too much longer but I feel like when the day comes, I will be able to say that mistakes and all - I did my best for her.
@@SarahR308 What wet food did your vet recommend? Of you don't mind me asking? I'm on disability and have 2 cats. Bothers old. 1 since he was 8weeks old and 1 I just rescued. They gave me science diet dry food for her when I adopted her and I have wet food from American journey and fancy feast all are tuna,salmon, and seafood flavors and they love them 2x a day. 5am and 6pm then they get dry food throughout the day... I'm on disability so I buy in bulk from chewy cause I can't drive... so just a t wondering. The ingredients label is so tiny you can't read it.. at least add t I can't. No with this brain tumor. It's taken me over 30 min to type this text cause I'm losi g my vision. SHOULD HAVE DONE IN CAPS I CAN SEE IT BETTER. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED GREATLY 🙏🏻 THANK YOU ANGELA JAMES FARRAR
I did notice my cat got fat when I started her on dry food. Now that she switched to wet, her weight dropped tremendously. I wish she would stick to the raw diet. She would starve most of the day cos she prefer canned wet foods.
Hi Jackson, I feed my cat an expensive brand of wet food (Encore) once a day and then give her also a bit of a medium range expensive dry food (Scrumbles), which she really likes. The analytical constituents of the dry food are: 36% protein, 21% fat content, 2% fibre, 9% inorganic matter, 0.5% omega 3, 2.9% omega 6. The composition is: 75% chicken (34% dehydrated and 30% freshly prepared chicken, 8% chicken fat, 3% chicken liver), 19% rice, 2.7% dried alfalfa, 1.5% salmon oil, 0.4% dried cranberries, 0.07% dried carrot. It's gluten-free, and from my understanding also low carbs. I thought this was a good meal, but now I'm not sure anymore 🤔
Basically you take 100% and then substract the 5 first analytical constituents including water/moisture (If it's not in there, it's usually 8 or 10%). For your example above that's 22-24% carbs, not great, but better than what most people feed to their cats. I personally aim for a maximum of 20%, but depending on your budget you can get as low as 5% and less. I'd say that's a decent food, not super high on carbs and has 75% of good ingredients, although I'm not sure about those 19% rice, that sounds like a lot of rice. I think you can probably find better for around the same price.
Dhaka Bangladesh - wanted to thank you. 7 weeks ago rescued an orphaned tiny kitten on our balcony - had a few scares over the 7 weeks but we seem to have made it through. Your videos helped - not only informationally but also just ‘up every two hours for feeding’ and need something to watch:-)
No wonder the boys get antsy as soon as the weekend is arriving. They get fish in the evening from Friday to Sunday, and Sofus in particular is especially obstinate about it.
I’m so glad I watched this vid, along with the wet food vid about good/bad ingredients. Our floofs, Cleo, has been off dry food now for a couple months, only good wet canned. She lost over a pound (now just under 13lbs) and her energy level has gone up a lot wanting to play more! Thank you 🙏🏻 ❤
I have to admit you are very funny and charming. But the most important thing of all is your information! You are so good about giving us important information about our cats to help us to love them and to care for them so much better. Thank you so much for all you do Jackson Galaxy
So happy to see this subject being covered! Folks, if you’re inspired to transition to raw food, please, PLEASE make sure you do your research and ensure it’s properly balanced. You risk serious vitamin and mineral deficiencies if you just chop up some chicken for your cat. Look into ‘completers’ like Felini Complete or EZ Complete if you’re not sure - they make it really easy, or buy commercial, complete raw. I’ve been feeding home made raw for two years and there are so many benefits so I hope this inspires more people to question the dry food obsession if their cats are able to switch.
@@YeshuaKingMessiah correct. What they eat in the wild is not just a piece of meat - they’ll eat pretty much the whole prey - bones, fur/feathers, eyes, brain and other organs, although I have seen them specifically avoid the stomach. All of those contain nutrients that aren’t found in cuts of meat. You also have to be careful with fish as it can contain mercury. I go with sardines/pilchards which present a lower risk. Others find alternative sources of omega 3s.
All-dry is bad, i agree. As a vet tech i've been taught that a 50:50 diet is ideal though, as long as the food is of high quality. I feed my Bengal kitten Purizon to graze on and Animonda Carny as wet food in the morning and evening. Sometimes, he gets a portion of raw chicken to gnaw on. The breeder I got him from feeds her cats the same dry food. Bengals have a sensitive digestive system. Both food choices are grain free and contain mostly meat, muscle, bone and organ with some water mixed into it. In case that doesn't hydrate him enough I have a very fancy drinking fountain for him. I personally don't think we can compare house cats and raw cats when it comes to diet anymore. I also doubt that raw cats in the wild don't suffer from any nutrient shortages. A lot of research has been put into high quality dry food and that's not for nothing. Just saying.
I totally agree with you. Jackson is not a vet. My kitten had digestive problems on raw food. Now we feed him with extra high quality dry and wet food, and he is finally ok and gaining weight.
Cats nutritional needs have not changed because they are so close to they are very genetically similar to their wildcat ancestors (unlike dogs who are better at utilizing starches than wolves). However wild cats can suffer nutritional issues from starvation, parasites etc.
I've been feeding my indoor cat three meals a day; two of high quality wet food, and one of high quality dry food for sterilixed indoor cats and that's supposed to have low carbs. Not low enough, though, so often I give only half of the recommended daily portion at the dry food meal. (I don't free-feed.) And he hasn't gained weight at all it seems, in about three years of this combination diet and relatively consistent meal times. The thing is, I'm hesitant to give the dry food portion up because the dry food I've chosen has tons and tons of added nutrients and even something that's supposed to actually help keep the urinary tracts balanced and healthy, as in goods that I'm not entirely convinced even high quality wet foods have. I mean, they do have added nutrients too but it looks like the dry food in question has sooo much more. I honestly doubt it's reasonably possible to scarp all that stuff together as suppliments to add to the wet food meals. What I add to one of the wet meals is half a tea spoon of fish oil for Omeaga-3, if we're out of the dry food. He does drink quite a bit of water any time after he's done with his dry food meal. Not all the time but just once or twice some time after whilst on days he doesn't get dry food he doesn't drink necessarily at all. Still, I'm worried that even that one tiny dry food meal might hurt his kidneys in a long run. I'm taking a look at that raw feeding video but I have two cats, and one of them suffers from the typical tooth disease requiring expensive vet visits, so I doubt I can afford that diet type.
@@roni3456 Thanks, but I actually decided to limit the kibble for just an occasional snack meal and keep feeding canned food and raw food balls instead. Especially as his sister won't eat much kibble anyway. I found out that in my country there's ready-made complete food raw food for cats made domestically and it's not that expensive. Even if I fed them nothing but that raw food, it would double the monthly cost but seeing to that (thaks to Zooplus) the monthly cost to begin with was so low it really doesn't become a problem. :) Though, I do still feed them canned food as well, high quality, because there's only 3 recipes in the raw foods. I want them to have more variety. :)
Adopted a new cat recently and my vet told me to only feed her with dry food, which didn't make sense to me at all. I don't understand why vets are so behind when it comes to feline nutrition. I'm glad I've found this video!
This is better than the cat litter Western ad. I don’t even have a cat, but due to watching all kinds of pet care shows, I see that ad regularly here in the yild, yild RUclips.
Shelter said dry food only. Vet says dry food for long lasting teeth.I’ve only had one cat that my vet gave green light for wet food, and it was an 18-year-old who had lost some of her teeth.
Yep, agreed. I switched my cats food from kibbles to completely raw diet 3 years ago (she's almost 6 now), I was like, oh jeez! The best decision I've ever made for her. Yes it does take some time and energy to prepare raw, but definitely worth the effort for sure 😚
My cat is 6 and has been on a dry food diet her entire life. I want to introduce a raw diet or at the very least wet food. However she has absolutely no interest in wet food. She is not even tempted by people food. How do I get her to enjoy a newer healthier diet?
My cats are not fat, they love the crunch of kibble, drink plenty of water, and have great teeth. They get some tuna as a treat, but mostly kibble. The starving kitten I just took in won't eat wet food, either. She ate enough Hills Science Diet chicken flavored urgent care food to stay alive, but didn't start to eat enough to gain weight until after a week when I started offering her kibble moistened with water. I tried half a dozen flavors but she just wasn't interested. 🤷♀️
There are lots of good brands, just google it and learn what should be in the ingredients. The first ingredient should be actual meat, not meal byproduct and not liver. There shouldn't be soy in the ingredients either. My cats like Instinct, though that ones pricey.
@@aspiringcrone thanks. I'll check out instinct. Right now my cat eats Purina one dry food but after watching this I don't want to feed her that anymore!
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I totally admire Jackson Galaxy for this! By shooting this video, he has blown off all chances of getting high-paying endorsements for commercial cat food companies. Yet, he chose to speak the truth for the cats’ benefits! Thank you so much!
After watching the first half of this video, how kibble is made, I walked over to my cat's food dish (has kibble) and threw it away. I then apologized to her...
@@rmeloveslife cringe
@@rmeloveslife cringe
@@rmeloveslife cringe
@@rmeloveslife cringe: the sequel
I’ve lived catless on this earth for 76 years. Tomorrow I pick up my first cat from his foster. Will skip the dry on your advice, and I’ll give him three mealtimes, no grazing. Treats for training, though. (If i invest the time and energy, I *ought* to get a treat, I’d say.)
Just 2 feedings are needed
Good for you! I had been catless for the past 15 years (I'd had cats before that, though), until late October, when someone gave me their 14-yr-old cat. I tell the cat every day how grateful I am that he lives here--I couldn't've asked for a better cat. I hope everything goes well with your new little buddy!! :)
@@lovewingdovewing jackson recommends 4-5 meals a day because in the wild cats eat about 30 meals a day :) im feeding my cats 3 times a day but every one has there own preference 🙈
Congratulations! I feed mine a raw diet 3 times a day. Enjoy your fur baby!
Omg excited for you!!!! Let us know how it goes. Welcome to the club of cat parents!
PLEASE, Part 2 needs to be called, "Meat, Prey, Love"!
Omg yessss
That is BRILLIANT!!! Kudos to you!!!
Hilarious!
(Failing that, something at least as clever.)
Yes, PLEASE
Learned this lesson the hard way when I adopted my current girl, Bug, 7 years ago. Had grown up with indoor/outdoor farm cats who were fed kibble, so naturally just assumed that kibble was the thing to feed cats. I bought the "fancy" kibble and thought she was getting the very best. Then at about 1.5 years old, Bug suddenly got very sick. Constant diarrhea and puking. We kept going back to the vet, who kept prescribing her meds that didn't help. Finally, he suggested giving her expensive Royal Canin "sensitive tummy" kibble. Horrible advice. The diarrhea became less constant, but was not eliminated. The big thing was she ballooned in weight. Put on 3 lbs in 3 months. She couldn't even clean herself anymore due to her weight. Then, because her back end was so badly burned from months of diarrhea, she developed a fear of her litter box and started holding her pee in for hours and hours, then having big accidents on the couch or the rug when she couldn't hold it anymore. It was horrible, and the vet was worse than useless to help us. I finally couldn't take it anymore, and started trying to find resources to help her on my own.
Discovery one: if the cat experiences pain in her litter box, she may develop a fear of the litter itself. Rushed out and bought all new boxes and a new brand of litter that very morning as soon as stores opened. That cat was in the new box going potty before I even finished adding the litter. Her little face looked so relieved.
Discovery two: cats literally cannot digest carbs. And what was that sensitive tummy cat food made of? Almost entirely plant material. WTF. No wonder she'd exploded in weight.
Discovery three: kibble is terrible and totally species inappropriate. Spent days finding the perfect wet food and studying ingredient lists and calorie breakdowns so that her diet was measured to the last calorie going forward.
Once we transitioned to quality wet food, she got so much better. But what I was able to eventually figure out (because I knew every ingredient she was eating and could track flare ups) was that the poor kid simply had food allergies. She had never been sick at all--just allergic to beef and other red meats. She suffered all those months and all those prescription pills I had to shove down her throat when all she needed was appropriate food. I was so mad at myself for not knowing better, the pet food industry for lying to us about what is good for our animals, and especially mad at that vet's total lack of awareness of cat nutrition or ability to help her in any way. Better believe we've got a different doctor now.
Super long story short: feed wet food, and always know what your cat is eating.
One of my cat had the same problem of getting too big, may I know which brand of can food you are feeding that is good for them? Thank You!
🙏🙏
This is huge! The comment, I mean.
@@susanw7290 I started reading all the labels & if it had “meal” after the protein, like chickenmeal, as the top ingredient, it’s a no. Ingredients are listed in the order in which they are in the can, with the largest ingredient listed first, the next largest listed next, & so on. Also, I don’t buy if it has cornmeal, soy, or gluten. I’m fortunate to have a Whole Foods store near me. I buy their Whole Paws, large cans are only $1.09. I refrigerate, at night, any leftovers in the can (covered) & give it the next morning. Petsmart carries a variety that’s good, (I think it’s called Wellness) with meat as top ingredient and little or no grains.
@@celeste-236 just be aware that Ingredients are listed by order of weight that includes water. Whole chicken weighs substantially more simply because it includes that large percentages of natural water in it, plus bone.
My senior cat, Bebe, is currently on her weight loss journey. She ate Purina Cat Chow kibble which I had always thought was heathy. But then she got severely overweight, her hair started falling out, and she had massive poops many times a day. I researched, and dry food was done for. She eats only canned food now, and is already do WAY BETTER!
Just switched my cats to wet food (had them on kibble for financial reasons, unfortunately) and I swear their coats have never been more soft and the dispositions more lovey and snuggly!
@Tobi Gibbons hmmm. That’s a lil suspish
not all dry food are bad. depending on the quality. i find when my cats eat wet food, their poop smells pretty strong. it is very minimal on dry food. and my cats coat is shinier and softer. i think there's good companies that add lots of salmon oil, which is also good for their heart and health.
Be quiet poverty boy
Spend the extra $$$ on healthy food and meat...
save ALOT later in vet bills and suffering. Been there, seen that. And thank you Jackson
Who says what's healthy though I mean most beautique pet foods use more marketing than the vet brands.
@@chasey1978 very true... just comes down to reading the ingredients and getting some community result based feedback.
I've had two cats die from nutrition issues... One directly, one a little more indirectly. The first one developed bladder crystals from his dry food, and I still feel awful because I was a kid and asked my mom to get him Meow Mix because the commercials were cute. He died shortly after due to the crystals forming in his bladder... My other one I had for over 18 years before she passed away from kidney disease because she wasn't holding down enough water. The kidney toxins eventually leaked into her brain and made her zombified just overnight it seemed. DEFINITELY research brands and spend the extra money on your cat's nutrition. It's more than worth it.
@@littlekitsune1 that cat ate dry food and lived to 18 and you say it died because of the food? Sure it wasnt old age? if cats were in fact turning into piss zombies and dropping dead from food related kidney disease left and right, your meow mix would be out of buisness. Is it healthy? Not really, but is it poison?
@@zackjoseph9127 You clearly didn't read my post at all because you mixed up the cats I told separate stories about. But thanks for your rude and uninformed comment, I guess. Real nice to hear my deceased family member referred to as a "piss zombie" and to be insinuated as a liar. But I'll answer your question anyway and say yes, I'm sure he died from the food because obviously I took him to the vet and they were able to tell me what likely caused it. No, it was not old age because he was only 3. The 18-year-old cat was a completely different cat with completely different circumstances, as I said in my post.
Can you do a “how to switch from dry to wet?” Video for those who may want to switch. Also maybe include some low cost wet foods that are good quality that you recommend.
My oldest refuse to eat his dry food I still don’t know why and now he just eat chicken, meat, tuna , salmon and eggs. I realize bcs he stole it from my plate. But the younger just eat dry. Please a video how to switch to wet or half and half.
I think this would be a great idea!!
I’m pretty sure he already uploaded a video about ut
Try transitioning one step at a time.Start with ur normal dry food intake and add alittle bit of wet food.Every each day increase the wet food SLOWLY and decrease the dry food see how it goes.If this does not help google if ur next place for answers
Dude. I’ve never met a cat that you needed to convince them to eat wet food. Just open the can, they’re convinced lol.
I work at a pet supply store and this is exactly what I spend a lot of my time talking to customers about! LOVE this video💜🐱
Kinda looking for some good but actually affordable food for my two indoor kittties. Got any recommendations?
@@sumdude4 the most healthy food for our cats is real Whole Foods, an actual animal protein with for ex a lil spinach, quinoa, rice (without condiments) on the side. Please read the list of veggies/ fruits that cats can eat, always in small amounts since the animal protein is the most important content for their feline nutritional needs 😺
@@rominacerati9417 Ah ok thanks! I wonder if it's possible to do meal prep for cats too. And sounds like opposite of humans to be honest. Need mostly fruits and veg, but lower amount of meat. If that makes sense.
Got any recipes to make my own??
@@rominacerati9417 cats usually need a taurine supplement (at least) on top of any "home made" diet. please look into that. They will probably need a mineral supplement unless you feed them bones of some kind.
Got my first cat in years. She is a barn cat, was gonna feed her cheap kibble. Fell in love with her. She’s now a pet who lives in the bar, bought her better food. And now I’m watching cat videos. Oh my.
They steal our hearts! Is she sleeping with you yet?
Same lol got my first cat in years…actually now I have two…I ended up getting siblings…now I’m watching a bunch of Jackson videos lol…learning a lot I didn’t know about cats before
I'm 49 and just bought 4 Bengal kittens yesterday, haven't had a cat of my own since i was 23@@paulflaks8826
I had to take my female cat to the vet recently because she was suffering from a UTI and had crystals in her pee. She only eats dry food.I never knew this about dry food. This has been an eye opening experience. Definitely switching
Well i didnt know abt dry food being bad for them. My cat had crystals in his pee too and our vet gave us a pack of dry food but specialy for urinary health ... What a irony, huh!? 🤦🤯
@@fannyboni472 yeah. The irony. The thing your vet may not have told you, or perhaps didn't even know him/herself, is that depending on the make up of the crystals in your cat's urinary tract, a "special" urinary health diet can actually make it worse! They have to actually run a sample of the crystals through a lab for testing to know, and if your vet didn't do that, shame on them!!!
In my world, any vet who suggests any kind of dry food is fired now. I had to try a few until I found our current vet.
Just happened to my baby 😭 I'm switching to home cooked meals before she goes into kidney failure !
I'm heartbroken 💔
@@lisar3944 Would you mind sharing what you feed your kitty now? Got the same advice from my vet, to switch to Royal Canin s/o urinary after an emergency bladder-drain due to crystals... Tried the Hills brand first and he absolutely hates it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
@@charlottebergogne My cat had a history of crystals, put on Hills Prescription Urinary food(dry) for many years. Vet never recommended wet food as my cat only ate dry. He lived to be 18 but had Kidney Failure for almost 1 full year. I had to give him daily SubQ fluids(under skin) to maintain hydration. If I only knew sooner over those 18 yrs, I would have given him mostly/all wet food. He hated wet food though 🤷🏻♀️. Hopefully, making the changes will improve your cat’s situation.
I give my cat a handful of dry food to start her day with something different. Then wet food for lunch and dinner. With a fresh bowl of water each day she seems to really dig it.
this video made me look at the bag of kibble i bought yesterday in disgust. what have we been feeding our beautiful queens
I'm rewatching this again, and good golly Jackson. You're a real gem. This is genuinely pro-cat, educational, and funny! I needed a good laugh. I love this. Thank you!!!
I just had the same problem with my cat, terrible smell of her poop. I was told to get dry sensitive dry food for her. Now I want to switch to wet food for my cats I have two Russian blues rescues! Thanks Jackson
I am gonna give you a tip. If you still decide to give your cat dry food, becaus its just cheaper and more convenient as Jackson said, or maby you mix between dry food and wet food like i do, mix the dry food with a bit of warm water. My cat LOVES the water that is ”flavoured” by the food lmao. He drinks it all. I give him this in the morning and then i give him wet food in the evening. My vet also said this is a very good tip wich she is gonna recommend to people!🥰
It's really reccomended not to do that, just buy wet food, don't put water in it, it doesn't hydrate them the way you think it does and its still mostly fillers that isn't proper for a cats diet anyways.
@@foolybaby i give my cat wet food, raw food and grain free dry food mixed with water. Im pretty sure he gets enough water. He rarely drinks from his bowls.
I do this because its cheaper to give him dry food once a day.
And it does hydrate them. For people that cant afford any other food than dry food, this is still better than just giving them dry food.
And also btw who said they dont recommend it?
My vet literally said its good to do this.
I’m so happy I found your comment. I can’t really afford just buying wet food so I mix dry food and wet food. I’ll try your idea and see if my cat likes it. I feel guilty for not knowing this but I’m just glad I know now. I have a question though, do you give your cat dry food mixed with just water or do you add wet food too? And for dinner do you only give your cat wet food or do you mix it with something?
@Cecilla J your comment was very useful! I have a mixed diet for my cat and I knew only dry food couldn't be healthy for him. But now I've been watching and reading with how apparently bad dry food is (I give him mostly wet food in the morning and a small part dry food over the evening). He obviously doesn't drink much so I am a bit worried if he could get sick even though he gets only a bit of dry food. But the idea of putting warm water with the dry food, I definitely need to try it out. Then at least I'll know he still takes in the nessaccary liquid, even during the evening. Thanks so much!
This tip definitely works! We are going to switch to raw food in a near future, so dry food is only temporary. (Didn’t know dry food was bad until our vet told us. And thanks to Jackson, now we know dry food is really bad!)
Hey Jackson, I really appreciate this advice, but it's really hard to follow suit when all vets in my country tell otherwise. In my country, minimum wage is 600€ and 85G of good quality wet foot is around 1,60€. Times 31 days = 49.6€, times two (in my case) cats that's 100€ a month IF I feed 1 satchel of wet food a day for each cat. If they were to eat the advisory amount, it would be at LEAST 3 times a day, which would equal to half of a minimum salary.
For that reason, I order wet food online so I can get it cheaper, but, inevitably, I have to feed them some dry food. For this reason, I opted for the highest quality I found of dry food available (Brand Royal Canin), which from what I understand, is still less than Ideal.
It baffles me how much I am judged by the vets for not feeding ONLY dry food. They consider wet food as some sort of treat.
Thanks to your advice, I am now feeding at least 1 satchel of wet food for each cat a day, but it's absolutely not sustainable to feed more than that a day, and I can only do that because I earn more than minimum wage. But for people who really do get minimum wage, it is absolutely unthinkable to spend ~130€ a month on cat food.
For this reason, I ask you, what DIY options can we provide our kittens so they can have a healthier feeding? Maybe cooking something that I could eat and they could eat too?
Feels super contradictory when I ask for vets advice and they laugh saying DRY FOOD IS ENOUGH, PERFECT AND NOT HARMFUL WHATSOEVER.
I'd love your input on this.
My vets always said that a bit of wet food in the morning or at night and dry food for the rest of the day is the best option. But of course, it all depends on the type of wet food you get. Brands like Friskies is out of the question for example.
I don’t know much about cooked meals, but I have been feeding my cats a “raw diet” for a while now. Youngest one used to have diarrhea and all sorts of other issues with even the best wet food, so I transitioned them.
If you want to feed your cat cooked meals, please make sure to get whatever supplements needed in order to make the meal “complete.” For example, cooking beef will cook away the Taurine (water soluble vitamin that is ESSENTIAL for cats to function), because Taurine is sensitive to heat. So when you cook a meal for you and want to feed it to the cat, a Taurine supplement is a must. Another supplement you should probably add is ground bone to mix into their food (do not give them cooked bone to chew on because it may splinter and hurt your cat), to make sure that your cat is getting enough calcium and phosphorus and their poop will be solid (well-cooked vegetables will also help with their fiber, but they have to be well-cooked because cats are carnivores and cannot breakdown plant matter the way humans can). You should also supplement their food with cheap oily fish (cooked sardines, mackerel, herring, or smelt) for Omega 3s, a scrambled egg about 2 times a week for vitamin e, good quality cranberry juice for iodine and urinary tract health, and if you can find it, beef liver and chicken liver are great for zinc, manganese, and vitamin a that your cat might not potentially get in a “normal” human meal (should be only 5% or less of their plate though).
Sorry that I couldn’t be more helpful. Definitely look up on RUclips how to feed your cat a BALANCED cooked food diet. It would be terrible if your beloved cat were to become ill because their diet was missing something.
sorry to hear that, I would consider the fact maybe cats are not for you at this moment in your life :( , I was in a similar situation with a dog when I was younger and had to give him away due to financial reasons, it sucks but it would be better for your cats if you vetted a new owner, making sure they had the means and the knowledge to properly feed and take care of your cats and give then a new healthier life with them instead, you can always get new kittens when you are able to provide for them
@@harrytomdick problem is not me. Is everyone else. I am, fortunately working abroad. However, if we're following your logic, 95% of my countries population wouldn't be able to have pets. And we all know they aren't better in the streets
My mother used to giver her cat a sardine. One per day. It worked
I feed a combo of wet and dry purely because the dry food has a probiotic in it. We're still learning a lot about gut bacteria in humans but it's clear it's hugely important. I still believe wet food is a necessity, but I think the blend gets the best of both worlds. I feed my cats Nulo if anyone wants to look into it.
you can buy probiotics to add to their water or WET food. There is no "best" of anything coming from dry food - truly nothing.
You can give prebiotic separately
My family and I are getting prepared to adopt 2 cats. We decided to watch your videos to help us get ready and we have learned so much! I had planned to hide and cover litter boxes, not doing that now! Had planned to feed kibble, not doing that now! Thank you for educating us!
Thank gosh they are people like you to actually link the article in the description :)
I was a "high quality" dry food feeder with all of my previous cats and I can't even count the ways that I regret that. I simply didn't know any better, and the vets never tipped me off either, even when they eventually came down with urinary problems, kidney stones, all of the hallmarks of the damage dry food does to a cat!
My current cat has only ever had wet food (premium, real meat) and his physique, alone, is so completely different from my previous cats. He's quite petite for a tomcat, but he's so lean and muscular, even at a now lazy 3.5 years old, I am sometimes in awe. He has zero belly sag - zero! When I pet his back and shoulders it's all rippling muscles underneath. When he stands up you can easily see that he has a bonafide, grade A, rock solid, badonkadonk butt! And he sleeps about 21 hours per day - where can I get these genes?!
Anyway, the difference is night and day. I won't know until he's a bit older whether this diet has done as much as I hope to avoid the "typical" urinary problems that my previous cats had. So far so good, though. I so wish we had a Jackson Galaxy spreading this knowledge about how detrimental dry food is for cats years ago. That would have saved my previous sweet boys a lot of pain and suffering, I suspect.
As your cat ages you also need to look at calcium and phosphorus levels, etc which cause liver issues. They are usually way too high in these so called “premium” cat foods that manipulate the ingredients just to have meat as their first five ingredients but the quality of the meat and other ingredients are poor. It was finally explained to me why vets recommend science diet. It’s because they’ve hired top scientists for decades to correctly formulate dog and cat food for each life stage that won’t cause disease as they age. The new dog manufactures just hire the best marketers who know exactly how make the package labeling look and read the best but there’s no science behind it. It’s all very frustrating
what kind of wet food do you use? im trying to give my cat good wet food (that preferably wont break the bank) thats still good for him as my parents still want me to give him dry food as well. When i can take his health into my own hands/make enough money for better food, hopefully ill be able to cut the dry food completely. He doesnt like it a ton anyway.
@@lynxii3234 I'm new to learning about all this but currently I'm feeding my cats Wellness Turkey pate wet cat food in 12.5 oz cans which is much more affordable through Chewy. I'm waiting to hear back from Wellness on the calcium, phosphorous and salt content in this food, which unfortunately isn't ever on the packaging for any pet food. The best thing you can start with is looking to see if your pet food says "for all life stages". If it says this, look for something else. A one size fits all will be nutritionally unbalanced for some aspect of their life. A kitten needs much higher minerals than an older cat, etc. Male cats are more prone to diseases as they age and we need to tax their liver as little as possible. Honestly though, I don't think there is any perfect pet food out there. We just do the best we can, which in my opinion is giving them affordable AAFCO approved wet cat food that doesn't contain carrageenan or artificial ingredients of any kind.
How about doing a video on cat treats. That is, if you haven’t already. Thanks.
I saw a video where he talked about feeding his cats a raw diet and using freeze dried meat snacks which I have had a hard time finding
@@orangebpumpkin5676 i found some by Nulo but they made my cat vomit and had sharp bone fragments in them so i can't recommend them. apparently, it's common with freeze-dried treats. it seems impossible to find a good treat that's healthy, especially if you're also looking for humane. just thought i'd share my experience in case it's any help, even just as an "i get it". :)
I have Greenies for dental treats. Are they a no no then?
Yes, we need a cat treat video. Some of the moist cat treats have a lot of carbs too.
@@silenceisviolencegovegan4298 yeah, I'd like some guidance on Greenies and Squeeze ups.
I hate the pet food industry so much it's unreal. On top of not being very healthy, many major pet food companies have a history of their dry food causing seizures or other deadly reactions in pets, with no apparent cause (though I kind of doubt it's been properly researched). It's really frustrating how much harm we can cause our pets because of a lack of knowledge & companies that only care about profiting off cheap food. Thanks for the video!
exactly
I knew someone who managed a cat food processing plant.
He told me they have monthly meetings with pharmaceutical companies to create and incorporate the dry food with a more addictive chemical every month as the pet food industry is so competitive.
How f#@*ing sick is that? 👹
I don’t think there’s all that much data to back up what you’re claiming. I think boutique diets are just a very good way to make money.
Can you talk about cats who only like dry food and how to transition them to wet ?! My little one only will eat dry every time I give her wet she won’t eat it.
I have the same propblem. My cat will not eat wet food at all. I've tried all kinds of brands and types. I feel your pain!
I transitioned my three picky cats with relative ease, using the following technique:
I figured out their minimum daily caloric requirement (I forget what it was now, but you can find that info online - don't use the nutritional guidelines on the bag, as they way overestimate how much the average housecat needs) and fed them about 75% of that in kibble. Cats are susceptible to fatty liver disease if they don't eat for a day or two, and I knew it would stress me out if they just refused food, so I wanted to be sure they were getting enough to live, but not enough to be full.
Beside their small portion of kibble (twice a day) I would give them a small portion of wet food. I tried various different brands, formats, flavours, temperatures, and additives and kept track of which they liked best. I started with the cheapest kinds because I know they are more palatable, and I'd waste less money if they didn't eat it. So, what they would do is eat their kibble, then walk away, then return and sniff the wet food. Sometimes they'd eat a small bite. I left the wet food out for about 8-12 hours at a time. If I walked into the kitchen and one of them started yelling at me for kibble, I'd make them a small plate of a different flavour of wet food. Sometimes they'd sniff it, sometimes eat a little, sometimes walk away. I did a lot of dishes around that time!
I just kept doing that every day. Because they were always a bit hungry but never starving, they gradually started to become more interested in the wet food. I'd say it took about 2 weeks for them to start actually eating all of the wet food. Around that time, I reduced the kibble I gave them and increased the wet food. After a week of that, I phased out dry food altogether.
Then I shifted to getting them to eat better quality wet food by mixing the cheap stuff with the expensive stuff, and tracking which expensive foods they would eat more readily than the cheap foods. If they didn't eat much or any of the wet food after about 6 hours, I'd offer them a different flavour. After a few weeks of that, they were eating pretty much anything I put in front of them.
My next goal will be to get them to stop grazing (even on wet food they take a few bites and wander off.) I'll do that by just taking the food away after a certain amount of time so they're more hungry for their next meal and hopefully eat more of it in one go.
@Carmina Burana I avoid Science Diet. Too often it has corn in it. The vets seem to push it because Hills pushes them. Your vet is not always the one to ask about your cat's diet. Most get very little training on nutrition. Fed Science Diet years ago thinking I was giving my cats a good diet. Found out that at least at that time they were using a preservative that was a carcinogen. Also the food lacked enough taurine. So one of my cats went blind, developed a heart condition because of that. I lost another to cancer. Check out the doctors Jackson has listed.
Have you try mixing it little wet food to dry food? In time, add more wet food..
I'm in the same situation. I adopted a 9 year old cat and I feed her wet food and a tiny portion of dry for the evening. She'll leave the wet food but devour the dry. I'll stop feeding her the dry and see how she does during the night.
These videos are INVALUABLE. I feel so bad for feeding my precious girl dry food only diet, after my vet told me that was what was best as it "cleans their teeth" I'm so angry that I trusted someone to give me honest advice, and instead they told me to do something that I now know, causes harm to cats. Thank you, Jackson. I'm going to watch every single video of yours because I truly trust you and think you know what you're talking about. Much love 🐈❤️
I told one of the ladies at my cat's vet that we were switching her over to wet food, because I'd seen your videos about kibble being bad for them. She tried to tell me that cats need to eat dry food because it's better for their teeth. I was a little annoyed because after seeing your videos I've done my research and you are 100% right on most kibble being horrible for them. Since she's been on wet food she's much happier and less gassy lol. And she doesn't drink from her water bowl a billion times within an hour because she's getting water from her food too. I still have some of her old dry food, but I normally use it as treats or if she acts like I'm starving her between meals I'll give her a very small serving to hold her over for a bit. I also have some other treats that I give her maybe once or twice a day for dental health, but I don't like giving her dry food or treats besides those moments, and she seems to appreciate it lol.
Omg I can’t believe none of this was covered in all my training at pet supplies plus 😵 makes me want to get rid of all the dry food for all my friend’s and family cats
Well u gotta make money
My cat got an ulcer recently, stopped eating because of pain... I ended up switched her over to Rachel ray's wet food completely... And it saved her life. She didn't like my home made chicken meal, so I have to give her the expensive stuff. It can get really expensive, so I don't know if this is really practical for families who are having trouble feeding themselves during a pandemic.
thank you jackson, love light, laughter and cat mojo to you and yours. love bernadette xox
I'm so glad I saw this. My little guy is still 4.5 months and on wet kitten food. I was thinking about the canned food that you get from the vet when he gets a little older. I've heard good things. I'll also cut way back on the dry treats. He just started liking them so I've been leaving them out. Thanks Jackson!
hey! I would still be wary of vet branded wet food, they still contain byproducts, and do not fulfill the needs of a cat's ancestral diet (household cats have nearly no difference to wild cats in how they process food)
most vets in North America are funded by the biggest pet food conglomerates; nestle (purina), colgate-palmolive (hills), and mars (royal canin)
dietitian here, just a quick aside, the glycemic index is the "unit" used to compare how fast a food will raise blood sugar. so saying a cat's glycemic index rises is incorrect. sounds like jackson just got a little mixed up in his words, but everything else is still sound info.
Him saying that confused me, as I know what the glycemic index is. Your explanation is sensible, and respectful. Thanks.
We do dry but we open a can and give in between. I hope that's OK 😬😬
@@lisalee2885 I do 2/3 wet and 1/3 dry. Not the best, but significantly better than having a full dry food diet.
Man, I do not only agree totaly with wat you're teaching us all here - as a Cat Dad with over 50 years of experience I should know something by now too - but the way you present and tell it!! You're ACE boyo, so please DO keep up the good work and spreading the word; I wish I had your presentation skills (and looks too)! My little PiPi-puss sends you her love from over here in The Netherlands where cats are plentifull
We always gave our cats wet food but our one year old kittens have got overweight and the vet said we should be giving them dry only. So it's hard to know who to believe when the apparent experts tell us to give dry only! It's not even cheaper. The specialist dry food is incredibly expensive!
I had a cat that would only eat dry food, never any kind of wet food. His coat was super shiny and soft. My current cat eats wet and dry but he won't finish the wet and sometimes barely even touches it. I keep an eye on the ingredients, and his coat is also very shiny and silky soft, so I'm with you, not sure what to make of this either 🤷🏼♀️
Ask people you know that have old cats.20+ yrs what they feed their cats.
Ask people with cats that only got to about 10-12 yrs old?
And you will get your own answer.
Lower the amount of wet food, kibble is never ever ever the right option.
The cat I adopted who was obese was fed kibble all her life before I switched her to wet food. She had a thyroid problem and kidney failure.
The cat I adopted when she was a kitten and fed wet food (specific brands I nutritionally checked) lived to 26 and only developed early kidney failure within the last few months of her life.
Jackson, thank you so much for sharing and educating us! So many dry cat foods claim to be nutritionally "complete" so they make you think its OK, will definitely be making the switch with our cat Bella. She goes through phases of being "off" the wet food we'd been feeding her so we ended up mainly feeding her dry which I now realise was a big mistake. Thank you so much again for highlighting something so important, you're the best! Now off to research the wet food options!
I just wanted to add a quick comment here. I am so happy you have given such an informative video on dry cat food . I work with diabetic cats and many are on dry food . We encourage changing them to canned pate to help try to get them regulated!
We give our cats both dry food from an automatic cat feeder, along with some wet food for dinner. They will eat the dry, but meow in happy anticipation for their wet food. And they have remained between 11 and 12 pounds which their vet has been happy about. I think the main thing is using the automatic feeder which limits their total intake to a certain amount, and thus cuts down on grazing.
I’m in the same situation. it’s always hard for me personally to feed them wet food more times than dinner since I have ADHD. and also, when we feed our cats just wet food, they’ll get diarrhea or wet poops. this is not good for our older cat since he has long fur. we end up having to constantly try to brush or cut the stuck diarrhea out…
I got lucky and my cats don't over eat their dry food, so leave out a big bowl of it, and supplement with tuna or some wet food 1-2x a day
omg, I'm so excited about this and I need the rest of this series asap. love it!
As great as all the information is with the abundance of cats there are in rescues or strays we need to just encourage people to adopt and provide a loving home where the cat is loved and fed.
THANK YOU.
I agree that dry food may not be the best choice, however it really depends on the quality of the dry food. A lot are crap quality (the common commercial brands) but there are also some specialty brands of dry cat food that actually are high quality. I feed my kitty "Orijen Cat & Kitten" and the first 10 ingredients are fresh or raw meat ingredients, no byproducts, no wheat, no corn. I also mix in some wet food & a bit of extra spring water to make sure she's getting enough water for at least two of the total daily meals (I feed her 3-4 meals, she's still a growing kitten) and replenish her drinking bowl with clean spring water frequently.
I’ve checked and there is still 20% cabs.. and 20% fat… every dry food is unfortunately bad
Agree, Orijen is one of the good brands. A quality, protein forward, grain free dry can be part of a healthy balanced diet in addition to wet food and water fountains.
Dr. Pierson is where I learned how to feed my cats! I’m so glad you included her!
One of my senior kitties take THYROID Medication.
Another just had her FORTH surgery to remove cancer .
Vet said that was the best he could do.
I WASN'T READY to give up on her.
Retracted her eyeball Last resort to do Everything I can.
SO FAR SO GOOD
Cancer hadn't returned 🤞🤞🤞🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏♥️
I learn something new from your show every single day I appreciate what you do for the community love your cat toys too
Thank you Jackson! It all makes sense now. When I fed my cat dry she’d come for a drink like 3+ times a day. Now I feed her raw she barely comes for a drink.
I think cats are not the only ones who come straight out of the desert because jackson looks really good as a cowboy 🤣
This video is honestly a great help! I just adopted a kitten a week ago, so it's good to know these things early on. Jackson is the kitty guru. My Umbry prefers to eat wet food anyway lol, but sometimes I'll use very little dry food in interactive food toys as treats. Umbry also LOVES churu lol. I don't free feed him and he memorized his feeding schedule, tho he can be really sassy about it sometimes 😂
This is such critical information Jackson! My cats have been on my homemade supplemented raw food for 20+ years because I was dealing with health issues and very unsatisfied with commercial cat foods. Making raw is expensive and a lot of work. Thankfully there are solid alternatives these days.
All of the vets I've spoken to in the Netherlands say dry food is fine, as long as you get ones that are tailored for your cats lifestyle. My cats are indoor cats so they get fed Hill's or Royal Canin's Indoor dry food. Vets say this has the required nutritional values as it's made specifically for cats. They do strongly recommend not getting cheap cat food though.
That's the problem really. Which dry food you choose. Most people probably buy the ones you see at the supermarket which is usually the worst ones so of course most cats are obese and develop problems overtime. I would never feed my cats those dry foods. But if you pay attention to the ingredients, there's ton of good options that you can order online or buy at pet stores and vets.
vets are not nutritionists. they believe dry is the best because there are "scientifically proven" researches but the thing is these researches are usually funded by millionbuck kibble companies.
OMG I love that intro~!
I never would have guessed you have such a great 'Cowboy' voice.
I'm a vet. My cat only gets canned food. No dry food at all!
I just saw Dav Naz animal rescue and so many of us see neglect in his videos....could you watch a couple. Maybe you may know what can be done 😥🙏🙏🙏
my vet told me to ONLY feed my cat dry food. she said it’s better for their teeth. what’s your opinion?
@@butterflyfairy6730 does your vet push a certain dry food? Sometimes they get paid to push it but also some vets just believe that old belief.
@@butterflyfairy6730 she’s absolutely wrong. She’s prob excellent at treating illness but vets are often not knowledgeable about nutrition. Just like human doctors and nutrition - I work for surgeons, they are excellent at surgery but shitty at nutrition.
I just use fancy feast gourmet naturals. Studies have shown that dry food does not make their teeth better, you still need annual dental cleaning and daily teeth brushing .
I am slow-blinking at J. Galaxie! You are grrrrrrrreat! It's all about your cat. Prove me wrong. This is great education and compassion - and I soooooo appreciate your approach. Learning so much - and I've bonded with cats since the (uh hem) 80s! Thanks.
Very good info! I lost my cat due to the dry food I was told to feed him by a lazy vet. After researching this topic, the best and brightest minds in the feline industry and top veterinarians mostly agree dry food is no good. I'm really sorry that I leaned this too late but I won't make that mistake again. Thanks Jackson for taking the time to research this new way of feeding cats and letting everyone who follows you to now know the truth about what cats were designed to eat. God bless.
What are your thoughts on adding homemade meat broths to add to their dry food? No sodium, just pure stock.
I believe that cats need both - wet and dry. The wet for meat and water and the dry for their teeth. I think the cronchin - especially a larger food kibble size helps clean their teeth.
You can get a dental kibble. I also believe that most cats do self regulate their intake but there are a few that don't.
That's what I was always told that dry food is better for their teeth I give my cat wet food once a week as a treat cuz I was also told that it's more unhealthy
@@Aj_Leigh Wet food can make them fat. They don't need the moisture if they drink plenty of water. My cats eat a lot of dry food and they seem ok with that despite what JG says.
Misconception that dry food helps their teeth. Does nothing, get them raw diet with small bones and muscle meat/organs.
@@Aj_Leighyour poor poor cat
@@mikereiss4216lol biggest joke on cat diet
What if my cat literally refuses everything but dry food? (And I've tried to get him to eat wet food multiple ways)
Definitely same boat here. My kitty won’t eat it no matter the brand, flavor, prep etc.. we finally had to donate all of our unopened wet food to a shelter so the money wouldn’t go to waste lol.
Same here! I’ve tried every single thing to transition my cat to wet food, but he won’t eat it. I’ve tried everything. Mixing it, wetting dry food, raw meat, 43 different types of wet food (brands and flavours, everything).He won’t eat anything but dry food.
@@michaelparness2896 maybe start with slightly adding water to their current dry food and mix it till its softened. if they eat that then after a while mix in wet food with the dry food until its all moist. some cats have slow transitions and just giving them moisture to start will help the transition.
@@Saphara Awesome tips! Thanks 😊 I’ll give it a try
If you haven't tried this already, think somtimes slightly heating the wet food can help. Just a bit to allow the aroma to be more tantalizing.
But like others said before, some cats just need very very slow and sneaky introductions. It's like feeding kids veggies 🤭. I hope you find something that works!!
Cracking me up to see all your Scully shirts. I have the same ones! Must be a quality musician thing!
Thanks for this, Jackson! i've always been curious if dry food was actually good for cats...so definitely interested in this series!
Cowboys and cats. The most unlikely but godly pairing ever
I mean....have you ever tried to herd cats 😹😹
Meowdy partner
@@rhondaarnesen6684 It's been done, but it's hard work (search RUclips for "Herding cats: Don't let anyone tell you it's easy...Classic Super Bowl Commercial EDS 2000") 😺
@@davidc9081 This is one of the very best commercials (even videos) I've ever seen. Well worth looking up!
@@LuckyMe8806
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Thank you - I’ve been questioning the appropriateness of feeding my girls dry food. This is so helpful!
Wow. I wish I knew this years ago. Last year, my long-haired domestic best friend, Hope, died of complications from diabetes. I let her nibble all day on dry food. I feel responsible for her demise. She was 16 years old when she passed. She would still be here if I had only known. BUT, at least I learned - and thanks to Jackson and all his videos and tv shows, I am much more knowledgeable. I waited a year to bring in another furry rescue, Chloee, a Maine Coon mix. She is 2 years old, and already needs to be on a diet! Thankfully, dry food will NOT be on the list! Thanks, again, Jackson, you helped saved my cat from an early demise.
Don't be so hard on yourself, you didn't know better. There is a big industry that told you dry food was fine for your cat. Also, 16 is a very nice age for a cat. You will know better from now on, that's what counts!
16 years is older than most cats get. Dry food is not bad for your cat, this is BS. Okay, if you buy the cheap stuff on supermarket, that is probably bad for your cat. Buy high quality food, wet, dry, raw or whatever.
I lost my beloved cat at only 7 years old to kidney failure. You did the best you could for your kitty with what you knew
Sixteen is above average. That is a great life. It was not the dry food that did it.
She had a great life, 16 years is what cats live. dont be hard on yourself
Not only is this an amazing series by itself, but it might make people question what they themselves eat, and believe is healthy without any real justification. As a native person, I have always thought that us animals are adapted to eat preindustrial foods. I have certainly witnessed the illness and early death that the modern western diet creates. Glad to see a logical, empathetic conversation about the issue!
Thank you! You, your work is greatly appreciated.
This was an awesome break down on dry food! Can you make a video (if you haven't already) what is a good amount of wet food to feed our cats to keep them at a good weight & what are some good or bad brands or what to look for in the food? Thank you your amazing !
You've cleared up about the dry food! when I was a kid we had 2 cats and all we gave them was dry food and tuna too. I just found a stray with 5 kittens so I've been doing so much research and learning so much, and about the dry food. Thanks for the informative information! So, dry food is like feeding them McDonald's all day smh
That´s it, no more dry food for my cat - ever. Thank you very much for this information.
I know I’ve been needing to watch this video for quite some time now as far as the cats nutrition goals and I’m already sold on the dry cat food production process
Thumbs up just for your total dedication to the opening clip.
Ugh, I'm unfortunately in a sticky situation where the pandemic has severely cut my income, so I've had to start adding kibble into my cat's diets (it's just generally so much cheaper per serving compared to high quality wet/raw food) It's still mostly raw or canned, and the kibble is as high quality as I can possibly can find, but it's still such a bummer.
Whole Hearted pet food, I know Petco carries them. Inexpensive compared to other grain free cat food. Limited income is limited 😿 Also, ask for assistance from local cat rescue groups!! Never hurts to ask 🖤💚🖤
I hope there's pet care assistance in your state! But I, personally, think needing to mix is fine when budget is a concern. I totally think this advice is more for folks who CAN do better but, choose not to because it's easier.
@@PrincessIzusu Thanks for the heads up! I actually don't live in the States, but I work with local animal rescue groups in my city and I think they would be willing to chip in if I asked, but frankly, a ton of people are doing much, much worse than me and I would rather their time and resources go towards them :) But I'm glad you brought up pet care assistance, I'm sure someone reading these comments will find it super helpful to know it's an option!
You could try home made food, using inexpensive parts of the chicken or turkey--I had to do that last month when I ran out of food and my cat food delivery was late, and didn't have much money to spend on prepared cat food. Buying the "innards" was much cheaper than regular cuts of turkey (it was the weekend before Thanksgiving so there was a huge supply of fresh turkey giblets on sale at the local market). I bought some really cheap turkey backs, hearts, livers, and gizzards, baked them, and then ground them in my blender, and found a few recipes online that my kitty seemed to enjoy. I froze the leftovers (haven't used them yet, don't know if it will work after I thaw them and try to feed him). Just a suggestion!
Great advice here. But don't stress yourself, you're doing the best you can by your cats at the end of the day and you should feel good about that. The fact you care so much about their nutrition is wonderful. It is what it is for now but I'm sure they will be fine. Many situations in life, permanent or temporary aren't always our ideal but we have to work with what we have. You sound as though you're doing a great job
Fantastic, creative, & most importantly, informative! I wish I had known these things 30+ years ago.👍🏻🙀🐈😻
I'm watching this and crying. I love all four of my babies, but there's no way I could afford really good raw or canned food for all of them. One of them refuses to eat anything BUT kibble. We've tried filets, bits of turkey, soups, pate, EVERYTHING. She will ONLY eat kibble. We even prompted her with some baked salmon, nothing.
Cats are different than dogs. They’re more “food insecure”, meaning they’re not inherently adventurous with their food. A lot of times you have to show them that the new food you’re offering is safe. It’s good to slowly incorporate new foods into their old food and start building it up until you’re able to make a full switch.
It will take a while but, if that still doesn’t work there’s other brands that make a healthier kibble like tiki cat.
As to help her get water if you do continue using kibble, you can just add a bit of water to the kibble
Hope this helps!
Give her raw chicken and raw salmon. Pound for pound, raw meat is cheaper. I ain't seen no cat food cheaper than raw bone-in chicken thighs. Cats need raw meat, raw bones, and raw organs. Cat's don't need expensive cooked salmon.
@Tensei Maybe because my financial situation changed due to no fault of my own? And they have food, water, toys, and love? And did ya miss the part where I said REALLY GOOD like high quality raw food is what I can't afford?
@@bunnillabean What do you mean 'really good like high quality raw food'? What is pound for pound cheaper than human-grade raw meat bought in bulk? Also, why can't you go get a fishing pole and fish for trout or other fish that don't have thiaminase? You're making excuses, and using the 'too expensive' route is not believable. What do you eat yourself? A 10lb cat doesn't need more than a quarter lb of meat a day. I make my cats raw food and it's approximately $3 per pound of chicken, bones, fish, heart, and liver. Per cat that eats only 1/4 lb a day, that's a mere $0.75 or 75 CENTS per day per cat to feed my cats RAW human-grade food. What's your excuse again???? Pound for pound, ain't no Fancy Feast cheaper than that.
@@TxHoneyBee you're kind of being an arrogant dick
I feed half dry and half wet at the moment - the dry is there to provide calming to them as a vet prescribed calming feed as I move home by royal canin - i haven't yet been able to find anything similar in a wet version. It is definitely not for cost and my cats seem to be very happy with it - it is only for the short term and i think in moderation it's okay. After first watching this - (Already understood about carbs and the processing) I then felt so bad, but I know this is the right thing for these babies at the moment. Greta video though and thought provoking for us to research and take responsibility :)
Loved this very informative video. Especially the beginning 🤣
Already took one of your advice about not free feeding. My cats tend to only eat their dry kibble in the morning and evening times but have seen them graze and thought it was normal myself. As I said before, I'm glad I followed you as I care about my cats just as I do about my own human children's well-being. I want them to be happy and live a long life, so thank you Jackson for creating these videos ❤
I loved this video! About 3-4 years ago I switched my cats from dry food to a scheduled, wet food diet. I mainly did this because one of my cats had crystals in his urine which ultimately resulted in an overnight visit to the vet after he could not urinate.. I share my experiences with anyone who has overweight cats or cats who are also having urinary issues. My cats are much slimmer, healthier and happier now!
my cat also had urinary issues and i switched to three raw meals for him. Even though he was not overweight, it was still a much better choice of food for him.
This was so helpful. Never knew how bad dry food is. My baby has had some litter box aversion and now I’m pretty sure she’s been constipated. Feeling pretty awful about it, but will be getting her something better quality today.
It's so sad how many people miss feed their cats because corporations are all about money and not education. Thanks Jackson!
Hi, Jackson! I´m Carol from SP, Brasil and I´d like to thank you SO MUCH for this (these...) videos! I always liked the way you take care of them, and you deal with different cats, but this video is A-MA-ZING and "life-changing"... we decided to do as you said and we have totally different cats. I never heard of something like that, but I can assure that everything is true and our cats love you even more! I'd also like to thank you about ALL your videos and tips... they help us become better tutors
Quite the production! Nice! And, of course, great. Thanks. ❤❤❤
Thank you! I switched to wet food a couple months ago based on my Vet's recommendation (my cat was a little too fluffy) and noticed that the water bowl is now touched sparingly. I used to fill the bowl up twice a day because they drank so much water before. Now I know what is going on... Thanks!
hey! could you explain what you meant by ‘too fluffy’? i thought a softer, fluffier coat meant they were healthy. no hate, just wondering for future reference
You made me have hope that not all vets are blinded! I would really like to switch my cats to fully wet. HOWEVER, my mother is easily influenced and I'm afraid if I ask the vet about what they think.. And if they insist on dry food, my mother will follow in their steps.
I really love your advice, and I take it for most things when concerning my furbabies. I also don't disagree with you about the negativities of dry food, but I do want to correct you on something.
I don't feed my cats dry because its convenient, in fact the mix of dry, raw, wet and water that I had to measure out and do the math for myself is more work then just dumping a handful of kibble in a bowl.
I put dry food in the mix, because I can't afford to buy them only raw. I can't afford to buy the high quality wet. I barely have enough money to buy meat for my partner and I after regular groceries and necessities. The dry is there, because if it wasn't my babies wouldn't be getting the amount of food they need to actually live healthily. With enough calories to sustain them, their growth (youngest is 4months) and the energy they spend playing and exercising with us everyday. I do it because I have to, and because it fits in my budget.
So please don't say I'm feeding them dry, because I don't have the energy to give them something better.
This ^^. I also am extremely concerned that MANY people just simply don't have the knowledge to put together a safe, raw food meal plan. Food-born illness is a thing. One wrong step and you can make your cats seriously ill. My vet also recommended cutting OUT the wet food because of weight issues, and feeding my cat ONLY dry, because we can control her calories and because she needs the crunchy food for her teeth (to help with plaque buildup). I'm very tired of people saying that Vets don't know anything about nutrition and we should just ignore them in favor of the latest and greatest fad on the internet. My vet has more knowledge than some random dude with a RUclips channel. Jackson is a great behaviorist (I remember the tv show), but I think its extremely dangerous for actors to be promoting nutrition when they aren't educated veterinarians.
Well said!
@@karakelso4747 does wet food make them gain weight faster? I thought it was the other way around, and that dry food made them bigger...
I agree that feeding dry food is often NOT about the owners convenience and ig does sting for Jackson to make that suggestion, but I think we should also know this guy well enough from all his video by now - he I trying to advocate for our cats and get us to consider things from their perspective. However, I think the suggestion JG is speaking without research unto this area is just plain wrong and rude - he clearly links some citations in the description which he also mentions in the video.
Also I can tell you from experience that many Vets, like doctors, get minimal training on nutrition and that they rely on food companies for advice or links to their veterinary nutritionists, and they will have an obvious bias. If a vet wants to know about nutrition they need to research it. Many don't so will advise that dry food is best - more 'accurate' content and helps dentition.
Also food companies do not label their product well. As an experienced dietitian I still struggle to work out what pet food is best and how much to give.
In answer to someone's query about being advised to use dry food for weight loss. I think this probably came from the fact that most "diet" branded pet food is dry and these products tend to have more detailed feeding guides. They are also likely to have more research behind them as they are products developed especially for losing weight. Versus using a decent wet food and feeding less - how to identify said "decent" brand and the how much to feed as jnder feeding a cat and too rapid weight loss is also a problem.
Finally, I also have a cat with diabetes ( as well as one with hyperthyroidism and endocarditis). My vet just slavishly told me to use "diabetic food" and brabd as long as the label saud diabetes.... no advice on feed timing, not grazing, timing of insulin,changing insulin. Move to 100% wet food (from dry). I had to make all of the suggestions and do a lot of research to find good quality high meat content wet foods that are complete (a lot of very expensive brands are not and therefore described as complementary). I inherited her on a regimen of free feeding of dry food with 7U insulin twice per day at random/variable times and highly variable blood glucose levels of 2.5-20+ (mmol/L I live in UK). She is now on wet food in two meals per day (I work) given at 12hr intervals with her 1.5U insulin and has blood glucose between 5 and 15 mostly. It's not perfect but she isn't a perfect patient and will decide to eat more or less some meals - however she is maintaining her weight and 15 y.o. going strong 4+ years after diagnosis of diabetes. I know I probably won't have her too much longer but I feel like when the day comes, I will be able to say that mistakes and all - I did my best for her.
@@SarahR308 What wet food did your vet recommend? Of you don't mind me asking? I'm on disability and have 2 cats. Bothers old. 1 since he was 8weeks old and 1 I just rescued. They gave me science diet dry food for her when I adopted her and I have wet food from American journey and fancy feast all are tuna,salmon, and seafood flavors and they love them 2x a day. 5am and 6pm then they get dry food throughout the day... I'm on disability so I buy in bulk from chewy cause I can't drive... so just a t wondering. The ingredients label is so tiny you can't read it.. at least add t I can't. No with this brain tumor. It's taken me over 30 min to type this text cause I'm losi g my vision. SHOULD HAVE DONE IN CAPS I CAN SEE IT BETTER. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED GREATLY 🙏🏻 THANK YOU ANGELA JAMES FARRAR
This has changed me, and blown my mind. Never even thought like this till now and now I’m on the journey to transition our youngest cat to wet food
Wow eye opener, very helpful and I definitely going to change to wet food
I did notice my cat got fat when I started her on dry food. Now that she switched to wet, her weight dropped tremendously. I wish she would stick to the raw diet. She would starve most of the day cos she prefer canned wet foods.
same here, 3 of my 5 were chubby, when i switched from dry to wet, they lost weight and look soooo much healthier!
Hi Jackson, I feed my cat an expensive brand of wet food (Encore) once a day and then give her also a bit of a medium range expensive dry food (Scrumbles), which she really likes. The analytical constituents of the dry food are: 36% protein, 21% fat content, 2% fibre, 9% inorganic matter, 0.5% omega 3, 2.9% omega 6.
The composition is: 75% chicken (34% dehydrated and 30% freshly prepared chicken, 8% chicken fat, 3% chicken liver), 19% rice, 2.7% dried alfalfa, 1.5% salmon oil, 0.4% dried cranberries, 0.07% dried carrot. It's gluten-free, and from my understanding also low carbs. I thought this was a good meal, but now I'm not sure anymore 🤔
Basically you take 100% and then substract the 5 first analytical constituents including water/moisture (If it's not in there, it's usually 8 or 10%). For your example above that's 22-24% carbs, not great, but better than what most people feed to their cats. I personally aim for a maximum of 20%, but depending on your budget you can get as low as 5% and less.
I'd say that's a decent food, not super high on carbs and has 75% of good ingredients, although I'm not sure about those 19% rice, that sounds like a lot of rice. I think you can probably find better for around the same price.
Jackson explains the cooking process and asks 'why do cats like it?'. Me: puts on full screen, turns up volume and leans in close...
I love this, thank you for the tips Jackson!
Dhaka Bangladesh - wanted to thank you. 7 weeks ago rescued an orphaned tiny kitten on our balcony - had a few scares over the 7 weeks but we seem to have made it through. Your videos helped - not only informationally but also just ‘up
every two hours for feeding’ and need something to watch:-)
No wonder the boys get antsy as soon as the weekend is arriving. They get fish in the evening from Friday to Sunday, and Sofus in particular is especially obstinate about it.
Damn it, I've been lied to for all these years. I've lived under the presumption my cat has been eating better, and more nutritiously than me
I feel so validated. I have never been a fan of dry food.
I’m so glad I watched this vid, along with the wet food vid about good/bad ingredients. Our floofs, Cleo, has been off dry food now for a couple months, only good wet canned. She lost over a pound (now just under 13lbs) and her energy level has gone up a lot wanting to play more! Thank you 🙏🏻 ❤
I have to admit you are very funny and charming. But the most important thing of all is your information! You are so good about giving us important information about our cats to help us to love them and to care for them so much better. Thank you so much for all you do Jackson Galaxy
So happy to see this subject being covered! Folks, if you’re inspired to transition to raw food, please, PLEASE make sure you do your research and ensure it’s properly balanced. You risk serious vitamin and mineral deficiencies if you just chop up some chicken for your cat. Look into ‘completers’ like Felini Complete or EZ Complete if you’re not sure - they make it really easy, or buy commercial, complete raw. I’ve been feeding home made raw for two years and there are so many benefits so I hope this inspires more people to question the dry food obsession if their cats are able to switch.
So a piece of meat is not what a cat would eat in wild?
How about a whole fish?
Is it the lack of organs when ppl only feed muscles?
@@YeshuaKingMessiah correct. What they eat in the wild is not just a piece of meat - they’ll eat pretty much the whole prey - bones, fur/feathers, eyes, brain and other organs, although I have seen them specifically avoid the stomach. All of those contain nutrients that aren’t found in cuts of meat.
You also have to be careful with fish as it can contain mercury. I go with sardines/pilchards which present a lower risk. Others find alternative sources of omega 3s.
@@theibecks I just don’t get how guys who only feed their dogs Tbones etc have healthy dogs 🤷🏼♀️
All-dry is bad, i agree. As a vet tech i've been taught that a 50:50 diet is ideal though, as long as the food is of high quality. I feed my Bengal kitten Purizon to graze on and Animonda Carny as wet food in the morning and evening. Sometimes, he gets a portion of raw chicken to gnaw on. The breeder I got him from feeds her cats the same dry food. Bengals have a sensitive digestive system. Both food choices are grain free and contain mostly meat, muscle, bone and organ with some water mixed into it. In case that doesn't hydrate him enough I have a very fancy drinking fountain for him. I personally don't think we can compare house cats and raw cats when it comes to diet anymore. I also doubt that raw cats in the wild don't suffer from any nutrient shortages. A lot of research has been put into high quality dry food and that's not for nothing. Just saying.
I totally agree with you. Jackson is not a vet. My kitten had digestive problems on raw food. Now we feed him with extra high quality dry and wet food, and he is finally ok and gaining weight.
Cats nutritional needs have not changed because they are so close to they are very genetically similar to their wildcat ancestors (unlike dogs who are better at utilizing starches than wolves). However wild cats can suffer nutritional issues from starvation, parasites etc.
I've been feeding my indoor cat three meals a day; two of high quality wet food, and one of high quality dry food for sterilixed indoor cats and that's supposed to have low carbs. Not low enough, though, so often I give only half of the recommended daily portion at the dry food meal. (I don't free-feed.) And he hasn't gained weight at all it seems, in about three years of this combination diet and relatively consistent meal times.
The thing is, I'm hesitant to give the dry food portion up because the dry food I've chosen has tons and tons of added nutrients and even something that's supposed to actually help keep the urinary tracts balanced and healthy, as in goods that I'm not entirely convinced even high quality wet foods have.
I mean, they do have added nutrients too but it looks like the dry food in question has sooo much more. I honestly doubt it's reasonably possible to scarp all that stuff together as suppliments to add to the wet food meals. What I add to one of the wet meals is half a tea spoon of fish oil for Omeaga-3, if we're out of the dry food.
He does drink quite a bit of water any time after he's done with his dry food meal. Not all the time but just once or twice some time after whilst on days he doesn't get dry food he doesn't drink necessarily at all. Still, I'm worried that even that one tiny dry food meal might hurt his kidneys in a long run. I'm taking a look at that raw feeding video but I have two cats, and one of them suffers from the typical tooth disease requiring expensive vet visits, so I doubt I can afford that diet type.
Try putting water on his dry food so it soaks it up and rehydrates the food a bit, a couple tablespoons should do
@@roni3456 Thanks, but I actually decided to limit the kibble for just an occasional snack meal and keep feeding canned food and raw food balls instead. Especially as his sister won't eat much kibble anyway. I found out that in my country there's ready-made complete food raw food for cats made domestically and it's not that expensive. Even if I fed them nothing but that raw food, it would double the monthly cost but seeing to that (thaks to Zooplus) the monthly cost to begin with was so low it really doesn't become a problem. :) Though, I do still feed them canned food as well, high quality, because there's only 3 recipes in the raw foods. I want them to have more variety. :)
Adopted a new cat recently and my vet told me to only feed her with dry food, which didn't make sense to me at all. I don't understand why vets are so behind when it comes to feline nutrition. I'm glad I've found this video!
This is better than the cat litter Western ad. I don’t even have a cat, but due to watching all kinds of pet care shows, I see that ad regularly here in the yild, yild RUclips.
Shelter said dry food only. Vet says dry food for long lasting teeth.I’ve only had one cat that my vet gave green light for wet food, and it was an 18-year-old who had lost some of her teeth.
Yep, agreed. I switched my cats food from kibbles to completely raw diet 3 years ago (she's almost 6 now), I was like, oh jeez! The best decision I've ever made for her. Yes it does take some time and energy to prepare raw, but definitely worth the effort for sure 😚
My cat is 6 and has been on a dry food diet her entire life. I want to introduce a raw diet or at the very least wet food. However she has absolutely no interest in wet food. She is not even tempted by people food. How do I get her to enjoy a newer healthier diet?
My cats are not fat, they love the crunch of kibble, drink plenty of water, and have great teeth. They get some tuna as a treat, but mostly kibble. The starving kitten I just took in won't eat wet food, either. She ate enough Hills Science Diet chicken flavored urgent care food to stay alive, but didn't start to eat enough to gain weight until after a week when I started offering her kibble moistened with water. I tried half a dozen flavors but she just wasn't interested. 🤷♀️
OMG I love the analogy of the hyper k8d and the diet of Twinkies. So apt.
I am going to be a first time cat mom in two weeks so I am doing everything I can to research to be ready, wish me luck!
What should I feed my cat then? What wet food brand is the best?
There are lots of good brands, just google it and learn what should be in the ingredients. The first ingredient should be actual meat, not meal byproduct and not liver. There shouldn't be soy in the ingredients either. My cats like Instinct, though that ones pricey.
Raw Meat
Search for grain free canned food made only whith meat and below 5% of veggies
@@aspiringcrone thanks. I'll check out instinct. Right now my cat eats Purina one dry food but after watching this I don't want to feed her that anymore!
@@druidobianco9734 Thanks I'll check it out! =)