i would say if he is seven, let him eat what the heck he wants. lol. in theory, geese are vegetarians (unlike ducks). but if he likes it and it's not hurting him, i say go for it. maybe the senior formula has less meat than the regular so that's why he likes, sort of like a grain supplement or ? i have a goat who was raised by someone else on dry dog food. goats are also vegetarians. in theory, this should have not only killed him due to the meat but also given him terrible, terrible stones. when i got him, i had to teach him that hay was goat food. he had no idea. he never seemed interested in my dog's food, they ate a "good" brand. then i was costcutting and bought the cheapest storebrand possible. omg. he RAN toward it. it was like he was saying THIS LADY HAS BEEN STARVING ME AND SHE FINALLY BROUGHT ME SOME FOOD. lol. he is extremely healthy, makes pretty baby goats and so forth. he is not eating dog food right now, but only because i do not have a large dog to buy that kind of dog food for. again, i was wondering if it was that the cheaper brand had less meat in it. so, basically a grain supplement. if he's happy. let him be. there might be things that we might not do as a practice for all our animals, but if you don't mind entertaining quirks, then feel free to idulge. in my mind, having a goose that is both happy and ornery really makes up for all the rest. maybe it's god's little joke or something. who knows. just enjoy. cya

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Lukkiirish, the problems with your cats was not due to wet feeding. Dry food is made to shatter IF the cat bites down on it. Of course, when it does, it's nothing but mealy grit that easily lodges in the gingiva. This leads to periodontitis, resorption, and other painful conditions. The only way to care for cat teeth at home is to brush them. Your claim that dry food is good for feline oral health is no different to claiming that eating saltines will clean your own teeth. If you know the anatomy of a cat's mouth, you can see that there are no chewing surfaces, ie., the molars are high on the outside and low on the inside near the tongue. This facilitates shearing action, which, rather than chewing, is what a cat's mouth is evolved to do. Chewing animals have flatter molar surfaces, so that food can be kept in place for chewing. Imagine the action of a mortar and pestle. The tool is designed to hold stuff in place for grinding. That's what your teeth are made for. Cat teeth are shaped to provide a scissor-like action. So, on that alone, you can understand why dry food is useless for feline oral health. Next, dry food is by nature very high in carbohydrates. It must be, since the plant matter is needed to glue the meat meal grit into kibbles. If you're reading labels, good-but if you're not translating them, then you have no idea what you're feeding your cats. Any claims on dry food labels of "50% protein" are utter hogwash. Firstly, any plant matter that is useful protein in any other animal feeds is also considered useful protein in cat food, despite the fact that cats cannot utilise plant protein. You need to know how much animal protein is in the mix, and manufacturers are not always going to tell you that if you call them. Secondly, you need to calculate dry weight to get a grasp of how much of ANY protein is in the mix. If you're lucky enough to get facts from the manufacturer, then you still do the maths. The best dry food on the market is probably less than 20% animal protein, which is grossly insufficient for obligate carnivores. Then you need to consider that cats are not particularly interested in drinking water. Everyone claims that "my cat drinks plenty of water!" But no one can tell you how much water "plenty" is! A cat's natural diet is prey, which is about 70%-80% water. So is wet food! Dry food? Under 10% water. Cats will drink, but are not thirst-driven, so are unable to know if they're getting enough water to function. The dry-fed cat will walk away from the water dish long before it has consumed sufficient water. As a result, dry-fed cats have undue strain on kidney function, digestion, urinary function, and who knows what else because they are always dehydrated. Dry-fed cats are also far more likely to be obese and to develop diabetes and hypertension. Oh, and let's not forget how many dry-fed cats end up with an excess of urinary crystals or even blockages! This is almost always due to dry feeding, which leads to concentrated, alkaline urine. Cats need the sufficiency of wet food fluid intake in order to reduce urine's concentration and to flush out crystals. The higher animal protein in wet food helps to maintain appropriate urine acidity. Another interesting thing is that so many people are completely hoodwinked by the"grain-free" movement! It doesn't matter! Grain-free does NOT equate carbohydrate-free! Grains are often primary suspects in food allergies. The grain-free bandwagon needs to be halted for the sake of our cats. Grain-free dry foods contain as much carbohydrate as do grained foods. You'll frequently see claims that cats in the wild will eat the stomach contents of their prey, but this is not fact. Cats are not keen on stomach acids needed for plant breakdown and carefully avoid eating any part of prey digestive tracts. I suppose that laboratory cats who are only fed digestive tracts will consume them in hope of avoiding starvation, but not cats in more normal surroundings. Lastly, I'm always hearing from people who claim to have cats who were dry-fed only, and lived to be 32 and never had a problem. Well, genetics can make some cats lucky enough to slip past troubles, but these are very much the minority. I also suspect that some of the owners were lying about the cats' longevity, or the cats had outdoors access so supplemented their dry food with nice juicy prey. It is also likely that the cats were never taken to the vet so any problems they may have had were never diagnosed. It's like the centenarian who, when asked the secret to his long life, answers " booze, cigars, and unrestrained sex!". Does that mean that EVERYONE should live like that in order to become a centenarian? Of course not. I see no problem with using dry food in place of cat treats. It's less expensive. Ten to twenty pieces of dry food in a day are amazing as training rewards. But there is no real benefit to dry feeding.

Cheryl, DH has designed and built all of our cat trees. The first one we had was just a peeler core, wrapped with sisal twine, and with 2 carpeted shelves that were notched into the post. At that time, the cats were little and just loved to climb, so that was ideal for them to work out their energy. The second was just a series of posts and boxes that were carpeted and put together. That one was a pain to keep clean and after several years of wear and tear, it was done. The one we have right now is very simple, but the cats still love it. It is 5 alternating shelves- one to the left, then one to the right, then back to the left- so they could climb them more like stairs as they got older. The shelves are supported on one side by a narrow 2x4 frame, and a sisal wrapped peeler core on the other. We only carpeted the tops of the shelves on this one, and the cats were just fine with that. Our girl especially loves the top shelf that is up almost at ceiling level, it probably stays a little warmer up there and she can sleep soundly without worrying about being disturbed by anyone (she's very high strung). If you have someone in your life who has woodworking/construction experience, a cat tree can be pretty basic- just use your imagination. The real pain is if you decide to carpet the whole thing, it's like the worst upholstery job ever. That's why we opted with just stapling flat pieces of carpet to the tops of the shelves. Over the years we learned that our cats enjoyed just being up high, and climbing carpeted or twine wrapped posts most of all, so carpeting the outside of a box was just too much trouble. HTH, sorry to ramble.