Causation from dry cat food to polycythemia in a Maine Coon cat?

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I am speculating here but I like to do that sometimes to see if I can push the boundaries of what we know. But this form of causation or series of events could happen to a Maine Coon cat and the article starts off with a Maine Coon cross suffering from a rare disease called polycythemia aka erythrocytosis, which was reported on the AVMA website in a recent study.

Maine Coon eating dry cat food.

The label describes a disease in which there is high concentration of red blood cells in the circulatory system. This makes the blood thicker and less able to travel through the blood vessels.

The symptoms are linked to the nervous system: ataxia (balance and coordination problems), weakness, seizures, blindness and behaviour change).

Although it can be hard to find the underlying cause of polycythemia, dehydration will naturally make the blood thicker.

Dehydration according to the the PetMD website leads to an increase of red blood cells (RBC) in proportion to the fluid level of the blood.

The website's author states:

"Dehydration can be caused by vomiting, diarrhea or decreased water intake". Note: some cats do not compensate for the lack of water in dry cat food and can to varying extents become dehydrated usually mildly.
"Relative polycythaemia: This is similar to apparent erythrocytosis. It can happen as a result of dehydration." - NHS in the UK when referring to people.
I'd suggest that relative polycythemia (aka apparent erythrocytosis) may on occasions be due to dehydration due to being fed permanently on dry cat food without paying attention to ensuring that the cat drinks more than the normal amount of water to compensate for the unnaturally dry cat food.

Note: the preferred cat food is high quality wet. I don't think any Maine Coon cat caregiver should skimp on their food and rely on cheap dry all the time. You'll probably end up paying more in cat caregiving expenses because of potential health issues.

Wet food has around 80% water. Mice have around 70% water. The mouse if the paradigm domestic cat food (minus the worms! 😉😎).

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Please excuse the occasional typo due to preparing these articles at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I don't have a proof reader.

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