Does this brand of food sound OK?

[fizzletto]

My cat suffers from very bad gas and I think it may be caused by the food she's eating. It's a cheap supermarket brand kibble and not very good quality.

Up until recently we haven't been able to afford any other kind of food, but (as horrible as it must sound) since one of our cats has sadly passed away we've now got 33% more money to spend on cat food for her and I think getting something high quality may be possible.

Unfortunately, though I know it would be best, we cannot put her on a raw food diet due to money issues.

I have found this food online. It is wet, comes in a pouch and is advertised as being a complete food. This is from their website.

Hypoallergenic
Wheat free
Gluten free
Free from artificial colours & flavours
Free from artificial preservatives

Ingredients
Chicken min. 43%. Turkey min. 28%. Minerals. Various sugars.

Typical Analysis
Protein: 11.0%, Oil: 6.0%, Fibre: 0.2%, Ash: 2.5%, Moisture: 81.0%. Vit.A: 2000 I.U./Kg, Vit.D3: 200 I.U./Kg, e Vit.E (alfatocoferol): 16mg/Kg. Taurin: 300 mg/Kg. Vitamins level guaranteed until best before date.


Does this sound OK to all of you? Does it sound like a healthy food? Do you think it will aid her gas problem? If not, can you recommend a food which is available in the UK that might be better?

Thank you all very much.

[fizzletto]

There is another brand I've just found which says this:

A complete wet food with the bonus that it is hypo-allergenic. With selected protein source (turkey) and selected carbohydrate sources (potato and cassava) it is a dietetic food, excellent for the reduction of ingredient and nutrient intolerences.

Composition: turkey meats, pea protein, tomato pomace, cassava, potato flakes, sunflower oil, linseed oil, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, chicory extract, xylose, cranberry extract, yucca extract
Minimum levels: turkey (35%), tomato pomace (1%), cranberry extract (130mg/kg), yucca extract (50mg/kg)
Additives per kg: Vitamins: E671/Vitamin D3 (400iu) Trace elements: E1/iron (9.8mg), E2/iodine (0.2mg), E4/copper (1.28mg), E5/manganese (1.96mg), E6/zinc (15.7mg)
Analytical Constituents: moisture 81%, protein 10.0%, crude fibres 0.5%, fat content 4.5%, crude ash 1.8%

Which food, this one or the first one, sounds better? My instinct tells me the first one as it has less ingredients, but then the first one has more ash (I don't know if that's bad, but it sounds it) and this one seems to have a lot of added healthy sounding ingredients. What do you all think?

[aniela]

I'd pick the first one because I do not like how "pea protein" sounds.

Ash is what remains after food is heated at high temperatures. When pet food is completely incinerated, protein, fat and carbohydrates burn away, leaving behind only the food's minerals, which include calcium, phosphorus, zinc, iron and many others. These minerals are the food's ash content, which is just a way of describing the mineral content of the pet food.

[fizzletto]

Originally Posted by aniela

I'd pick the first one because I do not like how "pea protein" sounds.

Ash is what remains after food is heated at high temperatures. When pet food is completely incinerated, protein, fat and carbohydrates burn away, leaving behind only the food's minerals, which include calcium, phosphorus, zinc, iron and many others. These minerals are the food's ash content, which is just a way of describing the mineral content of the pet food.

So... more ash is a good thing?

[doodlebug]

No the lower the ash the better, but that's not a major criteria for choosing a food unless your cat has urinary issues.

I don't like the sugars in the first food, unless they are prebiotics which are technically sugars...but I don't see any probiotics listed so I'm not sure what the sugar is there for. (Probiotics feed on prebiotics).

And I don't like the pea protein in the second food. I find it interesting that they tell you it's 35% turkey but not the % of pea protein.

If I have to choose between the two, I'd take the first one, even with the sugars, since it has so much more meat content.

[fizzletto]

Originally Posted by doodlebug

No the lower the ash the better, but that's not a major criteria for choosing a food unless your cat has urinary issues.

I don't like the sugars in the first food, unless they are prebiotics which are technically sugars...but I don't see any probiotics listed so I'm not sure what the sugar is there for. (Probiotics feed on prebiotics).

And I don't like the pea protein in the second food. I find it interesting that they tell you it's 35% turkey but not the % of pea protein.

If I have to choose between the two, I'd take the first one, even with the sugars, since it has so much more meat content.

Yes, the meat content was attractive to me. These are the two highest quality cat foods I know of, suggested to me by a breeder of Tonkinese. I wouldn't know where/how I could find anything better in the UK. The only other expensive and supposedly good quality cat food I know if is Royal Canin, but when looking at the ingredients, it certainly is not good as far as I can see "meat and animal derivatives, cereals, vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals, various sugars, additives".. and no percentages for anything.

Could you possibly give me an example of a very high quality and reputable wet cat food available in the US and list it's nutritional information so that I can search for something similar here?

[fizzletto]

Wow, I've found a cat food called Natural Instinct which is completely raw and contains 99% meat. It looks amazing and would save me having to buy raw meat and preparing it myself. The only problem is that there are no retailers selling it within 300 miles of my house and although they do sell it on their website, shipping is £6.50 ($10.30) per order unless you order 37kgs of the stuff at once, which definitely wouldn't fit in our tiny freezer, there's barely enough room for our own food as it is

[Carmel]

Originally Posted by fizzletto

Could you possibly give me an example of a very high quality and reputable wet cat food available in the US and list it's nutritional information so that I can search for something similar here?

Evo
Innova
Wellness
Merrick
Taste of the Wild
Blue
Fromm
Tiki Cat
Nature's Variety (Instinct)
Weruva
BFF
Felidae
California Naturals
Before Grain
Solid Gold
Almo
Eagle Pack
Spot's Stew
Go!
ZiwiPeak
AvoDerm
Natural Balance

Kibble-wise, Arcana and Origen are great. Made in Canada.

... those are off the top of my head. Not all are grain free, so not all top of the line, but they're pretty good brands. Maybe you can find some in the UK?

[Pushkabounce]

Originally Posted by fizzletto

I have found this food online. It is wet, comes in a pouch and is advertised as being a complete food. This is from their website.

Hypoallergenic
Wheat free
Gluten free
Free from artificial colours & flavours
Free from artificial preservatives

Ingredients
Chicken min. 43%. Turkey min. 28%. Minerals. Various sugars.

Typical Analysis
Protein: 11.0%, Oil: 6.0%, Fibre: 0.2%, Ash: 2.5%, Moisture: 81.0%. Vit.A: 2000 I.U./Kg, Vit.D3: 200 I.U./Kg, e Vit.E (alfatocoferol): 16mg/Kg. Taurin: 300 mg/Kg. Vitamins level guaranteed until best before date.


Does this sound OK to all of you? Does it sound like a healthy food? Do you think it will aid her gas problem? If not, can you recommend a food which is available in the UK that might be better?

Thank you all very much.

Hey, does it have to be a wet meat?

Ash is kind of like the burnt parts of meat when its cooked that goes back into the food so it's not 'bad'.. more ash = more meat

For my work I have to go to these meetings where reps talk about their foods (I work in the pet industry) and the latest one I went to was for Barking Heads, Meowing Heads.. and I've got to say, I'm quite impressed with their dog and cat food. The cat food is only in dry kibble but it might be worth a look for you?

[doodlebug]

What impresses you about Meowing Heads kibble? Looks kind of average based on ingredients and analysis...