no carrageenan, guar gum or xanthan gum.

[scottd]

Some brands are removing carrageenan because some consumers are trying to avoid it. It's worth noting that the "good" brands aren't using "degraded carrageenan" which is what is causing issues in studies. Undegraded appears to be safe and doesn't concern me too much. That being said, I would prefer if it were replaced with something less controversial.

As far as guar gum and such, it's completely safe and I've not read any literature at all that says it's harmful.

[cinderflower]

Originally Posted by spirite

cinderflower, I'd asked a few months back about salt in cat food because I was seeing it so much. I thought it was weird, but someone said they didn't think it was bad for cats.

So...guess what food has salt? Yep, Lotus. As well as Castor & Pollux Organix, I and love and you, Blue Wilderness, Nutro Max, NutriSource, and Pinnacle. And of course FF. Oh, and the Hill's a/d food. The only brand currently in my cabinet that doesn't have salt is Avoderm. I know that it's an ingredient in a lot more high quality foods, but since my girls wouldn't eat them, I gave them away, so I can't check any more.

I feel like it wasn't always this way, but who knows? I wasn't looking until the past few months.

i never thought about it either. that's another thing i like about doggiefood, if you go to a specific food, there's an ingredient list for all of them.

there is no way i will taste the lotus (lol) so the only one i can say from experience is the grammy's pot pie. it has salt listed as an ingredient, but i can tell you that it doesn't taste of any salt whatsoever. why they add it, if they add so little, doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

it's also added to mideast feast (which i have not tasted) but there is none in paw lickin' chicken (which explains why it doesn't taste like there's any in it haha.) Salt Cassia is listed as an ingredient in the rabbit h & g, but i have a feeling it's a typo and should be salt, cassia (a spice similar to cinnamon).

when making my own, no salt is called for. the problem i have is that i am unable to exactly duplicate some of the canned foods. they like the chicken flavored one i make fine--they lick their bowls, but i even bought a can of salmon thinking maybe i could duplicate the napili luau, and no such luck. because i don't eat meat or fish and am not familiar with the way a lot of human food looks, i was so shocked when i opened the can of salmon. it was GROSS. and not just because i wouldn't eat it, it completely looked like cat food and i'm not exaggerating. mideast feast looks better than the can of human salmon. they put the little vertebrae in it from the spine and people actually like to eat that! crunch crunch crunch. anyway, my cats apparently felt the same way about it. i even just put some of it plain in my cat's dishes, and they wouldn't eat it. now THAT should be telling for human fish lol.

left with things i can make, turkey is an option i haven't tried, pork butt might be (an inexpensive cut of pork--i'm not buying pork chops to feed my cats), none of my cats have ever been enamored of anything beef flavored but i could try. i'm not buying lamb or veal, and i'm pretty sure any of the human grade fish i could buy is too expensive. if i could make friends with some hunters, i could easily get venison, elk or pheasant because colorado has a lot of wildlife. i should try to find some fishermen too because there are LOTS of trout in mountain lakes and rivers. it would be freshwater, and how polluted the water is i wouldn't have any idea. i know coors likes to say, "made with fresh rocky mountain spring water," but i also hear people say how awful it tastes LOL. runoff from mountain snow shouldn't be that bad but you never know (acid rain in california and fecal rain in greeley and acupulco).

all this reinforces my reluctance to trust any processed cat food. i eat as little processed food as possible because try reading a label. it's horrible. and it's not that much trouble to make a lot of cat food at once and freeze it. i know (aside from weruva and probably tikicat and h & g) that they are adding "secret ingredients" to make it taste better. and we'll never find out what any of those are. as far as salt for cats though, i think it probably takes a lot to cause them problems. and how much are they putting in it? i guess i could write to all the ones who do add it, but i'm kind of sick of writing to pet food companies. i think i'll go to some vet sites and try to see what they say about salt.

[cinderflower]

Originally Posted by scottd

Some brands are removing carrageenan because some consumers are trying to avoid it. It's worth noting that the "good" brands aren't using "degraded carrageenan" which is what is causing issues in studies. Undegraded appears to be safe and doesn't concern me too much. That being said, I would prefer if it were replaced with something less controversial.

As far as guar gum and such, it's completely safe and I've not read any literature at all that says it's harmful.

but how are we supposed to know which are degraded or not? does it state that on the label?

as far as guar or xanthan gum, the tiki cat i buy doesn't have any of that in it, and i believe the two weruva brands i buy only use xanthan gum. i just wonder why any of it is necessary at all. if it's for appearance sake, they might as well skip it. none of the home made cat food recipes call for any of those, although the one i use does include unflavored gelatin. it's to make it hold together better, i suppose. i'll skip it on the next batch and see what happens.

[scottd]

Originally Posted by cinderflower

but how are we supposed to know which are degraded or not? does it state that on the label?

as far as guar or xanthan gum, the tiki cat i buy doesn't have any of that in it, and i believe the two weruva brands i buy only use xanthan gum. i just wonder why any of it is necessary at all. if it's for appearance sake, they might as well skip it. none of the home made cat food recipes call for any of those, although the one i use does include unflavored gelatin. it's to make it hold together better, i suppose. i'll skip it on the next batch and see what happens.

You have to ask them, it's not usually on the label. They should be able to give a simple yes or no answer to whether or not they use degraded.

It's for texture. It basically does what you do with gelatin. Some companies have good results with tapioca powder too. They use it to make it more palatable for the kitties.

[snowy]

Originally Posted by cinderflower

many years ago i was at a party and the woman giving it had a cat. she went in the kitchen to fix food for it, got distracted and left a bowl of cat food on the counter. it was late in the evening, and a really drunk guy wandered over and started eating it with tortilla chips. he was like, "this is really good," and some other people who had seen what it was started laughing and the girl who left it there started screaming, "DON'T EAT THAT!" even after that, i have never ever been tempted to try canned cat food.

Sorry, I can't help bursting out in laughter, this is really very funny.