[penny1956]

Are these ingredients (for a dry food) fine to feed my kitten:

Chicken, Brown Rice, Dried Egg Product, Whole Grain Wheat, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Meal, Soy Protein Isolate, Pea Protein Concentrate, Flaxseed, Cracked Pearled Barley, Meat Protein Isolate, Soybean Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Lactic Acid, Calcium Sulfate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Whole Grain Oats, Fish Oil, Cranberries, Apples, Peas, Carrots, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Potassium Chloride, Oat Fiber, Soybean Oil, Choline Chloride, Iodized Salt, Broccoli,


I'm trying to find a wet food she'll eat - but in the meantime, need to keep her eating and trying to find her a better dry food than her current SD original.

 

[doodlebug]

Starts off OK enough and then goes downhill really fast. Anything in red should be avoided. The blue is stuff I wouldn't necessarily avoid if the rest of the ingredients were good, but combined with all the red items means that there's more stuff bad than good in this food.

There's very little protein coming from animal sources in this food which is inappropriate for a cat.

Chicken, Brown Rice, Dried Egg Product, Whole Grain Wheat, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Meal, Soy Protein Isolate, Pea Protein Concentrate, Flaxseed, Cracked Pearled Barley, Meat Protein Isolate, Soybean Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Lactic Acid, Calcium Sulfate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Whole Grain Oats, Fish Oil, Cranberries, Apples, Peas, Carrots, DL-Methionine, L-Lysine, Potassium Chloride, Oat Fiber, Soybean Oil, Choline Chloride, Iodized Salt, Broccoli,

 

[penny1956]

Thank you Doodle. Printed off your list with the 'red' and will keep shopping.

 

[penny1956]

Hoping to find something at Petsmart since I have a giftcard

 

[rightsaidfed]

Another thing to keep in mind is that although chicken is the first ingredient, it is largely water. By weight, that means not a lot of nutrition right off the bat. Named meats are a great first ingredient, but I'd like to see the chicken meal much higher up on the list to know there's enough animal-sourced protein.

The reason "animal fat" is iffy is because well, what animal? If they aren't bothered to be specific, chances are it's from multiple nonspecific sources which, to me, screams bad.

 

[penny1956]

Found this and it's offered at Petsmart:
Wellness CORE Dry Kitten Formula Ingredients:
Deboned Turkey, Whitefish Meal, Deboned Chicken, Herring Meal, Chicken Meal, Peas, Turkey Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Tomato Pomace, Natural Chicken Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Cranberries, Chicory Root Extract, Choline Chloride, Salmon Oil, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)],Minerals [Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate], Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Rosemary Extract. This is a naturally preserved product.


Thoughts would be appreciated - Also, my kitten is 3-1/2 months old - do I need to change dry foods gradually?

 

[penny1956]

Just googled and saw Wellpet had a recall in 2011. That's why I'm so nervous about all these companies - I think they 'try' but maybe they don't have enough $$ for proper quality control. I can't feed raw at this time but may go to a food that has the funding for proper quality control. But what Company is that? What a worry.

 

[meow79]

Just googled and saw Wellpet had a recall in 2011. That's why I'm so nervous about all these companies - I think they 'try' but maybe they don't have enough $$ for proper quality control. I can't feed raw at this time but may go to a food that has the funding for proper quality control. But what Company is that? What a worry.

Yes they did. One of my cats stopped eating their food right at the time it was recalled. I would still feed wellness as part of a rotation, but not wellness canned only. I think it is the blog littlebigcat that mentions cats died in connection to the lack of thiamine.

As you know I am trying out new foods too (we discussed it on another thread.) I tried weruva and solistic. Doesn't work for Izzy and Taylor. But they are worth trying as they are good foods. Solistic is a cheaper version of weruva basically and one formula is exactly the same between the two (of what I bought). To keep my cats off spots stew (which I still have a bunch of it) I am feeding them avoderm. I think they are chic and gravy and chic/duck and gravy which has no gravy. I suppose I could worry about the vitamin k 3 in it, but I have not been convinced that is a huge concern. I buy the merrick's gourmet turducken and gramie's pot pie for Taylor because she like it, but I don't like the added berries and such. I have not tried before grain, but that is another idea. btw, avoderm is at petsmart although, at least here, petco is cheaper and has both flavors where my petsmart only had one. I am on the fence on evo, innova and ca naturals, but those also may be something you might want to try. My cats aren't too fond of nature's variety instinct (petco), but that is a good food too.

Hope that helps. :jump

 

[meow79]

oh, I was thinking more of wet when I posted (sorry). I think Halo Spot's stew dry is good. Avoderm dry is junk (well the cat is. The dog looks ok.) I never had problems with wellness dry and the recall you found was the wet only. I'd go with the core though if I were to do it again (I fed one of the super 5's in the past). Good luck.

 

[penny1956]

Hi Meow! Yes, I'm still fighting the 'food' war for my kitten. I did start this thread about dry but was also going to buy some of the Core Kitten wet food as well (to see if she liked it). I'll switch up the wet food like you suggested but she just doesn't seem to like wet food much. She'll lick it flat - take maybe 2 bites - and that's it.

What's the "Super 5"?

 

[rightsaidfed]

Found this and it's offered at Petsmart:
Wellness CORE Dry Kitten Formula Ingredients:
Deboned Turkey, Whitefish Meal, Deboned Chicken, Herring Meal, Chicken Meal, Peas, Turkey Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Tomato Pomace, Natural Chicken Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Cranberries, Chicory Root Extract, Choline Chloride, Salmon Oil, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)],Minerals [Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate], Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols added to preserve freshness, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Rosemary Extract. This is a naturally preserved product.


Thoughts would be appreciated - Also, my kitten is 3-1/2 months old - do I need to change dry foods gradually?

I think Wellness is a great food despite the recall. Meats and meals are at the top except for the peas, but most grain free seems to have peas up there on the list. I've fed wet with whole peas in it and my kitten actually picks out and eats the peas first! If you sign up on their site, they'll email you coupons every now an then. I just got an email for $3/any dry and $1 off any wet, and the small bags are on sale this month at least at my petsmart.

I would still make the switch gradually. Kitten tummies can be sensitive to changes. Even if yours has a stomach of steel, I like to gradually switch to use up the rest of the old food.

 

[penny1956]

Thanks so much, Rightsaidfed. I'm running to their website now and will ease Dusty into her new food.

 

[penny1956]

Great!!!! Just read this:

"multiple kitties have mentioned urinary problems/crystals developing while eating Wellness Core (dry)"

What's a mother to do??

 

[doodlebug]

You can't obsess about every little possibility of having a problem or you will drive yourself nuts (and I can see that you're already headed in that direction). Choose a food that's known to be good and go with it. IMO some of the best are:

Orijen
EVO
CORE
Now!
Earthborn
Go! Fit & Free
Fromm Surf & Turf
Instinct
California Natural Grain Free

And no, you won't find most of these in Petco or Petsmart. If you want the best, get out of the big box stores. I also think that foods in the big box stores are more likely to be recalled because of the sheer volumes they are produced in...it introduces more opportunities for issues.

 

[penny1956]

You can't obsess about every little possibility of having a problem or you will drive yourself nuts (and I can see that you're already headed in that direction).

That's EXACTLY what my husband is telling me!!

Since Wellness CORE is on your list and I already bought it, will stick with that for now.

 

[rightsaidfed]

Great!!!! Just read this:

"multiple kitties have mentioned urinary problems/crystals developing while eating Wellness Core (dry)"

What's a mother to do??

You could actually say this about any dry food.

The important part is that you're an informed consumer. Short of feeding homemade raw, you're going to be giving up some control. Life is a game of risk mitigation. Remember when sweet & low was the best thing for you because it replaced sugar then it caused cancer? I remember when eggs were good then bad, and now they're good again. Pet nutrition is nowhere near as developed a field as human nutrition and even the experts are often wrong.

Make the best choice you can afford with the information you have, and don't feel bad for doing the best that you can.

 

[Arianwen]

Just a question - I take the point about the vagueness of "animal fat" in the list but when I feed raw there is some fat in it so is it that awful?

 

[doodlebug]

Picture this scenario...Cattle rancher has a cow that gets sick. The vet is called, they pump antibiotics and steroids into her for a week but nothing works. Eventually they euthanize her. And take her to the rendering plant where she's placed into the vat with all kinds of other animals that have been rejected from the human food processing plants (maybe when they were butchering it they found a big tumor or it died in a holding pen and sat in the heat for who knows how long), the out of date meat from the grocery stores (along with their styrofoam and plastic wrap because no one is going to take the time to unwrap it), the roadkill the highway department picked up that morning and maybe a rendering plant rat or two that accidentally fell into the vat.

They cook this all up (yum!) and separate the components. And that's how you get "animal fat", which has absorbed all those drugs that were given to the sick cow and any other sick animal that is brought to the plant. Then to add insult to injury, they often preserve it with BHA/BHT which is carcinogenic and has been outlawed for human use.

This is also where "meat meal" and "byproduct meal" come from.

 

[Gummers]

You could actually say this about any dry food.

The important part is that you're an informed consumer. Short of feeding homemade raw, you're going to be giving up some control. Life is a game of risk mitigation. Remember when sweet & low was the best thing for you because it replaced sugar then it caused cancer? I remember when eggs were good then bad, and now they're good again. Pet nutrition is nowhere near as developed a field as human nutrition and even the experts are often wrong.

Make the best choice you can afford with the information you have, and don't feel bad for doing the best that you can.

Agreed. It's the dryness that's the problem, not the brand itself. Generally speaking, feeding all dry is asking for urinary trouble.

 

[cinderflower]

The reason "animal fat" is iffy is because well, what animal? If they aren't bothered to be specific, chances are it's from multiple nonspecific sources which, to me, screams bad.

when it just says "animal" it most likely came from of a rendering plant, which is the place where all garbage goes--plastic bags (which hold euthanized animals from shelters and veterinarians), styrofoam packaging on rotten meat from supermarkets, roadkill, anything and everything. lots of pet food companies buy large quantities of "material" from rendering plants and never bother to find out what it orginally was. this kind of "don't ask/don't tell," isn't harmless, as far as i'm concerned.