[SamSim]

I went to my pet food store yesterday in search of some newer wet foods for Meenu. We're in an experiment stage, trying her with just about anything that's got the proper percentage according to Dr. Pierson's food chart. So far Meenu's accepted everything I've put in front of her, from 3 types of Merrick's, to Tiki Cat. I was quickly going for a few more cans that would hold me over till Monday, and got into a discussion with the front store clerk about what I was looking for. I asked her about Weruva, Soulistic and Avoderm. Although she hadn't heard of Soulistic, she had been familiar with Avoderm and Weruva, but they were not in stock and they had experienced difficulty getting Weruva in.

I also explained how Meenu was hyperT and I was looking for high protein foods. She automatically suggested Snappy Tom. I had not heard of it before and haven't heard it suggested on the forum either. She insisted, even giving me 2 cans 100% free. I took them and tried Meenu with it. She loves them! Only problem I find though... all of the flavours are fish flavoured. I have looked online and they have chicken and turkey flavours, however I don't believe the store has them in stock.

I like the idea of Snappy Tom, I just don't like the idea of giving so much fish. Thankfully, Meenu does not say no to other foods after being pampered with fish, so I am not afraid of that. I was just wondering if anyone has heard of Snappy Tom and what everyone thinks of it?

 

[doodlebug]

It's a food that comes from Australia where they apparently have very little requirement for telling consumers exactly what is in the can. It could very easily be great stuff...meat and meat by-products could mean chicken and chicken liver, but there's no way to tell from their ingredient panels. What exactly is "gelling agent"? Flavour? Permitted Food Color? etc. Four Varieties of select seafood...that means it can change at any time, if your cat has an allergic reaction you have no idea what it consumed. So no, this isn't a food I'd choose to feed.

Chicken & Turkey INGREDIENTS
Selected Meat & Meat By Products derived from Chicken, Turkey, Beef & Mutton, Gelling Agents, Flavour, Flaxseed Meal, Food Colour, Taurine, Vitamins and Minerals.

Seafood Platter INGREDIENTS
Four Varieties of selected Seafood, Gelling Agents, Permitted Food Colour, Taurine, Vitamins and Minerals.

FYI...Soulistic is a Petco proprietary brand made for them by Weruva.

 

[snowy]

Snappy Tom is easily available in Sg. Its just one of the many lower end brands, similar to Fussie Cat, Aristo, Friskies, Whiskas etc etc. I fed it to the strays before and they like it, but I prefer to stick to Fussie Cat cos its cheaper and no by-product too, I'm not saying ST has by-product. Canned food like Friskies, Whiskas with by-product is S$1.90 per can while Fussie is between S$1.10-S$1.42, depending on which store we get it from. I haven't been buying Snappy Tom, forgot how much it cost.

 

[Carmel]

It's a food that comes from Australia where they apparently have very little requirement for telling consumers exactly what is in the can.

I was in a pet store today and I noticed it had some small 3 oz tins of Snappy Tom in four fish flavors, they didn't have the chicken version, but I read the back of the tins and each type listed accurately what was in it...

Maybe their website is vague but the tins are precise?

 

[SamSim]

Yes carmel, the 3 oz tins are what I found in my store and oddly enough they don't have them on their website. It says on my tin that it's a product of Thailand? What are Thailand's restrictions like? She gave me a Light Tuna and Cheese dinner flavoured one (thats right, cheese!) and the first 3 ingredients listed are tuna, cheddar cheese, and modified tapioca starch... The crude protein per can is 12% which is what the store clerk pointed out, that and how the binding agent is tapioca... But the numbers are all different from Dr. Pierson's calculations, I never go by what's on the can.

What your take on the tapioca?? Could that be the gelling agent they are talking about? Because it is much more watery then jelly-like (tiki cat seems very jelly-like, which is what I dont like about it).

I am going back in tomorrow to stock up and will ask the clerk a little more about it... She may be misinformed but she seems like she is really just trying to be as helpful as possible. I dont think she meant any harm.

 

[doodlebug]

Thailand's pet food requirements are good, not a concern like China. Weruva & Tiki are also from Thailand. Yes, tapioca is probably the gelling agent. I think you just need to see if you can get more details, it could be good stuff. But the website info is next to useless. I suspect this may be more of a cultural thing than a desire to hide anything.

 

[SamSim]

Doodlebug I agree. Although this probably wont become a regular for Meenu since theres no real cost difference and too much fish may not be good for her, I would like to give her some since she likes it so much! It's odd that the website is so unhelpful. I think I remember seeing somewhere in the plethora of threads about Dr. Pierson's food chart that I could possibly send someone a name brand and they could do the calculations. Do you recall being able to do this?

 

[Carmel]

I don't know too much about hyperthyroidism, but I did a quick search and found this:

According to Vetinfo.com, there are several foods which must be avoided if your cat has been diagnosed with hyperthyroid disease. These foods include canned cat foods consisting of seafood, especially whitefish and salmon. Canned foods that include sweet potatoes, sorghum, turnips and millet should also be avoided.

Also: Canned foods that contain beef or poultry is best.

If you're looking for high protein, have you considered Evo Cat & Kitten or Evo 95% (comes in beef and chicken versions)? They're very high. Don't go by the percentage on the back of the tin either, that can be misleading information. It messes everything up by also telling you the water content. There's information online about converting percentages to a dry matter basis.

PS: SamSim, you live where my mother grew up.