What type of food do you think this is, based on the ingredients?
(the answer can be found at the end of the blog)
Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Powdered Cellulose (10.5% source of fiber), Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Glyceryl Monostearate, Vitamin E Supplement, DL-Methionine, Iodized Salt, Taurine, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Carnitine, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.
Please note that this is NOT a cheapo grocery store brand food. This is a "premium," top-selling, "vet recommended" food that can only be purchased in pet stores (and it's expensive... a 3.5 pound bag is $13.99 on petsmart.com as of 1/26/2009). Now, tell me why on earth three of the top four ingredients this "premium" brand cat food are inexpensive grain products... and why two of them are just different ways of saying corn?
Cats have no metabolic need for carbohydrates. Don't take my word for it... feel free to look it up. Any grain product in a cat food (particularly in the first few ingredients) is a cheap "filler" intended to bulk up the food, fill up your cat, and pad the wallets of the food's manufacturer.
Precious little about the food listed above is good for your cat... and yet it's more expensive than some foods that really are high quality! If you don't know anything about the ingredients (which I'll cover in another blog), it just sounds unappetizing (and it is... that's why the manufacturers have to spray it with fat to get your cat to eat it). If you do know something about the ingredients, then you know that by-product meal isn't a high quality protein source and that the excessive use of grains can lead to a host of health problems.
During my years in retail pet supply sales, I've learned that people who buy "premium" foods are paying extra for what they have been lead to believe is a quality pet food. However, all too often they are not getting what they pay for. In the next four blogs, I will illustrate how a diet comprised only of a typical "premium" dry cat food can cause and/or complicate a number of common (but often serious) feline health problems.
And please stick with me, because there is a light at the end of the tunnel!
The ingredients I listed above are for Hill's Science Diet Adult indoor Cat food. You can see for yourself on their website.
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my money grubbing vet has my cat on an expensive dry food for her liver problems. There is a wet food option, but she will not eat it. The food also seems to give both of my cats gas and Faith (with the liver condition) still will eat my rabbit hay to help with hairballs. Maybe I should try raw food. Any worry for worms or other pests.diseases being passed on from raw food?
ReplyDeleteAll types of cats, whether wild or domestic, eat raw meat in the wild. That is what they are *supposed* to eat. Their digestive tracts are short and highly acidic, so chances of getting "food poisoning" (from bacteria) or parasites (like worms) is quite low because the bugs can't survive their digestive system.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I know that Natural Variety (by Prairie), for one, has begun to "sanitize" their raw foods using a high pressure, low heat method that retains the enzymes that makes raw food so healthy (it basically bursts the bugs). You can check out their website for a better explanation.
And, to be honest, I have heard of more recalls with more pet deaths/illnesses from contaminated *dry* food than I have with raw.
My cats won't eat the raw food alone, but they love it mixed with grain free canned food (like Wellness, by Old Mother Hubbard). Grain-free canned or raw both have many advantages over dry food... especially for a kitty who is ill.
You might want to flip through _The Cat Bible_ by Tracie Hotchner for more information... especially since Faith has health problems. She is much more qualified to offer suggestions than I!