# Still struggling with cat food ingredients?



## peanutsmommy (May 19, 2012)

I am still trying to be able to read the ingredients on canned cat food and be able to decide if its a "good" one or not. So for example I got one called "Dave's Naturally Healthy Food" from our local pet store. It was on sale so only a little over $1 per can. She doesn't carry Friskies, Whiskas, etc, so I am hoping what she does carry is "good" but wasn't sure. It doe say that its grain free, which I knew was good. 
Here are the ingredients:Sufficient water for processing, turkey, chicken poultry giblets, dried egg product, guar gum, potassium chloride, salt, carrageenan, vitamins (E, A D3, B12, Supplements, Thiamine, Mononitrate, Niacin, d-Calcuim, Pantothenate, Pyridoxine, Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin) Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Maganous Sulfate, Potassium Iodine, Sodium, Taurine. It has 9% Crude Protein, 6.5% Crude Fat, 1% Crude Fiber. 
So do any of those stand out? 

I also feed Fromm, but not as much because its $2 for a 5.5 oz can, Blue Buffalo, Wellness, tried Evo and Innovia, but both give them really soft smelly poops and they don't eat it very well. They are also getting Evo Kibble at night after they've been fed 3 servings (1/2 can each seriving) per day of canned.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

don't feel lonely. i'm still wading through pros and cons of different additives plus reading "food pets die for" and "not fit for a dog". i remember something about dried egg product but it wasn't really bad, it's just inferior to whole eggs. i would imagine it might be something like dried powdered eggs you add water to? i don't if you've ever tasted that lol but it isn't really good.

so far the only thing i see that i'm avoiding myself is carrageenan, and unfortunately you see that in a lot of the better canned foods. xanthan gum and guar gum do the same thing, so i don't see why carrageenan was added in addition to guar. they're thickening agents, but carrageenan is derived from seaweed. however, it has been shown to cause cancer in lab animals, and is linked to ibd or least colon irritation. since i'm feeding a cat with suspected ibd or at least an allergy, i don't want to feed anything that contains it.

does it really list water as the first ingredient? i suppose that would be why it's less expensive, and 9% protein is a little low. ideally you want at least 10%.

fromm is supposed to be a good food although i know nothing about it. i'm choosing not to buy blue buffalo anymore, and wellness contains carrageenan also, along with b.f.f., which is unfortunate because my cats like both of them, especially b.f.f.

you could try hound & gatos if you can find it in a store near you. it's 98% meat, grain-free and no additives. the ingredient list is posted somewhere on here, and i think it's on their site as well. the chicken and beef are about 1.50 for 5.5 oz, the rabbit and salmon are about 1.57 but my cats really like the last two. i haven't found out anything bad about it yet, and the company has only been around about 2 1/2 years. so i'm currently using it until i find out anything negative, for what that's worth.

hope this helps a little.


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## peanutsmommy (May 19, 2012)

Thank you, yes that does help. I thought I remembered something about not feeding the fish flavored foods? I can't remember why though? Can someone remind me about that? Was it just because they are kittens or was it something you always wanted to avoid?


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## Nan (Oct 11, 2010)

What's the deal with carageen? It's in Wellness and that's mostly what my cats eat


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## Bella's Mom (Apr 16, 2012)

Carageen is an extract of red sea weed and is used as a vegetarian and vegan alternative to gelatin. Several research studies in lab animals (rats, guinea pigs, and monkeys) have demonstrated a link between carageen and GI ulcers, Inflammatory bowel disease, and various GI cancers. The World Health Organization has recommended that it not be used in infant formulas. With that said, it is not only in pet food. It is in a ton of products we use every day such as ice cream, diet sodas, soy milk, veggie dogs, shampoo, cosmetic creams, toothpaste, processed meats, inactive ingredient in a number of pills, and beer to name a few. It is up to you to decide how worried you want to be. Most of the additives and chemicals in our lives today have been shown to be bad for us in varying degrees. It is impossible to avoid them all. However, if you have a pet that has GI trouble it is probably a good idea to avoid carageen if you can. Hope that helps!


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## Jacq (May 17, 2012)

The seaweed is a replacement for the beetle shells (carmine) to get a red colour the infamous Red Dye #4. Carmine can cause severe allergic reactions in people and has been linked to exacerbating existing allergies. That's people research, though, but I think it's probable that some cats' sensitivity to fish-based foods (especially salmon-flavours, because extra red means extra carmine) might be due to carmine dyes.

INTERESTING FACT: It takes 70,000 bugs to make a pound of red dye #4.


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## peanutsmommy (May 19, 2012)

So this one is pretty good? What are some of the other things to avoid? I remember "animal fat" or something like that and you don't want too many fruits or veggies, if any, but what else? I know meat as the first ingredients, but how many? Thanks. I will get this figured out eventually!!


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## peanutsmommy (May 19, 2012)

Thank you. My kittens seem to really like the Dave's. I can get it for $1.09 per 5.5 oz can too, so am glad they like it.  I still feed Wellness and Blue Buffalo as a treat a few times a week, but can't afford to feed it every day, since its closer to $2 per 5.5 oz can, depending on where I get it.


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## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

Bella's Mom said:


> Carageen is an extract of red sea weed and is used as a vegetarian and vegan alternative to gelatin. Several research studies in lab animals (rats, guinea pigs, and monkeys) have demonstrated a link between carageen and GI ulcers, Inflammatory bowel disease, and various GI cancers. The World Health Organization has recommended that it not be used in infant formulas. With that said, it is not only in pet food. It is in a ton of products we use every day such as ice cream, diet sodas, soy milk, veggie dogs, shampoo, cosmetic creams, toothpaste, processed meats, inactive ingredient in a number of pills, and beer to name a few. It is up to you to decide how worried you want to be. Most of the additives and chemicals in our lives today have been shown to be bad for us in varying degrees. It is impossible to avoid them all. However, if you have a pet that has GI trouble it is probably a good idea to avoid carageen if you can. Hope that helps!


i'm vegetarian (and also kept kosher for years but discarded that lol) and i stay away from almost everything on that list except for ice cream maybe once every 2-3 months. (well i brush my teeth and wash my hair more than that lol) i eat very little processed food for exactly the reason that all the additives that are considered "safe" probably are not. at the very least, there's just so much sodium and high fructose corn syrup in processed food that i'd prefer not to eat.

it most likely wouldn't have concerned me at all except that the food allergy/IBD/GI upset symptoms are enough for me to avoid it. and i figured if i don't feed it to my younger cats now, they might not develop the same problem later. then again, they might, i'm just doing the best i can.



Jacq said:


> The seaweed is a replacement for the beetle shells (carmine) to get a red colour the infamous Red Dye #4. Carmine can cause severe allergic reactions in people and has been linked to exacerbating existing allergies. That's people research, though, but I think it's probable that some cats' sensitivity to fish-based foods (especially salmon-flavours, because extra red means extra carmine) might be due to carmine dyes.
> 
> INTERESTING FACT: It takes 70,000 bugs to make a pound of red dye #4.


i remember when i found out that cochineal was beetle shells. a lot of my friends freaked out and i said, "that's probably one of the more innocent things you've been eating for years and don't know about." 









sometimes i think it isn't the ingredient as it exists in a natural state as much as what's done to it that's the problem.


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