Nutritional Content?

manhunter666

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Hi all,
What do you look for in dried and wet foods? Do you look for analysis content (crude fat, crude protein, crude fibre...)?
I try to give my cat dried and wet foods that contain ingredients that are as natural and whole as possible and doesn't contain preservatives (or very few), however, what guidelines should you follow and what should you avoid?

Thanks
 

sharky

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WHOLE and MEALED named meats ... I avoid whole grains as cats dont deal with grain well and the whole ones are VERY HARD to digest...


I tend to look for one meat one grain foods .... and simplier wets ( two meats two organs and no more than on flour

% are based on age activity and metabolism in my house


I tend to avoid corn , wheat and soy .... and organs in dry food
 

sham

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If I see corn I don't bother reading any farther. 2nd if there isn't a meat in the first 3 ingredients and a meat meal in the first 5 same thing. I put it back on the shelf and don't bother reading any farther. Beyond that it is a bit dependent but you do want named meat ingredients. Turkey or chicken meal is better than poultry meal and anything is better than just saying meat meal. The more specific they are the more likely it is a high quality source and not leftover from whatever. You don't want many grains but any that are in the food should be as complete as possible not fragments. You want whole or ground grains not flours, middlings, or hulls. Last watch for fractioning. They may list rice in 3 different ways so that it comes out lower than the meat ingredient when the food actually has more rice in it than anything else. The fewer times the name of a grain appears the better.

Looking at the ingredients will tell you far more than the analysis. Protein can come from plants as well as animals but carnivores can't digest plant protein very well. Just because it's there doesn't mean it's useable but if you see alot of meat in the ingredients then you know the protein content is good. You don't even have to look at the guranteed analysis if you understand the ingredients list. It's the last thing I look at and then just to make sure there isn't any odd numbers.
 

exoticbabee

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I avoid by products, artificial coloring and chemical preservatives.
I look for canned foods that use 1-2 sources of protien, usually chicken and liver. (not by choice-my cat only likes chicken). I try to avoid anything that uses fish. My choices are limited as my cat will walk away unless it is Natural Balance for canned..a couple of Nutro Natural Choice she likes but doesn't love.
 
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manhunter666

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Thanks guys.
I just wasn't too sure on what to look out for but now I know I'm feeding him the right stuff
 
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