Is there a benefit to feeding a canned food higher in carbs?

I feed Jack several different foods - Evo, Wellness, and California Natural. The California Natural has rice and Jack seems to go more regularly and have better formed poops on that than he does on the Evo or Wellness days. I'm wondering if I'm confusing his system by changing things up so often or if it is better to choose just one food and feed it exclusively. I'd probably go with the California Natural due to the regularity.

You may be surprised, as I was, to discover that cats lack the enzymes to digest carbohydrates.

http://www.catinfo.org/#We_Are_Feedi..._Carbohydrates

Once I knew this, I started feeding more canned and gave them a dry food which is the lowest I could find, Innova Evo, which is grain free.

I can't drop the dry food entirely, because Dear Husband is stuck at home with a chronic illness, and he can't stand the begging! But we compromise by getting the best dry food we can, and feeding canned twice a day. And fortunately, all three of the boys looooooove canned.

I get the Innova or Eagle pack holistic canned, but if we run out, I admit we get the Friskies or the 9 Lives (though not the gravy varieties) and also Fancy Feast, which they are fanatically devoted to.

It's great that you are paying so much attention to his nutrition. It does cost more, but they DO eat less of the good quality dry, I've found. I only need to pick up a bag every month or so, compared to twice a month with the supermarket brands.

And I'm confident my boys will have better health because of this. Diabetes, for instance, should be off the table, barring any serious disease. And that means a lot to me, since my beloved Bubby died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 14. That shouldn't happen again!

RICE is actually MORE digestable than some meats ... But HIGH carbs in canned= 10-12% ... most premiums with rice only come out to 7-10%

I am still unsure of the benifit to risk IN LOW Carb DRYS... I serve them as treats as Zoeys tummy is sensitive

I'm with Werebear, cats are carnivores and don't really need any carbs. Rice is often added for texture in high end foods, since rice is seldom an allergin and of all the grain, is usually best tolerated and digested. Switching to a grain free (well, almost grain free diet, some of his food has a little rice) has freed Tink of the chronic constipaton he's suffered for the last two years (horribly painful muscle spasms and 3 emergency vet trips). His coat is awesome, he sheds less (no more hairballs!) and he's lost the 5 extra pounds he was carrying around. It's well worth the extra money, and it's true--they do eat less when their food isn't full of fillers.

In general I would say the fewer carbs, the better, for most cats. However, since your boy seems to do best on the California Natural, I would stick with just that for now. It is still lower in carbs than most dry foods and has much more moisture. Maybe try some other brands as well, for variety.