Why no gravy?

I've read several places that in feeding wet food it's best to get the kind with no gravy? Can anybody tell me why? My cats love the stuff with gravy and mostly turn up their noses at the kind without.

Gravy needs a thickener often this is a grain.. the person suggesting NO gravey is % wise thinking they are higher in carbs when MOST premiums are lower in carbs .... wellness pouches run 2-3% carbs in the gravey the like cans run up to 10% carbs ....

Gravy for a NON allergic or sensitive cat is FINE>>>>

http://www.geocities.com/jmpeerson/CanFoodNew.html this site gives you a % analysis of many common wet foods/...

Okay, I can see the point about increased carbs. However, considering that my cats turn their noses up and walk away from the plain food, I think they probably get more nutritional value from the ones with gravy. Just a guess on my part.

I don't give my cats food with "gravy" because all they do is lick the gravy and leave the actual food behind. Not much by way of nutritional value if all they are getting is gravy.

Now I just give Chynna pate style food and mix in a tablespoon of water and mash it up a bit more with the back of a spoon.

Originally Posted by GoldyCat

...My cats love the stuff with gravy and mostly turn up their noses at the kind without.

Click to expand...

Many cats like - and even prefer - "soupy" or slurry-style foods. I use Natalie_ca's "recipie" and add some extra water to get that effect.,,and, they love it! Extra benefits come with doing that...cats get extra water, wet food can be left "down" for longer periods (no, it won't go "bad" if the room temperature is moderate - I leave it out overnight and even the little remaining in the AM is still moist).

You could make your own healthy gravy too. Boil some chicken/beef in a small amount of water, then blend it up to make a gravy. No carbs, no additives...now, that's nutritional!

My vet said flat out to avoid the gravy kinds -- and that was without me asking about gravy; we were talking food and she raised the gravy issue. I think she said it took chemicals to maintain the mixture (suspension) & she didn't like the chemicals. Mine had been eating the non-gravy kind, so I didn't pay attention to details, just noted that they shouldn't have it. I don't know if this is of any help, but that's what I was told.

It depends what the gravy is, what the rest of the food is made from, and whether the cat has any allergies, digestive or health issues, or strong preferances.

My Radar has a distinct preferance for foods with gravy. He doesn't have any digestive issues or allergies to the (usually wheat based) starch that is used as a thickener in the gravy. Therefore I do give them to him regularly - the ones I use have decent meat content and the only wheat gluten involved is in the gravy and he doesn't have any allergies or sensitivity to that.

I think it really depends upon what else in in the food (if the chunks of food within the gravy are high meat content) and does your cat have an allergy to any thickeners used in the gravy?

I would prefer to be able to feed Radar food without any wheat starch, but a) he loves his gravy, b) the foods I chose for him are otherwise high meat content, and c) I'd rather for the sake of his long term kidney/urinary tract health that he ate wet with gravy than being on a dry only diet - he's not a hugely fussy cat, but he decided long ago that he doesn't like pate style or mushy/soupy foods. He wants chunks or shreds of meat that he can pretend he has hunted!

I've tried some of the gravy/sliced meat ones - both of mine cannot stand the stuff. They want the non-gravy kind. Maybe its better meat in the non-gravy kind. Of course, I have the buy the higher price foods with Charlie's UTI - have to be careful which canned foods he gets.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I don't give my cats food with "gravy" because all they do is lick the gravy and leave the actual food behind.

Click to expand...

That sounds just like Barkley, I get so frustrated when they do that because they end up wasting the actual food. Does it make more sense if you buy something with gravy to just drain the gravy off? I have tried giving my two wet food without gravy but they dont like it and then when it does contain gravy all they do is lick it away and ignore the wet food

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Now I just give Chynna pate style food and mix in a tablespoon of water and mash it up a bit more with the back of a spoon.

Click to expand...

That's what I was doing for Belle and Delilah until the day a decided to try putting it in the magic bullet with a little extra water. I guess the soupier the better for my girls! Before, it was hit or miss whether they would eat it all. Now, there is very rarely anything left. Delilah still doesn't eat much of it, but Belle gobbles it up! It sounds like a lot of work, but it actually takes less time than mashing it up with the spoon! I knew I bought that blender for a reason!

I tried adding some water to a chicken pate, which worked about as well as any of the chicken with gravy. That means two of the cats ate about half of their food (they prefer beef), and Goldy ate hers and finished all the leftovers.

I'll have to get a beef pate and see if they like that any better. In the meantime, I think I'll keep feeding them the food with gravy. They do tend to eat all of it, not just the gravy.

Riley gets some with gravy, some without. The plain pate style gets water added to make it more soupy. The kind with the chunks and gravy get mashed up with a fork to make it less chunky and more like the soupy pate style.

I didn't realize gravy foods were considered lesser quality? Too bad Nimbus will ONLY eat food with gravy...spoiled brat. I try to balance his diet out by feeding him grain free dry food, though.