Safe ash content in food

Originally Posted by Kattiekitty

Hello,

I am currently feeding my 10 month old cat a mix of dry and canned. He has no health issues as of yet and I want to keep it that way. He gets Blue Wilderness currently as dry. I was mixing it with the bag of, heaven forbid, yucky friskies that I wanted to finish off that I was feeding him when he wasn't really mine. Anyways, when he eats the wilderness alone he gets softer stools, but when it is mixed with the other food he is fine. He gets canned twice daily as well. I wanted to mix the Blue Wilderness with a grain in food to keep the stools firm but I want something higher quality than friskies. Well I was thinking about getting one of the Blue Spa Select foods or Blue Longevity They have grain but are high quality foods. The thing that concerns me is the ash content. On longevity it is 7 % and Spa Select it is 6.5 %. Other foods I was looking at are Innova, By Nature, Natural Balance ect. I just want a grain in food that is high quality that will keep the poops firm and keep the kitty healthy. I would try to do all canned as that is the ideal diet, but Oscar is finicky on the canned and will eat it but not enthusiastically. I limit the dry to encourage him to eat more wet but an all canned diet won't do well with him. He really likes his crunchies but he also drinks a good amount daily as he loves his drinkwell pet fountain.

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Originally Posted by sharky

The above covers alot....

Ash is the MINERAL content of a food... the part that when a food is bruned completely... For UTI health it is more what minerals are what percentage... In yestur year ash was up to 25% of the food content( way to high ...) Today most are 5-8% ...

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Originally Posted by Bunnelina

Um, just so I understand: Does that mean that we don't need to worry about ash % in food as long as it's within that level? I've noticed that ash content is not listed on some dry food. So should I be adding up the phosphorus and other minerals to get the %? And the lower, the better always — right?
YES you can try to add up but remember MOST foods do not give all the minerals and % s in them... I worry about ash but not much ...
Since I have a CRF female (who won't eat ANYTHING except Fancy Feast, wet and dry), an older male, and 7-month kittens, who all swap bowls, I'm still searching for magic foods that are healthy for all four (and tasty enough to please them.) HA!

So far we've had some takers for Evo and California Naturals dry. Nobody's been happy with any premium cans yet. Haven't tried Blue, so maybe that'll be next.
With CRF BE careful... it has a different guideline on the % ages... I am a PM away ...
Like you, Katiekitty, I'd love to get mine on a quality, all-wet diet, but I have the same crunchy-loving issues with all four. I'd love to get a water fountain, too, but I know the kittens would knock it around and empty it all over my kitchen. As I write, they are making a pond in there.

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Originally Posted by Kattiekitty

Ah yes,
i was doing more research and I was learning that the ash content theory is more outdated than anything. What I was reading is that it is a combination of the ash and the mineral magnesium is more the culprit. Also the acidity of the urine plays a factor. The urine is more acidic on a animal protein diet so it takes more magnesium to create stones as they aren't prone to develop in the acidity. This is why vets prescribe urine acidifiers to FUS kitties. If the urine is more alkaline as in a plant protein based diet, which is often what the cheaper foods are, it takes far less magnesium to create stones. I guess what it comes down to is that many parts of the diet need to be balanced correctly and that no one part can be considered the culprit.

Now to another question to all you food gurus out there. I am feeding the blue wilderness formula dry with a variety of canned. I really like the brand and like the idea behind the lifesource bits and such. I know very well about the pet food recalls of 2007 and also know that Blue was also involved in a voluntary recall of their own. This makes me leary because alot of the canned foods were recalled as well as the spa select kitten food. I hope they have gotten their act together and hopefully it won't happen again. The last thing I want to do is hurt my pets with their food. i have thought about going to Innova EVO as my dog is on Innova dog food and has done great on it. I just really like the Blue line of foods and Oscar really likes the Wilderness type and even eats the lifesource bits.

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