Canned food without Carrageenan or Guar Gum?

So, for those of us on a budget, it seems that Natural Balance Platefulls Pouches are about the only option

if we want to avoid carrageenan, unless you want to consider Fancy Feast or Raw.

Am I missing any other options? 

I just cannot afford to go over $1. per 6 oz of canned food.

I already pay 25 cents per ounce to give them Platefulls occasionally

because they love them and it is quick and easy for me when I get home late from a long day of work.

All things considered, I am already spending well over $100. per month on Kitty food...

guess we have to stick with Wellness GF, EVO 95% and By Nature 95%,

and Innova / Friskies Poultry Platter for the Ferals.

SevenWonders said:

So, for those of us on a budget, it seems that Natural Balance Platefulls Pouches are about the only option
if we want to avoid carrageenan, unless you want to consider Fancy Feast or Raw.

Am I missing any other options?  :dk:
I just cannot afford to go over $1. per 6 oz of canned food.
I already pay 25 cents per ounce to give them Platefulls occasionally
because they love them and it is quick and easy for me when I get home late from a long day of work.

All things considered, I am already spending well over $100. per month on Kitty food...
guess we have to stick with Wellness GF, EVO 95% and By Nature 95%,
and Innova / Friskies Poultry Platter for the Ferals.

Click to expand...

Isn't it annoying lol!
I would actually choose Fancy Feast over Natural Balance Platefuls only because the carb content is a lot lower in FF.
Addiction doesn't have carrageenan but it pretty pricey where I live and my cat doesnt like it (of course).
I'm waiting for Tiki cat to come to Canada before I make any decision about whether I'm switching to raw. If he liked Tiki cat I would make it a staple. He also loves Merrick (although there is carrageenan in there).
It is very difficult to find any exceptional foods nowadays!

Disappointed in all the new "high quality" reputation canned cat foods with Carrageenan. Some I'm surprised and very disappointed with:

- Evo

- Merrick's Before Grain

- Blue

- Solid Gold (Which my cats actually like, but does have fish)

- By Nature Organics (Beef and Liver)  BOTH my cats loved, A MIRACLE, but sadly has carrageenan (I just emailed them to ask why?  oh why?)

- And many more poplular ones may surprise you that I can't remember at the moment

And great for Weruva, but the only non-fish product they offer, my cats turned their noses up to.  (I have a "crack-fish" addicted cat that I need to detox)  so fish really isn't good.  It is like crack for cats and there are many reasons to get your cat off. This site explains the 8 strikes it gives against seafood for your addicted cat and it makes sense: http://www.catnutrition.org/faq.html

Mission impossible in searching is not to find these other crappy fillers:

-Brewers Dried Yeast

-What Gluten

-Soy Flour

-Rice

-Starch

-Gimmicky Vegetables my cats would never eat in nature ( what a joke to us humans)

- Nutro Natural Choice doesn't have Carrageenan, but has these crappy fillers)

- And it boggles my mind the crappy ingredients in RX foods we are feeding to our ill pets.  Don't you think quality food should be even MORE of a priority at this stage?

Does NOT have Carrageenan!

- Mulligan Stew (Turkey Recipe) but knowing my cats, they"ll probably hate it (trying it tomorrow)

- Party Animal Organics "Tom Cat Turkey Recipe"  one cat was okay will, not loving it, but eating. 

- (This list is currently a work-in-progress)

Now, please note my research is ongoing, but I used some information from reading Dr. Lisa Pierson which made me a more informed consumer when readling labels. http://www.catinfo.org/cannedfoods.php

And Dr. Lisa Newman's list of ingredients: http://www.naturalnews.com/Report_pet_food_ingredients_8.html

I'm actually afraid that I'm not feeding ny kitties well because of these additives, fillers, etc. But I can't feed them raw. So, I'm being a bad cat mom? Yes, it's very upsetting...

Jlc20m

Why do you say you're being a bad cat mom? You're doing research and making educated choices. If we wanted to avoid everything dangerous, we'd never step outside the house and live in some kind of weird sterile world.

FYI, homemade isn't for everyone, but homemade doesn't have to be raw.

Hi there,

When I looked up the Newmans organic/grain free - all varieties had both Carrageenan and Guar Gum. Just an fyi. It's so frustrating. I have 9 cats and want the best for them all, but there are only a tiny few foods without those 2 ingredients and they are all expensive considering how many I have to feed.

Lovecat said:

These cause loose stool/gas I'm my cat. He loves his AM canned food, but it is almost impossible to find canned food with out one or the other.

Click to expand...

all  wet food with no carneegen or guar gum

nature logic

EVO 95%

nature variety instinct

lotus                      

fromm

health extension

newmens own

artemes                    

zupreem

naturel planet organics 

Check out these:

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2...s-didnt-make-the-best-list-heres-why-finally/

Fancy Feast CLASSIC canned cat flavors do NOT contain carageenan; I'm not sure about the ones with gravy...Of this I'm positive as I refuse to feed cat food that has carageenan. 

Also watch out for any kind of Yucca, rosemary, herbs, potatoes (contain 3 cat toxins), peas & fruits & vegetables in general.

The only good vegetable that is good for cats is plain pumpkin (the kind in the can is fine, as long as it's plain - nothing else added. It's good for the runs or constipation, but give in teaspoon amounts; never overdo it)

If the first ingredient of a canned food is a "by-product", avoid it.

First ingredient should be a listed muscle meat (i.e. chicken, turkey, beef etc)

Avoid all cat food that contains corn or corn meal.

Avoid all cat food with gluten, wheat & soy.

BROWN RICE IS a grain BUT it isn't toxic and will do NO damage, so if you feed dry food, brown rice is a binder that is ok! (pea starch and potato starch or flours are NOT ok and will cause harm!)

That's just the short list of what to avoid/accept in cat food....

God help us all with what the pet food mfr's are doing to our beloved furballs! It's disgusting & all about the bottom line!

catlover1952, while I do agree with you in general, a study has shown that dietary rice reduces taurine levels in cats, so I avoid rice as well. It does seem to be the lesser of the binder evils, so if I had to feed a food with rice, I would supplement with extra taurine.

Hello,
I am new in the search of carrageenan , guar gum and grain free for my fussy cat. Been feeding him wellness chicken so far...

Seriously considering to switch him to raw food, but afraid he won't take to it...

I just bought weruva, natures variety etc to try and noticed that weruva is actually made in Thailand - that one goes back to the store. Plenty of meat in Canada or USA to not have to import whatever quality from elsewhere...

Got a sample of raw frozen - so hoping he'll like it.... Any advice on how to switch fussy cats food?

My cat is now 16 years old and weighs it in 11 pounds which is his normal and optimum body weight. All his life he's been a dry food kibble addict. But, even though he's a kibble addict, he's finicky on what kinds of dry food kibble he'll eat.

Long story short, my vet wanted him on a grain free, has meat, has to have taurine,  no veges, no fruit, no gluten, no soy, no carrageenan wet canned food diet. Problem was, my cat didn't like wet canned food. He also turned down raw, dehydrated, freeze dried, air dried and every brand of wet cat food that I could find that didn't have carrageenan in it. With wet, he didn't like pate, shreds, sliced or chunks. It was a "no go" with little enthusiasm or outright rejection within two weeks time.

Met a lady at Petsmart who has a cat like mine. She tried Nutro Natural Choice in the sliced and minced flavors. The only not so good ingredient in it is xanthan gum. But, has meat, grain free, no veges, no fruits, no soy, no gluten, no carrageenan and it does contain taurine. She told me to get one can for a "taste test" for him and see if he'd like it.

I tried one flavor on my cat, minced chicken and when I opened the can, he was very vocal about it. He wanted it........NOW! He ate 1 1/2 ounces before I took it away since he was gobbling it down.

The only draw back, it does contain xanthan gum. I'm not a fan of xanthan gum, but beggars can't be choosers since it meets all of my criteria for him with this one exception. Some of the soft loaf (pate) flavors do contain carrageenan, but not all of them do. No matter, my cat won't touch pate.

These are 3 ounce cans so it's perfect for a person who has one cat. It normally costs $1.10 per can, but Petsmart sometimes has it on sale for $.90-$1.00 per can and when it does, I stock up by the case load (24 cans).

My cat loves the sliced turkey, minced chicken and sliced chicken & tuna flavors. The turkey is his absolute favorite and he's been on wet canned food now for almost three months. I feed him between 1 1/2-2 cans daily. I think he likes these flavors since they contain pork broth in every minced and sliced flavor. None of the other wet canned brand foods I tried contained pork broth. Just a calculated guess on my part since he likes NNC and no other brand of wet canned cat food.

BTW, if you have to put some leftovers in the fridge, the gravy does not turn white when you take it out the next time or the next morning.

Check out the website below. Look at the minced and sliced flavors of Nutro Natural Choice wet canned cat food and check out the ingredients.

http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food/natural-choice-cat-food.aspx

blueRussian said:

Hello,
I am new in the search of carrageenan , guar gum and grain free for my fussy cat. Been feeding him wellness chicken so far...

Seriously considering to switch him to raw food, but afraid he won't take to it...

I just bought weruva, natures variety etc to try and noticed that weruva is actually made in Thailand - that one goes back to the store. Plenty of meat in Canada or USA to not have to import whatever quality from elsewhere...

Got a sample of raw frozen - so hoping he'll like it.... Any advice on how to switch fussy cats food?

Click to expand...

Here are some transition tips written by a vet. Applies to canned and raw food. http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsForTransitioning1-14-11.pdf

There are also quite a few raw transition threads in the Raw Feeding Resource sticky which make for some entertaining reading as well. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/240809/raw-feeding-resource-thread

bluebo said:

I would LOVE to try raw but I am scared A. I will screw it up and not give him enough (or too much) of something B. I will, yet again, exacerbate his constipation issues (to give a quick explanation-- he has had constipation since I adopted him 2.5 years ago. I mean constipation to the point that he bled every time he had a BM) C. The pathogens/bacterias (I have two young kids and one who still puts everything in her mouth...
IM GOING CRAZY, NEED ADVICE!!!!

Click to expand...

I am in the same boat--my kitty has constipational issues. They don't sound as bad as your kitty's, but here is what I decided: I can try a raw or homecooked diet if I make a very gradual transition to see how much the diet affects my kitty's litter box habits. I was going around searching for higher content protein food because starches can cause constipation. I finally decided on Hound and Gatos or similar brands--no fruits/veggies and mainly just muscle and organ meat. But then I realized the Hound and Gatos was just the same thing as far as protein content as feeding raw or homecooked. In fact, it even made the stools a little too hard for my comfort. So at that point, I might as well feed raw or homecooked.

HighMaintKitty said:

Disappointed in all the new "high quality" reputation canned cat foods with Carrageenan. Some I'm surprised and very disappointed with:

- Evo

- Merrick's Before Grain

- Blue

- Solid Gold (Which my cats actually like, but does have fish)

- By Nature Organics (Beef and Liver)  BOTH my cats loved, A MIRACLE, but sadly has carrageenan (I just emailed them to ask why?  oh why?)

Click to expand...

The By Nature Organics organic line does not have carrageenan. Their 95% line does. They do not have beef flavor in the organic line, though. They also have new stew varieties without carrageenan. You might try the venison stew, venison is a strong but gamey beef flavor.

I'm sorry, I didn't read the full thread, but I have been reading about carrageenan for hours, and thought you all might like to know about a few amazing sites that review cat food.

• http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2011/07/stunning-info-about-human-grade-cat-food-and-carrageenan/ (also great on that site is her top food recommendations: http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/)
• http://truthaboutpetfood2.com/the-2013-list (can donate a bit, but the list is pretty great, although it does have dog food in there, too)
• and my favorite resource to date: http://www.catinfo.org/ (specific info about canned food: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods)
• amazingly, catinfo.org also compiled a list of best foods: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf (or better yet, a sortable version http://www.catinfo.org/docs/SortableCatFoodChartCatinfo.org2-22-13.htm)

Anyhow, I hope all this helps all those lovely kitties out there in the world! 

Much love, human and feline friends. <3

According to Fancy Feast when I asked them about this, they DO have this in their foods: "Carrageenan is used as an ingredient in some of our Fancy Feast wet foods. It's used mostly in loaf forms as a gelling agent and gives the loaf product body and texture."  So I can only guess that their pate version has this but the others do not.  Either way, I went to their website and I've checked the cans in my pantry and they DO NOT list this on their labels!

What is a great DRY kitten food for my 6 month old kittens

Well, I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a great dry food, but the best ones I know of are Ziwipeak, Wysong Epigen 90 and Young Again Zero Carb.