Wet food ingredient comparisons

claudeone

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I like the Feisty Feral's reply.  Most premium commercial canned cat foods still add filler that has little value to a cat and may be harmful over time.
 
 
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emilymaywilcha

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I like the Feisty Feral's reply. Most premium commercial canned cat foods still add filler that has little value to a cat and may be harmful over time.
 
But unlike most companies, Weruva does not use carrageenan and/or guar gum to thicken the gravy in every can and pouch. Potato starch is wonderful compared to those two gravy thickeners!

BTW the word "premium" is just a marketing gimmick. The only difference is smaller poop size, which is irrelevant in cats.
 

ldg

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BTW the word "premium" is just a marketing gimmick. The only difference is smaller poop size, which is irrelevant in cats.
:scratch: I agree that "premium" is typically a marketing gimmick. But what does it have to do with poop size? And why is that irrelevant in cats? It's a great indicator as to the bioavailability of the food their eating. The quality of the poop (sorry, that sounds weird! :lol3: ) is, IMO, a significant indicator as to how well the food agrees with them. People joke all the time about stinky cat poop, and often let their cats go years with slightly runny or overly soft stools. But if that same person had really stinky, soft poop and it didn't resolve, they'd probably be off to the doctor. :dk:
 
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emilymaywilcha

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I agree that "premium" is typically a marketing gimmick. But what does it have to do with poop size? And why is that irrelevant in cats? It's a great indicator as to the bioavailability of the food their eating. The quality of the poop (sorry, that sounds weird!) is, IMO, a significant indicator as to how well the food agrees with them. People joke all the time about stinky cat poop, and often let their cats go years with slightly runny or overly soft stools. But if that same person had really stinky, soft poop and it didn't resolve, they'd probably be off to the doctor.
Premium meat is more digestible (higher quality) so less of it goes into the cat's colon. That's why it reduces poop size and gets higher prices.

Poop volume is irrelevant to cats because if you use clumpable litter, you can't smell it even if the cat was constipated. The whole idea was to make people with indoor dogs think they will have less poop smell in the house.
 
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emilymaywilcha

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Poop volume is a marketing point. Pet food sellers use that as a reason to buy more for premium recipes than the regular stuff that is much cheaper. Their target audience for this is owners of indoor dogs. I personally just care about my cat not being constipated.
 

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I can't say I've ever seen poop volume used as a marketing point. . .:lol3:. Can't you just see the commercials now--"I switched my dog to Blue Buffalo, and now his poop is smaller and less stinky! Just look at these comparison photos!" :rofl:
 
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emilymaywilcha

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I can't say I've ever seen poop volume used as a marketing point. Can't you just see the commercials now --"I switched my dog to Blue Buffalo, and now his poop is smaller and less stinky! Just look at these comparison photos!"
The ads were signs in New York, not national TV commercials. And they were not in grocery or pet stores.

Advertising aside, does anybody think it really matters how much a cat poops?
 

Willowy

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Does it matter in the sense of "oh, the cat poops too much"? No, probably not to most people. But poop is waste--whatever your body didn't use. So a low volume of poop means the body used most of the food, which can't be a bad thing.

And seriously? They had ads? That's hilarious! Only in New York, I guess. . .:tongue2:
 
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emilymaywilcha

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Does it matter in the sense of "oh, the cat poops too much"? No, probably not to most people. But poop is waste -- whatever your body didn't use. So a low volume of poop means the body used most of the food, which can't be a bad thing.
And seriously? They had ads? That's hilarious! Only in New York, I guess.
And that is exactly the point of using "high quality" meat - more of it gets used. That is one reason some people gave me to feed raw meat.

The authors of Feed Your Pet Right are New Yorkers.
 

redvelvetone

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poop volume IS important though (can't believe I just typed that sentence! lol)

My last cat, Harley, used to only eat dry food. I did not know any better at the time. He used to get constipated, have very large poops (almost human sized outputs), as well as dandruff and itchy skin and dry fur (and was also really obese). It wasn't until I figured out that he should be eating wet food ('cause the vet never even asked me about that even after I brought him twice to get emergency enemas from being backed up, only recommended Science Diet!). Once I switched him to one can of wet a day his poop became much smaller and he was no longer constipated. He, sadly, still died of cancer. I wonder if that was something I could have avoided too if I had known more about nutrition, as most of his life he just ate dry food, and much of that was "grocery store" brand cat food up until the past few years when I started getting more holistic dry foods. It could have been genetics, or bad luck, but his whole system could have been stressed for years by being constantly dehydrated too. I wish I had found this site back then so i would have known better.

Before I got my current cat, I read up more on nutrition so that I would be better educated about it. My current cat only gets wet, and grain free wet at that. (and some raw). he utilizes most of what he eats so he only poops a small amount (but is not constipated), and still pees a good amount. I don't know if this will help him avoid cancer when he gets older, because that can be just bad genes too, but at the very least he is very healthy otherwise. You can tell from his super shiny soft coat, and he's active and playful

So I do think the size / amount of the stool is very important. It's a general indicator on if they are getting proper nutrition or are having digestive issues. If they are pooping too much, then that may be an indicator they are not getting proper nutrition.
 
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emilymaywilcha

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Velvet, you can start a new thread about that in the Health forum and I will keep you company.
 I also have been thinking if I had known better and always fed wet food only my cat would still be with me. All you can do now is keep feeding grain-free wet and/or raw food every day and hope your current kitty does not get cancer.
 

claudeone

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Sorry Emily,

I got you threading on cat poop.  If Weruva is giving your cats smaller stools then that is a significant benefit if the amount they eat is the same as the other foods.  That means more was absorbed and utilized by the the digestive system.
   Balanced raw feeding does the same and the stool is dryer with less odor. 

 
 

redvelvetone

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Velvet, you can start a new thread about that in the Health forum and I will keep you company.
 I also have been thinking if I had known better and always fed wet food only my cat would still be with me. All you can do now is keep feeding grain-free wet and/or raw food every day and hope your current kitty does not get cancer.
Thanks Emily

I'm sure some of that is just guilt; there is so much more I know now that I feel really bad about some of what my cat went through, knowing that it could have been avoided if I had been better educated. 

But then again, sometimes bad things just happen, and there's no way to avoid it. 

So right now I can only go by what I see. I see a healthy cat who seems to be thriving on his food. Hopefully this continues (and hopefully all your kitties do well as well..... it's just so sad when they get sick and you can't do anything to help them)
 
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