Why all the fruirs and veggies?

I've been looking at premium brands of wet and dry food. Why do they all have so many fruits and vegetables in them? I though cats were carnivores?

Marketing. Humans think it looks healthy, so they're more likely to buy it, forgetting/not knowing that cats can't process plant matter. Also, fruits and veggies are cheaper than meat.

brillobee said:

I've been looking at premium brands of wet and dry food. Why do they all have so many fruits and vegetables in them? I though cats were carnivores?

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There are some nutritional values to some of the vegetables in wet and dry foods but for the most part it makes the food look "more natural" and "healthier" to the consumer.  Marketing plays a big role in dog and cat food and what goes on the bag etc.  Ordinarily what you will find is a very low percentage of the vegetable matter in the ingredient list but it's marketed up because people are more prone to buy it.

I totally agree it is nothing but marketing. During the melamine scare in 2007, Purina stated on its homepage cats need wheat gluten because proteins are in it. We all know that is not true because wheat is a plant! The reason melamine was added: to make the food appear to have more protein than it did because meat is expensive.

A classic example of marketing; Pet food companies say carrots have Vitamin A, which cats need. Actually carrots have beta carotene, which humans and dogs convert to Vitamin A. But cats lack the enzyme for that, so they need to get their Vitamin A through their diet, not beta carotene.

By far the worst example is AvoDerm. The company was founded on the assumption cats and dogs need to eat avocados for better skin. The reality is avocados are toxic to cats, who get no dermal benefit because they are carnivores.

It's all just a marketing trick, because veggies and fruits appeal to humans.