So, what is the best cat wet food?

Andrya said:

Halo is one of the foods l've never tried, l haven't found one (canned) that doesn't have carrageenan or something species-inappropriate, like alfalfa meal.

l don't see their website saying human-grade either, maybe l'm not seeing it (l'm old 

 )

The only other USDA certified for human consumption canned food that l'm aware of is Tiki Cat. And unfortunately they only have 2 chicken flavours - the rest are fish.

http://www.petropics.com/PukaPuka.htm

Click to expand...

Yep, Tiki Cat, BFF, and Weruva are the only foods that I know of that are human grade. This is why I recommend these foods - but not Weruva all the time, because as said in your other thread, too many carbs are no good! Many varieties of Weruva do not have carrageenan, you just gotta read the label. SOME of them do though. I am not too sure about BFF.

LDG said:

This thread is about canned/pouch foods, so Weruva is the only human-grade option.

Click to expand...

 I guess I include raw in with the "wet" category, cause, well.... it IS technically wet. 

I feed a lot of Wellness in my house, everything from the original grain-free formulas to CORE to the Healthy Indulgence pouches and my cats new favourites, the simple ingredient minced/cubed/sliced flavours. 

As Andrya pointed out in her More canned food questions thread, Dr. Pierson updated the infamous Janet & Binky food charts recently and posted the results on her catinfo site: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Food Chart Public 9-22-12.pdf  Some of the results are pretty interesting (like how high carb Weruva actually is). 

Oh, and ZiwiPeak is also a big hit here. Contains carrageenan but I'm not particularly concerned about it, since my cats eat a lot of carrageenan-free raw.

jlc20m said:

When I first posted, I forgot to mention I also feed my cats Halo's Spot's Stew canned food. Again, it's expensive. But being human-grade, it's worth the cost for sure...

jlc20m

Click to expand...

Can you show us where on the site it says it's human grade?

EVO and Innova definitely are not humane grade foods.

kittylover23 said:

Yep, Tiki Cat, BFF, and Weruva are the only foods that I know of that are human grade. This is why I recommend these foods - but not Weruva all the time, because as said in your other thread, too many carbs are no good! Many varieties of Weruva do not have carrageenan, you just gotta read the label. SOME of them do though. I am not too sure about BFF.

Click to expand...

Yes - BFF is made by Weruva. :nod: Forgot about that! And I didn't know Tiki Cat was human grade (but it does look it. :lol3: ).

Halo advertizes that their pet food is human-grade on their website under FAQ. This why their food is more expensive than others. Hope this helps.

Jlc20m

I'm not seeing it. :dk: http://www.halopets.com/faqs/spots-stew.html

They do say this:

Q: Why does Halo refer to its products as natural?

A: Because it is! AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) defines "natural" pet food as having ingredients from ONLY plant, animal or mined sources. These foods cannot be highly processed or contain chemically synthetic ingredients, such as artificial flavors, preservatives or colorings. –Dr. Donna Spector

Q: Why does Halo refer to its products as holistic?

A: The holistic viewpoint that Halo has stems from the belief that health is achieved by focusing on the whole body through natural living. Halo believes that the quality of ingredients a pet eats is the foundation of overall well-being but that elimination of harsh chemicals from food, treats and the environment is also critical to achieve optimal health. –Dr. Donna Spector

Click to expand...

:dk:

I'm more confused than ever about the term "human grade" being batted around having found this on TheHonestKitchen website (makers of Prowl dehydrated):

In 2004 The Honest Kitchen obtained a Statement of No Objection from the federal FDA to use the term Human Grade on its product labels – a first in the industry and a feat that is yet to be replicated by the company’s industry peers.

The Honest Kitchen became embroiled in a legal battle over the Human Grade issue in 2007 when state regulators with the department of agriculture in Ohio refused to register the products with the ‘human grade’ statement on the labels. The company took them to court over the issue, and won.

Click to expand...

It's seems that there is no clear standard of "human grade" that comes with federal certification and basically any company can make that claim. The quote above seems to point to the fact that it was only local regulators challenging the label that even led to Prowl being able to claim they fought and won the right to use it legally.

There is still no oversight or certification involved in the use of the term that I know of, so a company self proclaiming it may not mean much. As always, It's up to us as consumers to read the labels and determine for ourselves what we feel is fitting for ourselves and our pets.

One of the reasons I am SO grateful for the passionate members of this community for sharing their knowledge and wisdom about various additives and formulations. The more I read, the more I see how much I have yet to learn! 

Speaking of which… no one answered my question earlier about Wellness Grain-Free vs Wellness Core. (turkey formulation for example) What are peoples thoughts about how they compare? Any insight into the major differences between them? (The standard turkey grain free formulation is MUCH cheaper when bought in the large cans)

LDG said:

I'm not seeing it.

http://www.halopets.com/faqs/spots-stew.html
They do say this:

Click to expand...

I'm so sorry! The information is under "General Product Information":

Quote...

Q: Why is Halo more expensive than other foods?

A: Halo has chosen to use only the highest quality human-grade ingredients which is more costly than other less superior ingredients. Although it is more expensive at the check-out it may help save you money in vet bills. –Dr. Donna Spector

Again, hoping this helps.

jlc20m

NuMystic said:

It's seems that there is no clear standard of "human grade" that comes with federal certification and basically any company can make that claim.

Click to expand...

You're right, there isn't any such thing.

I bought Halo's spots stew once. It looked like cat food with a lot of veggies in it to me. I only ever bought Weruva's chicken (the one without veggies). You can see it's actual chicken meat though.

Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question about Wellness core vs. non-core.

For anyone that wants to learn more about the ingredients in cat food and AAFCO definitions and what they allow, we discuss it in this thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/239691/nutritionally-complete-assurances-for-our-pet-food

This is the only difference l see from their website:

Contains 5 Protein Sources, with 20% more protein than Wellness^{[emoji]174[/emoji]} Chicken Formula

l feed both, my kitties love the stuff, but yeah, the big cans of the regular grain-free are definitely more cost-effective.

Their nutritional analyses seem pretty similar too.

This is the best l could find on USDA certified human grade (it's talking about dog food, but hopefully applicable).

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/05/07/human-quality-pet-food.aspx

Yep, and to my knowledge, only Weruva, Nature's Variety (for the raw food), Bravo (also raw), and Nature's Menu (again, a raw food manufacturer - all foods but turkey) utilize USDA humane grade facilities.

Weruva, though, is manufactured in Thailand (at a human grade facility though): http://www.weruva.com/tid-bits-deta...-why-don-t-you-make-your-products-in-the-US-2

Nature's Variety (raw foods only): http://www.naturesvariety.com/learning/raw/quality

Bravo: http://www.bravorawdiet.com/aboutus.html

And Nature's Menu is based on info obtained from the company.

Thanks so much LDG, as always your posts are incredibly educational, and thank you Andrya for your feedback on the Wellness. Think I'll give those big cans a try and see how they go over.

LDG, can you tell me which is the Weruva chicken varieties you're speaking of? I know how highly everyone talks about Weruva but I've been having a hard time finding a grain free one that isn't loaded with either fish or potato starch. 

edit: Just realized that perhaps you weren't counting the starch addition as a "vegetable". 

Either way I'd love to hear from Weruva fans if there are any high protein low starch/carb formulas that aren't fish based. 

Weruva has several formulas that are poultry based, which is what i feed

I don't know if they are the end all be all of cat food, but they seem pretty good to me, and the cat loves them

Also it looks the most "human grade" of the food I've fed him (other than raw obviously!). You can see real shredded chicken.

I do feed other brands as well though .

see here for example

http://www.weruva.com/cat-cuisine-paw-lickin-chicken.php

redvelvetone said:

see here for example

http://www.weruva.com/cat-cuisine-paw-lickin-chicken.php

Click to expand...

I totally understand the appeal of the chicken shreds, and I'm sure it's a wonderful food, but I'm personally doing my best to stick with high protein, low carb/starch  grain free foods, and that Weruva variety has Potato Starch as the 3rd ingredient.

NuMystic said:

Either way I'd love to hear from Weruva fans if there are any high protein low starch/carb formulas that aren't fish based. 

Click to expand...

When I was looking at them, I used the guaranteed analysis to calculate the DMB. But that's FAR more deceptive than I thought! Didn't you post the link to Dr. Pierson's website that lists the carb contents of a lot of canned foods? ( I guess not? :lol3: ) Based on the AVERAGE nutritional content, which IS up on the site, the carb profile looks VERY different!!!!

Here's the link - you can "skip right to the food list." :lol3: It should help you identify high protein/low carb foods. :nod: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods

I love tiki cat but it's quite pricey.

LDG said:

When I was looking at them, I used the guaranteed analysis to calculate the DMB. But that's FAR more deceptive than I thought!

Didn't you post the link to Dr. Pierson's website that lists the carb contents of a lot of canned foods? ( I guess not?

) Based on the AVERAGE nutritional content, which IS up on the site, the carb profile looks VERY different!!!!
Here's the link - you can "skip right to the food list."

It should help you identify high protein/low carb foods.

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods

Click to expand...

Thank you SO much for that link. Was waffling a bit on the potato starch since people are so keen Weruva, and on their own site they claim very little is used only as a gravy thickener but HOLY COW is that Weruva high in carbs! No way I'm going there. 

Of course that leaves very little since I'd also love to avoid Carageenan which eliminates the entire BG feline line as well. 

The more I read the more I understand why so many go the DIY route. 

Even though Nature's Logic Chicken has a lot of veggies and fruits, they're way down the list and given the super low carb profile based on that chart there can't be all that much of it when weighed against the proteins so I think I'll be trying that next.