Grain free vs low carb

So the big marketing phrase now is "grain free." But how much should I pay attention to that? Sure, grain free is good, but if a certain brand has grain but is still low carb, is that still good? What about the cat foods that are grain free but have potatoes and other starches in them? I guess what I want to know is if grains = potatoes/starches = carbs in general. Or is having grains worse than having potatoes and other starches?

Well the grains are worse, most, a bit of rice, or brown rice is ok by me. But potato isn't great either. That's why being informed and reading labels is so important. You want high protein and low carbs (cats do need a bit of carbs, but has to be the right kind). Same with fat, they need a bit of that also. Have you read the articles on catinfo.org? It can be a lot to read, but really breaks it all down for you and can do so better then can be done here in a post. Basicly, you want foods with carb content that is less then 10%.

As you have found, grain free does not mean low carb. You actually want grain free and low carb. In general, you want to avoid corn, wheat and soy. Next would be potatoes and rice. In a study done about 10 years ago, dietary rice bran was shown to decrease plasma and whole blood taurine in cats. Then comes other veggies and fruits. Peas and carrots are popular in cat foods even though cats have no nutritional need for them or even the ability to process them.

It is very difficult to avoid all of these in a dry food. In a wet food, it is a little easier, and in some foods like Nature's Variety Instinct, the peas and carrots are big enough to pick out before feeding. Good luck. Finding a high quality food that your cat will eat is a challenge but a worthwhile one.

Raintyger said:

So the big marketing phrase now is "grain free." But how much should I pay attention to that? Sure, grain free is good, but if a certain brand has grain but is still low carb, is that still good? What about the cat foods that are grain free but have potatoes and other starches in them? I guess what I want to know is if grains = potatoes/starches = carbs in general. Or is having grains worse than having potatoes and other starches?

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I'm wondering the same thing lately. If simple starches can cause a quick spike in insulin and whole grains don't,  wouldn't grains be the better of the two? Maybe it doesn't matter either way if the cats aren't processing them anyway.

Neither would be ideal, but since 99% of foods have some form I wonder which I should pick...

For now I just pick the foods with the lowest overall carbs, regardless of the source.

It is very difficult to decide between the worse of two evils. The problem with grains is that they are often allergens for some cats. Also, they are usually GMO crops which some people are avoiding, both for themselves and their pets.

vball91 said:

It is very difficult to decide between the worse of two evils. The problem with grains is that they are often allergens for some cats. Also, they are usually GMO crops which some people are avoiding, both for themselves and their pets.

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You beat me to saying the exact same thing.

vball91 said:

It is very difficult to decide between the worse of two evils. The problem with grains is that they are often allergens for some cats. Also, they are usually GMO crops which some people are avoiding, both for themselves and their pets.

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Good point about the GMO's.

vball91 said:

... The problem with grains is that they are often allergens for some cats. Also, they are usually GMO crops which some people are avoiding, both for themselves and their pets.

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Fortunately (as far as I know) GM rice and wheat have NOT yet been approved in the US.

Once that happens (assuming Monsanto gets their way as usual) I won't know what to do.

I am seriously considering moving to a country that requires labeling of GMOs.  

At any rate, over 90% of the Corn and Soy in the US are now GM.

Here is a list of the most common GM ingredients:

http://action.greenamerica.org/p/sa...age_KEY=7608&gclid=COK0qdjk67YCFdCY4Aod6iQALQ

Back to the main topic,

3 of my Kitties developed allergies when we went 100% Grain Free,

so I switched to Brown Rice* as their carb source for their Dry (between wet meals) snack,

and everyone is doing fine again. I feel sure it was either the peas or potatoes that were bothering them.

Finding Dry without corn, soy, peas, potatoes or fish is a real chore...

The first post in the thread below gives a list of five dry foods without these ingredients:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/257760/comparing-dry-foods-with-no-corn-soy-peas-potatoes-or-fish