Foods with out ash?

Since my Smokey (who just passed away) was on a perscription diet, I don't know much about the foods on the market right now. I'm planning on getting two kitties sometime soon & was wondering what if any foods contain no ash. I've heard the ash can be bad for kitties. My sister feeds purina one & says that has no ash. Does anyone know of any other foods that have no ash, or is ash not a concern? I'm just trying to find out what the best food will be. I was paying around $15 for a 5 lb bag & would be willing to continue to pay that much. However, if I find I can't afford that what are the most important things to look for on cat food lables?

Most commercial foods are going to contain Ash. The definition of ash is the mineral matter in a food source. These minerals include magnesium, calcium, phosphorous, iron, copper, etc.The individual components to ash are necessary for health. In order for any supplement to be complete and capable of balancing the minerals in commercial foods it must be high in some ash components.One component in ash has been linked in cases of Feline Urological Syndrome (FUS). It's the magnesium. Recent studys have shown that the elimination of large quantities of magnesium in thier diet has not solved FUS problems in all cats. Many cats eating low magnesium diets suffer from calcium based crystal formation.
I really think that unless you have a cat with urinary tract problems, you should feed a high quality diet of your choice.

All pet foods can be checked on the internet. Just do a search of the Brand name. This way you know the ingredents before you get to the store.
Clara

Well even though I may be from Canada, one that i have always had fatih in is this one brand called Acana . It's high quality, and has been the only thing I have fed my 4 babies (besides Whiskas wet) since before they were born (their parental fur mama's ate Acana too.) You might be able to get it in the states, but I would sugest checking it out. All of my furbabies are old enough now that they're on the adult formula. The best part about it though, is that it's natural. You'll see what I mean when you check it out...

~ Salem

I don't think it hurts to find a lower ash/magnesium food, but most important, imo, is the quality of the protein and the amount of fillers used, and what preservative is used.

My strong preference after trying a large number of foods over the years, is for foods that do not use bha/bht or ethoxyquin to preserve...I prefer those that use vitamin e (tocopherol) to preserve, and I will not feed a food using "natural flavors", colorings, or sugars, or garlic.

I like Avoderm dry, really like (but it's horrendously expensive) Flint River Ranch, and for canned foods, like Active Life, Felidae, for a cat on a good quality dry food, for a treat, wysong's all meat canned foods would make a nice complement (but they are not adequate to be the sole diet). There are other good one's out there, which I'm sure folks will mention shortly <G>.