Lesser of all the evils....

I am having an awful time with switching my IBD kitty to all wet food. I want something grain free for sure, and am hesitant about too many fruits and veggies. The one thing keeping me from trying so many different ones is the carageenan. Honestly, is this something I need to really focus on and worry about, or should I just be satisfied he loves wet food at all? I would LOVE it if he would take to natures variety instinct canned but he's just not into any of them. Do I need to give it more time? He won't even entertain the idea. Sniffs and walks away and doesn't ever go back to it. I've spent a ton of money now trying to find something he'll eat that still meets what I consider good standards. So far he loves Fancy Feast classics and Friskies pates but all the by products freak me out, too. So.... How much do you guys worry about carageenan? I have read all the research, all the links, know all the facts about it and it scares me to feed it to him but I also know the world has a way of linking just about everything these days to cancer. Just don't know what to do anymore. It's stressing me out and the constant switch of foods is stressing him out! Any advice? Also, I know friskies pâté isn't the best and has lots of by products, but is it technically grain free?

yes Friskies pates are gluten and grain free. this is something you'll have to decide for yourself. Carrageenan's research is solid but that doesn't mean it's going to affect all kitties the same. Having said that, since your kitty already has IBD, I'd try and stay away from it. I know the FF and Friskies are not the best but the bi-products are no worse than the carrageenan really. I think getting onto wet food is important if you can do it. 

Well, all of the flavors that I looked at have rice in them. While rice is not corn or wheat, it is still considered a grain and supplies carbs. That is what the grain free is all about. Low carbs.

I suspect that my case has a mild case of IBD that I don't want to get worse so I try to avoid carrageenan. Have you tried Hound & Gatos (which I found out recently has xanthan gum which is made from corn) or Tiki Cat? I feed those plus Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw and home-made raw. My cat hated NVI. For IBD kitties, raw has been known to help many of them. Is raw something you would/could consider?

Another member just turned me on to By Nature Organic, and it looks SUPER to me.  I think you can probably buy it in your area (I, unfortunately cannot, so just ordered a case of it via the internet and am keeping my fingers crossed that my little miss picky will like it).  Maybe you can pick one can in each flavor and test it out.

BTW, Natures Variety Instinct is a bust here too. 

I think I will try Hounds and Gatos... Does Petco or Petsmart happen to carry it? Good news on the NVI front.... He loves the chicken and duck limited ingredient but won't even entertain the rabbit or turkey (which is odd because usually turkey is his favorite). Perhaps he was just tired and sick of trying a million things yesterday.

Re: feeding raw, I would love to, but am just working on the transition to all wet first. :nod:

I can only find Hound & Gatos online. I've heard local pet stores may also order it for you.

I'm pretty sure the Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit is processed in China- not their other ones, just the Rabbit- and for that reason some people don't buy it (out of mistrust of standards).

Have you tried a new food called Wild Calling? It's grain free with no carrageenan. My cats love it.

Nature's variety no longer sources their rabbits from China! They get it from New Zealand now. 

I haven't smitten! Can I find it in stores or just online?

I live in Pennsylvania and found it at a store called Pets Plus. They have a store locater on their website so you can see if they have it at a store near you.

I like it because it's %96 meat, no by-products, no grain, no carrageenan and no fruits or veggies.

Artemis fresh mix is another similar one I like.

I would definitely avoid carrageenan in an IBD kitty. I would watch for xanthan gum too, as it is made from corn. Hounds&Gatos contains xanthan gum

I second the By Nature organic. That is the only canned brand I feed now (my cats are 50% raw) There are two ingredients I wish they didn't contain, pea flour and menadione sodium bisulfate. The menadione is the last ingredient, but still, I hate that it's in there at all. I've been using the By Nature organic for about 18 months now.

I have one cat with very serious digestive issues and she is able to manage the By Nature organic.

finnlacey said:

Nature's variety no longer sources their rabbits from China! They get it from New Zealand now. 

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Woohoo! Thanks for the update.