I'm wondering if anyone can shed light on something my vet was talking to me about? She was warning me about certain brands of canned cat food, saying that DINE (we're in Australia) for example, was one of the worst ones for adding disaccharides. She explained that disaccharides are sugars, and are used as an additive to thicken and pad out the 'meal' and I think add viscosity. (We are still combating tummy trouble in my kitten, so she didn't want me to feed Dine.) Anyway, I have a couple questions:
1. Any ideas how I can see if a can has disaccharides added? Now this is tricky. Here in Australia, we have no laws to make companies list all ingredients in pet food. So when I read the ingredients, I don't know if this is complete and truthful. My vet said to look at the carbohydrate analysis, even if no carbs are listed in the ingredients. The problem is, in all the cans I have, across 3 different brands including DINE, analysis is only for protein, fat, fibre and salt, sometimes ash. Now I do select cans carefully, and have none with grains or plant based ingredients (as far as I know anyway). But how do I verify this disaccharide business? (When I asked my vet how she knew, she couldn't remember where she'd read it in relation to DINE).
2. Have other people heard about disaccharides in canned cat food? What are the known health problems for cats? Or maybe, could this be another 'vet myth'...you know, along the lines of don't feed this, feed that (which we sell)?
Thanks all the feline nutrition brainiacs out there!
1. Any ideas how I can see if a can has disaccharides added? Now this is tricky. Here in Australia, we have no laws to make companies list all ingredients in pet food. So when I read the ingredients, I don't know if this is complete and truthful. My vet said to look at the carbohydrate analysis, even if no carbs are listed in the ingredients. The problem is, in all the cans I have, across 3 different brands including DINE, analysis is only for protein, fat, fibre and salt, sometimes ash. Now I do select cans carefully, and have none with grains or plant based ingredients (as far as I know anyway). But how do I verify this disaccharide business? (When I asked my vet how she knew, she couldn't remember where she'd read it in relation to DINE).
2. Have other people heard about disaccharides in canned cat food? What are the known health problems for cats? Or maybe, could this be another 'vet myth'...you know, along the lines of don't feed this, feed that (which we sell)?
Thanks all the feline nutrition brainiacs out there!
