New and promising looking wet cat food (All life Stages)

Hi I am a new cat here and I have a strong interest in cat nutrition. While I agree whole heatedly that a raw diet is probably best I do feel there is a place at the table for decent canned and on that rare occasion even a quality no grain kibble. Anyhoo, I just put to rest a beautiful 15 yo IBD kitty and I had to learn and play quite a bit with food to keep her eating and out of misery for several years.

I learned more than I wanted to know and the more I learned the more confusing it became because there are soooooo many issues with cats you want to avoid and choosing food A to solve problem B might cause problem C. So I know how bad it can be and it is made more complex by our kitties picky eating behavior, high cost of quality foods, and manufactures that may be less than ethical.

Anyhoo, to the point-In my travels I have decided I want a canned with no grains and no carragean for my new shelter cat Whitney who is currently 4 months. These are hard to find. I did however find one I don't think I saw mentioned on your site and I wanted to recommend them and also get your opinions on the ingredients.

The company is local to me in California and called Lotus. I was drawn to their cat foods as I saw they had no Xanthine or Guar gum or Carraggean and are No grain. They also utilize one protein in some cans I think. My IBD adult cat did well on their pates.

However, the food I really want to bring to your attention is their new Just Juicy line. The protien amount is impressive so good for all life stages. It is awful expensive at 3 bucks + a can but my 4 month old loves it and she hates her Natures Variety wet  that also is sans carragean. Here is a link to the Lotus chicken just juicy can. What do you all think?

http://www.lotuspetfoods.com/canned-just-chiken.php

PS I also noticed very recently PORK is in Natures Variety wet and the Lotus Just Juicy line. My 4 month old likes her bacon for sure. What do u think about pork for cats?

For a cat needing to watch out for carbs, the potato starch may be a problem. Otherwise I like "chicken" as the first ingredient.

I feed my cats raw pork with no problems. I buy ribs rather than cured meats.

I definitely don't see a need for the potato starch or carrots, but all other ingredients look okay. It is pretty low calorie, so I think it is very expensive for what you get. Have you looked at Hound & Gatos? It is 98% meat generally. It does have some amount of xanthan gum which may be an issue if your cat has any corn allergies, but other than that, it meets your criteria, as does Tiki Cat chicken varieties.

I'm familiar with Lotus, as I live in Southern California and have been to Centinela Feed. It is high carb. I second the Hound and Gatos recommendation. It is very simple food--muscle and organ meat, guar gum, and supplements. Since you live in Torrance, you could drive over to Got Pet Food in Santa Monica and get several flavors of Hound and Gatos. They also have a good selection of higher end food.

Although I haven't tried it - I think I prefer Hounds and Gatos over Lotus. 

Tiki Cat chicken has no carrageenan or xanthan gum, Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen CANS are also carrageenan free but I believe they have xanthan. Some of Nutro Natural Choice cans (chunky loaf chicken and turkey) are xanthan and carrageenan free but have guar gum. Honestly, with canned foods I feel like you gotta take the lesser of the two evils, and with the whole BPA scare/craze, I've decided to go raw. 

I don't see a problem with pork, in fact I am thinking about adding pork to my cats rotation very soon.