Hound & Gatos - 13 oz DOG formula ok?

Hi guys/gals,

What's your opinion on Hound & Gatos 13 oz. cans of DOG food, for cats? 

I can't seem to find 13 oz. cat versions locally, and the manuf. website doesn't list them. 

Reason being - the cost savings is considerable. $2.00 for a 5.5 oz cat can, vs. $2.60 for a 13 oz. DOG formula. 

I realize the DOG food version doesn't have taurine, but is there anything else missing? 

Marc

Cats need taurine.  It is an essential to their diet.  I like the brand for their cat food, it's in our monthly rotation, but would not personally recommend using the dog food as a main staple of their diet.

Having said that, Nature's Variety Instinct brand dog food DOES have taurine in it and I have used it for the kitties.  Our problem is mine don't enjoy leftovers - so it goes to waste.  Good way to save money otherwise.

I'm not aware of any other dog foods aside from Instinct which have the taurine.

Fair enough.  I can add taurine powder or capsules in. I don't think that's too much of an issue. 

I was wondering if there were additional vitamins/minerals specific to cat food vs. dog food.

There is a much longer list of added vitamins in the cat food compared to the dog. 

l do buy the cat-specific Hounds and Gatos for my cats, except for the Rabbit flavour. lt's way more expensive than the other flavours, so l buy Rabbit for the dog and add taurine to give it to the cats. Not the best, but they get such a wide rotation of raw and canned cat food that it probably won't hurt them too much.

Andrya said:

 
There is a much longer list of added vitamins in the cat food compared to the dog. 

Click to expand...

  That indicates they had to add a bunch more stuff to the cat version to meet AAFCO recommendations for cats. A food can be formulated so that it is appropriate for either cats or dogs but that doesn't seem to be the case with H&G.

Dog Formula (chicken):

Chicken, Water, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Chloride, Cassia Gum, Choline Chloride, Guar Gum,
Calcium Carbonate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Salt, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E
Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Riboflavin Supplement, Selenium Yeast,
Kelp, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide,
Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement
 
Guaranteed analysis: (dog food only)
Crude Protein Min............................................10.0%
Crude Fat Min...................................................9.0%
Crude Fiber Max................................................0.5%
Moisture Max.....................................................78%
Phosphorus Min...............................................0.25%
Calorie Content: (ME, Calculated)
1267 kcal/kg. 467 kcal/can 13 oz

Cat Formula (chicken)

Chicken, Water, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Xanthan Gum, Choline Chloride, Guar Gum,
Cassia Gum, Salt, Taurine, Magnesium Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Manganese
Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin
B1), Niacin Supplement (Vitamin B3), Vitamin E Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5),
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Biotin (Vitamin B7),
Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B9)

Guaranteed analysis: (cat food only)
Crude Protein Min............................................10.0%
Crude Fat Min...................................................9.5%
Crude Fiber.....................................................0.50%
Moisture Max.....................................................78%
Phosphorus Min...............................................0.25%
Calorie Content: (ME, Calculated)
  1293kcal/kg. 202 kcal/5.5oz can

There is taurine and other supplements in the cat food and the cat food has a few more calories, if my math is correct.  Pet Food Direct has some of the flavors and the chicken is around $31.50/case.  The cat didn't like it though.