Wet food help and is my way of warming up wet food killing the benefits?

Hey guys,

So after reading about the benefits of canned food, I started giving my cat Paprika half wet/half dry food per day. I have her on Blue Buffalo Sensitive Stomach dry cat food and different varieties of Blue wet food (kitty's favorites are anything with fish). I'm thinking of switching her from Blue because I'm seriously paranoid about some shady things I read about them but I am so confused what to switch her to since the more and more I read about other companies and cat food I am just discouraged that there is always SOMETHING that's a hidden ingredient does not belong in kitty food (such as cargeenan, rosemary oil, extra carbs in "grain free" foods etc.). Also I don't want Paprika to eat fish so often but every wet cat food somehow has fish in the fourth or so ingredient! It's so frustrating!

Anyways, while I'm still deciding what to do about the brand, I'm still going to give her what I've been giving her since she seems to love the food and I think she seems healthy (other than having big pee clumps but I'm just going to guess its because I'm giving her more moisture via wet food). The method I warm her food is different than anything I've seen in the forums but basically I heat about a tablespoon of water on a pan until it's boiling and then I put a teaspoon of food on top of the water. I mix it all up and immediately put it on a bowl. Then I put a teaspoon or so of the cold food from the can in the hot mixture and I mix it until its lukewarm. My cat loves the temperature more than if I put it in the microwave or put hot water directly on the food and give it to her. 

My question is, is that a bad method to warm her food and is it going to kill any vitamins, protein, etc.? Thanks for your help!

I don't think that method is harmful. Since I usually make hot water for myself, the kettle tends to have hot or warm water in it anyway, so I just pour from there and mix it in. If canned is coming out of the fridge from an open can, it's preferable to have it kind of lukewarm (lots of people use the example that cats don't catch cold prey - it's warm!). Besides, the amount of processing most food goes through before it hits the can means it probably hit a pretty decent heat and pressure already, so some boiling water or a microwave - I would think, at least - isn't going to make or break the nutrition.

It can be difficult to find canned foods without a single objectionable ingredient. A couple of good brands that don't contain carrageenan are Hound & Gatos and Nature's Variety Instinct. Those lines also have flavors that don't contain any fish.

Your method of heating up the food is fine.

pinkdagger said:

 
I don't think that method is harmful. Since I usually make hot water for myself, the kettle tends to have hot or warm water in it anyway, so I just pour from there and mix it in. If canned is coming out of the fridge from an open can, it's preferable to have it kind of lukewarm (lots of people use the example that cats don't catch cold prey - it's warm!). Besides, the amount of processing most food goes through before it hits the can means it probably hit a pretty decent heat and pressure already, so some boiling water or a microwave - I would think, at least - isn't going to make or break the nutrition.

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Thanks for your response! I'm super relieved because I thought the high temps were killing the food particles.

vball91 said:

It can be difficult to find canned foods without a single objectionable ingredient. A couple of good brands that don't contain carrageenan are Hound & Gatos and Nature's Variety Instinct. Those lines also have flavors that don't contain any fish.

Your method of heating up the food is fine.

Click to expand...

Wow I've never heard of Hound & Gatos. Looking at the ingredients in the chicken formula I'm just a little concerned about the gums that are used such as Xanthan, Guar, etc. But at least it's better than carrageenan right? Also NVI looks great too except for the weird montmorillonite clay. What's up with that? But NVI is definitely at the top of my list for canned food! Thanks so much!