questioning 'grain free'

I know 'grain free' is the catch phrase & I DO understand why; but it seems a lot of the grain free foods are just using other carbs such as potatoes, sweet potatoes & peas ...these are not any more nutritious for our cats are they?  Aren't these just non grain carbs which cats don't need anyway ...so, they're really useless fillers, right? So I wonder what all the fuss is about grain free? ...if a carb is a carb is a carb when it comes to cats? ... and I notice carbs aren't listed on the cans so we have to do the math I guess.

For example, this formula looks low carb :

Turkey, Turkey Broth, Turkey Liver, Pork Broth, Natural Flavors, Guar Gum, Sodium Phosphate, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Minerals (Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide), Salt, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Taurine

So while this recipe IS grain free, it isn't using other carbs either (this is Nutro Natural Choice Chunky Loaf Turkey)

I'm not sure I'm really asking a question ...maybe just starting a discussion ...sorry if it's all been said

LoriBeth said:

I know 'grain free' is the catch phrase & I DO understand why; but it seems a lot of the grain free foods are just using other carbs such as potatoes, sweet potatoes & peas ...these are not any more nutritious for our cats are they?  Aren't these just non grain carbs which cats don't need anyway ...so, they're really useless fillers, right? So I wonder what all the fuss is about grain free? ...if a carb is a carb is a carb when it comes to cats? ... and I notice carbs aren't listed on the cans so we have to do the math I guess.
For example, this formula looks low carb :

Turkey, Turkey Broth, Turkey Liver, Pork Broth, Natural Flavors, Guar Gum, Sodium Phosphate, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Minerals (Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide), Salt, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Taurine

So while this recipe IS grain free, it isn't using other carbs either (this is Nutro Natural Choice Chunky Loaf Turkey)

I'm not sure I'm really asking a question ...maybe just starting a discussion ...sorry if it's all been said

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I don't think cats need any carbs but I think corn, wheat, soy is worst. Then rice or barley. Least offensive being peas, potatoes etc

bonepicker said:

I don't think cats need any carbs but I think corn, wheat, soy is worst. Then rice or barley. Least offensive being peas, potatoes etc

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I definitely agree with that ... that's a good way to look at it

bonepicker said:

I don't think cats need any carbs but I think corn, wheat, soy is worst. Then rice or barley. Least offensive being peas, potatoes etc

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My cat threw up grain carbs but not vegetable carbs. No carbs is best but more expensive.

Officially speaking the vegetable or grains in foods are binders and also there for fiber and to replace minerals lost in processing.  However, "Grain Free" is not just a gimic, especially for cats.  Cats get a lot of their water from their food, and grains such as corn, wheat and oats (to a lesser degree) absorb the moisture out of their food and system.  So it can contribute to kidney or urinary tract problems, etc.  The vegetables are much better for them.  True the carbs but when you consider that it does not take the moisture out and contribute to health problems, it is more beneficial to go with grain free. 

I agree. I think it stands to reason that the best diet for cats is one as close as possible to the prey they would eat if left to their own devices, and that means meat, organs, bones, not salad. I'm not sure how "grain free" became synonymous with "good for cats" - maybe because people were dissatisfied with the dry diets that were mostly grain, manufacturers decided to try using vegetables instead?

Incidentally, soy and peas are more closely related to each other than either one is to grains. I avoid all peas/beans/legumes, including soy, just as I avoid wheat gluten, corn gluten meal, rice protein and potato protein. They are all plant proteins that are NOT useful to cats, and they artificially raise the protein percentage on the bag, so you don't know how much usable protein is actually in the food. I don't trust the grain-free foods that have peas, potato protein etc. I don't think they are really any better than foods with grain that use gluten to inflate the protein level.

Any dry food needs some kind of starchy binder, but it seems like most, if not all of the grain free dry diets are also guilty of adding vegetable proteins, along with a whole bunch of other veggies, fruit and herbs that are there solely to appeal to human customers, without much thought as to how they will affect the cat that eats them.

But if a cat eats a mouse or bird or rabbit in the wild, won't it still be getting a few grains/vegetables that were in those animals' digestive systems? So in a way it still mimics their natural diet right? Not all grains that manufacturers use of course but still

uniqms95 said:

But if a cat eats a mouse or bird or rabbit in the wild, won't it still be getting a few grains/vegetables that were in those animals' digestive systems? So in a way it still mimics their natural diet right? Not all grains that manufacturers use of course but still

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that's a good point and I have often wondered that myself  ...but those foods are 'predigested' so to speak ...and maybe easier for the cat's system to continue digesting as opposed to what manufacturers 'cook' into the formula ...just speculating on that, I really don't know but what you said does make sense

Cats do eat mice and other small prey whole, so they do get a few grains/veggies/whatever the mouse ate. But a mouse's stomach is small, so they don't get that much. With larger prey they don't eat the stomach. My parents' cats used to hunt and they always left the stomach and intestines lying around .

I'm not really a fan of potatoes and peas in pet food. White potatoes tend to be inflammatory, and peas are high in plant estrogens. Chickpeas or sweet potatoes would be better. But canned food doesn't need a carb for binding so mostly plant ingredients in canned foods are just fillers.

Willowy said:

I'm not really a fan of potatoes and peas in pet food. White potatoes tend to be inflammatory, and peas are high in plant estrogens. Chickpeas or sweet potatoes would be better. But canned food doesn't need a carb for binding so mostly plant ingredients in canned foods are just fillers.

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Potatoes can definitely be inflammatory: one of our cats vomits if she eats foods with any form of potato. As for peas, I avoid anything with processed peas (e.g. pea protein) but occasionally feed Nature's Variety, which has whole peas. Though I often pick those out.