New brands of canned cat foods, including gluten and wheat free

I saw three new high end brands (well, new to me) at the independent pet store today

Spring Naturals - Wheat, gluten, corn, soy, and grain free. It comes in pate and minced varieties. The store only had the minced so I got one to try.

Cocolicious - Organic food with coconut oil. Two proteins in each variety. Heavy on the veggies and fruit, though, including banana, strawberries, and brussels sprouts

OsoPure - Gluten and grain free. Unfortunately all 5 varieties are tuna based.

Interesting info, thanks.  I just noticed on Bravo's site they are now diving into the processed food market, "Feline Cafe" canned cat food. They have two lines: the 95% meat line and Fricassess (gravy based and minced).

Here is a sample of the ingredients from their 95% line (and they also include a "country of origin" link for each food which opens via PDF):

Duck, turkey, turkey liver, turkey broth, turkey heart, salmon oil, natural flavor, cranberries, agar-agar, dried green lipped mussels, dandelion greens, parsley, choline chloride, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, salt, turmeric, taurine, iron amino acid chelate, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, thiamine mononitrate, niacin supplement, vitamin E supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid.

I won't be able to use it for my cats unfortunately due to the shellfish but maybe it'll work out for other kitties.

I don't think I saw the Bravo canned foods at the store today. http://www.bravopetfoods.com/cat_canned.html Gluten, gum, and grain free. Both types of food look decent, apart from the mussels and cranberries and greens that are ingredients.

LTS3 said:

 
I don't think I saw the Bravo canned foods at the store today. http://www.bravopetfoods.com/cat_canned.html Gluten, gum, and grain free. Both types of food look decent, apart from the mussels and cranberries and greens that are ingredients.

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Yeah, I just emailed Bravo about that. Nice though that they include the country of origin.

Thanks for the shopping report, LTS3 ! It's so frustrating to keep finding those undesirable ingredients in foods that otherwise sound good. I looked at one Cocolicious food and was just as sorry to see garbanzo beans and lentils as bananas!

Interesting, too, L lisamarie12 , about the Bravo food. I'm sure the amounts of the ingredients we don't like are small but again, there are just too many.

LisaHE said:

Thanks for the shopping report, @LTS3! It's so frustrating to keep finding those undesirable ingredients in foods that otherwise sound good. I looked at one Cocolicious food and was just as sorry to see garbanzo beans and lentils as bananas!

Interesting, too, @LisaMarie12, about the Bravo food. I'm sure the amounts of the ingredients we don't like are small but again, there are just too many.

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I would have given Bravo canned a try were it not for the shellfish, however, we've been down this road before with green lipped mussels in Ziwi Peak - the cats had a major itch fest on that food. And now with one cat sick, I can't take that risk, no matter how minuscule the amount may be.

Here's another one I saw at a different independent pet store today:

Precise Pet - Two canned food lines, besides the dry foods. The Natural line has grains and a kitten specific formula. The Holistic Complete line is grain-free and are flaked varieties, including a pork one.

The company that makes Cocolicious also makes an organic grain free pate food: http://partyanimalpetfood.com/ It's not as heavy on the fruits and veggies as Cocolicious.

LTS3 said:

 
Here's another one I saw at a different independent pet store today:

Precise Pet - Two canned food lines, besides the dry foods. The Natural line has grains and a kitten specific formula. The Holistic Complete line is grain-free and are flaked varieties, including a pork one.

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i serve precise holistic complete, the pork as well as the wild from heart river line canned, on a semi regular basis for my two. our jaspurr loves both flavors, but snick (my very picky eater, and senior) isn't always wild about the pork -- though i give her a little of the pork every time i open a can of it for jaspurr.

LTS3 said:

 
The company that makes Cocolicious also makes an organic grain free pate food: http://partyanimalpetfood.com/ It's not as heavy on the fruits and veggies as Cocolicious.

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I  checked out PA's Tom Cat turkey - I'm at a loss to understand why they're including bananas in the food.

LisaMarie12 said:

 
I  checked out PA's Tom Cat turkey - I'm at a loss to understand why they're including bananas in the food.

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Ha ha, it even says "no junk or weird stuff." They think bananas in cat food are normal!?

LisaHE said:

 
Ha ha, it even says "no junk or weird stuff." They think bananas in cat food are normal!?

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Very odd. Bananas are high in sugar, maybe even higher than potatoes. Feeding a food with bananas to a cat once in a while might not be an issue, however, day in and day out, I don't think that's a good idea, especially since those bananas are kind of high up on their ingredient list.

My Molly has severe IBD and I definitely can't do high sugar / carby foods with her.

It's a pity b/c their meats are organic, according to PA.

Well, there's the thing: the "organic" label. I'm sure it looks healthy to people because it's organic. But it has to be very carby, what with the peas so high on the list, plus bananas, too.

Exactly .... a very carby, organic cat food.

I tend to treat new companies like I do the latest OS for my phone or computer, and wait until the bugs get worked out.  I like to let the dust settle and listen out for complaints.  Has anyone here heard of Soul?  I saw that at Petco yesterday and wondered about it.  I'll do a search to see.  

One difficulty I'm having with going grain-free and allergen-free is the sheer lack of availability of varieties and types of meats.  I stick to canned because of the moisture content.  Right now, I buy Friskies turkey/giblets pate, Friskies Mixed Grill pate, and Fancy Feast chicken/liver pate as well as Nature's Variety Instinct Duck and Rabbit.  Not much variety.  I've noticed my kitties only eat the duck and rabbit after the other is gone and they take their time eating it too, as if "oh well I'm so hungry I'll even eat this crap!"  

I'm staying away from gravies because of the wheat or gluten and completely stopped their Temptations treats which have wheat gluten in them.  They still give me the stink eye since I've stopped their favorite treats.  Of course, they wouldn't even think of touching the grain-free meat only treats.  That they cut a wide swath around.    

Kitties!  <sigh>

Ginny said:

 
 Has anyone here heard of Soul?  I saw that at Petco yesterday and wondered about it.  I'll do a search to see.  

I'm staying away from gravies because of the wheat or gluten

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Soulistic? That's a Petco brand produced by Weruva. There are TCS members here who feed Soulistic and their cats do well on the food. It tends to be a bit low calorie, however, so you may need to feed more than you usually would than with  the others, although if you're doing a rotation, it should be fine.

Soulistic foods are shredded or chunky meats and gravy based, not wheat gluten but tapioca starch is used.

LisaHE said:

 
Well, there's the thing: the "organic" label. I'm sure it looks healthy to people because it's organic. But it has to be very carby, what with the peas so high on the list, plus bananas, too.

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Pet food is marketed to a Human's perception of what is healthy to eat. So lots of organic / gluten free  / fruits and veggie /  etc labeling

LisaMarie12 said:

 
Very odd. Bananas are high in sugar, maybe even higher than potatoes. Feeding a food with bananas to a cat once in a while might not be an issue, however, day in and day out, I don't think that's a good idea, especially since those bananas are kind of high up on their ingredient list.

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A definite no-no food for diabetic cats. Fruits have natural sugars in them so that can affect blood glucose levels. It's important to read the label if you have a special dietary needs cat for hidden sources of anything that might affect the medical condition.

Ginny, here's the Soulistic web site: http://soulisticpet.com/ It's basically a lesser expensive and more widely available version of Weruva and made by the same company.

LisaMarie12 said:

 
Soulistic? That's a Petco brand produced by Weruva. There are TCS members here who feed Soulistic and their cats do well on the food. It tends to be a bit low calorie, however, so you may need to feed more than you usually would than with  the others, although if you're doing a rotation, it should be fine.

Soulistic foods are shredded or chunky meats and gravy based, not wheat gluten but tapioca starch is used.

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Yes Soulistic!  I could see the can in my mind but I couldn't read the label, lol.  Thanks for the info.  I'm looking for lower carb/ higher protein and fat since my kitties need to lose some weight.  Unfortunately grain-free usually means high-carb.  It takes me quite a while in the pet food store, looking at labels.  

LTS3 said:

 
Ginny, here's the Soulistic web site: http://soulisticpet.com/ It's basically a lesser expensive and more widely available version of Weruva and made by the same company.

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Thanks!

Ginny said:

Yes Soulistic!  I could see the can in my mind but I couldn't read the label, lol.  Thanks for the info.  I'm looking for lower carb/ higher protein and fat since my kitties need to lose some weight.  Unfortunately grain-free usually means high-carb.  It takes me quite a while in the pet food store, looking at labels.  

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A lot of the Soulistic foods are high-carb because of the tapioca: I feed some occasional chicken/pumpkin but drain most of the juice. Soulistic has a new food, a chicken dinner in gelee (this one) that's low-carb and doesn't have fish. Our cats love it.

We feed only high-protein, low-carb, too, and our canned brands are Nutro Natural Choice, Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen, Merrick LID, Tiki Cat, and Hound & Gatos. They get more of some than others (and the greater part of their diet is raw food) but all those foods work well for both cats. Reading the labels really does take a lot of time. Not to mention good eyesight!