Newbie Navigating Calorie% vs DMB%

Hi all! I've been lurking in the shadows trying to absorb all your knowledge on how to update my kitties' diets (due to one becoming a little sausage-cat) but I'm stuck on which measurement basis to follow!

I came upon this site http://www.catinfo.org/ with this handy little chart : http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Now, this particular source recommends using the Calorie % to determine the healthiest food choice

However I see a lot of recommendations for foods that only really look good/better if you use the Dry Matter Basis % (and less great if you look at the Calorie % data for the same food)

Maybe I got too hung up on one source of info?

I'm new to figuring out the best kitty food so any tips on navigating these macro-nutrient jungles would be greatly appreciated!

Also...I've see calories per pound per day numbers very from 15-25 - is this more of a per cat thing or is there a more pinpointed number?

About me: I have indoor 2 girls, about 5 years old each. One has started to get too heavy and I want to get her back on track before it gets serious.

Currently they have been on a mix of wet and dry food - that I now realize has been too many daily calories. 

I plan to change things up to rely more on wet/canned food than in the past, and hopefully keep their weight down and energy levels up!

I'm not sure what you mean by calorie %---do you mean what % of the food is protein, fat, etc.?

You always have to use DMB because it's the only way to compare the foods equally. If they have different amounts of moisture you just aren't going to get an apples-to-apples comparison without calculating DMB first.

Yeah, the % of protein, etc,  of overall calories from each food source.

I guess I was wondering if I have both sets of information (both the DMB and the percentage makeup of the overall calories), which should I use to base my decision off of.

BUT after your post and staring at the charts some more I think I just read too much into it    and it makes sense that DMB is the way to go for comparison.

I think I was just staring at percentages and charts for too long, thank you for snapping me out of it  

I've been staring at food charts for a month Dry matter analysis breaks it down to the lowest common denominator, so to speak. So that way they are able to compare things accurately, as Willowy stated.

For some folks, they are fine looking at the calorie %. If you absolutely strictly care about calories, that's probably the one to go with. I think if there is anything else you care about - like the breakdown of those calories - you are better off with DMA. And in my case. I'm usually looking for the breakdowns, especially with phosphorus and protein. And I get how the eyes get buggy after looking at these things for awhile!

mouchee said:

 
Yeah, the % of protein, etc,  of overall calories from each food source.

I guess I was wondering if I have both sets of information (both the DMB and the percentage makeup of the overall calories), which should I use to base my decision off of.

BUT after your post and staring at the charts some more I think I just read too much into it 

  and it makes sense that DMB is the way to go for comparison.

I think I was just staring at percentages and charts for too long, thank you for snapping me out of it  

Click to expand...

I think we all have our own ways of using those charts! I tend to focus on keeping carbs low, at less than 10% dry matter, even less if possible. We have two young cats with sensitive stomachs: I've found the charts very helpful in selecting high-protein foods with low carbs and varying calories. That seems to work well for our cats' stomachs and weights.

If you haven't already read the long (very long and rather overwhelming!) piece on the home page of catinfo.org, it's very helpful because it explains Dr. Pierson's approach to cat nutrition... she basically says that the best way to keep cats at a good, healthy weight is high-protein, low-carb wet foods. It sounds like you're already thinking in those terms. Good luck with all the data and with your sausage cat!

For a kitty needing to lose weight, you'd ideally want the food that's most filling with the fewest calories in it. So, realistically/ideally that's a food with high protein, moderate fat, and low carb, and almost needless to say wet instead of dried (as wet is more satiating simply due to there being more of it weight wise per kcal).

For instance, on that PDF the Avoderm Chicken Chunks/Gravy works out at 121kcal per 5.5oz (calculated from the 3oz values) and is 62% protein, 19% fat, and 9% carbs on a dry matter basis. Likewise, the Natural Balance stews have high protein (62% or more), moderate fat (14-18%), low carb (1-9%), and low calorie (132 per 5.5oz) with the catatouille probably being the best bet (it looks like the only one that doesn't have fish in it.

If you need to work out the values of any foods that aren't on that list, I did find a site a while ago which allows you to input the percentage of protein, fat, fibre, moisture, and ash/other minerals in and it'll give you the calories per 100g/1oz and the dry matter carb values. It won't help on how much fat & protein is in a food, but it'll help you guesstimate the carbs. It'll also work with dry food as well. Cat food nutrition calculator.

Thank you for the link, that's a good one  Im using it now

I went extra nerdy and put a version in an excel sheet while I note which foods everyone recommends (I had some free time..  )

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Just in case anyone loves math, here is how to determine the % of protein, etc in the foods: 

(from that catinfo.org site)

-Take the numbers from the Guaranteed Analysis

-Multiply Protein and Carbs by 3.5 (individually)

and multiply Fat by 8.5

-Then add up the three results for the calories per 100g of the food

-Divide the protein, fat, and carb results (again individually) by that total and that gives you the % for each

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=cannedfoods#Calculating__Percentage_of_Carbohydrates:  <-- she has better explanations.

I realize getting those %s is a little overkill, but could be useful for cats with specific health issues

mouchee said:

Thank you for the link, that's a good one  Im using it now

I went extra nerdy and put a version in an excel sheet while I note which foods everyone recommends (I had some free time..  )

Click to expand...

I have a spreadsheet with 12 tabs :lol3: Nerdy rules!