Hi there, what is a good percentage of carbs in canned food on a dry matter basis?
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What is a good percentage of carbs in canned food on a dry matter basis?
- Thread starter rose2015
- Start Date
You generally want to limit to around 10% carbs or so. Some people limit it even further to less than 5% carbs but IMO that's not necessary. Gravy and sauce based foods tend to be high in carbs because of the starches need to thicken the liquid. It's ok to feed gravy and sauce foods as an occasional treat.
Here's a chart where you can find the carb content of many brands of canned foods: http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf
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- #3
Thanks so much - do I use the wet label values or convert it to dry when keeping it under 10%?
You can simply use the values on the label and enter them into a calculator. I simply type "cat food carb calculator" into my preferred search engine. The first result that comes up is this one: http://www.scheyderweb.com/cats/catfood.html
For the most part, avoiding foods thickened with ingredients like wheat gluten, tapioca, and potato starch (I think that's all the main ones!) will keep gravy carbs down. Other ingredients to avoid include fillers like other grains, plus peas, chickpeas, and other carby vegetables.
All the canned foods we feed are under 10% (many if not most are under 5%) dry matter carb, other than a couple Soulistic shredded chicken foods with pumpkin that the cats just love: I drain them since they have a lot of gloppy, high-carb "gravy". The cats don't get nearly enough of it for me to worry about the lost nutrients in the sauce! On the other end of the spectrum, Tiki's foods have "consomme" that doesn't have any thickeners and the cats love it.
All the canned foods we feed are under 10% (many if not most are under 5%) dry matter carb, other than a couple Soulistic shredded chicken foods with pumpkin that the cats just love: I drain them since they have a lot of gloppy, high-carb "gravy". The cats don't get nearly enough of it for me to worry about the lost nutrients in the sauce! On the other end of the spectrum, Tiki's foods have "consomme" that doesn't have any thickeners and the cats love it.
Here's a formula for calculating dry matter carbs. There's also a brief summary about ingredients at the end.
Yes, this!! We feed mostly pate-style foods. Fancy Feast Classics and Sheba pates are good budget-friendly choices.
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- #10
Thank you all, i don't know what i'd do without your amazing help! I've used the calculator and the equations and have come up with 4-4.5% carbs for wet. But 18% if valued on a dry matter basis.
Is the 4.5% the one that i judge the carbs by?
The Guaranteed analysis is below if you need to refer: (Unfortunately a lot of the great wet food brands such as Natures Instinct, Evo, Tiki or Merricks are not available here in Australia. The only other reputable brand is Wellness, however i've moved away after hearing about their urinary tract issues.) The brand i'm trialling is Holistic Select, limited grain as the Grain Free makes kitty constipated.
Is the 4.5% the one that i judge the carbs by?
The Guaranteed analysis is below if you need to refer: (Unfortunately a lot of the great wet food brands such as Natures Instinct, Evo, Tiki or Merricks are not available here in Australia. The only other reputable brand is Wellness, however i've moved away after hearing about their urinary tract issues.) The brand i'm trialling is Holistic Select, limited grain as the Grain Free makes kitty constipated.
Holistic Select Chicken & Lamb Crude Protein | (min.) | 8.5% |
| Crude Fat | (min.) | 6.5% |
| Crude Fibre | (max.) | 1.0% |
| Moisture | (max.) | 78.0% |
| Ash | (max.) | 2.0% |
| Magnesium | (max.) | 0.028% |
| Taurine | (min.) | 0.05% |
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The 18%. In my opinion, it does contain more carbs than is ideal.
Is Fancy Feast available in Australia? The Classic line is low-carb... The Classic Chicken Feast comes out to 7% carbs on a dry matter basis. I know a lot of people don't like to feed cheaper brands like Fancy Feast, but we feed a lot of it in our household, and the cats and my wallet love it.
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- #12
Thank you so much, yes it's available and i will do some research into it. Thank you so much!
Be sure only to buy the "Classic" varieties, and to avoid the seafood flavors.
Sheba pates are also similar, if that is available where you are.
A more expensive option I also feed occasionally that you didn't mention before is Nutro Natural Choice.
Again, not sure what is available to you. If you tell us what other foods you are considering perhaps some people here can chime in with their experiences as well.
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- #14
Thank you @dorimon really appreciate it.
Nutro Natural variety is only available in dry cat food. Many wet /canned cat foods seems to have issues getting past Australian importation, labelling and bio security laws.
The other brands available are:
- Canidae (currently have all life stages as part of rotation. Grain free causes constipation / upset stomach and unfortunately one of the ingredients in the Canidae All Life Stages causes vomiting / diaorheea after a few cans. So i limit this option to occasionally.
- Wellness (although i'm concerned about the urinary issues surrounding it. Does anyone else use Wellness canned?)
- Weruva Cats in the Kitchen. Seems to be ok,however not sure about the Locust gum being so high up on the list
- Artemis. Only fish flavours available here, which i try to steer clear of.
- BARF & similar meat patties
- Holistic Select (which i'm using at the moment)
- Hills Ideal Balance (not sure about this - any thoughts? Seems as though they include Menadione Sodium Bisufite Complex )
- The usual Hills Science, Royal Canine, Advance, Purina etc (not keen on these)
- Earthborn (wet options not permitted within the country)
Thank you again to all of the wonderful members. Your help & support mean so much to me.
Nutro Natural variety is only available in dry cat food. Many wet /canned cat foods seems to have issues getting past Australian importation, labelling and bio security laws.
The other brands available are:
- Canidae (currently have all life stages as part of rotation. Grain free causes constipation / upset stomach and unfortunately one of the ingredients in the Canidae All Life Stages causes vomiting / diaorheea after a few cans. So i limit this option to occasionally.
- Wellness (although i'm concerned about the urinary issues surrounding it. Does anyone else use Wellness canned?)
- Weruva Cats in the Kitchen. Seems to be ok,however not sure about the Locust gum being so high up on the list
- Artemis. Only fish flavours available here, which i try to steer clear of.
- BARF & similar meat patties
- Holistic Select (which i'm using at the moment)
- Hills Ideal Balance (not sure about this - any thoughts? Seems as though they include Menadione Sodium Bisufite Complex )
- The usual Hills Science, Royal Canine, Advance, Purina etc (not keen on these)
- Earthborn (wet options not permitted within the country)
Thank you again to all of the wonderful members. Your help & support mean so much to me.
I feed Wellness occasionally but not exclusively. Some flavors/varieties still contain carrageenan, so I would watch out for that. My kitties like the Divine Duos. The Chicken Pate w/ Diced Turkey comes out to 10% carbs on a dry matter basis.
I have a few cans of Canidae to try out but haven't fed them yet. It seems like you have issues with Canidae, however, so I would just avoid it and try something else. Do you know which ingredient is causing the problem?
Unfortunately, I don't have experience with the others. Also, just FYI -- Fancy Feast is a Purina brand, if you were not already aware.
I have a few cans of Canidae to try out but haven't fed them yet. It seems like you have issues with Canidae, however, so I would just avoid it and try something else. Do you know which ingredient is causing the problem?
Unfortunately, I don't have experience with the others. Also, just FYI -- Fancy Feast is a Purina brand, if you were not already aware.
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- #16
Thank @dorimon , actually i wasn't aware that Fancy Feast was a Purina brand - thank you! However i will still look into it based on your suggestion. I'm not 100% sure if it was the Canidae that caused the several days of vomiting / diaorhhea, it could have also been a reaction to a few of the raw foods i gave her around the same time. However, our vet suggested to stay away from ingredients containing fish, just in case there was a fish allergy. Funnily enough the Canidae can included 'Ocean whitefish' as the 6th ingredient. It's a very well respected brand,so unless your kitty has certain intolerances, then he/she should be fine
Fancy Feast definitely isn't the best, most amazing food out there, but it works for our family. I feed Fancy Feast most of the time, and add in other, more expensive brands for variety (typically whenever I find them on sale).
