Sheba vs Taste of the Wild

Sorry for all of the threads I am starting, I am trying to find the right food for my cat and I am having trouble deciding.

So I currently feed Taste of the Wild dry food. It is a mid-range dry food. No by-products or grains. I am thinking of switching to Sheba which is a mid-range wet food. It has no grains but it does have by-products. (Not the first ingredient at least) please tell me if you think I should switch or not. I really appreciate any input!!

Taste of the Wild (dry food):
Chicken meal, peas, sweet potatoes, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), pea protein, potato protein, roasted venison, smoked salmon, natural flavor, ocean fish meal, DL-methionine, potassium chloride, taurine, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, niacin, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin (vitamin B2), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Contains a source of live, naturally occurring microorganisms.

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein 42.0% minimum
Crude Fat 18.0% minimum
Crude Fiber 3.0% maximum
Moisture 10.0% maximum
Zinc 120 mg/kg minimum
Selenium 0.3 mg/kg minimum
Vitamin E 150 IU/kg minimum
Taurine 0.15% minimum
Omega-6 Fatty Acids* 2.8% minimum
Omega-3 Fatty Acids* 0.3% minimum
Total Microorganisms* (Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium animalis) not less than 1,000,000 CFU/lb
*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles.

Calorie Content

3,745 kcal/kg (390 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy

Sheba (wet food):

Chicken, Chicken Broth, Meat By-Products, Chicken Liver, Poultry By-Products, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Added Color, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Minerals (Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate), Fish Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin E Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex [Source of Vitamin K Activity]), Dl-Methionine, Salt, Taurine.

The best food for your cat is...

healthy...

affordable...

enjoyable, as far as the cat is concerned.

Sheba is on the lower end of wet food, IMO. It's better than even the best dry food, though. 

Can I ask why? I give my cat a mixed diet of dry and wet food and recently switched to Sheba. I thought it was decent compared to other wet foods?

I also thought Sheba was pretty good... it's grain free and has chicken as the first ingredient...

It's on par with fancy feast classic, which is low end but decent wet food. It's got both meat by-products and chicken by-products, which aren't great. It's owned by Mars pet food, which isn't exactly known for sourcing high quality meats or being open about their manufacturing or meat sourcing. It's cheap for a reason, because they likely aren't sourcing great quality meats, no doubt not human grade. 

Ok thanks @missmimz. Unfortunately that's the best I can afford right now. So you would say choose Sheba over Taste of the Wild dry food though?

It's not bad, necessarily, it's just more on the low end in terms of wet food. I think even friskies is better than any dry food.

Thank you! I appreciate your input @missmimz

I think Sheba is actually better than some of the more expensive wet foods in the sense that it doesn't contain any grains or carrageenan- both of those can be stomach/digestive irritants in cats, and some of the "higher end" foods actually contain both.   I'm not overly concerned about the by-products since cats eat those in the wild.  The only thing that concerns me a little is the Menadione Sodium Bisulfite (synthetic vitamin K) which has been a somewhat controversial ingredient but not too many people seem very concerned.  Fed in moderation it seems ok, which is why I rotate Sheba with some higher quality brands that don't contain it.  My cat is very picky so I'm just happy to find a few different brands, including Sheba, that she willingly eats at this point!  If you feel the need to supplement with dry food- I would try to use it as less than half of the cats daily diet, and try to find one with minimal fillers- Limited ingredient diets tend to be a little better than other types with that.

Thank you @Destinyz12 ! I was reading about that synthetic form of vitamin K, (K3) and I have found articles for and against it. :/ It is very confusing. Some say it's fine with the doses that are in cat foods and some say it's toxic. I guess I will just try to add other foods that don't have vitamin K3 in when I can afford it. That's the best I can do really. How often do you rotate other foods in?

Also, here is an article that agrees with the use of vitamin K3 if you are interested. I guess he is a vet but you can't really know online.

http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2011/07/vitamin-k3-menadione-in-pet-food-is-it-safe/

Mine gets 3 servings of wet food per day (1.5 oz each serving) and she's been getting Sheba maybe once every 6 servings- so basically one out of 3 servings every other day.  I'm fine with that for now. 

That sounds like a good amount! I would like to do that but I can't realistically afford it so it may be that the more expensive wet food is more like a treat. @destinyz12

I'll buck the trend and vote for TOTW, though you can feed any dry food  (except maybe zwipek) in existence for less than the cheapest canned, so you really ought to compare a food like, Canidae Pure Elements Dry (one of the better but still reasonably priced cat foods), to TOTW (which is literally the cheapest dry food that could still be considered premium, not that it is a bad food)

As long as cats are healthy and drink well (obviously cats who don't drink well or who have kidney issues need every drop of water you can get them to consume, so wet is better in those cases) , there is very little evidence that canned food is superior, and some evidence that it is worse for dental health (which is why they used to consider dry the healthy food and canned the "kitty junk food" back in the day)

dry food is fine, and a lot more sustainable for many people than canned.

Sargon said:

 there is very little evidence that canned food is superior, and some evidence that it is worse for dental health (which is why they used to consider dry the healthy food and canned the "kitty junk food" back in the day)

dry food is fine, and a lot more sustainable for many people than canned.

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At the basic level we know that cats are obligate carnivores, and biologically need meat in their diet. We know that biologically they are designed to get their moisture content from their food, and have a low thirst drive. We also know that they have no biological need for carbs, fruits, or veggies, and that they can't digest these things, which are in all dry foods. So yes, actually we have plenty of evidence that suggests that wet food is significantly better for cats than dry food. 

destinyz12 said:

 
   I'm not overly concerned about the by-products since cats eat those in the wild.  

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Cats don't eat "by-products" in the wild. By-products are not simply organs, or parts of the animal that humans don't eat. They are defined by much more than that. They can and do include not only organs or other parts of animals, but rendered meats (aka animals that have died, sick, roadkill, or otherwise), meats that have been unrefrigerated or improperly handled or stored.

There are VERY loose standards for what is a by-product and what is allowed in pet foods. So don't assume that by-products are just heads and feet.

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/animal-by-products/

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/rendered-products-in-pet-food/

Did the filmmaker of 'Pet Fooled' address the 'by-products' issue?  I have not seen the film yet but if the Nestle Purina, Mars Co., Colgate-Palmolives of the world are lying about by-products, then where's the expose from a reputable source?

TheGreyStalker said:

 
Did the filmmaker of 'Pet Fooled' address the 'by-products' issue?  I have not seen the film yet but if the Nestle Purina, Mars Co., Colgate-Palmolives of the world are lying about by-products, then where's the expose from a reputable source?

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Yes they address it. Susan over at The Truth About Pet Food has plenty of sources that back up that "by products" are a very unregulated industry, and that the the FDA is not closely monitoring what is going in pet foods. Rendering plants exist, and they are talked about in pretty good deal in Pet Fooled. These companies aren't "lying" as much as they refusing to disclose where they source meats and ingredients from. In fact Pet Fooled tried numerous times to get these companies to talk to them about where they source from, and they refused. 

missmimz said:

 
Cats don't eat "by-products" in the wild. By-products are not simply organs, or parts of the animal that humans don't eat. They are defined by much more than that. They can and do include not only organs or other parts of animals, but rendered meats (aka animals that have died, sick, roadkill, or otherwise), meats that have been unrefrigerated or improperly handled or stored.

There are VERY loose standards for what is a by-product and what is allowed in pet foods. So don't assume that by-products are just heads and feet.

https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/choosing-dog-food/animal-by-products/

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/rendered-products-in-pet-food/

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This is the first I've ever heard of this! Thank you for the links!