Fruit and carrots in cat food

I was thinking about switching from Iams multicat to Eagle Pack Holistic Select or Duck and Oatmeal since the nutrient analysis is similar to Iams Multi-cat, only 25% of calories in the dry coming from carbs, generous amounts of protein and fat without being too high in calories. Anything more than 400 calories per cup is sure to be fattening even in small portions. I live in a condominium. But I'm concerned about things like apples, cranberries, blueberries, carrots and fruit in cat food. It seems like that's too much sugar for a cat. What do you think? Should I be concerned? Plus I like that Eagle Pack can be purchased in smaller bags since I feed a lot of wet food. Iams Multi-Cat, the smallest I can find is 8 pounds and it generally takes me 3 or 4months to finish it. I like to keep dry food fresher.

What do you think about natural sources of sugar in cat food? It seems unnatural to give this to cats who by nature are insulin resistant.

My God!!! The shipping fees are twice as expensive as the food itself. If a 3 pound bag costs around $8.00, I have to pay about $16.00. I'm still curious to know your opinions.

I love Eagle Pack and I use both the wet and dry foods (50% wet, 50% diet dry food) for my two. (though not the Duck, since i believe it's a little too rich). If you go on their website, or go to the store they usually have a pamphlet with the research etc that went into deciding on their ingredients. I believe by weight those fruits make up a very small amount of the food, and the natural vegetable sugars wouldn't be much either. Since many of these have complex sugars, they may not even be efficiently broken down by the cat. But the vitamins and minerals from these natural sources is invaluable to the cat (IMHO). Since switching foods my cats have been healthier (nicer, smoother coat, no bowel problems or bladder problems, they are regular, they are happy and energetic and they love their food).

I would recommend doing like i did...research the ingredients and the food and then that will either put your mind at ease, or turn you off the food.

Originally Posted by moggiegirl

My God!!! The shipping fees are twice as expensive as the food itself. If a 3 pound bag costs around $8.00, I have to pay about $16.00. I'm still curious to know your opinions.

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If I were to mail-order cat food I still prefer Drs Foster and Smith. Their kitten food is simply unparelled in quality than anything I had seen before (and I probably tried out 50+ brands of foods).

Most places offer free shipping around Christmas. Once they do, you can order 30 bags. That should set you up for the year

I believe that the fruits and vegetables are good for the amount of roughage in the food. Most of those things also offer antioxidents which are essential to prevent cancer. Plants are also important for the urinary tract health.

I have a cat who goes CRAZY if I don't get him some plants to eat every week. I have no idea what goes on in his brain chemistry, but I believe plants are important to a cat's mental well-being.

Shengmei, I have to compliment your economic thinking. Smart! But Foster and Smith kitten food would definitely make my cats fat and it has garlic in it which if you ask the nutrition advisor she does not approve. But the info on fruits and veggies for vitamins and anti-oxidants makes sense.

I am not a huge fan of veggies or fruit in a dry food ... in wet food up to 20% ... My raw eaters never get fruit but the get 15% raw veggies..

Originally Posted by moggiegirl

It has garlic in it which if you ask the nutrition advisor she does not approve.

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Garlic, in my opinion, is the lesser evil compared all the chemical flea products out there.

After the Hartz controversy, I became very reluctant to use flea drops on my cats.

Originally Posted by shengmei

Garlic, in my opinion, is the lesser evil compared all the chemical flea products out there.

After the Hartz controversy, I became very reluctant to use flea drops on my cats.

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I doent use chemical flea control ... but My vet and I agree garlic is medicinal not food

Random fruit and veggies is what led me to shy away from most foods when I was in the planning stages of switching Pudge to a corn-free food due to her corn allergy (and because I want her to be as healthy as possible). I also didn't quite understand the packaging saying "Cats are carniverous" while the ingredients said "corn, fresh potatoes, beets, apples, blueberries, etc", while only one website that I know of actually says WHY (although they STILL don't really elaborate on it.)

I wanted to keep the grain, fruit, and veggies to a minimum because I don't kow what else she could be allergic to, and didn't see the need for apples and potatoes.

Luckily, she'll pretty much eat anything, so I took the plunge and ordered her a case of Felidae wet (13oz cans), as it was affordable and had a decent ingredient list (if she didn't eat it, I would've just given it to the neighborhood stray or shipped it to the shelter). She likes it, so it is what she gets now.

I tried her on evo wet once (although it has carrots and something else I cannot recall right now) and she got terrible gas, so Felidae it remains.

She likes it (and it likes her, if you get my drift), and I like its decently straightforward ingredients,and have no problem with the cranberries being in there, as they're good combat against UTIs.

The reason I was concerned is because a receptionist in a holistic vet clinic, which I decided not to go to on the basis of it being 2 bus trips away and my reluctance to feed a raw diet, once said beware of cat foods that contain carrots and fruit. Fruit is sugar and carrots have a lot of sugar in them as well. I was buying canned Wellness at the time(and quit buying it when I learned about concerns about garlic on this forum).

Somehow I wonder if all these ingredients are included to be made appealing to people and many of them are just as much fillers as corn, rice and wheat is. Although I'm sure some of them do have their usefulness as a source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. I just think that maybe some of these plant based nutrients are not all that biologically available to cats. For example, cats need preformed vitamin A from meat sources and cannot use vitamin A from Beta Carotene like dogs and people can.

By the way, garlic in pet food does not repel fleas. They would have to put a lot of it in the food for it to have any significant effect and too much garlic is toxic.

Usually they're used as a source of vitamins or as fiber, as opposed to just supplementing with synthetic vitamins. Some people prefer their pets to get most of there vitamins from natural sources.

Also, if you calculate the food percentages, pretty much most of the carb content equates to sugar (or at least breaks down into sugars). Most of the carbs (especially in dry food) comes from grains, not fruits/veggies.

Innova evo dry for example has what, 7% carbs? So although it has carrots/apples, it actually has a very low sugar content.

Originally Posted by moggiegirl

Somehow I wonder if all these ingredients are included to be made appealing to people and many of them are just as much fillers as corn, rice and wheat is.

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That confused me as well, because it seems that the moment you stop seeing corn as an ingredient, you begin seeing potatoes.

Originally Posted by moggiegirl

By the way, garlic in pet food does not repel fleas. They would have to put a lot of it in the food for it to have any significant effect and too much garlic is toxic.

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I would beg to differ, based on my own experiences.

My cats had a horrible flea attack last summer. Fleas, brought in by my three little adoptees, were everywhere. There were dozens of fleas on every cat.

I changed the diet to Wellness and Drs. Foster & Smith. Ever since then I didn't have a flea problem. I only used flea drops on Sunshine and he got terribly sick afterwards, so none of the other cats got flea drops.

I wonder if they include the skins for the carrots/apples. I forgot what it was but there was some kind of compound in the skins of appls that would cure cancer.

Originally Posted by shengmei

Garlic, in my opinion, is the lesser evil compared all the chemical flea products out there.

After the Hartz controversy, I became very reluctant to use flea drops on my cats.

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Stupid stores are STILL carrrying the Hartz products too!

I use frontline and have my home and yard sprayed but I gotta tell you - it does very little good!