Cat food additives

[5CatDraw]

I’m interested in hearing opinions on which additives are the worst and which are acceptable.

Carrageenan and Agar-Agar: I know Carrageenan has pretty much universally fallen out of favor, but I see quite a few brands use Agar. From what I’ve read they are essentially the same thing – both red algae. So I wonder if Agar is actually any better.

Gums (Guar, Cassia, Xanthan, etc.): These sound terrible, but from the reading I’ve done it seems that they are probably less undesirable than Agar. ???

Fenugreek Seeds: I see some brands (like Rawz) use this as a binder instead of gums. Does anyone know of a downside to these seeds?

Tripolyphosphate: I’ve read mixed information on this. Some sources say it is terrible, to be avoided at all costs, and some seem to indicate it is no worse than other inorganic phosphates, like Tricalcium Phosphate and Sodium Phosphate. I’ve read that inorganic phosphates can be problematic for cats because they are absorbed MUCH more readily than the phosphorous in meat, and then that can lead to imbalances. So I would prefer that they not be in cat foods, but it is pretty hard to avoid them and respectable review sites don’t flag them, so I’ve come to accept them. But my burning question – is Tripolyphosphate actually any worse than the others?

Natural Flavor: This is a big turn off to me, and since I’ve been looking for a new cat food I’m surprised to be seeing it so frequently – even brands that I otherwise thought were pretty good. If they name the source – like natural turkey flavor – I’m tempted to let it go. But then again, from what I’ve read it is still pretty undesirable. Curious what others think.

 

[Biomehanika]

I am no expert on cat nutrition but have been trying to learn more recently (especially since joining this site), and have been switching my cats diet accordingly.

For me, red flags are peas and pea protein, lentils, flaxseeds, corn, and general filler crap found in most grain free and standard dry food. In a perfect world I would avoid rice too but it’s in the new brands wet food and it’s otherwise great ingredients, so oh well. For wet food I try to avoid gums and other things you mentioned.

My senior cat’s favourite wet food does include guar gum and artificial/natural flavours but she loves it so I am at the very least going to use up what I still have, she’s very picky when it comes to food but luckily she also likes the wet and dry of the brand I am swapping both my cats to. My youngest cat who I only adopted about a month ago was on a grain free dry food packed with peas and lentils when I got him and he took the smelliest shits known to mankind. Peas and lentils really scare me as I have read studies/articles linking them to heart issues, and my oldest cat just had to be put down from advanced heart failure that went undetected (he never ate peas, though). Neither cat is fully transitioned off their old dry food yet but they will be soon, and I’ve already seen improvements in their stool since mixing in the new more limited ingredient brand, which is also grain free but does not include any peas/lentils.

 

[5CatDraw]

I am no expert on cat nutrition but have been trying to learn more recently (especially since joining this site), and have been switching my cats diet accordingly.

For me, red flags are peas and pea protein, lentils, flaxseeds, corn, and general filler crap found in most grain free and standard dry food. In a perfect world I would avoid rice too but it’s in the new brands wet food and it’s otherwise great ingredients, so oh well. For wet food I try to avoid gums and other things you mentioned.

My senior cat’s favourite wet food does include guar gum and artificial/natural flavours but she loves it so I am at the very least going to use up what I still have, she’s very picky when it comes to food but luckily she also likes the wet and dry of the brand I am swapping both my cats to. My youngest cat who I only adopted about a month ago was on a grain free dry food packed with peas and lentils when I got him and he took the smelliest shits known to mankind. Peas and lentils really scare me as I have read studies/articles linking them to heart issues, and my oldest cat just had to be put down from advanced heart failure that went undetected (he never ate peas, though). Neither cat is fully transitioned off their old dry food yet but they will be soon, and I’ve already seen improvements in their stool since mixing in the new more limited ingredient brand, which is also grain free but does not include any peas/lentils.

Thanks for the reply. I’m in complete agreement with you on legumes. I have had 2 dogs die from DCM. The first was 13 years ago when there wasn’t much thought about the potential link between diet and DCM. The second loss was in 2019, and then I started reading about it like crazy. As you may know, it was in 2018 that FDA released some information that set off a big dispute about whether grain free dog foods were the problem. As I recall there was a similar revelation quite a few years prior regarding low quality proteins in cat foods causing heart issues because of inadequate taurine. Sounds like you are read up on the issue.

I too had been feeding grain free foods to my dogs and cats that I thought were high quality foods, but they were loaded with peas and other legumes. It made me especially angry that some of the most expensive brands seemed to be the biggest offenders. My take is that these companies were increasing legumes to lower meat content, to increase their profits.

So I changed all of my cat and dog foods. For dry food, back then Farmina seemed to be one of the only brands who recognized the need to disclose the % protein from animal ingredients, so I went with them. Now many brands do that, and I insist on knowing that number.

I eventually decided that I could live with peas, lentils, or other legumes included in the ingredients list as long as they were down a ways on the list and the company provided the % protein from animal ingredients. But lately I have gone back to really not wanting those ingredients at all because of their anti-nutrient effects.

Sorry I rambled. It is a topic that touches a nerve with me. Sounds like it is for you too. Sorry about the loss of your older cat, but it sounds like that was not nutrition related so at least you don't have to wonder and beat yourself up about that.

 

[Alldara]

When I was younger I was all on board with the boutique cat foods. I really believed all the grain free nonsense that people similar to Jackson Galaxy note.

Then I realized that they are all just quoting one another. They aren't quoting anything scientific. No studies. Nothing.

So I started looking at the actual research. The reason why people don't like rice for cats is because it inhibits taurine absorption BUT commercial foods add extra taurine to make up for this so no issues there.

Personally, I won't do any peas or legumes until the research is completed and only then IF it shows it's not the issue. My cats have been too sick on these boutique grain free foods. They wasted money that could have gone to savings vet bills or otherwise betterment of our life and home. And there was no payoff on health.

Unless the source is a study or links to a study, I disregard it. I don't fuss over gums or anything like that anymore. My cats benefit from my stress being lowered and me spending less time fussing over this and that source and spending more quality time with them instead.

 

[5CatDraw]

When I was younger I was all on board with the boutique cat foods. I really believed all the grain free nonsense that people similar to Jackson Galaxy note.

Then I realized that they are all just quoting one another. They aren't quoting anything scientific. No studies. Nothing.

So I started looking at the actual research. The reason why people don't like rice for cats is because it inhibits taurine absorption BUT commercial foods add extra taurine to make up for this so no issues there.

Personally, I won't do any peas or legumes until the research is completed and only then IF it shows it's not the issue. My cats have been too sick on these boutique grain free foods. They wasted money that could have gone to savings vet bills or otherwise betterment of our life and home. And there was no payoff on health.

Unless the source is a study or links to a study, I disregard it. I don't fuss over gums or anything like that anymore. My cats benefit from my stress being lowered and me spending less time fussing over this and that source and spending more quality time with them instead.

Indeed my dogs and cats would benefit from a lowering of my stress, but unfortunately I’m not made that way. I’m a worrier going way back and every death that I could possibly attribute to diet has only added to it. Both of my dogs having developed significant health issues in the last 18 months has only intensified the worrying. So there’s no fighting it at this point – I’m a Worrier.

If you could expand some more on your feelings about peas and other legumes, I would like to hear more of your thoughts. It sounds like you feel that they are unacceptable in pet foods in any quantity?
I’m on the fence whether to let peas go if the ingredient is “peas” not “pea protein” or “dried peas” AND if the company states that the percent protein from animal ingredients is at least 90%. Same for chickpeas and lentils. But, I would definitely rather not have them in foods at all.

As you said, there is a lack of studies on the effects of legumes in dog/cat food. And I can’t help but wonder why that is. Seems like there should be some completed by now. But then I haven’t been intensely watching for them lately either.

 

[lunch]

Granted I may be under-informed, but my thinking regarding pea ingredients is contingent on what the ingredient is doing. Is it standing in for protein? Unacceptable. Is it a starch or binder? I'm still not excited about that personally. Is it just a veggie ingredient? Maybe that would be okay. It's hard to know what function the ingredient is serving but where is falls in the ordered ingredient list is a hint. I'm slowly trying to amass enough knowledge to be able to decode these darn labels

 

[5CatDraw]

Granted I may be under-informed, but my thinking regarding pea ingredients is contingent on what the ingredient is doing. Is it standing in for protein? Unacceptable. Is it a starch or binder? I'm still not excited about that personally. Is it just a veggie ingredient? Maybe that would be okay. It's hard to know what function the ingredient is serving but where is falls in the ordered ingredient list is a hint. I'm slowly trying to amass enough knowledge to be able to decode these darn labels

Thanks for the reply. The way I see it, there are two possibilities as to why peas and other legumes are bad news in pet foods. I think the main reason is that they are not a good quality protein for dogs and cats so when companies reduce the meat content (to save money) and increase legumes so they still meet the AAFCO protein requirement, that can have detrimental health effects for dogs and cats. I think the fact that taurine is now a requirement for cat food makes high legume content slightly less dangerous for cats – but still not a healthy way to eat.

I personally refuse to play the order of ingredients guessing game anymore. With ingredient splitting and use of dried legumes vs meat with very high moisture content, a food can have most of the protein coming from legumes even if meat is the first ingredient.
Many companies state what the % animal ingredients is, or the % protein from animal ingredients, and I pretty much insist on knowing those numbers. Of course sometimes it is obvious from the ingredients that the food is mostly meat and all of the protein is coming from meat.

The other way that legumes could be detrimental to dogs and cats is by acting as an anti-nutrient, or essentially a toxin. I learned of this (for people) from the book “The Plant Paradox”. I think it is not at all understood how much this could be a factor for dogs and cats.

So, those are my thoughts on legumes . . . for what they are worth. And I am certainly with you on the frustration of labels.

 

[lunch]

That's a really good point! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, very informative.

I know I've seen an article or two about peas representing a source of sugar for other toxins to potentially grow from, or something to that effect. I didn't vet the sources at the time so I'm really not sure about that info.

Trying to balance what food is best versus what the babies will eat is sure an expensive game of roulette

 

[5CatDraw]

That's a really good point! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, very informative.

I know I've seen an article or two about peas representing a source of sugar for other toxins to potentially grow from, or something to that effect. I didn't vet the sources at the time so I'm really not sure about that info.

Trying to balance what food is best versus what the babies will eat is sure an expensive game of roulette

That’s interesting about sugar promoting growth of toxins. I don’t doubt it a bit. I imagine all sugary vegetables would pose the same risk (?). One more reason to minimize sugar in cat food.
The Farmina dry that I free feed contains sweet potatoes, which I see is the vegetable highest in sugar (peas #4 on the lists I saw). So now my cats are sugar addicts too, in addition to their other unhealthy vices.

Yes, trying to find that balance is driving me crazy. I’m having flashbacks to years past when I have tried to get my cats to eat healthier. For the most part I have always eventually given up and let them have their way.
I guess the only time I did stand my ground and eventually got my way is 4 years ago when I pulled the legume loaded dry foods they were addicted to and replaced them with Farmina and Dr. Elsey’s. I’m kind of wishing now that I had not gotten them hooked on Farmina - due to both the herring and sweet potato. Dr. Elsey’s is probably the healthier of the two. Live and learn I guess.

Thanks for your comment that has turned my attention to sugars. I do try to choose foods that are fairly low carb, which generally means lower in sugars. But I think that I have probably not been putting enough focus on that. I’m amazed that for all of the research I have done I’m always having revelations that make me ask “what was I thinking?”