Comparing two wet cat foods

[pearl99]

Just checking in to this post-
I use a dry matter basis online calculator, and came up with this for Miko chicken and turkey-
Protein- 66.67%
Fat- 11.11%
Fiber- 1%
Carbs- 0%.
Not a whole lot of fat!

This is the calculator:
Dry Matter Basis Calculator For Pet Food | PawDiet

 

[Azazel]

Fat is twice as dense as protein so it's best to actually do calculations as a percentage of calories. Even though there may not be as much fat in the food on a dry matter basis, it may still make up a larger proportion of the total calories that your cat is getting.

More info on how to do the calculations is here: Commercial Cat Foods:

 

[Jemima Lucca]

I’m wondering what is wrong with the agar and guar gum? Can someone expound on these ingredients?

 

[lisahe]

I’m wondering what is wrong with the agar and guar gum? Can someone expound on these ingredients?

Your answers will depend on who answers! At least one of our cats seems to vomit if she's fed foods with agar-agar, an ingredient that I see as an unnecessary thickener anyway. I have less problem -- perhaps even no problem? it's impossible to sort these things out -- with guar gum, which even Dr. Lisa Pierson, whose cat site I trust on pretty much anything and everything, praises as a good source of fiber for cats. It's possible, though, that some cats are sensitive to guar gum. I'm more willing to feed guar gum than other gums.

In the end, though, all the gums/thickeners in cat foods are one of the biggest reasons we feed our cats mostly homemade cooked and commercial raw foods. The cats have quirky digestive systems so we need to avoid lots of ingredients that are in most canned foods.

 

[pearl99]

Fat is twice as dense as protein so it's best to actually do calculations as a percentage of calories. Even though there may not be as much fat in the food on a dry matter basis, it may still make up a larger proportion of the total calories that your cat is getting.

More info on how to do the calculations is here: Commercial Cat Foods:

Ahh did not think of that. I actually use her cat food recipe (but not as the only food I feed my kitties) and hadn't read every page of the website.

 

[Talien]

I’m wondering what is wrong with the agar and guar gum? Can someone expound on these ingredients?

They're derived from plants, and Cats don't eat plants as part of their diet. Some Cats are allergic or become ill when they eat things like that but most are ok, I have a Cat who will usually vomit if she eats anything with gums in it but she's fine with agar. Chey do ingest some plant matter when eating prey like Mice or Rabbits since they do eat the stomach contents but it's already partially digested.

Extracts, gels, and gums are easy to digest even if plant based and can (more or less) safely be eaten by most Cats, some even have nutritional value. It's generally the solid plant material that causes problems for Cats because it's hard to digest.

 

[Jemima Lucca]

They're derived from plants, and Cats don't eat plants as part of their diet. Some Cats are allergic or become ill when they eat things like that but most are ok, I have a Cat who will usually vomit if she eats anything with gums in it but she's fine with agar. Chey do ingest some plant matter when eating prey like Mice or Rabbits since they do eat the stomach contents but it's already partially digested.

Extracts, gels, and gums are easy to digest even if plant based and can (more or less) safely be eaten by most Cats, some even have nutritional value. It's generally the solid plant material that causes problems for Cats because it's hard to digest.

Thanks, that’s the clearest explanation of this question! I appreciate it! I wonder if Jemima has a problem with one of those? She is verrry finicky and has sometimes suddenly stopped eating certain foods. She has vomited 3 times since I’ve had her. She’s 6 mths old now...

 

[Talien]

Thanks, that’s the clearest explanation of this question! I appreciate it! I wonder if Jemima has a problem with one of those? She is verrry finicky and has sometimes suddenly stopped eating certain foods. She has vomited 3 times since I’ve had her. She’s 6 mths old now...

It's possible. It's also possible she just plain has issues with grains or one of the other common plant based fillers like potato.

 

[Jemima Lucca]

She eats mainly vital essentials raw turkey or rabbit and canned single protein ziwi peak canned lamb or venison. Also, occasionally Stella and chewys dehydrated raw pork, Turkey or rabbit. I seem to have to rotate these or sh stops eating one of them if she gets them too often

 

[She's a witch]

She eats mainly vital essentials raw turkey or rabbit and canned single protein ziwi peak canned lamb or venison. Also, occasionally Stella and chewys dehydrated raw pork, Turkey or rabbit. I seem to have to rotate these or sh stops eating one of them if she gets them too often

My cat had a vomiting period some time ago and I came to conclusion that it was caused by too much red meat in her diet. So now I don’t feed her lamb/venison/pork every day and on days I do, I make sure they don’t have it for more than two meals a day (they eat 4 meals).
Feeding several meals of smaller portions and elevated bowl seemed to help as well.

Some also say that bones in the frozen raw causes digestive issues, I don’t know if vital essential is boneless?
Ziwi peak is gum free but they add chickpeas which might or might not be worse. Rawz is a good alternative for canned if you look for something else. My cats also require constant rotation.

 

[halldj50]

Which Nutro is he eating? Certain Nutro foods are pretty decent but there are others that I wouldn't want to feed very often, if at all. Every cat is different, though, and what I wouldn't feed might not correspond to what you wouldn't feed. I disagree (respectfully, of course!) with @SpecterOhPossum, for example, on guar gum, which even (vet) Dr. Pierson mentions on catinfo.org as a good, low-carb form of fiber. I have a long list of other stuff I won't feed, though, to keep carbs down and avoid certain thickeners. And there's a list of other things I won't feed very often. And we all have our own lists, largely based on what our cats won't/can't eat and will/can eat!

Good luck!

Seems like all my Leo will eat are the Nutro perfect portions wet food. All the flavors. Only in pate. Won’t eat cuts in gravy.

 

[lisahe]

Seems like all my Leo will eat are the Nutro perfect portions wet food. All the flavors. Only in pate. Won’t eat cuts in gravy.

You could do a lot worse than Nutro Perfect Portions pate! I'd much rather feed those than the cuts in gravy, given the position of tapioca starch in each ingredient list.