Food question ( again) for a kitty with early kidney changes

[myrnafaye]

Hi, I have been trying to find out if Fancy Feast Gourmet Naturals has an acceptable phosphorus level..does anyone know? I have both the tuna and turkey formulas...I scanned Tanya's list and did not see this food here, When I googled, I found the following: "The most important nutritional goal for a renal patient is that the cat eats well every day. You can also use the renal diets to compare nutritional profiles to retail food. Particularly, Purina's retail diets (Fancy Feast, Friskies) will compare favorably to the renal diet's nutritional profile." So if this is true, why am I feeding my Mittens a kidney diet that she does not like too much (but is a fussy eater as well..)

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I don't know what web site offered that information, but it is a load of 'bunk'. I don't know about the FF Gourmet Naturals, but most of the FF foods are at least 1.0% phosphorus on a dry matter basis, and many of the pate versions are nearly 2.0% DMB. As you know Tanya's web site suggests getting as close to 0.5% as possible, even though most commercial renal related foods are a bit higher than that.

It is true that the best food for a cat are the ones they will eat, but if renal food is needed and they will eat it, one would want to serve those to their cat.

FF will respond to a written request for DMB numbers on their foods. I am sure they have a form to fill out or email address where you could ask them for the DMB for their Gourmet Naturals. Ditto if you're interested with Friskies.

As I understand it, Tanya's web site does not include Purina products because they never responded to a request for DMB numbers. But, that might have changed since they were originally asked because I know they have offered those numbers on their foods to individuals who have asked for them.

 

[myrnafaye]

Thank you for your response, Yes I noticed this date missing. I called Purina this AM after posting here, and the numbers they gave me for the phosphorus were unbelievably low. What do I make of this??

 

[FeebysOwner]

Did they give you dry matter basis numbers? The 'as is fed' numbers will look much lower because they are based on the moisture added to the food which dilutes the number. If you didn't specifically ask for dry matter basis numbers, you probably weren't given them. Although, it is possible that the FF Natural Gormet food has lower phosphorus, but if it does, they don't bother to advertise that.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Also, it is usually best to ask them to send you the numbers rather than take them down over the phone. For one, you don't know who you are talking to, and two, if they have to put it in writing there's a better chance they are accurate. Here is an example of what was sent some time ago to someone who asked about the pates.

 

[myrnafaye]

I definitely hear you on this.

 

[myrnafaye]

They sent me this: "we have gathered the information you requested regarding the calories and phosphorus content for our Fancy Feast® Gourmet Naturals With Added Vitamins, Minerals, and Nutrients – Natural Tuna Recipe In Gravy. Please know that it contains 62 kcal/can. Also, it has 0.23% as fed and 1.19% for dry matter of phosphorus content."

 

[myrnafaye]

They sent me this: "we have gathered the information you requested regarding the calories and phosphorus content for our Fancy Feast® Gourmet Naturals With Added Vitamins, Minerals, and Nutrients – Natural Tuna Recipe In Gravy. Please know that it contains 62 kcal/can. Also, it has 0.23% as fed and 1.19% for dry matter of phosphorus content."

 

[myrnafaye]

Doesnt that phosphorus value seem quite low??

 

[FeebysOwner]

See how different the as fed is compared to the dry matter? That's why it is important to always find out the dry matter number for phosphorus. 1.19% is lower than what is in some other foods, but not compared to the best case scenario goal of 0.5% dry matter basis on Tanya's web site.