Garlic powder in dry food

[Paris Pluto]

Hi all,

Not sure how many of you will be familiar with the brand Fussy Cat Australia. I have been free feeding my cats their Salmon, Whitefish & Olive Oil dry food in between wet meals and these are the ingredients:

Salmon And Fish Meals, Poultry And Meat Meal, Vegetable Starches, Tallow And Oils (Poultry, Olive And Fish), Vegetable Meal, Real Chicken Meat, Peas, Natural Flavours, Vegetable Pulp, Whole Linseed, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Cellulose Fibre, Dried Chicory Root, Choline Chloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Methionine Dl, Taurine, Cranberries, Food Acid, Essential Vitamins (E, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Thiamine, A, B6, D, B2, B12, Biotin, Folic Acid, K) And Minerals (Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Iodine, Cobalt, Selenium), Natural Antioxidants.

For what I can afford, this is the best dry cat food I can get. Now, I decided to try a different flavour from the same brand (Beef & Kangaroo) because I don't want to be giving them too much fish. My cats seem to like it but upon reading the ingredients, there's garlic powder in it? WTF? I thought garlic was toxic to cats. Here are the ingredients for Beef & Kangaroo kibble:

Beef and Kangaroo Meal, Poultry Meal, Potato and Tapioca, Tallow and Oils (Poultry, linseed, Sunflower and Fish), Real Chicken Meat, Soybean Meal, Field Peas and Sweet Potato, Natural Flavours, Whole Canola and linseed, Best Pulp, Salt, Egg Powder, Apple Flakes, Cellulose Fibre, Potassium Chloride, Cranberries and Blueberries, Kelp Meal, Carrots, Dried Chicory Root, Choline Chloride, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Soy Lecithin Powder, Garlic Powder, Milk Whey Powder, Dried Brewers Yeast, Methionine DL, Taurine, Potassium Sorbate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Essential Vitamins (E, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Thiamine, A, B6, D, B2, B12, Biotin, Folic Acid, K) and Minerals (Iron , Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Iodine, Cobalt, Selenium), Dried Mint, Cinnamon, Natural Antioxidants, Vitamin C, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, L-Carnitine.

Could this be potentially bad for my kitties? And if so, why on earth do you they put it in cat food? I'd be less concerned if the garlic powder was the last in the ingredient list. I've emailed them and currently awaiting their response.

Thanks!

 

[di and bob]

I'm interested in what they respond with. Garlic is 5 times more toxic than onions and in small amounts is OK, but why add it at all?

 

[Paris Pluto]

I'm interested in what they respond with. Garlic is 5 times more toxic than onions and in small amounts is OK, but why add it at all?

Omg that is terrible; I knew it was toxic but not THAT toxic. I'd love to hear their reasoning as to why they've added it. In the meantime, do you think it will be okay to switch back to the Salmon & Whitefish seeing as there is no garlic in it?

 

[di and bob]

If your cat has been acting fine, no vomiting, etc. I would maybe interchange them until you receive a reply. There is most likely garlic, etc. in many cat foods we are not aware of, if it is in small enough amounts it won't hurt. but to be safe it is better not to have it. It does not build up in the body, and just like how some cats are lactose intolerant, SOME cats can drink milk while it bothers others tremendously.

 

[Paris Pluto]

If your cat has been acting fine, no vomiting, etc. I would maybe interchange them until you receive a reply. There is most likely garlic, etc. in many cat foods we are not aware of, if it is in small enough amounts it won't hurt. but to be safe it is better not to have it. It does not build up in the body, and just like how some cats are lactose intolerant, SOME cats can drink milk while it bothers others tremendously.

Okay thank you so much. They've been on it for a week now and seem to be thriving as usual. I'll switch back to the original kibble until they reply. I'll also post the reply here so you can see what they have to say also

 

[di and bob]

Thanks! There is alcohol also in many liquid meds that could be harmful, but once again in small enough amounts it isn't considered harmful. Belladonna is one also for us humans, in small amounts it helps us sleep, in large amounts it can kill us! arsenic is found naturally in a lot of water supplies and food too, in small amounts, we all consume poison without even knowing it.

 

[Paris Pluto]

Thanks! There is alcohol also in many liquid meds that could be harmful, but once again in small enough amounts it isn't considered harmful. Belladonna is one also for us humans, in small amounts it helps us sleep, in large amounts it can kill us! arsenic is found naturally in a lot of water supplies and food too, in small amounts, we all consume poison without even knowing it.

Too true. I'm just the biggest worry wart with intense anxiety especially in isolation! Lol.

 

[Paris Pluto]

di and bob this is the response I got this morning:

Dear Paris,

Thank you for your enquiry and your long time support of our Fussy Cat brand.

Our ingredients for our Fussy Cat Beef & Sweet Potato do not list garlic as an inclusion that I can see.

I have checked our website and can see there is some difference to the ingredients list of this product on there compared to what i can see on the pack, so I am getting our team to review this to ensure it is corrected.

I do apologise for any confusion caused, and if you have any further questions or concerns please let me know.

I'm assuming the ingredients on their website haven't been updated based on their response?

 

[Paris Pluto]

Having said that, my supermarket still has the ingredients list with the garlic powder. I went through the recycle to find the package and indeed it doesn't have garlic powder but who knows?

 

[di and bob]

Boy, that is confusing. You might contact the company again and tell them about the garlic being listed on the package too, and tghat you will no longer be buying the product until you find out for sure what the actual ingredients are. tell them that people read labels nowadays, and they also know garlic is toxic to cats. That may get things done. I hope so anyway.