Is I And Love And You A Good Brand?

[kcat25]

Hi, I have three cats all a year and a half now, they're from the same litter. They've been eating dry food from a brand called "I and love and you" for probably a year now. It's grain free, holistic and supposed to have all natural ingredients, etc. I'd never heard of it, but it was high protein and grain free, and I knew those were good things. I have an ingredient list posted below

Ingredients :
Chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, chickpeas, lentils, dried sweet potatoes, pea starch, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dried beet pulp, duck, natural flavors, whole ground flaxseeds, dicalcium phosphate, salt, calcium carbonate, fish oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dl-methionine, inulin, taurine, dried egg product, choline chloride, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin supplement, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, Vitamin B12 supplement, calcium iodate, folic acid, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Bifidobacterium thermophilum fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.

It's 8.99 a bag, it can add up feeding three cats so this works really well in my budget. They temporarily stopped carrying it at Wegmans so I fed them nutro wet food (2/3 cats gave it a solid 4 paws up, I think I'll still try to incorporate that into the two cats diet) And then I have been giving them instinct raw boost dry food, which all three will eat, but it's pricey. Any input would be greatly appreciated! None of them really have any dietary restrictions and are all in good health, for reference.

 

[Merlin77]

The potatoes aren't a good sign, as are the lentils, but I think that for its cost it is a decent food. At least there is a good deal of meat in the first few ingredients.

I'm not sure about all that dried fermentation product. I've never heard of it before, so it could be bad, could be good, could be nothing.

Can you possibly post the guaranteed analysis?

 

[abyeb]

The potatoes aren't a good sign, as are the lentils, but I think that for its cost it is a decent food. At least there is a good deal of meat in the first few ingredients.

I'm not sure about all that dried fermentation product. I've never heard of it before, so it could be bad, could be good, could be nothing.

Can you possibly post the guaranteed analysis?

Cats are obligate carnivores so they don’t need grains or vegetables (although some veggies, like pumpkin, can help promote regularity). I And Love And You is grain-free, which is great; if it didn’t have potatoes, or, at least potatoes lower down on the ingredients, it would be better, but it’s by no means a bad choice.

 

[kcat25]

I thought sweet potatoes were fine, but regular potatoes weren't? Are they harmful? Or just unnecessary and starchy? Also, where can I find the guaranteed analysis?

 

[Merlin77]

I thought sweet potatoes were fine, but regular potatoes weren't? Are they harmful? Or just unnecessary and starchy? Also, where can I find the guaranteed analysis?

They are just unnecessary and starchy, yes. I wouldn't call them harmful, but not exactly healthful. Maybe sweet potatoes are less starchy than regar potatoes, but I am not sure.

The guaranteed analysis should be on the package. It lists the makeup of the food.

For example:

Crude Protein...30%
Crude Fat.....26%
Ash....1%
Fibre...2%

And so on. If it isn't on the package it might be on the website!

 

[Neo_23]

I’ve been doing research into pet foods for a few months now and I’m starting to come to the conclusion that there are no good brands. I know that sounds extreme... but literally every single brand of food, whether dry, canned, or even raw, has either and unfavourable ingredient or an imbalance in calorie sources. So you just have to make a decision between the lesser of evils. For me, that means not feeding any dry food at all and learning to make my own raw food. For you it might mean something else.

 

[kcat25]

Oh okay, I got it!

Crude Protein 34.0% min
Crude Fat 14.0% min
Crude Fiber 4.0% max
Moisture 12.0% max
Vitamin E 70 IU/kg min
Taurine 0.10% min
Omega 3 Fatty Acids 0.65% min
Omega 6 Fatty Acids 2.50% min

Yeah, I mean it's the same with anything processed really, even in human food. I'm just trying to at least stick to human grade and species appropriate

 

[Neo_23]

Oh okay, I got it!

Crude Protein 34.0% min
Crude Fat 14.0% min
Crude Fiber 4.0% max
Moisture 12.0% max
Vitamin E 70 IU/kg min
Taurine 0.10% min
Omega 3 Fatty Acids 0.65% min
Omega 6 Fatty Acids 2.50% min

Yeah, I mean it's the same with anything processed really, even in human food. I'm just trying to at least stick to human grade and species appropriate

Yes, there is bad human food but the pet food industry is much worse than human food. There are no regulations on the pet food industry and there are very minimal “species appropriate” options (all of these would be raw by the way). Dry food would not be considered species appropriate, nor would ingredients like potatoes, pea starch, or beets.

Also, the phrase “human grade” is used loosely. Usually it means the food was made in a facility where human food is also made but not that the food is okay for human consumption. Again, there are no regulations on how these labels can be used.

According to the numbers, this food is also not high protein, it is high carb.

 

[kcat25]

I mean, I meant more species appropriate ingredients, like I know any grain wouldn't be considered species appropriate. I'm aiming for high protein and low carb. I guess I thought 34% protein seemed high. And the absence of grains seemed like that would make it low carb. For a dry food anyway. As for industry standards they're kind of bleak on all fronts. Like ingredients used in our products and our food would be illegal in other countries. Its scary to think what the unregulated standard is

 

[kcat25]

I can't really imagine being able to do raw right now. I work crazy hours and can't guarantee when I'll actually be home. I hate the thought of them sitting around hungry with nothing to eat if I'm home late. I've started doing wet food everyday, nutro perfect portions grain free. I'm trying to feed them that at or around the same time everyday. My one cat will only eat her dry food. We're going to work on it. I know wet is the better option over dry.

 

[Neo_23]

I mean, I meant more species appropriate ingredients, like I know any grain wouldn't be considered species appropriate. I'm aiming for high protein and low carb. I guess I thought 34% protein seemed high. And the absence of grains seemed like that would make it low carb. For a dry food anyway. As for industry standards they're kind of bleak on all fronts. Like ingredients used in our products and our food would be illegal in other countries. Its scary to think what the unregulated standard is

It can be hard reading pet food labels, especially because companies will intentionally try to make them misleading. Pea starch and potatoes are full of carbs. It is a gimmick of “grain free” food to just replace the grains with potatoes and peas. They are just as bad as grains. To find a rough estimate of the number of carbs in a food, you can subtract all values in the guaranteed analysis from 100. That means the food you’re currently feeding is about 35% carbs. You can also figure out what source most of the calories your cat is getting are coming from. Multiply the protein and carb values by 3.5, and the fat value by 8.5. Sum them up and see what proportion of total calories is due to protein, fat, and carbs. In this case, it looks like roughly 32-33% of calories are from protein and carbs, and roughly 35% from fat. The fat value is fine, but the protein value should ideally be above 50 and the carb below 10.

Probably the most concerning thing about this food though is that it is low in moisture. A species appropriate diet would mean that a cat is getting most of its hydration from its food. In the wild, the food they eat is around 70% moisture. This is why kidney and urinary problems are the most common problems amongst household cats who eat primarily dry food.

Not saying this stuff to make you feel bad- navigating pet food is a headache. But, unfortunatley this dry food is far from species appropriate or high quality.

 

[Merlin77]

I can outline some more choices...

The dry food brands I personally rotate are Acana, Nature's Variety and Nutrience. Acana comes in at most expensive, around $60 for the bison meat formula (which we have chosen not to pick because of the expense) and around $50 for the other varieties. One bigger bag lasts us 2-3 weeks, for four+ cats (our tamed feral cats might possibly share with untamed ferals). Acana's formulas are decently good, and are sourced locally so that is a big plus. Carbs are reasonable for a dry food.


On the lower end of cost, a lesser quality Nutrience bag costs $40. However, those have more carbs than the $50 Nutrience bags, and have brown rice as the second ingredient.

Nature's Variety is pretty good. I believe it is best in terms of the cost:quality ratio. The original chicken formula is reasonably low carb (for a dry food--it is still carby) and costs around $45-$50. The Instict Raw Boost costs more.

(The prices are estimates from my memory, so they might not be spot on. Also they are in Canadian dollars)

If all else fails, the I and Love and You is better than the majority of dry foods!

 

[kcat25]

Is there a specific flavor acana that's better, I found a store really close that actually sells it! Any thoughts on wet food?

 

[Merlin77]

Is there a specific flavor acana that's better, I found a store really close that actually sells it! Any thoughts on wet food?

My personal favourite is the poultry flavour (meadowlands). It has free-run eggs, chicken, turkey and also some freshwater fish. I looked over each type of flavour/formula and the protein percentage is more or less the same, 35%.

It's much easier to pick wet food, since there are more varieties and formulas. The Nutro perfect portions are fair-quality, in fact I have a twelve pack in the cupboard right now. They do have synthetic vitamin K, which isn't thrilling but if you combined the Nutro with another (synthetic K free) brand and rotated there shouldn't be a problem. I recommend Weruva, but only the fish-free varieties. The classic Fancy Feast cans are also good, as I have heard, but a tad bit expensive in the long run. Blue Buffalo is also good, but it does have carrageenan. Of course there are more brands, but these are a little less expensive.