Why Is Weruva So Few In Calories?

So I know the general advice for feeding a raw diet is 3% of a cat's body weight to maintain a weight. But what about calories? Just asking since I'll have to feed my cats wet food for a few days while I'm traveling. I'll go with Weruva since they've had it in the past and it's good quality. But what I don't understand is why Weruva 5.5 oz cans only has around 100 calories? Another brand of similar size would have double the number of calories. Even if the calorie amount was the same, weruva would be expensive, but give the lower calories it's even double as expensive.... Am I missing something here?

Nope. Their foods just have low calories. Many people don't even notice. For canned food you have to check out the calories and not just the weight because the calories vary. My cats aren't too picky so I stay away from Weruva since I wouldn't be getting my money's worth. I will say their chicken looks like real shredded chicken and not mystery meat.

kittyluv387 said:

Nope. Their foods just have low calories. Many people don't even notice. For canned food you have to check out the calories and not just the weight because the calories vary. My cats aren't too picky so I stay away from Weruva since I wouldn't be getting my money's worth. I will say their chicken looks like real shredded chicken and not mystery meat.

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Yeah the quality is pretty good and smells really good. I'll only need to buy a weeks worth, but still find it baffling the prices.

Mine looooooove the Cats in the Kitchen series but I had to stop feeding it because I couldn't afford it! Sure, it's $1.50 for a 6oz can, but you have to feed 2 to 3 cans at a time for the poor things to feel full! I wish we knew Weruva's logic.
We don't have Petco around here, but does their Soulstic line also have a very low calorie count?

Weruva foods aren't cheap by the calorie but, as kittyluv387 says, it's easy to see the meat, which is often a plus, particularly for cats who like shreds. Low calories that are concentrated on protein and low in carbs work great for many cats and lots of Weruva foods are relatively low in phosphorus, too, which makes them excellent choices for certain kidney cats. (That's how I started buying Weruva: when we had a kidney cat.)

I don't have a problem with any of that -- some cats need higher calories than others and I'm glad someone's making a good low-calorie choice -- but I wish they didn't put potato starch in so many foods as a thickener! I'm not a fan of their use of tapioca in Cats in the Kitchen pouches, either. We only feed a little Weruva (Cats in the Kitchen cans) and our cats like them.

Soulistic, like Weruva, has full nutritional information on their site, so you can check and compare calories there, EmersonandEvie . Transparency about nutrition is a huge positive about Weruva: it's very easy for someone who feeds a special diet to get specifics on the food.

Weruva is coming out with a pate though....I’m curious about the calories on those. A lot of them don’t have fish which is great. Weruva Play.

I am going to stop buying it because of the calories. I have so many cans to finish. It's only used for toppers. I might donate some.

maggie101 said:

I am going to stop buying it because of the calories. I have so many cans to finish. It's only used for toppers. I might donate some.

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Yeah it would cost an incredible amount to feed them to even one cat every day, I can't even imagine how much it would cost to feed several.

Well assuming my math isn't wrong.

$1.38 for a 3 oz can which has 57 calories.

So for a 10 pound cat. That's $4.84 a day....

I think it's so low in calories because it's made with white meat. No organs or fat or other stuff that they tend to use in pet foods.

And obesity is more of a problem in pets than not getting enough calories is. . .so I won't say it's terrible. Just kind of a shock when you realize that most cats will need multiple cans.

I am going to try hounds and gatos. Cheaper than Wellness core and good ingredients/nutrition

maggie101 said:

I am going to try hounds and gatos. Cheaper than Wellness core and good ingredients/nutrition

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My two love hound and gatos. Especially the turkey and the gamebird flavours!

I think Weruva is so expensive for a low calorie count is because the protein percentage is high, and the fat content is low. For example, the Weruva Goldie Lox is 68% protein and 28% fat. Something like Rawz is 65% fat and 34% protein. Fat is just so much higher in calories. Doesn't mean it's affordable to feed all Weruva, but that's why.

Because it’s not full of unnecessary fillers and empty calories.

Azazel said:

Because it’s not full of unnecessary fillers and empty calories.

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MargoLane said:

I think Weruva is so expensive for a low calorie count is because the protein percentage is high, and the fat content is low. For example, the Weruva Goldie Lox is 68% protein and 28% fat. Something like Rawz is 65% fat and 34% protein. Fat is just so much higher in calories. Doesn't mean it's affordable to feed all Weruva, but that's why.

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Exactly! Feeding cats is full of choices -- sometimes Weruva fits, sometimes it doesn't. We only feed one small can about once a week but the things Azazel and MargoLane mention are important: Weruva can be part of a very decent, appropriate diet for cats. And as I mentioned in my earlier post, it can be great for kidney cats because so many Weruva foods are relatively low in phosphorus. Even if they're not what I want to feed regularly to our current cats, they were great for our kidney cat five years ago!

saleri said:

But what I don't understand is why Weruva 5.5 oz cans only has around 100 calories? Another brand of similar size would have double the number of calories. Even if the calorie amount was the same, weruva would be expensive, but give the lower calories it's even double as expensive.... Am I missing something here?

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The calorie density of a food can be, and usually is, estimated using Atwater factors. For a raw cat food the recommended factors (as kcal/g) are 4 for protein, 4 for carbohydrates, and 9 for fat. Off hand I don't recall what the factors are for a processed (cooked) food but I know they are lower but similar. The important point is that fat has more than double the calories of protein or carbohydrates. When a cat food is very low in calories it is usually because it is very low in fat.

The water content of Weruva is also relatively high at 85% which will also make the total calories in a can lower than other foods.

Erin80 said:

Weruva is coming out with a pate though....I’m curious about the calories on those. A lot of them don’t have fish which is great. Weruva Play.

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Is this out yet? I saw it on their web site, but it isn't in my store, which generally has a good section of Weruva

I am currently using Weruva exclusively because when Ailish went on strike against all her old foods is was one thing I had that she would eat. We like it because it has a wide variety of flavors, is good stuff, and when I did a per-feeding price breakdown it was not at all the most expensive meal out there, although certainly not the cheapest. They have three size cane, 3.3, 6.0. and almost dog food sized on some of the more popular flavors. The bigger the can the more economical it is, so if you can find the 10ozers I would suggest them. Another advantage to Weruva is if you have a diva cat that prefers fresh cans. Because you go through cans faster, they sit in the refrig for less time.

My picky little boy has actually GAINED weight thanks in part to Weruva, because he actually *eats* the food, and doesn't leave half or more sitting in the bowl...
(he was a little underweight before, so I'm glad)

m3rma1d said:

My picky little boy has actually GAINED weight thanks in part to Weruva, because he actually *eats* the food, and doesn't leave half or more sitting in the bowl...
(he was a little underweight before, so I'm glad)

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Exactly: if a cat will eat a low-calorie expensive food it could end up being cheaper than a higher-calorie food that's cheaper in terms of price, meaning by the calorie. Whatever doesn't get eaten is just money down the drain. This is the basis of my rationale for feeding our cats so much freeze-dried raw food! It ends up being cheaper by the meal (and the wear on my nerves!) than feeding canned food.

My cat is the same, her weight loss seems to have stopped with the new Weruva purees because she eats twice as much as any other food.