Cat Food Without Peas, Pea Fiber, And Pototoes?

CatloverinFL

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
64
Purraise
89
Has anyone else noticed the huge tread of putting Peas, and/or Pea fiber, and/or Potatoes in dry and wet cat food? This didn't used to be 10 years ago, or more. Now these specific foods are literally in almost all wet and dry cat foods, except some Kitten foods I've noticed. I'm now feeding my two cats dry kitten food due to this fact, and they love it. I am wary of these specific ingredients, frankly, and the possible harm they may cause using short or long term.

Does anyone know any dry and wet cat foods that do not add in these specific ingredients they would recommend? I have looked and looked and it is/ food without these added in, are very hard to find, IMO. I know that with dogs, it was recently discovered and nationally publicized that potatoes in their dry/wet food can/will cancel out an important nutrient they direly need and over time can cause renal failure-( I think). I still wonder about my dear cats having lost two of of them last year to cancer. I also read that peas added into cat food(s) may cancel out Taurine which they need..? Thanks in advance for your replies.
 

Jem

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 6, 2018
Messages
5,573
Purraise
11,246
My opinion? The reason for all the peas and potatoes is because of the whole "grain free" movement. Yeah it's all fine and dandy that there are less or no grains in cat food but they simply replace it with other plant based protein, not animal protein. So you think your doing good for your cat but really, it's just marketing.
It has been shown that dogs get Cardiomyopathy due to eating a "grain free diet" that contains peas, potatoes or other legumes, in place of wheat and corn, but so far there have been no studies to show if cats suffer the same (that I know of).
I've had MANY cats whom all lived past the ages of 16 with one who even lived till he was 20. BUT when we adopted one of our cats, he was put on a grain free diet (because that was the "best") starting at a young age, and low and behold, he developed Cardiomyopathy leading to CHF and passed at the age of 10. Is there a connection? IDK. But I no longer focus on "grain free" foods, I try to find "low carb" foods. My current cats don't have any issues consuming grains, so I just try to make sure that whatever grains are in there, are lower on the ingredient list. All of my cats did very well consuming grains so I see no point in messing with a good thing. As I said though, I DO try to find foods with more animal protein, and less carbs, but I much prefer that the carbs come from wheat rather than potatoes or peas, but that is simply based on my personal experience and that I will never again believe the new "trends" in pet foods.
Currently my cats free feed on a vet prescribed dry pet food, due to it's "calm" formula, and it has helped with what I was using it for. I may change it eventually but for now they are ding well on it. Yes it has grains, but for now, the grains are the lesser of two evils with what we were dealing with concerning the other issues. And this foods helps.
As for wet foods, they get a serving of wet food twice a day, and I'm currently feeding Fancy Feast pates, and Whiskas pates. I used to get the expensive wet foods but I was getting really tired of finding that they had either legumes or veggies and other stuff. The ones I feed don't contain any legumes or veggies and they also don't have grains.
They do have "meat", and/or "poultry" by-products, but that is another thing I have come to realize is not the where my focus should be on (IMO). I would not get a food that the first ingredient is an unspecified meat by-product, but if it's further down the list with the first three coming from a named animal, I'm good with that. Also, by-products in general are not bad, they are the skin, bones and so on from animals, which is not a bad thing. By-products are not JUST feet, beaks and feathers as some would have you believe. And as someone else mentioned to me before, IF the "meat" or "poultry" is anything other than the usual (chicken, turkey, beef, pork...) they HAVE to specify the meat used, so your not feeding your cat, dog or horse meat.

If you want to try and find foods that don't have legumes or potatoes, steer clear of "grain free" and focus on finding LOW CARB, to limit their wheat and corn intake. Also, wet foods do tend to have lower and possibly NO grains and legumes.
 

lisahe

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
6,150
Purraise
4,969
Location
Maine
There was another recent (last month or two?) thread that discussed the grain-free/cardiomyopathy question but I'll just link to an article that I found when I was responding to a post there that quotes from the FDA's warning and specifically notes legumes and potatoes. Article from the Whole Dog Journal. Since the article is the Whole Dog Journal, the focus is on dog food but their points about the warning are still well-taken!

Like Jem, I also look for low-carb wet foods, which is what works best for our cats and is (not coincidentally!) what our vet recommends. I start with "grain-free" since grains add carbs aren't aren't a natural part of a cat's diet anyway, since they're carnivores, and then check labels for other starchy vegetable matter, like potatoes, peas, and other legumes. One of our cats vomits if she eats potato and we learned (due to a recipe change to a favorite food!) that our cats don't like peas anyway, so that most definitely works out well for us. I don't feed a lot of tapioca, either, since it adds considerable starch, though there are a few foods that our cats love that I'll feed every now and then, as a treat, draining some of the gravy.

Almost all dry foods, other than a few brands, like Dr. Elsey's, have some starches or other so the food can hold its shape when extruded. But there are quite a few wet foods that don't have them: I also feed Fancy Feast pates, plus there are Sheba pates, quite a few foods from Weruva, Wellness, and other brands. The database that furballsmom linked to might help, though since my main goal is to search out carb levels, one of my main sources is the chart on catinfo.org.

Good luck!
 

darg

Gizmo
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jan 13, 2014
Messages
390
Purraise
329
Dr. Elsey's dry contains no grain nor starchy fillers. I believe they use gelatin as a binder. Young Again has a zero carb variety that also does not contain grain or starchy fillers. They use guar gum as a binder. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) they both contain chicken (chicken meal, chicken fat, chicken liver) which is a problem for my cat. Otherwise, I probably would have tried it before the switch to wet food. My cat was a kibble addict so it would have been an easier food switch. Young again also has a LID that has zero fillers. It does contain chicken fat (but no chicken meal or liver). I don't know if chicken fat alone would have been an issue. There is also Wysong Epigen 90 dry but it's chicken based as well.

Those are the 3 dry foods (not including freeze dried or dehydrated) I know about that are grain and starchy filler free. I'm sure there are a couple more brands out there that I don't know about.
 

sabrinah

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jun 6, 2016
Messages
968
Purraise
863
Location
California
Essence is a newer brand made by the company that makes Zignature. It has both dry and wet food that are all free of grains, potatoes, alfalfa, peas, flaxseed, and sunflower oil. They do use lentils in their dry food but the first 7 ingredients are meat and meat meals, so meat still outweighs beans. I like it because the dry has small kibble, it's pricey but not overly expensive (about $21 for 4 lbs on Only Natural Pet), and my cat will actually eat it (unlike Dr. Elsey's which she despised). I haven't tried the canned since I make my own raw, but it's 96% meat. The only downside I can see is the agar agar, which doesn't bother me but is a problem for some people.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #11

CatloverinFL

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
64
Purraise
89
Warning- Long post/rant :-)

Thank you so much everyone for your great, very helpful and interesting responses.

I'm going to try some of the brands suggested and truly wish that the Purina brand(s) would come up with brand new cat food formulas, and offer ORGANIC dry and wet cat foods- with ingredients closer to the older days, when they didn't* put peas, pea fiber, potatoes, sweet potatoes-(that's a real big one now too), lentils, etc, etc., into almost of their dry and wet cat foods.

Purina really needs to get with the 20th century, IMO, and begin offering Organic dry and wet foods. The cancer rate has now soared in cats and dogs, and having lost two of my beloved cats just last year to two different type of cancer, I keep thinking it has got to be related to their foods...?

I was feeding them, ever since it came out back in 2007 or so, for years Purina Beyond, 'Chicken and Oatmeal'. Now I can't help but wonder, was it all the pesticides being sprayed in the oatmeal they used, and/or pea fiber, or carrots..!? Now with my existing two new cats will not buy that brand, 'Purina Beyond' dry, again.

I'll obviously never know the answer to that, however, with all of the soil and veggies/potatoes, peas, being hosed down with pesticides (think Round Up) constantly, is it really any shock that our animals and people are now being diagnosed with cancer at a phenomenal rate? After all, cancer used to be somewhat rare, and now seems almost common.

I've been to 'specialty' high-end pet food stores in the small City where I live, and been very surprised at the lack of any organic pet foods in all of them. When I pointedly asked why they didn't carry any organic cat foods ( nor dog foods either) I was told this was due to the shelf life, and* that they really didn't sell well. I thought to myself, Huh?! I wasn't sure if I bought that logic, although, I do agree Organic is usually very pricey, and it probably does go bad much faster, but still, why not try to offer it to customers anyway, I wondered?

I have looked on-line on the Web everywhere, and the fact is, there's very few organic cat foods, both dry and wet, offered to choose from. Mine only like gravy, soupy types of wet foods, and they are practically nil. Chewy.com offered the largest variety, which wasn't much, but based on many of the reviews of the organic foods I wasn't super impressed.

What are your opinions, thoughts and comments about this?

Thanks again,

ML
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,931
Location
Colorado US
My Big Fella has just gone through a very serious bout of an infection in his digestive organs, and one of the possible causes that was mentioned by the vet ties right in with your concerns of how upstream sources of ingredients are handled/monitored/processed.
 

lisahe

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Messages
6,150
Purraise
4,969
Location
Maine
C CatloverinFL , for us, the first concern is to keep the carbs out of the cats' diet and feed them as much meat protein as possible. That does lots of (good) things at once, among them: it lets them eat like the carnivores that they are and, as a plus, keeps them from eating the produce you mentioned that gets sprayed with pesticides. Minimizing their exposure to certain other ingredients -- carrageenan, for example, which some studies in humans have shown can cause inflammation -- may also help keep them healthy. Or it may not. Nobody really knows.

I think the uncertainty is the strangest part: even well-designed studies in humans often disagree (think of all the recent articles about eggs!) and it must be exponentially harder to run a good study with cats! So I figure the best thing to do is what vets like Dr. Pierson (catinfo.org) and our own cats' vet say: feed lots of meat, all wet food, and avoid carby stuff since that's what cats' bodies are best able to process. It's been working for our cats since we adopted them 5.5 years ago and it takes effort -- I make a lot of homecooked food for them -- but they're the sweetest cats ever and we're their guardians so it's our responsibility to give them the best chance we can, particularly since their digestive systems are a bit messed up.

Good luck finding what will work for you and your cats!
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #14

CatloverinFL

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
64
Purraise
89
Lisahe- Thank you for your response. I think I am most obviously disturbed that all cat foods have pesticides in them, no matter what brands, unless otherwise specified on the labels, except some very bare bones options in organic brands.

With meat only brands, the meats have God only knows what added in. Seems like, one is dan&& if you do, and dam*** if you don't.

I would assume lower-end brands of pet foods may have more pesticides in them, but who knows? But all grains (Oatmeal- Cheerios) are massively sprayed with Round Up, unless of course, they are certified organic grains, and I would assume that pets food may not have as stringent rules and guidelines in the amounts deemed acceptable for consumption as human grade food does.

One simply has to be their own advocate these days for everything, this I have learned the hard way, but have always questioned authority ever since I was a mere tot.

I don't currently have the time to make my two cats their own food, but often feed them some human foods, along with their wet and dry food, like Boars Head low sodium turkey breast, and Deluxe ham, which I supplement with their foods.

How I wish that I had the funds needed to start my own organic cat food company, because, IMO, there is a huge demand for it, but yet verrrry little to be had anywhere! That's crazy to me. I would definitely buy organic cat food, as much as possible, if I had an option to do so.

Incidentally, Paul Newman's brands of (all) cats foods my cats won't touch with a ten foot pole, and they have always hated it, along with the bizarre, rock hard consistency of it. They literally won't go near it, and that include some feral cats I have feed. Whoever came up with that recipe gets a F, in my book.

There has got to be much better, tastier, organic formulas out there, just waiting to be made and sold!
 

yeva2292

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
147
Purraise
198
It has been shown that dogs get Cardiomyopathy due to eating a "grain free diet" that contains peas, potatoes or other legumes, in place of wheat and corn, but so far there have been no studies to show if cats suffer the same (that I know of).
Dogs were getting cardiomyopathy because their grain free food didn't have enough taurine. Unlike in cat food, the AAFCO doesn't publish minimum required levels of taurine for dog food. My guess is that the grain free manufacturers weren't checking for taurine levels in the dog food and weren't supplementing the food with additional taurine, like they do for cats. Not to say that foods with grain are adjusted for taurine, I just don't know.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16

CatloverinFL

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
64
Purraise
89
Just exactly as I thought. See national news story that hit the headlines yesterday. I have copied and pasted it below:

AFP
Grain-free food may be linked to dog heart disease: health authority
AFP Fri, Jun 28 1:22 PM EDT

While DCM is not considered rare, the FDA investigation was sparked by a spike in cases among smaller breeds not genetically prone to the disease (AFP Photo/Johannes EISELE)
Washington (AFP) - Recent years have seen a surge in grain-free dog and cat foods, as increasing numbers of pet owners cast aside kibble packed with cheap corn, wheat and barley fillers for what they believe is a healthier alternative.

The reality may be more complex, with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcing it was continuing to investigate a potential link between grain-free diets that have a high legume content and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a canine and feline heart disease that can be fatal.

Thursday's announcement named 16 pet food brands most frequently identified in 560 cases of individual dogs reported to have the disease between January 1 2014 and April 30, 2018, with 119 of them dying.

Among these cases, more than 90 percent were fed products that were "grain-free" and 93 percent of the reported products contained peas or lentils as a main ingredient.

"We know it can be devastating to suddenly learn that your previously healthy pet has a potentially life-threatening disease like DCM," Steven Solomon, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine said in a statement.

"That's why the FDA is committed to continuing our collaborative scientific investigation into the possible link between DCM and certain pet foods."

The investigation began last year and isn't yet complete, but the FDA said it had a "responsibility to shed light on a signal that we have been made aware of and to solicit reports from pet owners and vets that may know of related cases."

DCM is a serious disease of the heart muscle that causes the organ to dilate, making it harder to pump blood and causing the valves to leak.

This can cause a build-up of fluid in the chest and abdomen known as congestive heart failure, which can lead to death. It can be reversed if caught early with proper treatment and diet modification.

While DCM is not considered rare, the FDA investigation was sparked by a spike in cases among smaller breeds not genetically prone to the disease.

It is not fully clear what it is about these diets that may be connected to DCM.

It may be at least partly linked to a deficiency of an amino acid called taurine, and some dogs improved with medical care, diet change and taurine supplement, but others responded to diet change and vet care alone.

The FDA did not recommend switching from grain-free foods but advised pet owners to consult their vet for diet advice specific to their animal.

The brands named in the release were Acana, Zignature, Taste of the Wild, 4Health, Earthborn Holistic, Blue Buffalo, Nature's Domain, Fromm, Merrick, California Natural, Natural Balance, Orijen, Nature's Variety, NutriSource, Nutro, and Rachael Ray Nutrish.
 

cheesycats

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jan 29, 2017
Messages
549
Purraise
686
Location
Indiana
Dogs were getting cardiomyopathy because their grain free food didn't have enough taurine. Unlike in cat food, the AAFCO doesn't publish minimum required levels of taurine for dog food. My guess is that the grain free manufacturers weren't checking for taurine levels in the dog food and weren't supplementing the food with additional taurine, like they do for cats. Not to say that foods with grain are adjusted for taurine, I just don't know.
This isn’t true. The issue is legumes block the absorption of taurine. A new fda update on the whole thing has been posted. It has effected VERY few dogs. And the past year since this became a known issue they have been studying the amino acid levels in the reported diets. Nothing has been found under levels so now they are moving onto testing how dogs synthesize taurine with and without peas and grains. With less than .01% of the US dog population I can’t say I’m worried. Find low carb foods for your dogs and cats and there shouldn’t be any worry. Now everyone wants to go back to Hill’s purina and RC and they aren’t any better. Just wish the carbs would go away for once. Sick of this whole mast hysteria I keep seeing online about this issue.
 

yeva2292

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
147
Purraise
198
This isn’t true. The issue is legumes block the absorption of taurine. A new fda update on the whole thing has been posted. It has effected VERY few dogs. And the past year since this became a known issue they have been studying the amino acid levels in the reported diets. Nothing has been found under levels so now they are moving onto testing how dogs synthesize taurine with and without peas and grains. With less than .01% of the US dog population I can’t say I’m worried. Find low carb foods for your dogs and cats and there shouldn’t be any worry. Now everyone wants to go back to Hill’s purina and RC and they aren’t any better. Just wish the carbs would go away for once. Sick of this whole mast hysteria I keep seeing online about this issue.
That's good to know! My info is definitely outdated, thanks for the explanation!
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,271
Purraise
53,931
Location
Colorado US
Oh by the way, an update, Only Natural Pet is no longer allowing small quantity orders.
 
Top