Yesterday I introduced my cats to a new food: Lotus Just Juicy turkey. This food advertises on its label that it contains no carrageenan, guar gum, or xantham gum. Great! Because my cat has food sensitivities and these are all suspect ingredients, I thought I found a nice food to add to our rotation.
This morning and this afternoon, I caught my cat drooling, licking his lips, and shaking his head. All signs of nausea and acid reflux for him. I gave him a 1/4 tab of Pepcid to help; excess nausea and stomach acid comes up into his mouth and causes his lower lip to swell. I hoped it's not the new food.
Meanwhile, I took a closer look at the label of the new food and see there are two ingredients that do not thrill me: potato starch and agar-agar. Doing a little research on agar-agar, I see it is derived from red seaweed, just like carrageenan. I am not able to find the same controversial information as is available regarding carrageenan, but some sources describe them as almost identical.
Here is the entire list of ingredients:
Turkey, Turkey Broth, Potato Starch, Carrots, Calcium Lactate, Olive Oil, Monosodium Phosphate, Salt, Agar-Agar, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Betaine, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Niacin, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.
What do you think? As I strongly suspect carrageenan in my cat's intestinal problems, should I stop this food that contains agar-agar or see how it goes? Getting closer and closer to home-cooking ...
This morning and this afternoon, I caught my cat drooling, licking his lips, and shaking his head. All signs of nausea and acid reflux for him. I gave him a 1/4 tab of Pepcid to help; excess nausea and stomach acid comes up into his mouth and causes his lower lip to swell. I hoped it's not the new food.
Meanwhile, I took a closer look at the label of the new food and see there are two ingredients that do not thrill me: potato starch and agar-agar. Doing a little research on agar-agar, I see it is derived from red seaweed, just like carrageenan. I am not able to find the same controversial information as is available regarding carrageenan, but some sources describe them as almost identical.
Here is the entire list of ingredients:
Turkey, Turkey Broth, Potato Starch, Carrots, Calcium Lactate, Olive Oil, Monosodium Phosphate, Salt, Agar-Agar, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Betaine, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Niacin, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.
What do you think? As I strongly suspect carrageenan in my cat's intestinal problems, should I stop this food that contains agar-agar or see how it goes? Getting closer and closer to home-cooking ...
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