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kat003

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Was going to get tiki cat but then heard it contained a somewhat toxic ingredient in some of the recipes(mostly fish) ... "menadione sodium bisulfite". The only recipies that don't have it are the after dark. Is it safe to feed the ones with the ingridient in it with my other dry cat food (fromm brand) or just stick to the ones without. Thanks.
 

Caspers Human

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Menadione is just another name for a Vitamin-K supplement.

Vitamin-K is essential for blood clotting. Much of the time, animals get the Vitamin-K from the foods they eat but, sometimes they need supplements. Animals (or people) that don't get enough Vitamin-K often have problems with excessive bleeding due to lack of blood clotting factors. That's why it is sometimes added to pet foods, to make sure that pets get enough Vitamin-K in their diets.

Menadione has been added to livestock feed and pet food for more than sixty years. It is considered a "Prior Sanctioned" substance which means that it has been in use before the FDA began regulating such things and, through its history of use, is generally considered safe.

That doesn't mean that menadione is always considered safe. If too much of it is used, it can be toxic. In livestock feed, the recommended amount of menadione is on the order of grams per ton. That would be like dissolving a teaspoon of the substance in a tank of water that is 50 feet wide, 50 feet long and 50 feet deep.

Menadione, on its own, is NOT bad but, as you see, it must be used in very small amounts. As with many food additives, the old adage, "too much of a good thing," is true in this case.

I would not rule out a pet food simply because it contains menadione but, yes, I would certainly take notice.
I think everybody should read the ingredients list of foods before they eat them or feed them to pets.

It is like putting cheese on french fries. It makes sense, mon amie! ;)

However, if you don't like the idea of menadione in your cat's food, don't buy that brand.

Just make sure that your cat gets enough other foods to supply Vitamin-K to its diet.
 
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kat003

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Menadione is just another name for a Vitamin-K supplement.

Vitamin-K is essential for blood clotting. Much of the time, animals get the Vitamin-K from the foods they eat but, sometimes they need supplements. Animals (or people) that don't get enough Vitamin-K often have problems with excessive bleeding due to lack of blood clotting factors. That's why it is sometimes added to pet foods, to make sure that pets get enough Vitamin-K in their diets.

Menadione has been added to livestock feed and pet food for more than sixty years. It is considered a "Prior Sanctioned" substance which means that it has been in use before the FDA began regulating such things and, through its history of use, is generally considered safe.

That doesn't mean that menadione is always considered safe. If too much of it is used, it can be toxic. In livestock feed, the recommended amount of menadione is on the order of grams per ton. That would be like dissolving a teaspoon of the substance in a tank of water that is 50 feet wide, 50 feet long and 50 feet deep.

Menadione, on its own, is NOT bad but, as you see, it must be used in very small amounts. As with many food additives, the old adage, "too much of a good thing," is true in this case.

I would not rule out a pet food simply because it contains menadione but, yes, I would certainly take notice.
I think everybody should read the ingredients list of foods before they eat them or feed them to pets.

It is like putting cheese on french fries. It makes sense, mon amie! ;)

However, if you don't like the idea of menadione in your cat's food, don't buy that brand.

Just make sure that your cat gets enough other foods to supply Vitamin-K to its diet.
Thanks, not an expert so I don't know how much of this stuff is in the food I'm using. I'm using fromm brand dry food. Just didn't want to hurt my kitty.
 

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Thanks, not an expert so I don't know how much of this stuff is in the food I'm using. I'm using fromm brand dry food. Just didn't want to hurt my kitty.
You're in the right place, among the right people to help keep your kitty safe 😊
 

ladytimedramon

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@EmersonandEvie OMG someone else can see it! Those little Sheba packages are beyond irritating. They have splattered in my face, bounced across the room, and ricocheted onto my clothes. I resorted to a small paring knife run around the inner lip of the container, but then you do have a dirty knife.
I have mastered the trick to Sheba/Crave/Nutro packages.

Hold it vertical with the tab up. Give it one hard shake down. This moves all of the product to one end away from the tab, making opening the package less messy.
 

Caspers Human

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Thanks, not an expert so I don't know how much of this stuff is in the food I'm using. I'm using fromm brand dry food. Just didn't want to hurt my kitty.
The amount of Vitamin-K in pet food is regulated by the FDA.

The actual amount of it in your cat’s food is likely to be so small that you couldn’t measure it without using scientific instruments.

If the recommended amount is something like one gram of supplement per ton of food, that translates to one thousandth of a gram of stuff per kilogram of food.

Personally, I wouldn’t be worried but the decision is up to you.

If you don’t like the ingredients in your cat’s brand of food, don’t buy that brand. ;)
 

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Thanks, not an expert so I don't know how much of this stuff is in the food I'm using. I'm using fromm brand dry food. Just didn't want to hurt my kitty.
It would take about two bags of dry food PER SERVING--as in your cat would have to eat two bags (like 5 or 10 pound bags!) of dry food twice a day--to get a toxic level of menadione sodium bisulfite. There is zero toxicity risk of menadione sodium bisulfite as a pet food ingredient!

The argument against this ingredient comes from a misuse/misinterpretation of the science. As mentioned above, menadione sodium bisulfite is also used in livestock feed. It comes in a powder. That powder can be aerosolized when poured from a bag (like how cat litter gets dusty when it is poured from the bag.) That aerosolized powder poses a respiratory risk (as does cat litter) to workers who inhale that dust. There is an MSDS (material data safety sheet) for menadione sodium bisulfite like any chemical used in a workplace would have. This MSDS lists the risks of inhaled menadione sodium bisulfite in large quantities. Thus, all the fearmongering on a certain site about the hazards and toxicity of menadione sodium bisulfite mean absolutely nothing unless you are a worker who is ignoring the workplace regulations for wearing a mask when pouring this into livestock feed. For everyone else, including the animals eating the feed and our pets who eat supplemented food, there is zero toxicity risk.

The devil is always in the details. Except those details don't sell ads on that website.
 

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Hopefully they do so it doesn't go to waste. I also have a boy that eats anything but even he wouldn't touch any of the favors. I originally got duck, beef, and lamb from their website. Let me know if your cats like it!
I tried the Koha duck today. Juliet (the finicky one) ate some and then walked away but she does that sometimes. Contessa (the one who will eat anything) ate her portion and what was left of Juliet's lol. They'll get the rest tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. 🤞

The prices on their website are really high. The 5.5 oz cans were $1.79 each at my local pet store, they're over $2 each when you buy a CASE online. Wowza.
 

Beholder

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I tried the Koha duck today. Juliet (the finicky one) ate some and then walked away but she does that sometimes. Contessa (the one who will eat anything) ate her portion and what was left of Juliet's. They'll get the rest tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. 🤞
That's good to hear!
 

TardisDance

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My cat only seems to like the Weruva stews but only the ones flavored with duck or turkey. It’s a little high on the carbs but getting her to eat any wet food is a blessing after trying for nearly a year. She hates pate but doesn’t like big chunks in gravy. She also likes Friskies Lil Soups but those are considered a food complement and not a complete wet food.
 

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Our feral turned 90% house cat will only eat one flavor of 9-lives canned and only 9-lives dry. All other brands tried have
been donated to the local spca..
Buy it in bulk from chewy.com
 
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kat003

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I have been looking into stick treats. Is nulo or churu better? I don't care about the price as they are almost the same but I want to know which one is better ingredient wise.
 

Beholder

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The only defining difference I can see is that Nulo has chickpeas and Churu uses water instead of broth. I personally would try the Churu first since it doesn't have chickpeas and see if your cat likes it, but I think both are good options either way.
 
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