Do those of you avoiding peas and legumes in wet food consider fenugreek seeds in Rawz as legumes?

mysterylover

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I am trying to find a cat food my cat will eat that does not contain peas/legumes - or at least reduces them. She went off her other food which oddly had peas very high on the ingredients, and I think she did this due to that food causing digestive issues (suddenly developed extremely soft, smelly stools which I suspect was due to COVID and sourcing issues and possible ingredient quantity changes).

Anyway, because I know she gets diarrhea with xanthan gum, guar gum, and too much sunflower seed oil (agar seems okay), she ended up accepting and eating Ziwi, but unfortunately, after about 6 weeks of eating it pretty exclusively, she is experiencing digesting issues (and even hear her cry out when asleep and wake up - and when I listen to her tummy, it is gurgling audibly). I am guessing it is the chickpeas (carbs are 25%, and that seems to be the only carb source). The only other ingredient that is of concern is the New Zealand green lipped mussels. Interestingly, her previous food that caused the tummy stuff, also had the mussels--and peas up high on the list.

If this is an issue with seafood, the Rawz would avoid that. I read up on fenugreek, and it seems it is a legume plant. Should I not try it again if I am avoiding peas/legumes, or has anyone here had a cat do okay on it that did not do well with peas/chickpeas?

On a side note, this same cat has snored and even makes a squeaky noise from her nose when she is just sitting but waiting on food to be prepared (like she is excited and maybe breathing faster), and this seems worse if she comes to the kitchen after having been asleep with my daughter, like her nose is stuffy still from lying down. I know a lot of people have cats who snore, but her making that congested noise at times when she has woken up and is just sitting on the kitchen counter made me wonder if it could be allergy related. -- Her snoring/congestion seems to have increased and gotten worse since a few years ago when I added the Lotus pate to Lotus Just Juicy (non-fish). Of course, there were no peas or seafood in the Just Juicy. It was be something if I found a food that had no seafood/shellfish and no peas/legumes and her snoring/stuffy nose improved!

Thank you in advance for any thoughts on trying Rawz with the fenugreek seeds in it when avoiding peas/legumes.

I did pick up some of The Honest Kitchen pate and minced - no shellfish and no peas and no gums, just agar. She may not eat it, of course, and the carb counts on some of the pates are nearly as high as the Ziwi. Avoiding gums, peas, and seafood seems nearly impossible - especially since she is pickier on flavor these days. I am having to try to compromise because I would rather have her eating something with more carbs that I would like than not eating at all.

Everyone here is so helpful! Thanks again!
 

LTS3

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You can use this chart to find pea / legume / anything else free canned foods: Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients It's not up to date so double check the ingredient list before buying a food.

The amount of fenugreek seeds in Rawz is likely very small so probably won't cause issue in most cats. You can give the food a try and see if your cat can handle the fenugreek seeds or not.

Mouser has no gums or seeds or other common fillers in it. You can try that. There is a web site that sells individual cans if there are no stores in your area that sells it. The link is somewhere in this thread: Mouser cat food!
 

Marley&Luna

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I wonder if fenugreek is why my cats won’t touch RAWZ?
Honest Kitchen is very good. So is Feline Natural. When I’m not feeding what’s left of my Ziwi Provenance stash (no legumes) I give them Feline Natural or Tiki Afterr Dark more often than the Ziwi with the chickpeas because of the carbs. I’d eliminate it altogether but it’s a good food otherwise and they love it SO much.
Mouser is another good option to look into. Also Hound & Gatos maybe.
 

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You can use this chart to find pea / legume / anything else free canned foods: Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients It's not up to date so double check the ingredient list before buying a food.

The amount of fenugreek seeds in Rawz is likely very small so probably won't cause issue in most cats. You can give the food a try and see if your cat can handle the fenugreek seeds or not.

Mouser has no gums or seeds or other common fillers in it. You can try that. There is a web site that sells individual cans if there are no stores in your area that sells it. The link is somewhere in this thread: Mouser cat food!
Yes, I also figure Rawz can't have too much fenugreek in it -- among other things, it would have a very strong smell if it did! Also, Rawz says (here) that their chicken/liver pate has only 4% DM carbs, which is pretty low. Both our cats seem to do fine with a few small Rawz meals a week. Ironically, they're both particularly sensitive to agar-agar, which is in the Honest Kitchen food the OP mentioned! Though we also avoid green-lipped mussels because they seem to cause problems for one cat. But limited guar gum seems (seems!) to be okay. Yet another reminder of how individual this whole food thing is. :) What works for one cat may not work for another.

I'm glad LTS3 LTS3 mentioned Mouser: Our cats both really like the chicken, turkey, and duck options. It's pretty caloric so one large can lasts for three meals for two cats (meaning six small portions).
 

Juniper_Junebug

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I honestly didn't realize fenugreek was a legume; I consider it to be a spice. I also understood fenugreek was used in limited quantities as a binder, and not (as with traditional legumes) to potentially up the protein from non-meat sources. We love Rawz.

As noted previously, another non-legume option is Feline Natural, although it does have green lipped mussels (and my kitty refused to eat it until I followed advice on Chewy to mix a small amount into her other food-- not just provide together but mix, and then adjust proportions over time). I also feed my cat Farmina Boar and Apple, and even though I don't think the apple adds anything, I also don't think it really hurts, and my cat does fine with it. And we recently tried Mouser turkey and kitty liked it fine. I didn't realize it was more caloric so I'll have to take that into account if I decide to add it to the rotation (bought some when Farmina became unavailable but it seems like it's back).
 
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mysterylover

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Thanks for the feedback! I did a trial of Rawz before COVID hit. It was more for one of my cats who seems to not tolerate any gums. At that time, constipation was an issue, but I might try only the lower phosphorus flavors this time.

I tried The Honest Kitchen Minced night before last. Wow! I am spoiled, as the Ziwi has mild odor (but enough for my cats to love it), and the Just Juicy is also not stinky. The Honest Kitchen odor filled the whole kitchen! The female had mild soft stool the next day, so not full-on diarrhea - I offered them each 1/8 teaspoon with their regular food. At least, the minced are lower in phosphorus. I considered Feline Natural as a trial, but I would have to buy a case. The store about 30 minutes away that used to stock it did not have any when my daughter checked - likely a COVID thing. A lot of stores only care what has been more available (and likely with good profits).

I am considering adding 1/2 packet of Fortiflora to any new food trial to see if I can at least lower "transition" diarrhea to a point where the cats don't have cramping and discomfort with eating 1/8 teaspoon of a new food. They loved Weruva (Paw Licken Chicken), and I did not hate it because it had no peas and good protein and lower phosphorus -but between the Xanthan Gum and the Sunflower Seed oil, the diarrhea was liquid with cramping and multiple trips to the box with just cramps/drips. Has anyone here had luck with adding Fortiflora or Proviable or any other probiotic with food trials and then decreasing over time?

Thanks again for your time1
 
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mysterylover

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Yes, I also figure Rawz can't have too much fenugreek in it -- among other things, it would have a very strong smell if it did! Also, Rawz says (here) that their chicken/liver pate has only 4% DM carbs, which is pretty low. Both our cats seem to do fine with a few small Rawz meals a week. Ironically, they're both particularly sensitive to agar-agar, which is in the Honest Kitchen food the OP mentioned! Though we also avoid green-lipped mussels because they seem to cause problems for one cat. But limited guar gum seems (seems!) to be okay. Yet another reminder of how individual this whole food thing is. :) What works for one cat may not work for another.

I'm glad LTS3 LTS3 mentioned Mouser: Our cats both really like the chicken, turkey, and duck options. It's pretty caloric so one large can lasts for three meals for two cats (meaning six small portions).
Thank you for reminding me about that chart that someone spent hours, days, and likely months on!! I forgot about it. Of course, with COVID, you are right that many formulas have changed, but it's a start!

Yes, it is interesting how one cat tolerates certain ingredients but not another. I think about all the people here who say their cat loves this or that food or that they had a trial and it was a success from the first bite. Here I am trying food after food and trying to find maybe two or three that my cats can tolerate (and I have given up on them all eating the same food - I was likely blessed that they were all happy eating the same foods for years).

Thanks for sharing!
 

lisahe

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Thank you for reminding me about that chart that someone spent hours, days, and likely months on!! I forgot about it. Of course, with COVID, you are right that many formulas have changed, but it's a start!

Yes, it is interesting how one cat tolerates certain ingredients but not another. I think about all the people here who say their cat loves this or that food or that they had a trial and it was a success from the first bite. Here I am trying food after food and trying to find maybe two or three that my cats can tolerate (and I have given up on them all eating the same food - I was likely blessed that they were all happy eating the same foods for years).

Thanks for sharing!
I always look on the pet food companies' sites first, in the hope they list dry matter data. More seem to do it now than, say, ten years ago, when I first started paying attention to the data.

And the ingredients, I know, it's so strange to see someone say how a food with, say, potato or agar-agar, works really well for their cats! We're also a bit short on decent foods to feed and I feel like I should probably do some sort of limited food trial with a few things (lamb, for example, which we banned in the summer) to see if they are or are not a problem for Edwina. After her health issues this summer, though, the last thing I want is for her to barf more, even if it's relatively easy to make her stop with a dietary change. So I just keep looking for more foods with ingredients I know she can tolerate... and hope both cats will eat them! As I also hope the cats continue to enjoy Mouser.

Good luck with your own search!
 
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