High protein or high calorie?

FetchingCat

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We were looking at cat foods today and noticed that the grain free Whole Hearted brand had fewer calories and less protein than the Blue Wilderness brand, which had more protein and more calories.

Which would be better for overall cat health and weight control? I know that high protein is better, but we're hoping cut the calories a bit for our medium energy kitty. Is higher protein more satiating? Withholding portions isn't a realistic option because we have a high energy kitty who is pretty lean.

Thanks!
 

Azazel

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High animal protein and low carb is what you should look for. You can always control calorie intake but if most of the calories your cat is getting is from carbs and not much animal protein then they aren’t getting calories that are appropriate for a cat.

Foods that are denser in calories are usually higher in fat since fat is twice as dense as protein. They are also more filling since they are more dense.
 

DreamerRose

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I've just changed to Blue Wilderness Grain-free, which is mostly protein, and it's made a tremendous difference in how much they eat. They get it just once a day, but I've had to reduce the amount of wet food for the rest of the day. Mingo eats only about half as much wet as he did before. Lily will eat anything and never stops at the amount. She's gained a little, and I've had to cut back more on all of her other food. So my guess is the the Blue Wilderness Grain-free is better for them, and you don't have to feed them as much as you did before. I am guessing that the ones with grains are not as nutritious and that's why it took more food.
 

Azazel

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I've just changed to Blue Wilderness Grain-free, which is mostly protein, and it's made a tremendous difference in how much they eat. They get it just once a day, but I've had to reduce the amount of wet food for the rest of the day. Mingo eats only about half as much wet as he did before. Lily will eat anything and never stops at the amount. She's gained a little, and I've had to cut back more on all of her other food. So my guess is the the Blue Wilderness Grain-free is better for them, and you don't have to feed them as much as you did before. I am guessing that the ones with grains are not as nutritious and that's why it took more food.
Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat Food, 2.5-lb bag - Chewy.com

If the above is the food you’re referring to it isn’t high in animal protein. It is only 37% calories from protein and given that pea protein and peas are high on the ingredient list one can assume that much of that protein is coming from non-animal sources. It’s also 40% fat which probably means that most of the chicken in this food is from the fatty parts of chicken. Finally, it’s high in carbs (23%) which cats, being obligate carnivores, can’t properly digest.

I point this out not to criticize your food choices but to show cat parents that pet food labels are deceiving and that we should educate ourselves to outsmart them.

Edit: I just realized you may be talking about the canned version. I did the calculations on that one too and it’s even lower in protein (30%) and higher in fat (65%). On the plus side it is high in moisture and low in carbs (5%)
 

Azazel

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FetchingCat

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We last had them on Blue Wilderness (for dry). We got them Blue Carnivora today, I think it's new? Haven't seen it before. For wet they get Whole Hearted. I got them a couple cases of the gravy based morsels that was lower protein and lower calorie, it just didn't seem to fill them up.

Any thoughts on Blue Carnivora? We try to avoid foods with a lot of starchy fillers and fish.

Thanks!
 

DreamerRose

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The nutritional value of the protein is 45%, which is higher than the 38% in what I am feeding them, and both are better than the 30% in Iams.
 

Azazel

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The nutritional value of the protein is 45%, which is higher than the 38% in what I am feeding them, and both are better than the 30% in Iams.
The values needed to be computed as a percentage of calories though. The as fed values directly on the label can be deceiving. It’s also important to look at the ingredients list. If there are peas or other legumes or plants then much of the protein in the food is not animal-based.

F FetchingCat if you send me links to the foods you’re feeding I will do the calculations for you.
 

Azazel

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I calculate 39% calories from protein, 42% from fat, and 19% from carbs. The food label claims that 90% of the protein is from animal sources but cats can’t process plants properly so it doesn’t really make any sense for them to include ingredients like fava beans, lentils, and tomato pomace. This plus the fact that it’s high in carbs (cats should have less than 10% carbs in their diet) and the food is dry means in my opinion that this food is inappropriate for cats.
 
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FetchingCat

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Is there a high animal protein, low carb, reasonably low fat dry food you'd recommend? Is freeze dried raw food decent?
 

Azazel

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I personally don’t recommend any dry foods, sorry. Freeze dried foods should be rehydrates before feeding.
 

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Is there a high animal protein, low carb, reasonably low fat dry food you'd recommend? Is freeze dried raw food decent?
Anti-dry raw feeder here, so you’ll have to keep that in mind when you read my opinion! :)

There’s only one dry food that I think is decent: Dr. Elsey’s Cleanprotein. Here’s the info about the chicken variety:
Dr Elsey's Cleanprotein Chicken Recipe Cat Food Review

Dry Matter Analysis
The manufacturer's published guaranteed analysis values normalized for moisture content.
Protein: (min) 67%
Fat: (min) 20%
Fiber: (max) 5%
Carbs: (est) 8%
Ash: (est) 0%
Calories: (est) 384/100g

I keep a bag in the fridge and give them a few pieces as a treat.

My cats are almost entirely on homemade food BUT I do give them the occasional can of the Rawz brand of food. I also give them some Northwest Naturals freeze-dried raw rehydrated. Rawz makes a dry food but it’s extremely high in carbs. And, well, it’s dry. Wouldn’t touch it, or any other besides Dr. Elsey’s.
 
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