List of foods with no by-products, wheat gluten or both?

scott77777

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Like many of you I'm sure, I've been scouring the various labels for wet cat food that:

a) Has no by-products
b) Has no wheat gluten
c) The cats actually like (a cat test, not a label test)

OR
d) Has some by-products, but the main ingredient is a whole protein (fish, etc...)
e) Doesn't cost an arm and a leg ($$$$$ - we've got three cats, plus feed a feral colony)

It's been very tough to find food that meets even some of the above criteria...

This was a wake-up call as well:
Filler in Animal Feed Is Open Secret in China

We've been feeding Natural Balance up until recently -- when one of our cats started throwing up in response. She just doesn't like it or can't tolerate it for some reason. Another one of our cats tolerates food better, but is much more finicky on flavor.

Food that doesn't have by-products OR wheat gluten on the label:
  • Nutro Natural Choice Chicken and Rice
  • Natural Balance Salmon
  • Natural Balance Turkey & Giblets
  • Natural Balance Ultra
Food our cats like, has NO wheat gluten, but HAS by-products as a secondary ingredient:
  • Purina Pro Plan Chicken & Liver
  • Friskies Poultry Platter
Suggested by others:
  • Eagle Pack chicken/lamb, turkey/barley, duck/oatmeal, and salmon/shrimp would meet the criteria of having no by products, no gluten, and my kitty liked all of them minus the duck/oatmeal one.
  • Innova Evo is grain free with no by products.
  • Wellness (grain free varieties?
Any other lists out there?
 

jean44

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Natural Balance also has a Venison and Green pea canned formula. It is designed for cats with sensitive stomachs. My cats love it.

Wellness also has grain free canned formulas- turkey, chicken and chicken/beef are ones I've tried. All the cats like it.

I'm feeding six cats on this food and it is affordable for me. I'm not sure I'd want use if to feed a feral colony. That would be too expensive. For a colony I'd have to find something a little cheaper.
 
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scott77777

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Yes, actually, our cats liked the canned venison as well.

One thing to note -- the DRY version of the venison actually got recalled due to a problem with the "rice protein concentrate." I was surprised to see some of the Dick Van Patten stuff get recalled.

More here:
Recalled Natural Balance

It seems like this is happening as these companies try to boost the protein content, as per the New York Times article I linked to above.

From time to time we evaluate our formulas and look for ways to improve them. We recently looked at the Venison dry formulas and thought that adding another protein source would improve the formula. Unfortunately, we are being informed and believe that the rice protein concentrate used was contaminated with melamine.
 

ping

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Eagle Pack chicken/lamb, turkey/barley, duck/oatmeal, and salmon/shrimp would meet the criteria of having no by products, no gluten, and my kitty liked all of them minus the duck/oatmeal one.

Innova Evo is grain free with no by products.

And I believe Wellness has some grain free variety.
 

denice

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Have you considered feeding the ferals a dry to keep down costs? You could probably even feed a grain free dry cheaper than a lower quality wet.
 
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scott77777

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Actually, I feed the ferals both wet and dry. The ferals typically get Friskies wet food and Purina One dry, but I'll also give them whatever our finicky "indoor" cats reject - which will include organic
if the indoor cats simply won't eat it.

What I've found with dry food is that some cats get addicted and it tends to dehydrate the cats more. Along with the weight gain, I find it's usually best to mix foods up. I like the ferals to feel "full," because they're also managed -- and we've had a few specific individuals try to trap them to euthanize them.
 

jean44

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Originally Posted by Scott77777

Yes, actually, our cats liked the canned venison as well.

One thing to note -- the DRY version of the venison actually got recalled due to a problem with the "rice protein concentrate." I was surprised to see some of the Dick Van Patten stuff get recalled.
Yes, I knew about the recall. I actually had a bag of the dry Venison and Pea that I returned to the store after the recall. I understand the Natural Balance is planning to reformulate the dry product and will release it at some point.
 

sharky

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I use wellness grain free .... nutro( thou not at the moment till they can themselves)... eagle pack ... innova... solid gold ...

there are a number of threads with many brands that some or all of the line is wheat free and by product free...

I would only serve by products as a emergency food
 

followedbydolls

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merrick? doesn't have wheat gluten or by products.. we use quite a number of their flavors for the small dogs, unfortunately my cats won't touch it but worth a try
 

beandip

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My cats enjoy the Wellness grain free varieties. Most of them like the NB Venison Pea (canned) and the Chicken/Liver Pate...both of those are grain free too. Mine like the Merricks, which also meets your first 3 criteria. Innova EVO is another one. They'll let me throw in some other variety sometimes but those are their favorites.

The Wellness and the EVO are available in 12.5-13oz cans, too. Some of my cats are really picky about leftovers, so I'm doing mostly 5.5oz cans, but if yours don't object, the big cans can save some money.
 

naturestee

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California Natural- Two dry varieties and several wet. Very simple ingredients meant for cats with allergies or sensitive stomachs. I feed the Chicken & Rice wet, and used to feed the dry also although Nutro Natural Choice dry seems to do a little better with my sensitive-tummy kitty. I can find the 13 oz cans for about $1.20.

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul- I'd feed this if it didn't bother Lily. Multi-meat, multi-grain. Very good food for the price. No by-products, no wheat gluten.

Felidae and Innova- Multi-meat, multi-grain, no by-products, no wheat gluten. Felidae also comes in a Chicken variety. Good quality foods, but the Innova dry is very expensive. I can find the 13 oz cans for about $1.20.
 
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