“meat By-products” Good Or Bad?

[2BSH]

There are several cat foods that have green lipped mussels in them. It's the 'new thing', I suppose. ZiwiPeak told me that it helps increase the taurine in their foods...
Why is Taurine not listed as an ingredient in your cat cans? I thought it was required in a feline diet? | Ziwi Pets
New ZiwiPeak Formula?

another example, this page from Red Barn has its own laudations...
Why New Zealand Green Mussels are a Superfood For Your Pet - Redbarn Pet Products Blog

Hmmmm interesting. Thank you for all that info. Everyone here is so nice and helpful

 

[KarenKat]

This is almost as good as the toast thread! =D

Lol, I've learned to keep away from carbs!

 

[1 bruce 1]

Now, every time I see or hear the word "by product" I'm going to turn red or purple trying not to laugh and people are going to think I'm in need of an exorcism

 

[Catowneragain]

My cats seem to like the canned cat food with by products but on another forum it is a big no no. My cat who hunts sure eats the entire animal.

 

[2BSH]

My cats seem to like the canned cat food with by products but on another forum it is a big no no. My cat who hunts sure eats the entire animal.

Mine do too. I don’t feed it every day but I think in rotation it’s ok. Like you said in the wild cats eat the whole prey. I think it’s repulsive to us humans and I still don’t like that meat by products are unnamed.. I’d prefer poultry by products but I guess you can’t have it all with the pet food industry unless you’re willing to pay a crazy amount of money for a can of food. I give my cats purina pro one true nature and an occasional can of fancy feast turkey and giblets and I think at this point I’m done obsessing about it ....for now

 

[Daisy6]

My cats seem to like the canned cat food with byproducts but on another forum it is a big no no. My cat who hunts sure eats the entire animal.

Do you mean another cat message board? It is different here with people thinking if a cat will only eat food with byproducts that food is better than one without them - a philosophy that I have never seen anywhere else on the Internet. The truth is you feed a cat bad food if it has bad ingredients. "Meat byproducts" are in that category because the generic term is an attempt to hide something.

 

[MissMolly08]

Do you mean another cat message board? It is different here with people thinking if a cat will only eat food with byproducts that food is better than one without them - a philosophy that I have never seen anywhere else on the Internet. The truth is you feed a cat bad food if it has bad ingredients. "Meat byproducts" are in that category because the generic term is an attempt to hide something.

What is it you think is being hidden with that term? Did you read the legal definitions? Meat by-products are legally the heart, lungs, spleen, blood, intestines, bone etc. (basically anything that is not muscle meat, not including teeth, beaks, hair or hooves) of sheep, cattle, pigs or goats. That's it.

 

[Daisy6]

What is it you think is being hidden with that term? Did you read the legal definitions? Meat by-products are legally the heart, lungs, spleen, blood, intestines, bone etc. (basically anything that is not muscle meat, not including teeth, beaks, hair or hooves) of sheep, cattle, pigs or goats. That's it.

The problem is companies don't always follow the legal definition.

 

[KarenKat]

Yeah, but that can be true with a named meat like chicken as well. If they don’t follow the rule, it won’t matter what they call it on the label. I think the more important thing is using a pet food manufacturer you trust regardless of what’s in the label.

I started learning about cat food ingredients by reading Dr Jean Hofve’s book “what cats should eat” and I consider her guidelines the strictest I’ve seen. She said in her book:

“The bottom line is that a pet food that includes some by-products, like liver or heart, may still be reasonably good quality. But no self-respecting cat would eat only the by-products and throw away the meat! So while by-products may be an acceptable source of animal protein, they shouldn’t be the only animal protein source in a cat’s diet, as is the case in many low-end foods.”

From this, I would say there is nothing wrong with a food that lists “meat by-products” as s first ingredient when fed in rotation with something that includes the actual meat as the first ingredient. The importance is balance.

 

[MissMolly08]

The problem is companies don't always follow the legal definition.

But as stated earlier in this thread, if a company is going to go against the law, they don't need to use by-products as a way to do that. That has nothing to do with by-products and everything to do with untrustworthy pet food companies. That's what I don't understand...why do people blame by-products and label them a way to sneak things into food illegally? ANY company can claim that ANY ingredient is something else or leave it off their label illegally.

 

[MissMolly08]

Yeah, but that can be true with a named meat like chicken as well. If they don’t follow the rule, it won’t matter what they call it on the label. I think the more important thing is using a pet food manufacturer you trust regardless of what’s in the label.

I started learning about cat food ingredients by reading Dr Jean Hofve’s book “what cats should eat” and I consider her guidelines the strictest I’ve seen. She said in her book:

“The bottom line is that a pet food that includes some by-products, like liver or heart, may still be reasonably good quality. But no self-respecting cat would eat only the by-products and throw away the meat! So while by-products may be an acceptable source of animal protein, they shouldn’t be the only animal protein source in a cat’s diet, as is the case in many low-end foods.”

From this, I would say there is nothing wrong with a food that lists “meat by-products” as s first ingredient when fed in rotation with something that includes the actual meat as the first ingredient. The importance is balance.

^^ YES! Read your response after I responded!

 

[Artistwolf]

I’ve got a close friend who actually works at a rendering plant, and she rolls her eyes at most of what she hears about the horrors of meat by-products/rendering plants. Meat byproduct is actually a condensed form of protein, very nutrient-rich, actually. It’s very interesting to research; I would have thought rendering plants are dusgusting and awful but actually having a friend who works at one has shown me just how fascinating they, and the whole process, can be.

 

[Daisy6]

What did your friend show you that contradicted all of the critics about rendering?

 

[BonitaBaby]

I tried feline natural, my guys did not like it. Its not cheap.
I got it from only natural pets. you can order by the can.

Feline Natural Canned Cat Food

Yowza!! Very expensive. I defo will not be ordering any for my cat. The ingredients look good, but thankfully, she wouldn't like any of those flavors anyway.

 

[lisahe]

Yowza!! Very expensive. I defo will not be ordering any for my cat. The ingredients look good, but thankfully, she wouldn't like any of those flavors anyway.

Thankfully, Feline Natural is much, much cheaper at our local store, though it's still one of the most expensive foods we feed. Our cats like that one a lot and this thread makes me wonder if the cats tend to like foods with a lot of organs in them: FN has them as do some of their raw foods plus Fancy Feast, which I can always count on them to finish.

It's good to hear about the rendering plant. I'd love to hear more about that, Artistwolf ! I've always pictured places like that as pretty sanitary with lots of lights and steaming vats (and workers wearing hairnets) but of course that's just my weird imagination at work.

 

[maggiedemi]

lisahe--- I was wondering the same thing, if cats like foods with the organs in them better. I tried feeding mine raw meat and they refuse it. Yet they will eat a mouse or bird, no problem. I need to find a company that will mail me a sample of raw food with maybe some liver, giblets, or whatever in it and see if they will eat it that way. I just want a sample for each cat, I don't want to go buying liver, giblets, heart, etc and making it if they won't eat it.

 

[Artistwolf]

What did your friend show you that contradicted all of the critics about rendering?

It wasn’t really so cut and dry as that—she’s just walked me through the general process... and has told me where the meat comes from. Of course, the plant she works at only processes salmon (they used to process chicken though). There’s no... defining point, it’s just her telling me stuff and what they make with the animal leftovers that impresses amd fascinates me. I mean, we look at the Native Americans and other natives who used the whole animal they killed. That’s what these “meals” and such accomplish, if you ask me. It’s not added chemicals or anything—it’s straight meat. I also believe she once addressed the fish who died of unknown causes and I believe they did something else with them; keeping them separate from the other fish who were killed for meat and are now leftovers or whatnot. I’ll ask her again and tell you guys what she says.

 

[Artistwolf]

It's good to hear about the rendering plant. I'd love to hear more about that, Artistwolf ! I've always pictured places like that as pretty sanitary with lots of lights and steaming vats (and workers wearing hairnets) but of course that's just my weird imagination at work.

Sorry to post twice, but I wasn’t sure how to edit my previous answer with another quote.
Haha me too actually! My friend has assured me that it’s actually not at all like that though... actually the first time she heard of a rendering plant, she was terrified... then somehow that terror grew into curiosity until it was almost an obsession. She loves working there now. I also asked like, isn’t it all dirty and weird? And she was like, “nope, it’s perfectly clean, and if you can get over the smell it’s not bad at all.” Haha, no hairnets! They wear hard hats and sometimes reflective vests from what I’ve seen XD And boots.

 

[BonitaBaby]

I think the issue with by products is your point; modern day humans don't usually like imagining their pets eating things like kidney and spleen, which is probably why that mouse-meat based cat food has never hit the market. People see mice as filthy vermin and wouldn't dare feed their cats that =/

Alright, I'll admit that as a started reading this thread, I started thinking that pet companies should make mice wet food. Then, I read your post. I actually would buy mice wet food if it was sanitary and the mice weren't given chemicals. Maybe I'm in the minority? I would just want it as prepared wet food. Not an actual dead mouse, which I think my cat might just stare at and possibly bat around even though she was a stray/feral.

 

[KarenKat]

I assume mice based pet food never hit the market because no one runs mice farms. Other meats can be dual-purposed for pet food and other things but mice would have to be Pet specific.


In other news, I just thought of a great new business if anyone wants to partner with me ...