MSB vs Carbs

[Katdog]

Hi there all

TLDR version: I was wondering if anyone has much knowledge or an opinion on what's worst in cat food ingredient between MSB (Menadione sodium bisulfite) vs a high carb content (greater than 20% on DMB)? I know the recommended carb DMB is less than 10%. I'm selecting between lower grade brand options right now. currently I'm debating between: lotus duck pate or soulistic duck dinner. soulistic has a lower carb % on DMB scale, while lotus is substantially higher in carb %; lotus doesn't have MSB but Soulistic does have MSB.

Long version: I've been doing a lot of research and basically have come to terms with some of these parameters for Korra's food requirements:
Premium grade: cannot have- fish protein, gums, MSB, carrageenan /// DMB must be of 40%< protein, 10%> carbs
Lower quality grade: cannot have- fish protein, carrageenan /// can have- gums (preferably guar or agar) /// DMB must be of 40%< protein, and.... ???

This has left me with premium brands of Rawz, Ziwipeak (though I know many people have a thing against chickpeas), Koha, Hounds & Gatos- which is all adding up to be fairly expensive so I'd like to incorporate 1 or 2 lower grade options into her rotation. she has a turkey/chicken allergy- which rules out a lot of lower grade options since they all seem to use chicken in their "lamb" or "duck" choices. other brands that don't have chicken in their "lamb" or "Duck" flavors end up having MSB or high carb percentage. right now I'm debating between: lotus duck pate or soulistic duck dinner. soulistic has a lower carb % on DMB scale, while lotus is substantially higher in carb %; lotus doesn't have MSB but soulistic does have MSB. there are a couple other options however they end up not being much less in cost than premium brands, thus my savings would not be conducive to the crap ingredients/health risks that korra will get exposed too.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Here's how I finally decided to deal with this, since the way I look at it is carbs and some of the other ingredients aren't desirable but Synthetic K3 (menadione) is awful, and I'm not willing to home-cook.

If there is such a thing, then Poppycat did it and became imprinted as a kitten/young cat on Purina's Fancy Feast. I personally don't have strong feelings against Purina cat food in and of itself, except for the menadione. A while back, I spent several years trying to find other brands he'd eat.

We eventually came to a compromise with different brands of freeze dried treats with very few added ingredients, kibble that has as few unwanted ingredients as possible, one expensive canned brand that I handfeed him his daily medicine in and two other pouch brands, one of which he'll eat in its entirety and the other he'll typically just lick the gravy, plus his Fancy Feast.

Here's my point; Utilizing a menu where you rotate foods/varieties and brands, over days or even weeks could be a possible solution. I'm not promoting it but unless you homecook, you're admittedly still threading the needle a bit regarding how well/efficiently/effectively your cat's system is able to deal with the bad ingredients. The way I'm thinking about it, if we're not dumping whatever nasty thing into their bodies over and over with not much break from it, they are hopefully better able to handle things. My big furry boy is turning 16 in May and has been having excellent checkups

 

[czuva]

I went through a similar thought and analysis process a while back and ended up choosing ZuPreem’s Exotic Feline canned diet as my base wet food (rotating in some Royal Canin and other canned brands) plus some high quality dry (Dr Elsey’s CleanProtein).

ZuPreem Exotic Feline has a DMB breakdown of: 43% protein, 42.5% fat, 7.6% carbohydrates, which meets your requirements. It’s not grain free (has some corn), but minimal carbs as you can see.

It’s technically not made for domestic cats—just “all carnivores in the family felidae”, but the nutritional needs of domestic cats are not different from their wild cat cousins (and domestic cats do fall under the felidae family). People generally feed it to hybrid or true exotic cats such as Savannahs, Bengals, Chausies, bobcats, and servals. The nutritional and mineral content of ZuPreem meets all AAFCO standards for domestic cats, even if it’s not explicitly made for them. As such, it’s very affordable (~$1.15 per day for 400 calories).

tl;dr try giving ZuPreem Exotic Feline a look if you want a decent, affordable low carb canned food without bells and whistles