Putting Gerber Turkey Into The Rotation

[Joan's Kitties]

Just sharing my thoughts on incorporating Gerber turkey baby food into my cats' food rotation. Gerber turkey contains turkey broth, turkey and cornstarch. It contains no ground bones, no onions, no garlic...just the three ingredients. 7 grams of protein (45%) and 2 grams of carbohydrates (2%) per 2.5 ounce bottle. Sodium is 35% which would be 42 mg. per jar, all naturally occurring in the turkey. For comparison, one of the foods in my rotation, Weruva Paw Lickin' Chicken, contains 62 mg. sodium per 100 calories with 3 ounces supplying 57 calories, and one of the Wellness pouches in the rotation (Chicken and Turkey Morsels) has .26 grams of sodium, so 260 mg. of sodium per pouch. So the amount of sodium in the Gerber turkey is not much at all! I imagine the chicken variety would be similar, and Beechnut brand also has all meat options.

I like the idea of decreasing the amount of artificial vitamins/minerals, some of which are questionable, and with the addition of this human grade food in the rotation, they will still be getting a balanced diet, and less of vitamins/minerals we try to avoid out of caution, or which may be in overabundance. Adding water to it helps with hydration, too.

I ran this idea by a veterinarian who thought it was fine.

 

[MissMolly08]

I personally would not use it as anything other than a treat or when the cat is sick. I've used baby food when my cat had some kind of stomach bug and was vomiting up a good portion of her wet food but that's it. She got it for 1-2 days until he stomach settled.

I get avoiding artificial vitamins is important to some but if that's the case, you need the find those vitamins in naturally occurring places. Plain meat baby food is not going to supply your cat with proper nutrition.

 

[Kieka]

 

[lisahe]

Plain meat baby food is not going to supply your cat with proper nutrition.

This would be my biggest concern, too. It's fine to feed an occasional snack but baby food just isn't a complete food for cats.

 

[Joan's Kitties]

The baby food would be supplemental. The vitamins and minerals in the commercial foods would cover their requirements.

 

[Willowy]

I suppose it depends how often. I think one meal a week of baby food wouldn't hurt. Idk about more often than that.

The chicken variety has more protein and calories.

 

[MissMolly08]

The baby food would be supplemental. The vitamins and minerals in the commercial foods would cover their requirements.

The problem lies in how often and how much you feed though. By saying you are going to include it in a rotation, to me that seems to mean using it as a meal replacement. Your cat may get a fully balanced meal for the 1st meal of the day but then if they get baby food for the 2nd meal, they are still below necessary vitamin/mineral requirements for that day and that can add up to nutrient deficiency when done multiple times a week.

It is kind of the equivalent to me of giving a human baby juice. It's ok in moderation or for health issues like constipation but you can't give a bottle of juice as a replacement for a bottle of formula/breastmilk.

 

[Joan's Kitties]

The problem lies in how often and how much you feed though. By saying you are going to include it in a rotation, to me that seems to mean using it as a meal replacement. Your cat may get a fully balanced meal for the 1st meal of the day but then if they get baby food for the 2nd meal, they are still below necessary vitamin/mineral requirements for that day and that can add up to nutrient deficiency when done multiple times a week.

It is kind of the equivalent to me of giving a human baby juice. It's ok in moderation or for health issues like constipation but you can't give a bottle of juice as a replacement for a bottle of formula/breastmilk.

Thanks for your comments. It is generally recommended that non-supplemented food be no more than about 20% of the diet. I am including one jar shared between two cats each day, so of the approx. 15 ounces, 2.5 ounces are without added vitamins/minerals. They are also getting vitamins and minerals from the actual foods as well. I think adding a human grade food with no questionable ingredients into the mix is a good thing. The subject of vitamin/mineral supplementation is controversial even for humans! I think this ratio is conservative.

 

[xcourtney3]

I thought it was supposed to be under 10%

 

[MissMolly08]

I thought it was supposed to be under 10%

I've always heard 10% as well.

 

[lisahe]

I've seen a lot of numbers for how much of a cat's diet can be nonsupplemented but one source I trust is Dr. Pierson on catinfo.org, who says 15-20%. The figure, with commentary, is more than half-way down this long page I linked to.

Personally, I wouldn't want to even come close to maxing out that 15-20% and just see that category of food as an opportunity to put Pure Bites on the cats' meals, toss an occasional bit of plain meat on the floor when a cat's not looking, and not worry too much about adding the precise, down-to-the-milligram-exact amount of supplement when I make homecooked food.

 

[Joan's Kitties]

I've always heard 10% as well.

 

[Joan's Kitties]

Thanks for your input. There are several toppers that are meant to be supplemental, and since the amount of chicken or turkey in a half jar of Gerber is about the same as a pouch of non-supplemented food (eg. Wellness Chicken Shreds containing only chicken and chicken broth, like Gerber) then it should be fine to give them the same amount of Gerber. On days I give them the Shreds, I don't give the baby food, but I think it is a good idea to incorporate some human grade unsupplemented food into their diet, and also, they like the creamy texture vs. the shreds all the time.