Stella and Chewy's Calcium and Phosphorus

[vball91]

I know we've been talking about the Ca ratio, and some people were interested in some of the commercial cat foods. Here are the amounts for Stella and Chewy's. I've also sent out requests for Tiki Cat and Hound & Gatos (the other two commercial foods I feed). I will post those when/if I get them.

 

DINNERS FOR CATS	Calcium (%)	Phosphorus (%)	Ca
Chick, Chick, Chicken	0.73	0.51	1.431372549
Duck Duck Goose	1.52	0.89	1.707865169
Heavenly Herring & Tuna	0.81	0.61	1.327868852
Yummy Lickin’ Salmon & Chicken	0.73	0.53	1.377358491
Sea-Licious Salmon & Cod	1.45	1.72	0.843023256
Tummy Ticklin’ Turkey	1.07	0.7	1.528571429

 

 

[mschauer]

Wow! Those are just all over the place aren't they?

 

[vball91]

Yeah, I thought that too. I only feed the chicken one, but that salmon/cod one is crazy. The ratio is way low, but they probably didn't want to increase the calcium too much to get it in line with the others. BUT, the duck/goose one has higher calcium with a high ratio, so I don't really know what they're thinking.

 

[lcat4]

When I buy commercial canned, I never really thought to worry about the Ca ratio, I always assumed the ratio was balanced within a proper range - although looking at those numbers, I guess not.  What's been important to me (lately) is the Phosphorus percent on a dry matter basis because of my cats' kidney levels.  So do you know if the above numbers are on a Dry Matter Analysis as opposed to As Fed (including moisture)? 

For my homemade raw food, I do worry about the ratio - to make sure it's balanced.  So much to think about...

 

[mschauer]

I'd be willing to bet that products that don't contain bone have have more consistent Ca. The wild variance of the S&C products probably reflects the differences in the "boniness" of the ingredients they use for a given product. So whatever source they use for duck or goose probably provides bone heavy pieces while the salmon and cod source provides less bony material.

I would guess that a company that uses a supplement for calcium targets a more consistent Ca;P for all their products.

 

[mschauer]

When I buy commercial canned, I never really thought to worry about the Ca ratio, I always assumed the ratio was balanced within a proper range - although looking at those numbers, I guess not.

Stella & Chewy's isn't processed canned, it's freeze dried raw.

 What's been important to me (lately) is the Phosphorus percent on a dry matter basis because of my cats' kidney levels.  So do you know if the above numbers are on a Dry Matter Analysis as opposed to As Fed (including moisture)? 

Ca is always calculated on a dry matter basis.

Edit - Now that I think about, since the numbers are all percentages and ratios it doesn't matter if DM or As Fed is used. I wish I had realized that yesterday when I was doing all those calculations! 

 

[vball91]

Ca is always calculated on a dry matter basis.

 So do you know if the above numbers are on a Dry Matter Analysis as opposed to As Fed (including moisture)? 

Oops, I should have included that. Per Stella and Chewy's:

Please note that these levels are as-fed, meaning after rehydration with cool or warm water.

DINNERS FOR CATS	Calcium (%)	Phosphorus (%)
Chick, Chick, Chicken	0.73	0.51
Duck Duck Goose	1.52	0.89
Heavenly Herring & Tuna	0.81	0.61
Yummy Lickin’ Salmon & Chicken	0.73	0.53
Sea-Licious Salmon & Cod	1.45	1.72
Tummy Ticklin’ Turkey	1.07	0.70

 

[mschauer]

Doesn't matter. You can add or remove an ocean of water and the ratio of calcium to phosphorus won't change.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Interesting that you got this information, because when I called them and asked what percentage of bone was in their freeze dried products, they told me it was proprietary and they could not release that information to me.  All they could tell me was that it was under 10%. 

 

[mschauer]

I know we've been talking about the Ca ratio, and some people were interested in some of the commercial cat foods. Here are the amounts for Stella and Chewy's. I've also sent out requests for Tiki Cat and Hound & Gatos (the other two commercial foods I feed). I will post those when/if I get them.

Have you heard back from the others yet?

It doesn't matter how they give you the calcium and phosphorus. To get the ratio just divide the calcium number by the phosphorus number.

The Stella and Chewy's ratio calculations you gave in your first post are correct.

 

[heather doherty]

Thank you for the information!  My kitty loves Stella & Chewy's.  Do you know if the Calcium is the same for the frozen morsels?

 

[msbliss]

Thank you for posting this info! 

I have two diabetic cats with renal disease, and you need to get a good low phosphorous food, which of the Stella's flavors is best?  I see you guys discussing the proportion of phosphorous to calcium, but I don't know which proportion to aim for.  I also just started using Epakitin.  I have been giving fluids, B12 shots, pepcid, cerenia (when pancreas are inflammed), adequan, and lots of other things.....