Sugar in wet food

[momto3boys]

So Oliver's breeder just emailed me and told me to be careful feeding him wet food everyday because it's full of sugar, sticks to their teeth which in turn rots them....

Is this true?
I don't think it is since I've read over and over the benefits of wet food, but why would she think this?

 

[Draco]

maybe its the particular brand she's feeding the cats? This is new to me too.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

There is definitely sugar in certain types of certain brands. I didn't believe it until I read the labels. Sure enough, there it was. I think I saw it on a Meow Mix Market Selects, one of their seafood varieties. I also recall seeing it on at least one other label, but can't remember which one right now. I'm pretty sure if you are feeding a decent brand (my cats are picky...they only like the cheap stuff

), you'll be ok.

 

[Willowy]

I've heard the same about kibble, LOL (carbs = sugar, and kibble has lots of carbs). But, yeah, some wet foods (not canned exactly, because most brands with added sugar are in the plastic cups) do have added sugar so be sure to read the labels.

I think the "wet food is bad for teeth" thing is a fairly common belief, but I've never heard anyone say it was because it had sugar in it. They always say it's because the food is soft.

 

[StefanZ]

This with sugar in cat (wet) food is tricky.
There is sugar and there is sugar. And there is even the real sugar!

1. "Sugar-sugar", what we call for sugar - added why?? for the taste??
Yes, this should be avoided unless you have nothing else and are desperate. Not poisonous but not good in the long run.

2. Some colours, where the substance it is attached to is a sugar derivate. This is declared too as sugar, but it is in almost microscopic amounts and de facto not dangerous.

3. A substance called oligosackarids (I think) EDIT *Fructooligosaccharides, sometimes shortened FOS*. this is supposed as very healthy, and some producers do boast about it, talking as one of their chief arguments for buying their product...

This too is sometimes declared as sugar.

Which is it, I suppose you must mail to the product-information desk of the producer and ask.
If enough people asks they will perhaps learn to write out in the open.

 

[ducman69]

Originally Posted by Willowy

I've heard the same about kibble, LOL (carbs = sugar, and kibble has lots of carbs). But, yeah, some wet foods (not canned exactly, because most brands with added sugar are in the plastic cups) do have added sugar so be sure to read the labels.

I think the "wet food is bad for teeth" thing is a fairly common belief, but I've never heard anyone say it was because it had sugar in it. They always say it's because the food is soft.

Sugar is sugar. Sugar is a type of carbohydrate, and not all carbohydrates are the same as you can see on the glycemic index, which is the reason it is always listed separately on nutrition labels.

No other carbohydrate is processed as quickly into the bloodstream as processed simple sugars, and the inability to deal with such quick carb spikes is what makes high carbohydrate diets for cats poor choices in the first place, making processed simple sugar a big NO-NO for cats.

There is absolutely no reason for sugar to be an ingredient in cat food, and if you see it, that should set off little alarm bells for you to avoid that food.

Wet food is often praised because it is usually lower in carbohydrates than most kibble, however, there are low carbohydrate kibbles available today (usually identified by grain-free labels) and some wet food that is pure garbage with unhealthy gravies and the like, so buyer beware.

And BTW, unlike a raw diet, processed wet food has no tendons or bones or anything to chew on to scrape the tooth and the cat never has to chew to massage the gums and work the jaw muscles, so some studies have shown that an exclusive wet diet contributes to dental issues. Most kibble can be of only mild benefit though, since its usually too small and often eaten whole, however, there are dental treats available that are larger for mechanical cleaning or are coated in STPP which dissolves in the saliva and helps dental hygiene. There are also finger brushes with fish flavored paste and the like for teeth cleaning as well.

Cliffs Notes: Stick with a low carbohydrate food, be it wet or dry, and I would ensure that wet food is at least part of the diet for the added hydration. I feed low-carb mixed wet and dry diet (1 meal Blue Wilderness dry + 2 meals various wet brands such as Innova along with 3 Greenies dental treats), for a variety of reasons, and my kitties are healthy and don't have stinky breath. *knock on wood*

 

[yosemite]

I went to a decent grade wet food so that Bijou would lose some weight. He lost 3+ pounds since last July which the vet said was the equivalent of a human losing 60 lbs so it worked.

Dry food does nothing to clean teeth. Cats cannot chew, i.e., their jaws do not go side to side like ours - only up and down. If they don't actually swallow the piece of kibble whole, they break it with the tip of their tooth and swallow the pieces.

Think about yourself - if you eat a dry cracker you'll end up with a lot of cracker between your teeth. However if you eat beef stew (as in wet food) you won't have all that stuff stuck in your teeth. You do the math!

 

[ducman69]

Originally Posted by Yosemite

I went to a decent grade wet food so that Bijou would lose some weight. He lost 3+ pounds since last July which the vet said was the equivalent of a human losing 60 lbs so it worked.

Dry food does nothing to clean teeth. Cats cannot chew, i.e., their jaws do not go side to side like ours - only up and down. If they don't actually swallow the piece of kibble whole, they break it with the tip of their tooth and swallow the pieces.

Think about yourself - if you eat a dry cracker you'll end up with a lot of cracker between your teeth. However if you eat beef stew (as in wet food) you won't have all that stuff stuck in your teeth. You do the math!

Biting up and down is still putting abrasive kibble in contact with the teeth to remove calculus. For maximum effectiveness, the tooth has to penetrate the kibble to a certain depth before shattering, however, it was found that kibble still applies some abrasive effect even intact or shattered.

Kibble is not like soft chewy crackers, nor do they have grinding molars (if you pop their mouth you'll see they are thin and sharp) in which little pieces would be stuck.

Various studies have demonstrated that the inclusion of dry food in a cat's diet may significantly decrease the risk of periodontal disease and other dental problems, although it is true that the benefit is limited if the kibble is not specifically designed for oral hygiene.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/7/2021S.full

Originally Posted by Influence of Diet on Oral Health in Cats and Dogs

Complete data were obtained for 9074 cats and 29,702 dogs from 730 Polish veterinary practices (Table 2 and 3): 33.7% of cats and 22.5% of dogs were fed dry food only, 57.4% of cats and 57.7% of dogs received both dry and soft food, and 8.9% of cats and 19.8% of dogs were fed soft food only.

Lymphadenopathy (80.8 vs. 42.4%), dental deposits (46.0 vs. 14.2%), and periodontal disease (69.7 vs. 33.2%) were significantly more often absent in cats fed dry food, compared with cats fed soft food. Differences in these parameters between cats fed mixed food and those fed soft food were also significant.

This represents the largest and most complete study I have found to date, and ultimately between a compromise of quality food with minimal fillers, proper hydration, and dental hygiene a mixed diet would seem to be ideal.

Unfortunately, I haven't found any large-scale studies on raw diets, as it would be difficult to commercialize that for wide distribution, but I believe that ligaments and bone would also be good for dental health compared to exclusively soft wet food. And note that there are really no manufacturers that don't offer both wet and dry food on the market, and I am sure the profit margins for their expensive wet canned food is just as high as the bagged kibble, so I see no conflict of interest if there are concerns over funding of some studies.