Too much protein-according to vet

[jr70895]

First off wet food is out the question, they refuse to eat it and hate it.
I was feeding my 2 cats each 5.5 years old Dr Elsey's Clean protein dry chicken and they loved it. However, with Dr Elsey's having supply issues I switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness chicken for a couple of months now. Plus they seemed to be gaining too much weight on Dr Elsey's.
I took them in for annual vaccines and the vet asked what food do the eat. She told me that Blue Buffalo Wilderness has too much protein and can cause issues.
Now I'm very confused, I thought high protein was good for cats. As I mentioned wet cat food is out of the question so please don't preach about it.

Is too much protein harmful? Blue Buffalo has 40% and Dr Elsey's has 59%.

 

[FeebysOwner]

According to this particular article (see below for link):
"To put this into the perspective of a cat’s natural diet, a mouse—when measured on a dry matter basis –contains approximately:

• 55% protein
• 45% fat
• 1-2% carbohydrate

It provides approximately 30 kcal of metabolizable energy (ME), which is about 12-13% of a cat’s daily energy requirement.

While AAFCO guidelines recommend a minimum of 30% protein for “Growth and Reproduction” life stages and 26% protein for adult maintenance, an even higher percentage of dietary protein is likely warranted for optimal health.

Recent studies have shown that adult cats that did not consume a diet consisting of at least 40% protein lost lean body mass over time. Some feline diets are 30-38% protein, and diets at this level will result in loss of muscle mass over time. Poor-quality protein, or protein that is less digestible, will result in faster loss of muscle mass than high-quality protein."

Maybe you should ask your vet to explain her thought process. Personally, I have never heard of such a thing unless there were to be an underlying medical condition with your cats - which if there is your vet should be telling you so. Perhaps, she thinks Blue Buffalo contains poor quality protein, but it doesn't sound like she explained it that way to you.
Cats and Protein: Is High-Protein Cat Food Best? | PetMD

 

[Cat McCannon]

It’s the carbohydrates in dry food (all dry cat foods) that causes problems. Cats cannot get any nutrients from carbohydrates but they do turn carbs into body fat. Dry foods have carbs even if they’re grain free.

Another problem with dry foods is they promote dehydration, first by providing almost no moisture and second by preventing the digestive system from absorbing moisture when a cat drinks water.

Perhaps you misunderstood what the vet said. Cats needs a diet made up mostly of protein and fat. There is good info and links on this site about the nutritional needs of cats and the good, bad and ugly about dry food, wet food and raw.

 

[Kieka]

If your vet wasn't aware that they were used to a high protein diet, she might be basing that one cats who get switched to a high protein diet. A cat who is used to bare minimum and switches to something higher can have difficulty with the change.

 

[Ellis75]

High protein usually isn't harmful unless your cats have kidney disease. Honestly though I'm not a fan of Blue Buffalo, they have a long history of lawsuits, being caught lying about ingredients, and just seem to have a major lack of quality control.

 

[Lazy Orange House Cat]

High protein usually isn't harmful unless your cats have kidney disease. Honestly though I'm not a fan of Blue Buffalo, they have a long history of lawsuits, being caught lying about ingredients, and just seem to have a major lack of quality control.

Even Meow Mix has a better track record than Blue Buffalo.