Two ingredient lists: which one would you choose?

[KittyMomma01]

 

[kashmir64]

I personally would go with bird over beef. Bird is always better for cats.
I didn't see analysis on the bird though. I assume the taurine and proteins are acceptable?

 

[daftcat75]

Neither because they both contain agar agar which can be an irritant to the gut. If I had to choose one over the other, the second one because New Zealand green mussels in the first one don't agree with every cat either. Litter box blowouts with my Krista when she got a food with green mussels. I would prefer to keep those extra non-essential ingredients like green mussels and salmon oil separate from food. You can find each separately easy enough and you can determine how much and how often your cat gets either or both depending on whether your cat(s) need or even tolerate them in the first place.

Also, "natural flavor" in the first one can be literally anything as long as it started its journey from a natural source.

 

[kashmir64]

Neither because they both contain agar agar which can be an irritant to the gut. If I had to choose one over the other, the second one because New Zealand green mussels in the first one don't agree with every cat either. Litter box blowouts with my Krista when she got a food with green mussels. I would prefer to keep those extra non-essential ingredients like green mussels and salmon oil separate from food. You can find each separately easy enough and you can determine how much and how often your cat gets either or both depending on whether your cat(s) need or even tolerate them in the first place.

Also, "natural flavor" in the first one can be literally anything as long as it started its journey from a natural source.

I did not know that about agar, thanks

 

[FeebysOwner]

Agar agar is like many other 'additives' to cat food that are considered 'gelling agents/thickeners'. There are others also, such as guar gum, xanthum gum, carrageenan, cassia gum, and even things like tapioca starch, locust bean gum, potato starch, and wheat gluten. Most cat foods have one or more of them.

That said, you will be hard pressed NOT to find one - or more - of the above noted gelling agents/thickeners in most canned cat foods. And there are other foods that contain multiple of those items, so in the long run, I am not sure what the difference is overall. However, the rule of thumb would be: 'the less of them, the better'.

Also, look them up for yourself and evaluate what you think of them. That also applies to the beef vs. duck. There is no way to say whether any of the above are an issue for your cat. Green lipped mussels had NO negative effect on my cat at all, but it is like all the other ingredients - what works or doesn't work for one cat has almost next to no value for what might work or not for the next cat.

 

[KittyMomma01]

Hmm.. that's a shame. These are the best options I've been able to find. I'm trying to pick a new food that's within my price range.

This is a can of Dr Elsey's and a can of Hound & Gatos. I really like that both brands avoid veggies, fruits, carbs, chicken, fish.. I've looked at what feels like thousands of brands and made soo many lists of all the TNA data for each one I'd even consider.

 

[Flybynight]

K KittyMomma01
To be honest, I would feed both.
Though, I too lean towards fowl vs beef as it seems more natural for cats.
I feed a rotation of foods, as someone said, there is no perfect, wet cat food. All will have something you do not want, such as potato starch or other thickeners etc.
By rotating, you minimize too much of any one ingredient that is not ideal.
If your cat does fine on a food then keep feeding it.
I never had any cat vomit or have bad toilet from any of the foods I feed. I know they are at times eating things such that I would rather they not.
Like you, I try to avoid veggies etc added to foods to appeal to the people buying the food not the cat.
I think mixing and matching, if it does not cause any issues for your cat is fine.
Mine get a different canned food each meal, with a premade raw food also every other day or so.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hmm.. that's a shame. These are the best options I've been able to find. I'm trying to pick a new food that's within my price range.

I agree with Flybynight . If it were me, I'd feed both of those options to your cat. You could do a lot worse when it comes to thickeners. At least the ones you have chosen only have one.

 

[KittyMomma01]

Thanks everyone! I just picked a random can from both brands. It looks like I'll probably go with the second one (Hound & Gatos) which thankfully has a huge variety of protein sources including rabbits and birds.

Can I ask, why the suggestion to feed both? Would that be on the assumption that these two cans are my only options for the entire brand?

 

[KittyMomma01]

I was really just curious if anyone saw reason to choose one over the other after looking at the basic composition of the ingredient list - there are better protein options than beef for this brand, luckily.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Can I ask, why the suggestion to feed both? Would that be on the assumption that these two cans are my only options for the entire brand?

I think the assumption was that you were only interested in the beef and/or duck, so always good to have more than one food your cat likes in case one ever is discontinued or changes ingredients that causes issues. If you have others that are similar that you want to try as well, add them to your list! Not all cats need variety, but it would seem a lot of them do. It is kind of good idea, just so they don't tire of a single food and leave you scurrying to find a replacement.

 

[Babypinkweeb]

As someone who tried feeding Dr. Elsey wet food at one point, you can also consider Rawz pate (the ones that say 96%). They are about the same if not slightly cheaper on a per calorie scale last time I checked, and they don't use gums.

 

[lisahe]

Neither because they both contain agar agar which can be an irritant to the gut. If I had to choose one over the other, the second one because New Zealand green mussels in the first one don't agree with every cat either. Litter box blowouts with my Krista when she got a food with green mussels. I would prefer to keep those extra non-essential ingredients like green mussels and salmon oil separate from food. You can find each separately easy enough and you can determine how much and how often your cat gets either or both depending on whether your cat(s) need or even tolerate them in the first place.

Also, "natural flavor" in the first one can be literally anything as long as it started its journey from a natural source.

I so agree with daftcat75 here since both our cats also have "issues" (vomiting!) with agar-agar. So I'd also skip both. One of our cats also vomits from mussels. We also skip foods with carrageenan. Other than that, like many others, I'd go for duck instead of beef.

The mention of Rawz is good! It's excellent food that I wish our cats liked better, in the sense of more consistently. They love it and then they hate it.

 

[KittyMomma01]

Rawz looks pretty good! The only issue I have is it's mostly chicken (one of my cats is allergic) and a lot of fish. Also, not all of them contain more than one protein or any organs such as liver.

Dandelion greens also seems like a weird thing to throw in there?

 

[Flybynight]

K KittyMomma01
I thought you meant you were only going to feed one or the other of the cans not necessarily a range of cans in the brand.
There are people who seem to stick to one or two flavours of a particular brand and that is their cats sole diet.
As was mentioned by FeebysOwner , you then run a risk if your cat becomes bored of the food or you can no longer obtain the food.
Feeding a range in the brand is good. I would probably add one other brand as well. At least one flavor in an alternative brand as assurance in case something happens to your preferred brand.

I don't know, dandelion greens sound better than peas and carrots. Cats eat cat grass of various sorts you can grow or buy in shops, so maybe in the outdoors they may eat greens that are not grass.

 

[Caspers Human]

Neither because they both contain agar agar which can be an irritant to the gut.

I agree!

Agar is basically a form of gelatine derived from seaweed. It is made up of long chains of polysaccharides. A polysaccharide is basically a complex form of sugar and that means lots of empty calories.

"Empty Calories" refer to calories that come from starch or sugar which are not also a source of good nutrition.
For example, avacados are very high in calories but they are also nutritionally dense. They contain lots of good vitamins and other stuff that's good for you. Avacados are probably in the top ten list of "Superfoods."
On the other hand, potatoes contain mostly starch. While they do have some good nutrition, the empty calories from starch easily overrides any nutritional benefit you get from eating potatoes.

Basically, cats need to be eating the "feline nutritional equivalent" of avacados instead of potatoes.

Eating agar-agar is basically the same as eating a whole bag of potato chips.

Oh, yeah! You're right! Agar contains a lot of indigestible sugars, too! Indigestible sugars often translate into explosive diarrhea!
I know it does for me! I can only imagine what it would do to a cat!

If they are putting agar into cat food, they are probably using it as a thickener. Why don't they just use regular, ordinary gelatin?
Gelatin does have a lot of calories but it is made up, mostly, of collagen and water molecules. That's more along the lines of something that cats are "supposed" to eat even if it does have a lot of empty calories in it.

They could just take out the agar and add an equivalent amount of gelatine and they'd improve the quality of their food, 100%!

 

[lisahe]

If they are putting agar into cat food, they are probably using it as a thickener. Why don't they just use regular, ordinary gelatin?
Gelatin does have a lot of calories but it is made up, mostly, of collagen and water molecules. That's more along the lines of something that cats are "supposed" to eat even if it does have a lot of empty calories in it.

This is a question for the ages, Caspers Human ! I don't understand this either. And yes, the agar-agar is used as a thickener. It's gotten much more common after (at least some) people rebelled against the use of carrageenan in cat food. (Substituting one seaweed derivative for another is a clever move!)

I hope you're able to stay away from agar-agar.

 

[Babypinkweeb]

Rawz looks pretty good! The only issue I have is it's mostly chicken (one of my cats is allergic) and a lot of fish. Also, not all of them contain more than one protein or any organs such as liver.

Dandelion greens also seems like a weird thing to throw in there?

Maybe you're seeing their other selections? They have really basic looking packaging can wet food pate that's single protein. Make sure you're looking at the 96% ones. Last I checked they had single protein beef, chicken, rabbit, duck and turkey. I only buy the single protein plate that says 96%, as I also don't like the other foods' ingredient lists. My boy doesn't have sensitivity to the non-animal products in it thankfully so I rely on it a lot. I think it is as close as you can get to an all carnivore diet in terms of non-raw.

An user on here once mentioned that as long as it's not a large amount, and it's not something your cat is sensitive to, a little plant matter here and there isn't life ending, since it's possible for cats in nature to eat prey that may have seeds or plants in their belly too. I stressed over food for a long time after learning about proper cat nutrition so I understand how you feel though!!

 

[Caspers Human]

This is a question for the ages, Caspers Human ! I don't understand this either. And yes, the agar-agar is used as a thickener. It's gotten much more common after (at least some) people rebelled against the use of carrageenan in cat food. (Substituting one seaweed derivative for another is a clever move!)

I hope you're able to stay away from agar-agar.

You'd think that gelatin would also increase the "Yum-yum factor" for cats eating that food, too. Wouldn't it?

 

[daftcat75]

Dandelion greens in Rawz is used as a natural thickener. My IBD cat thrived on Rawz when all other foods were failing her with one trigger ingredient or another. If your cat doesn’t have any sensitivities right now, I recommend feeding between one or two proteins and keeping two more proteins on reserve in case they do develop a sensitivity later. So maybe chicken and duck today (if she can eat chicken without issues) and save rabbit and turkey for if they develop issues with chicken and duck. I consider beef a wildcard because some cats like red meat and some don’t. If yours does, that opens you up to more novel proteins like venison and boar if you run through the others. My Krista didn’t care for red meat. When chicken was off the menu, she got turkey. When she could no longer do turkey due to worsening IBD, she got rabbit. My worst fear was when rabbit would no longer agree with her, where we would we go next? Complications from GI lymphoma took her before we reached that point.

I would say Rawz single protein (96% meat) pate is the best food you can serve this side or raw or homemade. The biggest trouble with Rawz, besides its cost, is its availability. They are a small operation who shares time in their manufacturing and canning facility with other producers. They occasionally have shortages. Even if you can find it locally, I would bookmark a few online resellers and stock up whenever you can afford it. And if your cat doesn’t have food sensitivities right now, I would also look for a backup food you can feed when Rawz is hard to find. Or rotate between the two to make the Rawz last longer and also weather out any shortages.