QUALITY COMMERCIAL FOODS

Lisa A. Pierson, DVM

The basics - ingredients and composition

By-products

Cost and quality

Calculating carbohydrate percentage (This may give you a headache.....)

Skip right to the food list.

Before the reader gets too confused when reading this page, I will say at the outset:  I would much rather see a cat eating any canned food - regardless of quality level - including Friskies, 9-Lives, Sophisticat, Fancy Feast, etc. -  than any dry food.

This is because:

1. All canned foods contain an appropriate (high) amount of water which is critical for urinary tract health.

2. The protein in canned food is more apt to be higher in animal-based protein versus plant-based protein - contrary to most dry foods.

3. The carbohydrate level of most canned foods is lower than that of most dry foods.

I frequently receive emails asking me to evaluate various canned food choices on the market.  Unfortunately, it is just too time-consuming to answer these requests individually.  I wrote this section on 'The Basics' to help the reader decide for themselves what could potentially be a suitable diet. 

It is up to the reader to do their own research if they are interested in feeding a diet that is not on Janet and Binky's chart.  This means calling the company if you want to know the percentage of calories coming from protein, fat, and carbohydrates (also known as the "metabolizable energy profile") or the phosphorus level which is important for cats with kidney disease. 

Keep in mind that new products come out on a regular basis and it would be impossible to keep Binky's chart completely up-to-date.  Plus, companies can change recipes within their food lines so the information on Binky's chart may - or may not be - current.

To ensure the most current values for any food, you will need to contact the company who manufactures it.  However, please be aware that it can be like pulling teeth to get usable information from the pet food companies.  Some companies are better than others but you have to be persistent with many of them.

If a company does not willingly divulge the nutritional information, then I will not even consider endorsing their products.

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Use the following dialog when calling the companies:

"I would like to know the percentage of calories that comes from protein, fat, and carbohydrates."  This is also known as the "metabolizable engery profile".

Stress that you do not want the 'guaranteed analysis' figures as they are nothing more than minimums and maximums and this information (as it pertains to protein and fat but not carbs or phoshorus) is already contained on the can.

Values expressed as minimums or maximums are, by definition, unreliable since there is no floor or ceiling with regard to the amounts. In other words, if a can lists a "minimum of 6% fat", it could be 10%....or 12%....or 15%....or...

If you have a cat with kidney problems, you will also want to ask:

"How many milligrams of phosphorus are in the food per 100 kcal."

Many companies will give you the phosphorus value in terms of dry matter percentage and will not provide the mg/100 kcal value.

This is a complicated subject that is impossible to cover in one webpage article.  If the reader needs more detailed help, I am available for phone consultations.

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Note:  The frustrations associated with trying to pick a suitable commercial cat food based on the very limited information provided on pet food labels are what led me to finally start making cat food.  I fully realize that this is not the direction that most people want to go in so I wrote this page in order to help the reader as much as possible.

The Basics

One of the most confusing aspects of food evaluations involves the terms:

1. as fed (also known as 'wet weight')

2. dry matter basis

3. metabolizable energy - ie - calories that come from protein/fat/carbohydrate

As fed values include the water content of the food which makes it impossible to compare foods with different moisture levels.  "As fed" means just what it sounds like - the food as it comes out of the can or the bag.  Dry food cannot be compared with canned food when using these values.

Dry matter basis (DMB) removes the water from the equation.  When foods are considered on a DMB, they can be compared with one another - regardless of the water content.  In other words, a canned food with 78% water can now be compared with a dry food that contains 10% water.

Example of DMB calculation:

Let's say you have a can that states a "minimum of 10% protein" and a "maximum of 78% water".  We already know that those values are inherently unreliable as discussed above but assume that we have not called the company and these values are all we have to go on.

If you subtract 78% (water) from 100%, that leaves you with 22% dry matter - which includes protein, fat, carbohydrates, ash, and fiber.

Take the 10% minimum protein and divide it by 22%. This gives you a value of 45% minimum protein on a DMB.

Now let's say that you have a dry food that lists "protein 30% minimum" and "moisture 10% maximum". At first glance - before DMB is calculated - it appears that the dry food has more protein (at 30% as fed) than the canned food (at 10% as fed).

However, when you consider that the dry food only has 10% water and you subtract that from 100%, you find that you have 90% dry matter.

Now divide your 30% minimum protein amount by 90% and you end up with 33% protein on a dry matter basis - less than the protein found in the canned food which is 45% DMB.

Metabolizable energy (ME) is the most accurate way to compare foods with one another. This measurement disregards any part of the food that does not provide calories such as water, ash, or fiber.  It only considers the fact that calories are derived from the protein, fat, and carbohydrate fraction of the food and nothing else.

Janet and Binky's chart uses the ME values.

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When determining the quality of a pet food, there are two main factors involved:

1) ingredients

2) composition

Ingredients:

• Stick with poultry (chicken and turkey) and rabbit as the bulk of your cat's diet.  Fish and beef are fairly common food allergens in the cat and can cause inflammatory bowel disease and skin allergies in some cats.   Think feathers and long ears, not horns and fins.

Fish is also more apt to be contaminated with heavy metals and PBDEs.  PBDEs are fire retardant chemicals that have a possible link to hyperthyroidism.

• Look for a muscle meat as the first ingredient - rather than a by-product or liver.  This will be listed as "chicken" or "turkey" - not "chicken by-products" or "meat by-products".  However, please keep in mind that any canned food is better than any dry food - even canned foods like Friskies or 9-Lives that are by-product based - because they usually have the Big Three covered:

1. They all contain an appropriate (high) water content - critical for urinary tract health.

2. They are usually lower in carbohydrates than dry food.

3. All or most of the protein comes from animals - not plants

• Moisture content:  Here is where a company can really increase their profit margin.  Most canned foods are ~78% water which helps keep a cat properly hydrated given their low thirst drive. This leaves 22% (100% - 78%) as dry matter (ie - food/calories/nourishment, fiber, and ash).  I recently encountered a pouch food with 87.5% moisture.  Subtracting 87.5% from 100% left me with only 12.5% dry matter.  You can readily see that the food with only 78% moisture has nearly double the amount of dry matter in the can/pouch.  Water is cheap yet this particular company is billing this 87.5% moisture-food as a "premium" food and is charging a premium price for it.

I have noticed that many of the products that come in pouches are very high in moisture content and are not giving you much 'bang for your buck'.  Water is a critical nutrient but if you think your cat will benefit from more water in his diet than the usual 75-78% because he has urinary tract issues, you can just add water on your own.

• Grains do not belong in cat food although I will discuss this issue in more detail below.  They are there to add cheap bulk to the food and increase the profit margin of the company. When you see a food called "Chicken and Rice", please understand that the rice is there to appeal to a human who is not educated regarding the cat's obligate carnivore status.  Please do not reward these companies by purchasing their products.

• Vegetables:  Cats have no dietary need for vegetables yet companies like Hill's Science Diet and Iams - clearly without your cat's best interest in mind - play on the fact that the average person really does not understand the obligate carnivore status of the cat.  Note that on, for one example, Hill's Nature's Best dry food there are 5 pictures: 1) rice 2) peas 3) wheat 4) carrots 5) fish or chicken.

Do you see that the above ingredients (1-4) are simply catering to what many humans perceive as healthy items to be included in their own diet?  These first 4 ingredients add to the carbohydrate load of the diet (30% of calories in this case) and also please note that wheat is a very hyperallergenic ingredient that does not belong in cat food.  These ingredients simply increase the profit margin of the companies and are marketing ploys to get unsuspecting consumers to purchase their species-inappropriate diets.

Also note that Hill's does not put an ear of corn on the front of the bag since most people know that corn is not the most nutritious vegetable available yet if you look at the first ingredient in this food, it is cheap, species-inappropriate corn.

Another marketing ploy that Hill's is now incorporating into their labeling is the substituting of the word "corn" for "maize".  Maize IS corn and since this company is well aware of the fact that consumers are becoming more savvy about pet food ingredients, they have decided to try to disguise the corn in their diets by calling it "maize".  These deceptive marketing practices should be abhorred.

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The biggest problem that we encounter when trying to evaluate a pet food by its ingredient list is that we have no idea how much of each ingredient is actually in the food.

This is an important point to consider because most commercial canned foods do contain some species-inappropriate ingredients such as rice or potatoes.

Take, for example, Pet Promise.  I got annoyed when I picked up a can of this food and saw brown rice on the label because, as stated above, rice is nothing but a cheap filler to add to the profit margin of the company.  I liked the rest of the ingredients so I checked the food on Janet and Binky's chart for composition (see below) and saw that it is listed at a very low 2% of calories from carbohydrates.  If this value is to be believed, this is an acceptable food to feed. 

I will admit that my level of trust for the pet food industry is not high.  This is why I made the comment above regarding skepticism of the carbohydrate number of 2% for Pet Promise considering how visible the rice is in this food.

Update 1/4/10:  Pet Promise is no longer being manufactured but I am leaving the above paragraphs intact to use as an example.

Another example of a product with an insignificant amount of species-inappropriate ingredients is Wellness canned food. It lists several ingredients (such as sweet potatoes) that are high in carbohydrates but when you look at the actual carbohydrate content of the food, it is very low.  What does that tell us?  It tells us that those inappropriate ingredients are present in very low amounts.

We all know that ingredients are listed in descending order by weight but that does not tell the whole story.  For instance, there is a trick called "ingredient splitting" whereby the manufacturers split up the grain fractions or the by-product fractions so that they can be listed lower on the ingredient list.  However, when all of the grain or by-product sources are added together, they often total more than the meat that is listed first. 

Given the fact that most commercial canned foods contain species-inappropriate ingredients, we have to look at the composition of the food to determine if it is a reasonably appropriate diet to feed.

This brings me to the next important consideration other than the ingredient list:  

Composition:

Composition refers to the percentages of the 3 basic food components that calories are derived from:

• protein

• fat

• carbohydrate

Unfortunately, pet food labels do not give us as much information as human food labels do.  Human food labels list the actual grams of protein, fat and carbohydrate.

On the other hand, pet food labels only list (under "Guaranteed Analysis") the protein and fat amounts in terms of minimums or maximums - not actual measured values like in human food products.  For instance, if a food states that the fat is a minimum of 6%, it could very well be much higher than that.

In addition to the frustrating issue of vague values for protein and fat content, pet food labels do not list the very-important carbohydrate content.  If you have read my Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition article, you understand just how important it is to feed a low carbohydrate diet to an obligate carnivore.

As already mentioned, a valuable resource for information regarding the composition of many commercial foods can be found on Janet and Binky's chart.  However, it can be an extremely frustrating task to try and get actual measured values out of a company but fortunately, Janet is a stickler for detail and her chart only includes food for which she has obtained the more accurate actual measured values versus the vague guaranteed analysis numbers on the can.

That said, and as noted above, please call the companies in question if you desire the most current information on any food that you are feeding.  Formulations can change frequently and it would be impossible to keep the chart completely current.

You will notice that Janet lists the protein, fat, and carbohydrate values in terms of 'percentage of calories' from each component (metabolizable energy values) versus listing them as dry matter basis or as fed weights. All 3 columns on her chart add up to 100%.  If you are interested in how Janet computes the 'calories from' values from the wet or dry weights, please see her FAQ page or this section below.

The 'wet weight' or 'as fed' values are what you see on the side of the can under 'guaranteed analysis'.  This information is not very useful as discussed above.

Back to the important issue of carbohydrates:

I often hear people say that you can determine the carbohydrate content of a food by adding up the water ("moisture") + protein + fat + fiber + ash and then subtracting the sum from 100%.  Unfortunately, this can be extremely misleading in some cases.

Since profit margin is a pet food company's number one priority, you can bet that the protein amount will be pretty close to the minimum value listed on the can. This is because protein - especially when in the correct form (meat - not plant protein) - is expensive.

On the other hand, fat is often present in far higher amounts than the minimum value listed on the label.  This is because fat is inexpensive.

Let's use Wellness canned Chicken as an example of how misleading the carbohydrate calculation from the label values can be:

Guaranteed Analysis:

• Protein (min) 10.0%

• Fat (min) 6.0%

• Fiber (max) 1.0%

• Moisture (max) 78.0%

• Ash (max) 1.8%

If you add up all of those numbers, you get 96.8%.  Subtract this from 100% and you get 3.2% carbohydrates on a wet-weight basis.  However, values should be considered on a dry matter basis (DMB).  In order to convert that 3.2% into a dry matter basis, we must divide it by the dry matter in the food which, in this case, is 22%.  (100% - 78% moisture = 22% dry matter.)  3.2% divided by 22% = 14.5% carbohydrates on a DMB.  Most of us would walk away from a food with that carbohydrate level.

However, when I obtained the more accurate measured values (versus minimums and maximums) from the company, it turns out that the fat content is closer to 11% - not 6% as listed on the label (as a minimum) and the protein was actually 12% not 10%.  The moisture content was measured at 73% - not 78%.   The wet-weight carbohydrates measured at 1.7% and the carbohydrates on a DMB were 6.5%.

So you can see by the above example (14.5% versus 6.5%) just how misleading it can be to try and evaluate the carbohydrate content by looking at the guaranteed analysis values on the can.  When using the values on the can, the carbohydrate number came up at more than double the actual measured amount - and the fat content appeared to be about half of the actual measured amount.

Keep in mind that all food products are going to vary from batch-to-batch so it is conceivable that one batch of Wellness Chicken may actually be closer to the 14% carbohydrates if the protein and fat amounts are closer to the minimums for that batch.  The same is true for the numbers on Janet's chart.  I often hear people get a bit too fixated on the chart's numbers - comparing a food that is 3% versus 8% of calories from carbohydrates without realizing that the food marked "3%" today could be 8% with the next batch.....and the food marked "8%" could be 3% on the next batch.

Nothing in life is 100% consistent but I would much rather base my decisions on the actual measured values rather than the values found on the can under minimums and maximums.

By-products

This is an area of controversy and there are no clear-cut answers as to whether to feed products containing them because the quality and quantity can vary with each company and batch of food.  By-products are normal parts of a carnivore's diet and consist of some very nutritious organ meats such as liver, spleen and kidney.  On the other hand, by-products can also include feet and feathers which are of very low biological value.  The problem is that it is impossible to tell the actual composition and level of quality of the by-products in any food. 

By-products do include some very nutritious items but they also contain organs that have been deemed "unfit for human consumption" and this is where personal reluctance enters into my decision to feed a food without by-products.  Organs that show signs of disease such as cancer or infection are 're-routed' from the human meat market to the pet food market.   The fact that cats eat by-products in the wild cannot be disputed, but the by-products consumed fresh 'on the hoof' are not the same as those that have been designated as unfit for human consumption so the two situations are not entirely comparable. 

It would not bother me to feed by-products to my cats if the reason they were deemed unfit for human consumption was simply due to the human-perceived "ick" factor...i.e....most humans do not want to eat animal brains (mad cow disease, not withstanding) or animal spleens.  The problem is that it often goes past the aesthetics issue when considering the issue of diseased organs being included in the by-product mix.

The whole issue of by-products or no by-products is a personal one.  We also have to pick our battles with our cats.  For instance, many cats love Friskies, 9-Lives, and Fancy Feast varieties that contain by-products and we all know how picky cats can be and how important it is for them to eat - especially when they are ill or are diabetic and must eat on schedule.

I would much rather see a cat eating an all-by-product canned food than any dry food. 

On a favorable note, at least by-products are not hyperallergenic, do not contribute a carbohydrate load to the food, and are of animal origin - not plant origin.  It also makes more sense to include some animal-derived by-products in a carnivore's diet than it does to add potentially hyperallergenic, high carbohydrate grains like corn, wheat, rice, or soy.

If feeding a diabetic cat, a completely grain-free food that contains by-products (such as most varieties of Fancy Feast) is going to be lower in carbohydrates than one with grains and is therefore a better choice for a cat with this disease.  However, always check the carbohydrate content of any food that you are feeding to a diabetic cat. 

Cost and Quality

Economics must be factored into any decision regarding what we feed our pets.  The foods listed below can be quite expensive and may be outside of a person's budget so let's look at this further and prioritize things a bit.  Of course all levels of quality can be mixed and matched according to a person's budget and the needs - and always-picky taste buds - of the cat.  Some cats really like the lower quality (all by-products) foods better than the 'higher end' foods so this is where the 'taste bud negotiations' comes into play. 

If you want your cat to eat a higher-end food but all he wants is Friskies or 9-Lives, play around with the percentage of each.  He may eat the higher-end foods at 80% if you mix in 20% of the lower-end foods.....or 50:50....or......

Generally speaking, there are 4 basic levels of canned food:

1. Products that contain all by-products and no muscle meat such as Friskies and 9-Lives.  Please note that Friskies has started to add rice to some varieties of these foods which is very disappointing as it just adds carbohydrates to an otherwise low-carb food.

2. Products that have a muscle meat listed as a first ingredient followed by by-products.  Examples include some varieties of Fancy Feast.  (Always read the labels because some flavors of Fancy Feast start with by-products as a first ingredient and do not list any muscle meat after the by-products making these varieties fit into category 1.)

3. Products that contain only muscle meat and no by-products but also contain grains.  Examples of these types of foods are found below under the heading With Grains.

4. Products that contain only muscle meat and no by-products or grains.  See the Grain-Free list below.

It can be argued that category 2 and 3 could be switched depending on the level of grains.  I would use the carbohydrate content as my guide - feeding the lowest carb choice.

Keep in mind that if the carbohydrate content of a food is high, that tells you that a substantial portion of the protein in the food may be coming from plants - not animals.

Remember that whole grains are a source of carbohydrates and protein.  So if you see something like "whole grain corn" in the food, this tells you that some of the protein listed on the can is coming from plants, not animals.

See Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition for an explanation of why we need to feed obligate carnivores animal-based proteins, not plant-based proteins.

Innova makes a dry food called EVO that is approximately 10% carbohydrates (even lower than some canned foods) and is grain-free.  Unfortunately, it is still a dry food and is still far too low in water content to be an appropriate diet for a cat.

If you are considering feeding  this water-depleted diet, please see Feline Urinary Tract Health before you do so.  Consider what Opie, and many other cats like him, went through due to being fed a dry food diet.

EVO dry food is also very high in calories and often results in an unhealthy weight gain for many cats fed this diet. Also please consider that all dry foods are cooked for long periods of time at very high temperatures and this alters the biological value of many nutrients.

EVO does have its place, however, and can be used as a low-carb dry food during the transition stage when moving a dry food addict to canned food.  These diabetic, dry food addicts can at least have their carb load decreased substantially while their caretakers work to get them on a more nutritious low-carb canned food.

In general, it is best to stay under 10% of calories from carbohydrates - especially if your cat is diabetic.  If you are caring for a diabetic cat please read Feline Diabetes - especially the STOP sign section - and make sure that you understand the need to decrease the insulin dosage if you are decreasing the carbohydrate intake of your cat. 

While most canned foods are low in carbohydrates, the Hill's Science Diet line of canned foods are notable exceptions.  Many of these foods (both the prescription and non-prescription foods)  are very high in carbohydrates and are not diets that I would recommend feeding.

For the math-inclined, I have added a section below showing two methods to calculate the percentage of carbohydrates in food.  

Calculating the Carbohydrate Percentage

You will see conflicting carbohydrate values listed for the same food depending on how the value is calculated.  There are three basic methods used to calculate the value of an individual nutrient:

1. As a percentage of food weight (includes water)

2. As a percentage of dry matter 

3. As a percentage of calories  (Janet and Binky's site)

When determining the carbohydrate content of a food, method 2 and 3 will yield roughly the same number.

Even though it is preferable to discuss nutrition in terms of the percentage of calories that a nutrient provides, most pet food manufacturers list their products' nutrients in the form of percentage of weight.

Nutrient information may be listed in two different formats on the manufacturers' websites.  One is the guaranteed analysis (GA) figures (should be on all websites and on the side of the actual can of food).   However, as discussed above, GA values are only minimums and maximums and can be very misleading.

The other format is the actual measurement of the ingredients in one sample of the food.  These values more accurately reflect what is in the product and you should try and obtain them from the company - especially if you are dealing with a diabetic cat.

Even though the GA values are not terribly accurate, they can provide a rough guesstimation of the contained nutrients.  However, whenever possible, try to obtain the actually measured values.

To calculate the approximate weight of the carbohydrate in a food, add up the values for moisture, protein, fat, fiber, and ash and subtract this value from 100%.  Here is an example from the PetGuard website for their Organic Chicken and Vegetable Entree:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein 9.0% Min
Crude Fat 7.0% Min
Crude Fiber 1.0% Max
Moisture 78.0% Max
Ash 2.3% Max

If we add up the above figures, and then subtract this value from 100%, we come up with a rough idea of the carbohydrate content of this food: 3%.

But we are not finished yet.  The value of 3% needs to be converted to a 'dry matter basis' (DMB) for accuracy.  This calculation takes the water component out of the equation and then allows values for canned and dry foods to be comparable.

For the DMB value, we see that there is 78% water in this food.  That leaves 22% as dry matter.  If we take our 3% and divide it by 22% we come up with 14% carbohydrates (by weight) on a dry matter basis.  With further calculations (see below) to compute the calories from carbohydrates, we come up with a value of 11%.

Calculating the percentage of calories from the carbohydrate part of the diet can be done with a few equations (shown below).  This will come in handy if you interested in a food that is not on Janet's chart but you are able to get the actual measured weight values from the company and want to know the percentage of calories that come from carbohydrates.

Again, less than 10% of a carnivore's calories should be derived from a carbohydrate source.

When calculating the percentage of calories derived from the proteins, fats and carbohydrates we use the figures of 3.5 calories contributed by every gram of carbohydrate.  For every gram of protein, 3.5 calories are provided and for every gram of fat, 8.5 calories are added. 

For these calculations, you don't have to worry about converting the values to DMB  since the water content does not matter when looking at the percent-of-calories issue.  (You must stay consistent, however, by using all figures leaving the water in [as fed or "wet weight"], or using all figures taking the water out [DMB]) This is the nice thing about these values - you can compare canned and dry food and not worry about the vastly different moisture content of the two types of foods.

We will use the PetGuard example above - keeping in mind the limitations for accuracy when using GA numbers:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS:
Crude Protein 9.0% Min
Crude Fat 7.0% Min
Crude Fiber 1.0% Max
Moisture 78.0% Max
Ash 2.3% Max

We see that 9% of this food is made up of protein (9 grams of protein per 100g of food) so 9 X 4 = 36 calories from protein.  Repeating the calculation for the 7% fat, we get 7 X 9 = 63 calories and from our calculations above, we know that this food is 3% carbohydrates.  3 X 4 = 12 calories from carbohydrates.

36 + 63 + 12 = 111 total calories per 100 grams of food

To calculate the percentage of overall calories from each food source, divide each amount by the total calories:

Protein: 36 divided by 111 = 32%

Fat:  63 divided by 111 = 57%

Carbohydrate:  12 divided by 111 = 11%

To double-check your math, add up the percentages to make sure they equal 100%.

32% + 57% + 11% = 100%

Commercial Foods

No commercial cat food you buy is without some drawbacks, but listed below are some products made by companies that have gone the extra mile to either use no grains or minimize them and other plant-based “fillers” in their foods and use meat as the primary ingredient - not a meat by-product.  The listed foods are also void of any questionable preservatives such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin and do not contain any by-products.  None of the listed products contain corn, wheat, or soy.

This list is not comprehensive.  These are just a few examples of some higher quality products.  My goal with this webpage is to teach the reader how to evaluate a pet food on their own by using the information outlined above.

Be aware that companies have variations in ingredients within their own product line.  They will also change ingredients in any given food from time to time.  Remember to always read the ingredient list and bear in mind that just because a label says “premium” or “natural”, this does not necessarily mean that the food inside the can is appropriate for your carnivore. 

Websites are listed for your convenience in order to find the stores nearest you that may carry the company’s products. 

Raw Meat and Bones - Balanced Diets

Feline's Pride:  (www.felinespride.com)  This is my favorite commercial food.  If I did not have the time to make my own cat food, this is what I would be feeding to my cats.  This is an expensive food due to the fact that it is shipped to your doorstep frozen, but I think it is worth every penny if you can afford it.  This is currently what Bennie is eating.  (See Bennie's blog on the Feline Obesity page.) One of the reasons why I like this food is because it has a great protein/fat/carbohydrate composition.

Nature's Variety Raw Medallions: (http://www.naturesvariety.com) This diet, unlike many raw diets, has a reasonable blend of only 5% fruits and vegetables.  Many raw diets contain a much higher level of species-inappropriate ingredients.

High Quality, Grain-Free Canned Foods

Merrick: (www.merrickpetcare.com) This company makes some varieties of canned products without grains but several of them do contain grains.  Read the labels carefully.  Note that they have a more species-appropriate protein content than some of the other foods listed below.  For instance, Cowboy Cookout has the protein/fat/carbohydrate profile that mimics a mouse.

Wellness:  (www.omhpet.com) Wellness is a complete, balanced diet.  No supplementation is needed and can be fed, as is, on a daily basis as the sole diet.  Wellness is a very low carbohydrate (range depending on variety: 1%-12%), high quality canned food.  Note: This company has chosen to add grains (brown rice) to some of the canned foods. This will increase the carbohydrate content.  Be sure to look for a small yellow triangle on the front of the can stating that the food is "Grain Free".  

Nature's Variety: (http://www.naturesvariety.com)  Nature's Variety canned food is also a complete, balance diet that is great for daily use.  No supplementation is need.  This is also a very low carbohydrate food. Nature's Variety also makes a high quality raw food as noted above.

EVO: (www.naturapet.com)  Innova EVO is a complete diet for daily feeding and only 3% of its calories come from carbohydrates. **Please note that this food is very high in phosphorus and would not be a good food choice for any cat that is showing signs of renal insufficiency.

EVO 95%:  (www.naturapet.com)  This diet is lower in phosphorus but higher in fat than the EVO listed above.

Wysong’s Au Jus Canned Meats: (www.wysong.net) (In Canada: www.wysongcanada.net) Several of Wysong’s regular canned diets have undesirable grains in them but the plain canned meats are grainless.  These are referred to as "All Meat" or "Au Jus".  These all-meat diets are devoid of calcium so they are not balanced for daily use. You must add Wysong’s “Call of the Wild” supplement to ensure that the meals are properly balanced if used as a sole diet.  Otherwise, use the Au Jus canned food, without supplementation, for a few meals each week.  Not every meal needs to be balanced so this is an excellent use for this product.  These products are relatively expensive and are sometimes hard to find.

Avoderm Select Cuts: (www.breeders-choice.com) This high quality product is a complete diet for daily use.  Please disregard the Breeder's Choice website that urges the reader to provide dry food at all times.  This is very poor advice.

Wysong’s Archetype: This is not a canned food.  It is a cold-processed grainless diet, containing high quality meats, bones, organs, probiotic cultures, and other supplements.  You add water to hydrate this food and then serve.  This product is relatively expensive and hard to find.

Country Pet:  (www.countrypet.com)  This is a frozen product that is not raw but also is not heavily cooked.  This company blanches the meats prior to freezing.  I feed this to my cats as a supplement to their raw meat diet for variety.  I find it in a freezer cart in the pet food section at Whole Foods Market.  Check their website for other sources.  I feed the Chicken dog food and sometimes the Fish and Chicken cat food.  I say "sometimes" because I do not like to feed a lot of fish to my cats and I never feed it to my IBD cat due to its tendency to be hyperallergenic in the cat.  This is why I prefer the Chicken dog food over the Fish and Chicken cat food.

We all know that commercially prepared (cooked) dog food, as a general rule, should not be fed to cats because cats need more taurine (an essential amino acid) than dogs do.  I have checked with the company that produces this food and have been assured that there is enough taurine in the dog food to meet a cat's needs.  (In fact, the cat and dog food contain the same amount of taruine.) That said, if I was going to feed more than 50% of the total diet comprising either of these foods, I would feel more comfortable adding in 50 mg of taurine to each meal for a total taurine supplementation of 100mg/day.  (The other option is to just add 100 mg to one feeding/day.)  Taurine can be purchased in any health food store or Whole Foods Market or can be purchased online at www.iherb.com or other internet sources.  Use the capsule or loose powder form and mix into the food.  Some taurine is always lost even with minimal processing of the meat. This company does not add any extra taurine to either the cat or the dog food to account for any losses so it just adds to my personal comfort level to add some if this diet is going to make up more than 50% of the total diet.

 Quality Canned Foods With Grains

**Diabetic cat caregivers:  These diets have not been checked for their carbohydrate content.  Check Janet and Binky's chart and if you don't see these foods there, it is recommended that you call the company to find out the percentage of calories that come from carbohydrates.

PetGuard: (www.petguard.com) Some contain wheat germ.  Read the labels. carefully.

Felidae: (www.canidae.com)

Innova: (www.naturapet.com)

Pinnacle, APD, Avoderm:  (www.breeders-choice.com)

Precise:  (www.precisepet.com)

Eagle Pack: (www.eaglepack.com)

Evolve: (www.evolvepet.com)

Newman's Own: (www.newmansownorganics.com)

Merrick: (www.merrickpetcare.com)  This company makes some varieties of canned products without grains but several of them do contain grains.  Read the labels carefully.

Trader Joe's:  (www.traderjoes.com)

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Natural Balance: (www.naturalbalanceinc.com)  This company has not been forthcoming with the nutritional values for their canned food other than to say that, in general, they derive 19% of their calories from carbohydrates which is much too high.  Also,  values should  be stated for each individual food - not just lumped together which indicates that they do not have values for each canned food in their line.  As stated above, I will not include on this list any food made by any manufacturer if the company cannot be more cooperative in providing accurate nutritional information to consumers.

Please note that I have not contacted all of the companies that remain on this list but given the very frustrating correspondence with the Natural Balance representatives, and the reported high level of carbohydrates in their food, I am removing them from the list.

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June 18, 2007 update:

Even though I am hoping that you have read my Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition article and will not be feeding any dry food in the future, I had to add a link to this commentary on the 'breed-specific' dry foods that are currently being marketed by companies obviously desperate to gain more market share by hoping that the consumer will actually believe the absurd claims that they make regarding these diets.  Please see this link for more information.