by Nadia Gerassimenko

Cats are obligate carnivores. They have been for a millions of years. Even the advent of feline processed food 100 years ago does not change that. Although cats are very resilient creatures, they cannot handle and thrive on a diet that is dry and full of carbohydrates or wet and made out of questionable animal by-products that most big cat food manufacturers produce. They can live for so long until they become allergic, overweight, diabetic, and start having problems with their kidneys, liver, or GI tract. It does not happen overnight, but it does greatly depreciate their health and well-being overtime.

According to Dr. Karen Becker, it is best to feed cats food that mimics the prey they have been hunting for and eating for the past millions of years; e.g.: a mouse that is full of proteins and bones, consists of 70% moisture, and has small traces of fruits and vegetables in its digestive system. Now that is the ideal cat diet! Unfortunately, it is difficult for most domestic cats to rely on prey or prepared foods that resemble a mouse in nutritional value. The good news is that there are ethical companies that truly care about cats’ well-being that make dry and wet cat food that are close to what our ancestral feline friends ate.

The ideal cat foods

Companies that make high quality cat food are very specific when it comes to ingredient labeling, which means there is no “poultry meat” (which is not necessarily chicken… it could be a seagull for all we know), “animal by-product” (again, we do not know which animal and what by-products… they could be intestines full of worms, duck feet, bird feathers, etc. that have very little nutritional value to the cat) or vague statements such as “different minerals and vitamins.” Their ingredients are also wholesome and human grade (fit for human consumption), like a whole chicken meal or a whole sweet potato. They do not include ingredients that are toxic and potentially allergenic to cats such as dyes like Yellow 5, wheat, gluten, MSG, etc. MSG is what gets cats addicted to food and what the manufacturers do not put on the label, but if something is “hydrolyzed,” in the label, it probably has MSG.

The first five ingredients in a cat food make up the bulk of the nutrition. It is important that the first 3 or 4 of these ingredients are protein-based. Ideally, these sources of protein should be diverse enough to offer a good variety of meats in one can or bag. Only a small amount of good quality grains can follow which offer valuable source of fiber to the cat, such as brown rice. Carbs, unless small amounts of good quality soluble carbs used for binding the food together, should be avoided. As mentioned by Doctors Foster and Smith, carbohydrates can cause maldigestion and obesity in cats; some cats can’t even tolerate carbs. Then a little bit of nutritional vegetables and fruits that mimic the digestive system of the ancestral prey can be included in the diet. Lastly, look for vital vitamins and minerals and ideally probiotics as well, especially for kitties who have GI problems. A good rule of thumb when choosing a cat food brand is to see whether this cat food was approved by AAFCO (The Association of American Feed Control Officials), is entirely manufactured in the USA, and is not about to expire. Then it is very crucial to look at all the ingredients in the can or bag. When in doubt, this is an excellent video that helps to pick the right type of food for your pet. Part two of the video can be found here.

Avoid ingredients that are toxic, allergenic, carcinogenic or just useless

As compiled by Roger Biduk,these are: Added Colours (Blue Dye#2, Red Dye #40, Yellow Dye #5, Yellow Dye #6), Animal Digest, Animal Fat, Barley, Beef Tallow, Beef and Bone Meal, Beet Pulp, BHA (Butylated Hydroxyanisole), BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene), Brewer’s Rice, Caramel Color, Chicken By-Products, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken Liver Flavour, Corn, Corn Gluten, Corn Grits,Corn Meal, DL-Methionine, Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Egg Product, Ethoxyquin, Ethylenediamine, Fish Oil, Fish Meal, GlycerylMonostearate, Meat and Bone Meal, Meat By-Products, Meat By-Product Meal, Meat Meal, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Oats, Oat Groats, Pea Fiber, Peanut Shells, Phosphoric Acid, Pork Blood Meal, Pork By-Products, Pork Meat and Bone Meal, Potato Starch, Poultry By-Products, Poultry By-Product Meal, Powdered Cellulose, Propylene Glycol, Propyl Gallate, Rice, Rice Gluten, Rice Hulls, Salt, Sodium Metabisulphite, Sorbic Acid, Sorghum, Soy, Soy Flour, Soybeans, Soybean Meal, Soybean Mill Run, Soy Lecithin, Tapioca, Wheat, Wheat Bran, Wheat Flour, Wheat Germ, Wheat Gluten and Wheat Middlings.

And this is just only a few of them. With time and education, you will be able to differentiate the bad from the good and from low to high quality. Truth about Pet Food wrote a comprehensive article to help you practice your ingredient label reading skills.

Dry or wet? Dry and wet?

Should cats be fed dry or canned food, or a combination of both? Some sources state that dry food should be avoided altogether and only canned food should be served, while others state that wet food should be mixed with dry food. A qualified integrative/holistic veterinary specialist can answer that question for you taking your kitty into consideration (breed, life stage, health issues, etc.). You can find a holistic vet near you via The American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.

For instance, my holistic vet told me that serving just dry food is very unhealthy for the kitty, making the cat’s vital organs engorged when he eats the kibbles by trying to fetch all the moisture from those organs (by doing that, they resemble how kibbles would look like if you pour some water in them), not to mention potential formation of crystals that block vital passageways. It is especially risky when cats do not have a natural thirst instinct like we humans do. A good way to stimulate that in cats is to have an automated cat fountain they can play with and to serve bottled water instead of tap water.

See what works with your cat, and what life stage he is at and if he has any health problems. Senior cats need less proteins and fat than growing kittens. If there is a risk of urinary problems, it is best to cut down on dry food. If you are wondering what to do with the rest of the canned food that you do not feed all at once, you can easily store it in a Ziploc bag in the fridge (or get a plastic lid for the can) for 1 to 3 days before it starts going bad.

Transition phase

Transitioning from bad cat food to good food takes time. You cannot go cold-turkey on the current food you are feeding your cat or your kitty will get diarrhea or even go on hunger strikes. And depending on whether your cat is a fussy eater, the transitioning may take a few months or even a year. Since my cat was still a kitten when I transitioned him, it was easier to change to the new food. I was recommended to do this process in two weeks by my vet. I would start by adding 25% of new food into his diet, then slowly transition it to 50%, then 75%, until all of his nutrition has been substituted by the new food within the two weeks. I did the same for both mixed food as well as just dry food.

For your cat, it may be different. See how he reacts to the changes in his diet and if he is not very positive about it, mix less of the new food next time and gradually increase it when he starts welcoming it. If he still ignores the new food, try a different brand of dry and canned food. Remember, kitties need variety in their diet. Even when you have successfully transitioned your cat to better food, change it up once in awhile by choosing different meals of the same brand or even picking out other quality brands. Here is a good video that explains on how to transition your kitty from eating low-quality dry food to better quality canned food. And if you ever wish to make a step further, you can watch this video explaining how to transition your cat to a raw food diet.

The following section names good cat food brands to choose from.

Good dry food brands

• Real Meat Pet Foods (air-dried, but can be served as is or mixed with water)
• Orijen
• Acana
• Feline Caviar Holistic Kibble
• Ziwipeak (air-dried, but can be served as is or mixed with wet food; beware of DL-Methionine in their ingredients)
• Balance Diet (beware of garlic in some of their ingredients)
• Tuscan NaturalHarvest Turkey & Chicken Recipe (beware of natural flavor and brewer’s dried yeast in their ingredients)
• Wellness Core (beware of potato protein and canola oil in some of their ingredients)

Good wet food brands

• Ziwipeak
• Evanger’s
• Party Animal Organic
• Life’s Abundance Instinctive Choice (beware of salt in their ingredients)
• Fromm Four-Star Nutritionals (beware of potato starch in their ingredients)
• Lotus Canned Paté (beware of salt in their ingredients)
• Pet-Tao (beware of carrageenan in some of their ingredients)
• Azmira Holistic Animal Care (beware of garlic in their ingredients)
• Halo Spot’s Stew (beware of garlic powder in their ingredients)
• Nulo (beware of salt and natural flavors in some of their ingredients)
• Halo Vigor, Impulse (beware of salt and natural flavors in their ingredients)
• Lotus Canned Just Juicy (beware of salt and potato starch in their ingredients)
• Feline Caviar Wet Food (beware of cheese and natural flavor in some of their ingredients)
• Castor & Pollux Organix (beware of salt and pea protein in their ingredients and powdered cellulose in some of their ingredients)
• Wellness

Think twice before buying fish-based cat food products due to their potential mercury toxicity. Unless the companies can guarantee uncontaminated fish in their ingredients, it is best to avoid them altogether.

What if I cannot find the recommended brands?

In that case, you look for other brands that strive to be holistic in nutritional value and try to mimic the ancestral food of our feline friends (high in proteins and fat, low on carbs and grains, and containing a bit of fruits and vegetables). Make sure they meet or even exceed AAFCO regulations, are entirely manufactured in the USA or Canada, do not have any vague ingredients, and have as little as possible of useless fillers and unsafe ingredients (pay heed that they are also at the end of the spectrum in the list if there are any). If you don’t have any stores selling wholegrade cat food near you, online retailers like Amazon sell them. Also, some of the aforementioned brands’ sites can direct you towards local stores or online retailers.

The following sections list what you should avoid and look for in cat food, respectively. These ingredients have been carefully researched and compiled by The Dog Food Project. As dog food is very similar to cat food nutrition-wise, the ingredients apply to cats as well.

Avoid:

• Additives such as glycerylmonostearate, phosphoric acid, propylene glycol;
• Binders such as corn gluten and wheat gluten;
• Carbohydrates such as brewer’s rice, cereal food fines, feeding oat meal, grain fermentation solubles, maltodextrins and fermentation solubles, potato product, soy flour;
• Coloring agents such as blue 2, red 40, titanium dioxide, yellow 5, yellow 6;
• Fat sources such as animal fat, beef tallow, lard, poultry fat, vegetable oil;
• Fiber such as cellulose, corn barn, corn cellulose, oat hulls, peanut hulls, rice hulls, soybean mill run, wheat mill run;
• Flavoring agents such as animal digest, digest, flavor, glandular meal;
• Fruits and vegetables such as apple pomace, citrus pulp, grape pomace, tomato pomace, garlic, onion;
• Preservatives such as BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, propyl gallate;
• Proteins such as beef & bone meal, blood meal, chicken by-product meal, corn distillers dried grains with solubles, corn germ meal, fish meal, liver meal, meat and bone meal, pork and bone meal, poultry by-product meal, poultry meal, soybean meal;
• Supplements such as bone phosphate, salt, mineral oil, yeast culture, yeast fermentation solubles;
• Sweeteners such as cane molasses, corn syrup, fructose, sorbitol, sugars, synthetic vitamin E (DI-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate);
• Vitamins such as vitamin K3, synthetic vitamin K (menadione sodium bisulfate);
• Fish-based food.

Instead look for:

• Chicken, turkey, duck, venison, or rabbit, deboned or not;
• Chicken or turkey meal or any other specific meal;
• Salmon or flaxseed oil;
• Quality grains such as brown rice, barley, oats, oatmeal;
• Quality vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, beans, broccoli, spinach;

• Quality fruits such as cranberries, acai berries, blueberries, apples;
• Taurine;
• Essential proteinated or chelated minerals;
• Essential vitamins;
• Natural preservatives such as tocopherols (vitamin E) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C);
• Prebiotics;
• Probiotics.

The Takeaway

When choosing the right nutritious and wholegrade diet for your feline companion, do consult an integrative veterinarian near you. They’ll be able to tell you whether you should feed your kitty dry or wet food, or a combination of both, and how to transition her properly and safely. When choosing the right brand, look for food high in proteins and fats and low in carbs and grains. They should be manufactured in USA or Canada and should at least meet AAFCO’s safety regulations. Make sure they don’t have any vague ingredients, fillers, toxins, and allergens. If a local store doesn’t carry the brands mentioned above, make use of your new acquired ingredient reading skills or consider buying them on Amazon or from another online retailer. May your kitty continue his ancestors’ traditions of prey hunting and eating, just on different terms and in different forms!

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