What's in the Cat Food Bag?
by Kymythy R.Schultze, C.N.,
C.N.C.
 Let's take a look at the
ingredients on the actual label of a dry cat-food product. I examined one of
the leading brands that's quite pricey and sold through veterinarians.
The ingredients are listed
in descending order of weight:
- Chicken by-product meal. If the label said "meat," at least we'd
know that it was the actual protein-rich meat of the animal. By-products aren't
necessarily bad for cats, who do naturally eat many animal parts that we may
not care for. But having this listed as the very first ingredient instead of
whole meat doesn't assure us that we're getting good-quality protein. The word meal means that it's been ground or
pulverized.
Actually, the most
disturbing fact about this ingredient is that it's the only source of animal protein in this product. And an abundance of
high-quality animal protein is one of the most important dietary requirements
for cats.
- Cornmeal. Corn isn't well digested by our carnivorous cats and can
be very allergenic. There's absolutely no nutritional need for this ingredient.
Its presence helps boost the overall protein analysis of the product, but it's
vegetable protein, which isn't well tolerated or utilized by felines.
Another major concern is the
fact that most corn in the U.S. is genetically modified. As if that's not
enough, corn is a major source of dangerous aflatoxin-the reason behind many
pet-food recalls because it's quite deadly.
- Brewer's rice. More grain!
- Animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate, and citric acid). After
the high-heat processing and rendering that occurs during manufacturing, it
would probably be more accurate to call this ingredient rancid animal grease.
To make matters worse, artificial preservatives are added.
- Corn gluten meal. More corn! When you add up all the grains in this
product, they certainly outweigh the animal protein. This product is beginning
to look more like chicken feed than cat food!
- Chicken liver flavor. The label doesn't list actual chicken liver,
just the "flavor," and it doesn't tell us if this is artificial or natural.
Many "flavors" contain the excitotoxin MSG.
- Taurine. Adding the amino acid taurine is the big thing now in
cat-food products. Not too long ago, it was found that a deficiency in this
nutrient caused fatal heart disease and blindness in cats.
- BHA and BHT. BHA has already been listed as being used to preserve
the animal fat, and now they've added even more of these undesirable chemicals.
- Beta-carotene. When beta-carotene is ingested by some animals, the
liver converts it to vitamin A, which is an important nutrient and antioxidant.
But research on cats has shown that felines lack the ability to make the
conversion from beta-carotene
- Minerals (potassium chloride, calcium sulfate, salt, ferrous sulfate,
zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite). These
are about half the number of well-known minerals, not including the many trace
elements.
Pet-food manufacturers have
a choice as to what form of mineral supplements they use. The sulfates and
oxides are considered less desirable than other, more expensive forms because
they're insoluble in water. Also, there may be many other chemicals added to
the mineral powders used in manufacturing, and the synthetic versions can act
quite differently in the body than natural-food forms. For example, ferrous
sulfate is an inorganic form of iron that destroys vitamin E; organic iron
doesn't have this harmful effect.
- Vitamins (choline chloride, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D3
supplement, vitamin E supplement, ascorbic acid (a source of vitamin C),
niacin, thiamine, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride,
folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement). There are at least
16 well-known vitamins, and this product contains 13. Most of the B vitamins
are listed by their chemical names-except for vitamin B12
supplement. Why isn't it listed as cyanocobalamin? Or, conversely, why isn't
choline chloride listed as vitamin B4?
Also, it would be preferable
if they'd state the sources. For example, if you have a cat with an allergy to
yeast, then you'd want to know if these B vitamins are derived from yeast.
Likewise, it's not very
informative to simply list "vitamin E supplement". Studies have shown the
synthetic form to be much less effective and potentially harmful. The same
holds true for vitamin A. Which forms are they using here?
Evaluation
Personally,
I wouldn't feel comfortable feeding my cat a product such as the one analyzed
above. And remember, this one is sold in veterinarian offices and is considered
a "premium" brand. I found that it contains poor-quality ingredients and many
substances that aren't at all appropriate for the feline species. My cat may
not be able to fully meet its nutritional needs by eating this product. And if
that's the case, my cat's body might not be strong enough to maintain optimal
health.
This article was excerpted
from the book:
 NATURAL NUTRITION FOR CATS: The Path to Purr-fect Health
by Kymythy R. Schultze, C.N., C.N.C.
Reprinted with permission of
the publisher, HAY HOUSE, INC. ©2008. http://www.HayHouse.com
Info/Order this book.
More books by this author.
About the Author
Kymythy R. Schultze is a Clinical Nutritionist (C.N.) and Certified
Nutritional Consultant (C.N.C.). She has been certified as an Animal Health
Instructor by the state of California, licensed by the federal government as a
Wildlife Rehabilitator, and is a certified Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation
Practitioner (V.O.M.). Kymythy has completed a wide variety of health and
nutrition course work, including small-animal nutrition at Cornell University.
She's also an enologist (an expert in the science of wine) and winemaker for
Gracie Vineyard. Please visit Kymythy's Website at: www.kymythy.com.
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