Wet Cat Food = Healthy Cat Food? Well, Yes and No...

Wet Cat Food = Healthy Cat Food? Well, Yes and No...

When I did the research on dry cat food and found the very frightening results, I immediately started looking for low-carbohydrate, high-protein wet cat food to feed our Raja.

Fortunately, we already knew she l-o-v-e-d wet food, since we had been giving her a little each day as a "treat". We now knew it was time to feed her exclusively from the can, but which brand(s)?

At first, I just assumed that all canned foods were about the same as far as proper protein, fat and carbs were concerned, but man was I wrong!

As usual, I checked the premium brands for their dry matter makeup of protein, fat, fiber and carbohydrates and was once again blown-away by the lack of any consistency and by the high level of carbs in some of these wet foods.

(Note: I used dry matter measurements so I could check the actual carbohydrate percentages, not the percents shown on the label under "guaranteed analysis". No sweat, the dry matter percents are easily computed from the guaranteed analysis percents reported on every cat food. I'll give you the formula in a future post so you can shop intelligently for your cat.)

Here's a sampling of some premium brands of wet (canned) cat food and their "dry matter" nutritional makeup:

	Guaranteed Analysis Percents
Canned Cat Food	Protein %	Fat %	Fiber %	Moisture %	Ash %	Actual Carbs % (dry matter basis)
Eukanuba Select Seafood in Sauce- Recalled	9	5.5	1.5	82	2.5	0%
Purina Fancy Feast Cod Sole & Shrimp	13	2	1.5	78	3.5	9%
Wellness Salmon and Trout	10	5	1	78	2.5	16%
Natural Balance Chicken & Liver Pate	9	6	1.5	78	2	16%
Wellness Beef & Chicken (Grain Free)	10	5	1	78	2	18%
Iams Weight Control Chicken Entreé	10	3.5	1	78	2.1	25%
Science Diet Gourmet Beef Entrée - Mature	8	4	2	78	2.2	26%
Science Diet Savory Chicken Entrée - Mature	8	3.5	2	78	2.5	27%
Science Diet Gourmet Turkey Entrée - Senior	6.5	3.5	2	78	2	36%

Note that the ONLY canned cat foods that have 10% or fewer carbs are Purina's Fancy Feast and Eukanuba! (Unfortunately, Eukanuba wet foods were all recalled in 2007 because they were tainted. As of this post Eukanuba is not selling any canned cat food. Please continue to check my newer posts for an update on this brand.)

All the rest of the brands and varieties are very high in carbohydrates. Notice that one of the most expensive, so-called "premium" brands has super high carbohydrates. And this food is intended for senior cats that tend to exercise very little. How will these cats burn off the excess carbs? The answer: they won't. All those carbs will just turn into more fat! Looks like that brand is practicing some very weird "science".