Question:
Okay, I am thinking of switching to a different cat food for Max. Sometimes I think I am being waaaayyyy too anal but other times I figure that he deserves the best that I can give him. So here goes...
I am feeding Innova Lite right now, which is a great food. However, as I mentioned in the WDJ thread, using actual meat as a first ingredient is a bit deceiving because of the water content. I have seen several articles on why meal is better than meat but none for meat over meal. Anyone know why companies use meat over meal...is it just so that the ingredients look better?
Here are the ingredients to Innova Lite
Turkey, Chicken, Ground Barley, Ground Brown Rice, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Rice, Chicken Fat, Herring, Apples, Carrots, Whole Pasteurized Milk, Fish Oil, Sunflower Oil, Dicalcium Phosphate, Garlic, Alfalfa Sprouts, Egg, Whole Cranberries, Natural Flavors, Prebiotics, Probiotics, Chondroitin Sulfate, Glucosamine
And here are the ingredients to Felidae...the brand I am considering.
Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, Lamb Meal, Chicken Fat, (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Ascorbic Acid), Menhaden Fish Meal, Eggs, Flax Seed Meal, Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Sunflower Oil, Lecithin, Nutritional Yeast, Natural Flavors, Linoleic Acid, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Amaranth, DL Methionine, Taurine, Kelp, Cranberry Meal, Apple Meal, Probiotics, (Freeze Dried Streptococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Freeze Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product), Vitamins A, D-Activated Animal Sterol Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Vitamin B12, Riboflavin, Niacin, Choline Chloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine-Hydrochloride, Thiamin, Biotin, Amino Acid Chelated Minerals, Zinc, Manganese, Iron, Copper, Cobalt, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Bacillus Subtilis, Yeast Culture, Yucca Schidigera Extract
I guess I am just looking for comments and suggestions before I decide anything. Also, if you have any other foods that are similar to Felidae, I would love a link. I have looked at A LOT of different companies and either I can't get the food here, or the food wasn't what I wanted.
I should really stop doing this to myself.


Answer:
I read the ingreadients of the Felidae and it looks really good. I just changed my dogs to Wellness they seem to love it. I am trying to find a good food that is good for allergies. My boys have seasonal allergies, and it looks as though it might be starting to be all year round now. Canidae says its good for allergies, but I'm wondering if that is only for food allergies?


Answer:
I like Felidae better than Innova because it does not contain milk, which isn't really indicated for adult cats but is found in Innova. Other than that though, it's a real toss-up. Both products are very nutritious.
I don't think the meat/meal distinction is a big deal because when the kibble is extruded, the extra water in the meat would disappear or the result would be soggy kibble.
Another thing: is the Chondroitin/glucosamine a necessity?
As far as suggesting other brands goes, I'm not sure you can get much better unless you go w/ the Nature's Variety. What ever happened to that plan?


Answer:
See, I think that the meat vs. meal issue is a big deal...
If you go by weight after processing (ie. after the water has been removed from the turkey and chicken in the Innova), I think that the list would look something like this...
Ground Barley, Ground Brown Rice, Chicken Meal, Turkey, Chicken, Potatoes...
To me, that makes a huge difference in the quality of the food.
Here is the other side to the argument though.
http://www.wysong.net/controversies/...meats_vs.shtml
As for the Nature's Variety, they also use fresh meat.
Chicken, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Flaxseed, Chicken Liver, Menhaden Fish, Suncured Alfalfa Meal, Montmorillonite, Flaxseed Oil, Freeze Dried Chicken, Freeze Dried Chicken Liver, Freeze Dried Salmon Oil, Cottage Cheese, Apples, Cranberries, Whole Eggs, Kelp, Parsley, Artichoke, Inulin, Rosemary, Sage, Clove, Fermentation Products (Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Bifidobacterium Thermophilum Fermentation Product Dehydrated, Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product Dehydrated), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Cobalt Amino Acid Chelate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (a source of Vitamin C), Carotene, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Folic Acid, Riboflavin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Choline Chloride, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Ferrous Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Taurine, and Vitamin B12 Supplement.
So, what does everyone think about the meal vs. meat argument? I don't really know what the heck to think!
PAWZ, I don't know what to do about seasonal allergies. Canidae only indicates that it will help with food allergies.


Answer:
pawz,
joey has seasonal allergies, and my vet reccommended a maintenance dose of bendryl until the spots have disappeared, then if any flare ups occur to give him another bendryl.
she also gave me a dietary supplement containing fish oil ( omega 3 fatty acids) vit e and vit d. it is suppose to help with the allergies, and maintain good coat with less shedding ??? we are trying it to see how it works, and soo far he hasnt had any allergy flare ups, but it has been snowing a lot.


Answer:
Interesting point about how the meat moved down the ingredients list when the water is removed.... deceptive!!
I think it *is* less processed that way, but since kibble must be processed anyway, I think I would not have a problem w/ meal.
I do think that meat should be the most abundant thing in the food by weight not volume, ie. after the water bulk has been accounted for.
Have you tried the Felidae yet on Max?


Answer:
No, I haven't. I have a about 15 lbs. of Innova left and I am going to phone the Barking Lot and see if they will take back the unused bag I have and possibly give me a sample of Felidae. I have also asked a few friends who also have a passion for nutrition to see what they think.
I thought the same thing about Wysong's argument...it seemed as if they were grabbing at straws trying to defend meat. They make a good point...but how much does it matter?


Answer:
It's the whole "less processed is best" thing, but you CAN'T have an unprocessed kibble. So Wysong is a bit off base. If you just want unprocessed meat, you'd have to feed BARF or Anergen all the time, no kibble.


Answer:
Candice, I also tend to think that meat meal and meat basically get processed and you end up with the same product in the end. So I really don't see the difference between meat and meat meal except for the water weight involved.
On a sidenote, Canidae is one of the few wet foods that didn't give Keesha diarrhea so I am quite impressed with them. I'm sure Felidae will be of the same quality whether wet or dry.


Answer:
I believe that when processing meat meal such as chicken meal they are allowed to use any part of the chicken such as beaks, feet etc along with intestines etc also. When using chicken meat it must qualify as the actual meat although even then it can be chicken that is not fit for human consumption. I found one article about it that you can check out ( how biased they are i can't say). I did a quick internet search and found this one article but there are many.
http://www.preciouspets.org/truth.htm
It can get so bad in some companies food that they have even found other companion animals that are being euthanised are being rendered for pet food.
It is a very scarey area that if you can really stomach reading about it , we all should be researching what our pets eat
Hmmmm guess this didn't help much candy,,,,,, sorry
Barb