Learn How To Read a Pet Food Ingredient Label - Pt 1

I would much rather see a cat eat any canned food versus any dry food - regardless of quality level of the canned or dry food. This includes Friskies, 9-Lives, Fancy Feast, etc., canned options.

I am so tired of seeing cats suffering tremendously from blocked urethras and other urinary tract diseases because of Man's love affair with dry food.

Try not to drive yourself nuts when picking out a canned cat food. The fact that you are feeding canned food and not dry food is 90% of the battle so just do the best that you can - given the information below, the information on the Commercial Foods page, and also the Cat Food Composition chart linked in the sidebar for future reference.

When using that chart, just focus on the first four columns and the last column if you care about calories/can. The first four columns show the caloric distribution which is the best way to analyze food. I ignore the dry matter basis columns.

I mentioned above that you should refrain from "driving yourself nuts" but after becoming increasingly frustrated with the commercial pet food industry in 2003, I started making my cats' food. See Making Cat Food for more information. I got tired of dealing with all of the pros and cons associated with the commercial options and the 'unknowns.'

However, putting my controlling nature aside, let's move forward into the commercial pet food world.

When reading this section, two words need to be firmly in your mind:

composition (the percentage of protein, fat, and carbohydrate in the food)

ingredients

Unfortunately, pet food labels are not held to the same standard as human food labels. This means that pet food labels are seriously lacking in usable information when compared to a package of food for a human.

The "guaranteed analysis" numbers that you find on a can of food for protein, fat, and water (moisture) are listed as "minimums" and "maximums" which, by definition, are inaccurate. Plus, the labels never list the carbohydrate amount which is very frustrating because we are trying to stay under 10% carbohydrate calories.

This makes it impossible to accurately evaluate the food in terms of composition unless you are willing to call the company and ask for their 'typical nutrient analysis' which is data that comes from testing an actual batch of food.

During the summer of 2012, I spent over 1,000 hours calling ~45 pet food companies to gather data for my Cat Food Composition chart. However, understand that pet food companies can change their formulations at any point in time so if you desire the most up-to-date information, you will need to call the individual companies.

The ingredient list can help us out - but only in some ways. For instance, if you do not see high carbohydrate ingredients such as grains, potatoes, peas, etc., listed on the label, it is a safe bet that the food is low in carbohydrates.

However, if these high carbohydrate ingredients are listed, you have no idea of the amount in the food and, therefore, no knowledge of the carbohydrate level.

Without knowing the actual amount of each ingredient, we have no indication of the impact of the ingredient on the nutritional profile of the food. Only the composition value will answer that question. This is why it is important to not just consider the list of ingredients but to also look at the Cat Food Composition chart, or call the company for the information.

A good example of the above issue is a food like canned Wellness. At first glance, this food may be dismissed as inappropriate for a carnivore because it contains several high carbohydrate ingredients in the form of fruits and vegetables, including potatoes which are very high in starch (carbohydrate). However, the low carbohydrate level (3-5%) tells us that the amount of fruits and vegetables is very low.