Is cat food a scam?
A few weeks ago, while trying to understand cat nutrition in relation to cat diseases, I started paying more attention to cat food composition.
To make a long story short, I was shocked by the composition of canned food in particular, whether it was by reputable brands, or not.
On the left side, the can is from a big brand in pet food, and it says: Water 81.5%, protein 8.5%, fatty ubstances 5.5%, crude ash (!) 3%
On the right side is a generic can from a local supermarket chain. Similar composition: Water 80%, protein 8%, fatty substances 6%, crude ash (!) 3%
So what I'm buying is essentially 85% water and ...ash.
Can the cat sustain itself with the 8% protein and 6% fats? No! That's why it wants more, all the time.
You think you've fed the cat but it's starving really - since what you fed it is not actual meat, fish, etc...naturally it wants more and more as the food does nothing to actually feed it.
As for the ash, I don't even know why this stuff is in there but I suspect it's to create the "stable" look of "gelatinous meat". Or gelatinous water with hints of meat. But why would I even want to feed ashes to my cat?
I don't like this at all - from any angle. Either as a consumer, or a pet owner. Based on the large label, you think you are actually buying some flavor of meat or fish - but this ends up only in trace amounts (which you find out only if you read the small letters).
I think it's good for the cat food to have so much water because sometimes cats won't drink enough water on their own. They need to stay hydrated!
Meat is mostly water. It is actual ash added to the food. This adds minerals to the food, but can cause crystals to form in the cat's kidneys. This sometimes ends in death.
I have found naturopathic veterinarians who recommend feeding cats raw, organic, cage free birds, bones and all. No house cat ever hunted and caught tuna or beef, or many other things we feed them.
Of the oldest domesticated cats, "Grandpa" Rex Allen, was fed bacon, eggs, steamed broccoli, and instant coffee. He was surpassed in age by another cat belonging to the same owner. He talks diet at 5:55.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Hbbg3awjM
We had this subject called Animal Nutrition and ash is actually what's left of feed when you burn it. These include minerals like calcium, iron and such. I hope this comment helped :)
It's great that you are questioning tinned food but I'm not sure that it's the water content that's the problem as most fresh foods are mainly water. As for the ash, I'm fairly sure that it's not actual ash added into the food! I think they just write, 'ash' on pet food instead of, 'carbohydrates' but I have no clue why!
Personally, I feed my dog a raw diet and my cat was extremely healthy, (until she lost a run in with a car) because she supplemented her diet with small, furry animals when I was too ignorant to feed her a raw diet.
Theoretically speaking, it would be illegal to mislabel contents...
Heh...
You're definitely on to something. I would bet the cost of canning represents 90% of the final price of the product. I'm sure what goes into the can are the cheapest possible food-like substances. It's no coincidence that almost all cats have their liver shut down on them
For the past year or so there is a persistent flu-like disease in the area where I am. It tends to kill a lot of cats. One of my cats had 6 kittens and another had 7. That was last summer. Now 13/13 kittens are dead, of which 11 from disease.
In the smaller cat-mom, the 6 kittens were too much for her to feed, so they started showing symptoms early. In the larger cat-mom, breastfeeding kept for quite a while and they were absolutely healthy. Once they grew up somewhat, naturally the cat couldn't handle them either, so when I started feeding them processed cat food (dry + canned), they started dropping like flies. That's when I made the connection. I don't think it's the food per se, as it is the lack of proper nutrients which then make their body vulnerable to flu-like diseases. It's the same with humans, for example proper vitamin D + selenium intake can prevent a lot of viral infections. So I was like, ok, let's buy more fish-food, which has more selenium and vitamin D - in case this disease is some kind of virus, so they can more properly defend against it. And then I found out that fish/meat content are around 4-5% in these cans (trace amount - most of the food was not ...food).
great words my dear really