Is it just a sales trick to get us to spend more? What are the ingredients that make it worth the extra money? Would the mid-range food be legal if it was so bad? I refer to wet food.
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Legal is question that depends on what country you live in. Much of what you really want to know is probably answered in this question How do I choose a good brand of cat food?– James JenkinsCommented Aug 19, 2017 at 9:17
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no, but thanks, I want to know what the ingredients are that make it worth the extra money– JoeCommented Aug 19, 2017 at 9:49
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I'm no cat expert but I would imagine it's more than just the ingredients. You can get good quality meat and bad quality. Good vegetables and bad. Might be more difficult to discover the quality though :)– HendersCommented Aug 19, 2017 at 10:20
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1@Henders less so the quality of the meat than the quantity - I look at percentages and what is TVP - that is made to look like meat - which they often will not eat– user6796Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 2:01
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@Joe where are you from?– Rebecca RVTCommented Aug 20, 2017 at 17:04
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1 Answer
It's kind of like steak tartare vs McDonald's beef burger, why a difference in cost there? Both are beef? The cheap brands tend to be the 'junk food' of the pet food world.
Cost is not everything, however. Many brands charge a premium for being "grain-free" or "organic" when there is no strong scientific evidence to support claims that they are healthier for pets.
There are many mainstream brands that are fine quality to feed your cat. I usually recommend Hill's Science Diet, but there are many others.
You can compare the ingredients in, for example, Friskies Meaty Bits Chicken Dinner in Gravy:
Water sufficient for processing, chicken, liver, wheat gluten, meat by-products, turkey, soy flour, corn starch-modified, artificial and natural flavors, tricalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, taurine, added color, salt, choline chloride, mono and dicalcium phosphate, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (Vitamin K), manganese sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide.
Compared to Hill's Science Diet Chicken Dinner:
Water, Chicken, Pork Liver, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Dextrose, Modified Rice Starch, Oat Fiber, Egg Whites, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Titanium Dioxide color, Dicalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Fish Oil, Choline Chloride, L-Lysine, Calcium Carbonate, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Iodized Salt, Taurine, Guar Gum, Calcium Chloride, Caramel color, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate), Beta-Carotene.
You can see that, unsurprisingly, many of the ingredients are the same. Not all meat is created equal, and while I cannot say where Friskies sources their meat from, in my opinion Science Diet is likely to be higher quality.
You will, of course, pay more for veterinary diets that are formulated for certain medical conditions – i.e. low protein for kidney disease, low magnesium to prevent urinary stones, low carbohydrate for diabetes, etc.
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It would be better to have percentages of meat - protein etc for the break downs - that's what I look for– user6796Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 1:59
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@Yvette To a certain degree that can be helpful, but not all protein is equal. For example, the Friskies diet in this example contains 50% protein by dry matter, while the Science Diet contains only 41%. Does that make Friskies better? I think not.– Harry V. ♦Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 2:26
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Yep I agree - protein derived from meat - other derived from cereal - other from vegetable - in Australia many pet foods will give that type of break down - but globally the rules vary.– user6796Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 2:51
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In addition, I stay away from the words "by-products". Organs, like liver for ex, is a by-product but so are chicken beaks & claws,& intestinal juices etc, & companies are not required to specify which by-products they use. So, although some by products are healthy others are just fillers, & unless specified (like bil-jac who specifies organ only by-products)- you never know which you're getting. Grain free is of course a better option for pets w/ sensitivity or allergies to them. Because there are so many varieties & lines of each brand of food this makes it hard to generalize some of them. Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 7:19
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@ChristyB. if you call the companies they can tell you what by-products are in their food. By-products can be very good so I would not say stay away from it but rather call the company to find out. :) Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 18:42