Wednesday, September 08, 2010
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Wednesday, September 08, 2010 |
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The AAFCO (Association Of American Feed Control Officials) uses dry matter values when referring to the recommended breakdown of "key nutrients" for cat food by percentage or weight. Since most food manufacturers do not list their breakdowns in this way on labels, false assumptions may be made by the consumer when comparing canned food to dry food. You will see by using the following formula, that when the moisture content is removed from the equation, the results may be surprising. Dry Matter Value Forumula
Look at the "Guaranteed Analysis" on a label.
Subtract the moisture percentage from 100.
Divide the resulting figure into the crude protein figure (disregard decimals when dividing). The result will be a close approximation of protein by dry matter value. (You can use the same formula to calculate the percentage of fat or fiber by dry matter value.)
Example: Here are figures from three different cat foods, from three different manufacturers.
You can see in the example given that the two canned food brands contain more dry matter protein content than Brand B, a dry food, which at first glance seems to contain far more protein. In fact, by this test alone, one might think that Brand C (the "supermarket" brand) is superior for protein content. Not so fast! Actually, the first two listed ingredients on Brand C's label are "meat by-products," and "poultry by-products," which were listed under "What to Avoid" in the first part of this series. The protein quality of this "supermarket" brand simply does not make the cut. The 95%, 25%, 3% Rules AAFCO has provided certain other rules for "truth in advertising" in cat foods. Don't let those fancy designations such as "gourmet" or "feast" slip one past you. With these rules you'll know at least the minimum your cat is getting of the advertised ingredient. The 95% Rule
A cat food may not be labeled simply "Chicken for Cats," or "Chicken Cat Food," unless it contains 95% or more chicken by total weight of the product. The 25% Rule Foods labeled "Chicken Entre," "Chicken Dinner," "Chicken Feast," or the like, must contain 25% to 95% chicken. Combinations, such as "Chicken and Beef Dinner" must contain a total of 25% to 95% of the combined meats, listed in order of quantity, and the second meat listed must comprise at least 3% of the total weight. (Imagine ordering a "steak and lobster" dinner and finding the "lobster" will barely fill a fork.) The 3% Rule A food labelled "Kitty Stew with Chicken" must contain 3% or more chicken. ("With" is the optimum word here.) "Flavor" Barely worth mentioning here, but if you see something similar to "chicken flavored," be assured that the product is unlikely to contain any chicken at all, as long as there is a "sufficiently detectable" amount of chicken flavor. Since these "flavors" may be the result of digests or by-products of the named animal, I'd avoid these at all costs. FDA Rules and Specialty Foods The FDA (which is the governing authority for pet foods) allows dog and cat food makers to vary ingredients by as much as 25% from what the label says. They are supposed to have the label and ingredients in the bag or can in close agreement at least once every six months (that translates to a requirement of 2 days a year). The rest of the time, the ingredient variation is okay, as long as nutritional requirements are met. This is a reasonable policy when one understands that these ingredients are perishable (need for preservatives) and simply may randomly become unavailable. "Human Grade" and "Natural" Although you will occasionally see "Human Grade" listed on pet food labels, the AAFCO does not recognize, nor presently address, this form of labeling. However, because of the current trend toward "natural," as well as "organic," the AAFCO is currently working to define at least the former description. In the meantime, caveat emptor with those phrases. If you lean toward cat foods described as one or the other, make sure you completely understand what is meant by the terms.
"Dental Care," "Hairball Formula" You will find a number of foods labeled for dental care, hairball control, lite, weight reduction, or senior. At present, AAFCO does not address these definitions, so caveat emptor applies here also. If they seem to work for the stated purpose with your cat, fine, but make sure the essential nutrients are not compromised at the same time. The "complete and balanced" verbiage refers to life-stages only: kitten/lactating queens or adult/maintenance.
Poultry-by-products consists of clean heads & meat of slaughtered poultry, such as heads, feet and viscera, but not fecal or foreign matter. Poultry by-product meal consists of clean ground rendered parts of slaughtered poultry, such as necks and meat, undeveloped eggs and intestines. It must not contain feathers except those which are unavoidable included during processing. Ground Corn (also called corn mean or corn chop) is the entire corn kernel ground or chopped. It must contain no more than 4% foreign material. Corn Gluten Meal is the by-product after the manufacture of corn syrup or starch; and is the dried residue after the removal of the bran, germ and starch and is high-quality protein. Benefits of Premium Foods
Premium foods use better quality ingredients from better food sources with higher biological values. Consequently, their digestibility is highter. Whereas an economy or regular brand of cat food might use corn, wheat or soybean as the primary ingredient, a premium-quality food will be more likely to use a good quality meat source as the main ingredient.
Because premium foods are made of better quality ingredients and have a better digestibility, the cat needs to eat much less food than he would need to consume of a lesser quality food. Premium foods have another advantage that is important to many cat owners and that is the fact that there is less waste in premium food. (Less waste translates as less fecal matter to scoop out of the litter box).
Food Intolerance/Hypoallergenic Formulas
Non-prescription hypoallergenic foods are for pets allergic to, or sensitive to, something in the food they eat. Food allergies are actually rare, with fewer than 1% of pets ever suffering from a food allergy. Intollerance to something in the food is more common than a true food allergy. Feeding a hypoallergenic diet will not prevent food allergies! It is simply less likely to produce an allergic reaction.
Symptons of food allergies may include:
Generally, allergies deveop over time and the pet has most often been eating the food containing the offending ingredient for two years or more. The ingredients that seem to cause the most problems are:
Suitable nutrient sources for cats that are not as common in pet foods are:
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