How to Read Cat Food Labels

Cat food labels can be difficult to read, but it's worth the effort to provide your feline friends with the best foods you can afford.
Food quantities are a difficult subject since so much depends on the caloric density of the food chosen and the metabolism and activity level of Patate. I feel the method used on this page is a good starting point:
petnutritionalliance.org/reso...
Lisa A. Pierson, DVM is a feline nutrition expert who has generously produced an entire site about her food recommendations at catinfo.org/.
truthaboutpetfood.com/ is an activist web site working toward transparency from pet food manufacturers about the ingredients they use and the sources of those ingredients.
This isn’t a comprehensive list, but it’s a good start when comparing commercial foods. It was last updated in 2021.
loveofacat.com/2010/12/the-7-...
Remember, these are just starting points. If you and your vet notice significant weight loss or gain, you may need to adjust the amounts you’re feeding.
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I'm Tom Kirby, UW-AAB, LSHC-S and I'm a certified animal behavior consultant who specializes in cats. At Kitty Help Desk, I offer affordable, science-based, judgement-free, feline behavior consults.
DISCLAIMER: This video is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for a one-on-one consultation with an animal behavior consultant or a veterinarian.
All products shown or mentioned in this video were purchased at retail. I prefer not to do paid reviews or product placements. My opinions are my own.
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Video content by Tom Kirby, UW-AAB, LSHC-S
Original music by Tom Kirby
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Please comment responsibly. The best comments contribute to the discussion and help us all. Disrespectful comments will be deleted and quickly forgotten.

[@JR-rv9zd]

The Truth About Pet Food, YES!!! Thank you so much for spreading the word!

[@KittyHelpDesk]

Susan is doing amazing work for all of us pet food consumers. I highly recommend purchasing her annual list of approved pet foods.

[@jennie9]

Thanks for the info on AAFCO. It makes me less nervous about feeding my cat raw food that doesn't have it (or the Canadian equivalent) on the label. I gravitate towards raw food that is whole carcass (minus the parts that animals don't usually eat) but it's not a complete and balanced diet, so the companies recommend alternating protein sources. However, after not being able to keep down raw beef, my cat refuses to eat all red meat and I don't want her becoming deficient in something vital because she'll only eat chicken and turkey. In the end, I decided to provide her a variety of types of cat food to avoid this and so she maintains some flexibility in her eating preferences. I feed her wet (Nulo medalseries pate and going to try Tiki Cat After Dark broths) as her main food but also give her raw, freeze-dried raw, and a bit of high quality kibble (first 13 ingredients are meat and seafood). I tried cutting the kibble out completely but it stressed her out, so I give her a very small amount as a treat. I toss it and she chases it down. I'm comfortable with that small amount and she doesn't complain too much about not getting enough of it. It's a good balance overall, I think.

[@KittyHelpDesk]

Thanks for watching! I have lots of thoughts. Just take these as the anecdotal suggestions they are. If you'd like a good alternative to the kibble, I've used Ziwi Peak dry as a treat, though I'd stay away from the ones that include fish. Of course, treats don't really have to be good for them. They should just make them feel good. :) If you're concerned about your cat developing a protein allergy due to limited proteins, you could always add another protein in the form of the Ziwi Peak. Both my cats accepted the beef version even though neither would eat other beef foods. If you're concerned about deficiencies in a raw diet, adding Wysong's Call of the Wild supplement to the meals may help. I've never been able to get my cats to accept a raw diet, but I think that's just because I got them after they'd already been fed kibble. Just getting Mina on wet food was difficult because she'd had nothing but kibble for months when I adopted her as a kitten.

[@jennie9]

@@KittyHelpDesk I can relate to the difficulty of getting them on wet food after eating dry. My elderly cat ate exclusively kibble for the first 12 years of her life. Once I got her, it took months before I could get her to eat wet food and even then she'd only eat completely smooth pate that she could lick up. If it was a gravy or broth, she'd lick up all the liquid and leave behind everything else including the meat. She never ate enough wet or raw food for me to get her off kibble. She'd just refuse to eat at all after a certain amount. Luckily, I found Dr. Elsey's chicken kibble, which has no starches in it, so at least it was very low carb. In the last year of her life, she would only eat that and Tiki Cat Mousse in 2 of the fish flavours. She made it to 22, though, and I credit the food with some of that longevity. I'll look into Ziwi Peak again. Last time I checked, no one here sold it and it was difficult to get on Amazon Canada. Maybe that's changed. I'm only concerned about her not getting enough variety in her raw food but as you said, maybe a supplement would help with that. She eats beef and lamb in some of her wet food.

[@KuroMokoChan]

If this food is considered a mid, what would a low or high look like? Any brands you would recommend?

[@KittyHelpDesk]

In this video's notes I offer links to some great resources that should help to answer your questions. In a nutshell, low quality foods (think grocery store brands like Friskies) have lots of ingredients that are of little to no use to cats, like the wheat gluten I mentioned in the video. The highest quality is a raw diet, like that from Darwin's. However, at the end of the day, the best choices are foods you can afford and your cats will accept. Even the cheapest wet food is better than the most expensive kibble.