Cat Food Ratings Aren’t the Final Word—Here’s What Matters More
- info3264811
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
The pet food world is a rabbit hole I've been gradually getting myself into more and more lately. If you've had the chance to read my prior post about kibble, you'll already know choosing the best foods for our four legged family is not so cut and dry. At the end of the day though, label reading is a critical piece of the puzzle and educating ourselves on what to look for is paramount.
The inspiration for today's blog comes from a recent post I read by a local competitor. I was taken aback by the article's approach making Cat food reviews pretty important. Although the intention seemed positive, I found the execution misleading and incorrect, Cat Food Ratings aren't the final word. The blog focused on four wet cat foods, each addressing specific needs such as being best for indoor cats, suitable for sensitive stomachs or chicken allergies, premium grain-free options, and freeze-dried raw food. It felt like the content was copied directly from product listings on Chewy.com or crafted by a salesperson aiming to promote their brand over others. It also resembled an AI-generated summary of consumer reviews and star ratings.
There is so much more to it than sales tactics and AI. Just like with people food, reading labels is so important. Even more important however is knowing what to look for and what questions to ask before making the purchase. Think of it this way, you know those bagged salad kits sold in the super market? How easy right, you get your Green Cabbage, Green Leaf Lettuce, Kale, Red Cabbage, Carrots, Green Onion, a pouch with cheese maybe and some croutons along with a special dressing? How convenient! However did you miss the 10g of sugar and 12g of fat? Pet food doesn't come with the fancy nutritional breakdown like human food does so you need to dig a little deeper.
Key Considerations for Choosing Pet Food
- Instead of Cat food reviews understand that similarly for kibble a named animal protein should be the first ingredient. Cats can not process plant based proteins.
- Be wary of “by-products” listed as an ingredient. This could mean almost anything, any part of the animal and any source.
- Watch for ingredients such as carob bean gum and other unknowns. This is a binding agent which is used in many other industries like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paper making, textiles, and even in some mining and drilling applications.
- Watch for the placement of Salt in the ingredients. Anything from this point on makes up less than 1% of the ingredients
- Be wary of the minimum protein (should be 26% or more), minimum Fat (9-21%), minimum fiber (3-5%), max moisture (should be at least 60%). Anything listing vague figures like 9.6% min Crude protein, etc is cause for concern on the quality.
To be fair, among the four products discussed in the blog, two are "Big Pet Food" brands in the US, the third is an Asia Pacific product, and the fourth is a Canadian raw-based product. From the start, the "Big Pet Food" brands were a "no" for me. Their motives and corporate ethics don't align with my values. The two foreign brands are clearly superior, particularly the raw-based product, which is the clear winner. For any pet food, if you can choose raw, DO IT!
In Summary
Do your due diligence, read labels and ask questions. Relying on product reviews is lazy. Relying on your vet, is misguided since they don't get nearly enough education on nutrition themselves and don't get me started on who writes/sponsors the curriculums. If you love your pets the way I hope you do, I challenge you to dig a little deeper. Even just a little bit of homework can save yourself the heartache of cancer or feline diabetes.
Comentarios