Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Canned Cat Food Comparison

Here is another cat food comparison but this time, it is for canned food! The food, top ten ingredients, and guaranteed analysis are listed first and then a review of the foods.

Wellness Chicken Recipe
Chicken, Chicken liver, turkey, chicken broth, carrots, natural chicken flavor, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, cranberries
Crude protein: Not less than 10%
Crude fat: Not less than 5%
Crude fiber: Not more than 1%
Moisture: Not more than 78%

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul
Chicken, chicken liver, salmon, turkey, duck, chicken broth, whole grain brown rice, white rice, oatmeal, potatoes,
Crude protein: Not less than 10%
Crude fat: Not less than 5%
Crude fiber: Not more than 1%
Moisture: Not more than 78%

Blue Buffalo
Chicken, chicken broth, chicken liver, water, dried egg whites, potato starch, ground brown rice, spinach, flaxseed, sodium phosphate
Crude protein: Not less than 10%
Crude fat: Not less than 5.5%
Crude Fiber: Not more than 1%
Moisture: Not more than 78%

The top ingredient is Chicken in all three, which is a good healthy muscle meat. Wellness and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul (from here on called Chicken Soup) have chicken liver as the second ingredient which is also healthy and provides several very important vitamins and adds flavor for the food while Blue Buffalo has chicken broth which is not quite as good as chicken liver (chicken liver provides more vitamins) but still a nice addition. Third we have Turkey in Wellness, which is another sound inclusion because it is another high quality muscle meat. In Chicken Soup we have salmon which is also a great meat to include and provides fish oil with it (great for the skin and coat). In Blue Buffalo we have chicken liver (YAY, they include it here) which is good (as explained above). Fourth in Wellness is chicken broth, which is a good inclusion. In Chicken Soup we have turkey, which is a good muscle meat. In Blue Buffalo we have water, which I don’t have an issue with although it seems a little high on the list. In the fifth spot Wellness has carrots, which are a good source of vitamins, and is NOT a high cause of allergies in pets. In Chicken Soup we have duck, which is a good source of protein and is a great muscle meat that is a little different. In Blue Buffalo we have dried egg whites, which are a great source of protein. Sixth in Wellness we have natural chicken flavor which is a good flavoring to add because it is not artificial. In Chicken Soup we have chicken broth, which is a good inclusion. In Blue Buffalo we have potato starch, which is a good ingredient because it is not usually a cause of allergies and is healthy. Seventh in Wellness we have sweet potatoes, which are a good healthy ingredient to include because they supply vitamins. In Chicken Soup we have whole grain brown rice, which is a good form of rice to include because it is the best part of the grain. In Blue buffalo we have ground brown rice, which is good for the same reason that the whole grain was. Eighth in Wellness we have squash which is good to include because it provides vitamins. In Chicken Soup we have white rice, which is not a high allergy cause and provides vitamins. In Blue Buffalo we have spinach, which is good and provides vitamins. Ninth in Wellness we have zucchini, which is a good ingredient and provides vitamins. In Chicken Soup we have oatmeal, which is a good ingredient and provides more vitamins. In Blue Buffalo we have flaxseed, which is also a good ingredient and provides a great fat source. Tenth in Wellness is cranberries which are a great source of antioxidants. In Chicken Soup we have potatoes, which are another good inclusion because they provide starch and vitamins. Blue Buffalo has sodium phosphate, which is a good inclusion, and I have no issues with.

Now I will go over the guaranteed analysis for the foods. Crude protein in all foods is 10% minimum. That is a fairly high protein content and it comes from a good source so no issues there. The Crude fat is 5% minimum in Wellness and Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul, and 5.5% minimum in Blue Buffalo. Not much difference there and it is also high quality fat so that is fine. Crude fiber in ALL the foods is 1% maximum which is good. Moisture is 78% maximum which is good because you don’t want TOO much water but do want a fair amount.

So, the answer to what food is better is: It is up to you because they are all good. I would choose Wellness or Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul but Blue Buffalo is also very good. They all provide solid nutrition for your cat.

1 comment:

  1. I just discovered that some Fancy Feast varieties are grain free and are only meat and supplements. You HAVE to look at the label though because many are NOT. Some that I KNOW are grain free are "Classic Savory Salmon Feast", "Classic Ocean Whitefish & Tuna Feast", "Classic Chicken Feast", and "Classic Turkey & Giblets Feast". ALL of these have by-products in them but no grains. Personally, I am OK with by-products in CANNED food as long as they are not the first ingredient.

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