Dry Cat Foods That Do Not Contain Wheat Gluten
Saturday March 31, 2007
Yesterday, Hills Pet Nutrion Inc. recalled its Science Diet Prescription Diet M/D dry food. In the uneasy climate after the Menu Foods Pet Food Recall, an ASPCA press release suggests feeding pets only dry pet foods that do not contain wheat gluten. I am providing a list of such foods for my readers' convenience. This list includes popular grocery store brands as well as premium brands of dry cat foods without wheat gluten. The list is not exhaustive, and cat guardians should develop the habit of reading pet food labels to form their own opinions. Inclusion in this list is not to be construed as an endorsement for any of these products. I have included links to my own reviews of dry pet food where applicable.It is hoped that concerned cat guardians will use this list only as a starting point toward doing their own research for the best foods for their cats. My Pet Food Resource on the left is packed full of information on reading pet food labels, what kinds of cat foods are good and not-so-good, and my reviews and top picks.
Image © Franny Syufy
Suggested Reading:
Comments
Natural Balance’s website does not say that there is wheat gluten in its Ultra-Premium Dry Cat Food. http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/catformulas/UltCat.html
Curious as to why it is not on the list.
Thanks!
I fed my seven year old cat friskies chunk can food and also dry food. He started eating less and less, then stopped altogether. He just layed around until he died. Not knowing it could have been his food, because the trouble started after he passed. Now I wounder if it killed him. He was heathy until the first week in febuary. He died in five days.
Hi Franny, Just an FYI – Del Monte has re-called several pet treats (including a Pounce Meaty Morsels) as well as some private label foods from Ol Roy, Dollar General, and Happy Tails — I think these are all dog foods. The Pounce was the one that surprised me! This just happened yesterday. Here is the release: http://www.delmonte.com/petfoodrecall.html. Thanks for all you’re doing, Franny!
Courtney: Natural Balance is not YET on the list. It took me several hours to do what’s on there now, and as it says, it is NOT a complete list. I’ll be adding new foods to it regularly, so thanks for your patience.
So as long as the label doesn’t say “wheat gluten” in the ingredients, is the food “safe” ? My cat can’t eat just any food due to a urinary tract problem so I’m trying to find out if the 9 Lives Urinary Tract Health food is ok..
We’ve gone back to only Wellness and Eagle Pack dry foods and Wellness for “wet” (although that’s all we’ve used for canned food for a long time). Thank goodness our diabetic cat wouldn’t eat SD’s version of that prescription diet. Problems can erupt anywhere — the issue with organic spinach a few months back is an indicator of that. I’m seriously thinking of making all of the food we feed, but must do some research to ensure we cover the nutrients that should be included. That’s not my first choice, but it’s certainly worth considering.
Sarah: Did you LOOK at the list I posted? 9 Lives is included in it.
>>>So as long as the label doesn’t say “wheat gluten” in the ingredients, is the food “safe” ?<<<
In the current climate, I don’t think anyone would dare say that any given food is “safe.” That’s why it is so important to learn how to read food labels. I have all that information on my site, so please don’t be afraid to leave the “comments” section and look for it. Click on ” Cat Food & Nutrition” under “Topics” in red on the left, and you may be surprised to see what all is there.
Franny Syufy
Um, wow.
Yes. I DID look at the list you posted. At the time, only the “plain” 9 Lives dry food was listed – not the Urinary Tract Health kind. I consider them to be two different foods because I’m very worried about things.
So EXCUSE me ?
I’m still stumped as to why people who have pets by the CRAP that’s in grocery stores? Get a clue, folks.
Hi Franny,
In response to your listing of Del Monte as “Del Monte’s offers this disclaimer that it is not connected in any way with the Menu Foods recall,” I just wanted to note that, yesterday, Del Monte recalled several pet treats (including one version of Pounce Meaty Morsels) as well as some canned foods in their off-label brands. The press release is here:
http://www.delmonte.com/petfoodrecall.html
Thank you for all you’re doing, Franny!
-just checked my purina ONE brand dry and it has wheat gluten-even tho they say its not affected im worried if i should take cat to vet- seems fine? any advice?
Mag: You are correct; Purina One does contain wheat gluten, and for that reason it will not be included on my list.
FWIW, Purina’s disclaimer says: In addition, no other Purina dog food products, no Purina cat food products, Purina treat products or Purina Veterinary Diet products are included in this recall, nor have been impacted by the contaminated wheat gluten supply. (My emphasis)
I gather that the wheat germ in Purina’s other products comes from a different supplier.
It’s your choice, of course, whether or not to discontinue using Purina One. You could call your vet, of course.
Franny Syufy
Sarah: No, EXCUSE me, please, for leaving out 9 Lives Urinary Tract formula. (I found it by clicking on the link to the left from my list, and it does NOT include wheat gluten.) I’ll add it to the list, time permitting.
I took a look at the first several ingredients: Ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, ground wheat, animal digest, poultry fat (preserved with BHA), meat and bone meal, phosphoric acid, calcium carbonate, salt, potassium chloride, yeast culture, titanium dioxide*, tuna meal.
No wheat gluten though!
Franny
-thanks for prompt reply–what about corn gluten?-a pet food without any gluten is hard to come by.
Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul does NOT have Wheat Gluten. It is a popular choice on the CATS forum, has no meat by-products, and it’s about the only dry food my cat Chloe will eat!
http://www.chickensoupforthepetloverssoul.com/
Jen says: >>Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover’s Soul does NOT have Wheat Gluten. It is a popular choice on the CATS forum, has no meat by-products, and it’s about the only dry food my cat Chloe will eat!< <
Yes, you are entirely correct, Jen, and I inadvertantly left it off the list. However, if you will look at my more recent blogs you will see that Chicken Soup is indeed listed in my top picks of both canned and dry foods. I’ll also add it to the dry food list when I get a spare minute.
FrannyCats
mags: Corn gluten has not been named as contaminated. Only certain sources of wheat gluten.
Franny
It makes me very sick to think that I must be afraid to feed my cats any type brand or variety of foods whether dry, can, moist, treats etc.
I am sick at heart knowing that all these poor creatures died so horribly from this–kidney failure is a horrible way for an animal to die from.
And every day another form of food will be found contaminated and way too late.
Is this company going to be held accountable???????
And how many people realize that M/D cat food was made for diabetic cats to help maintain their kidney functions to help avoid kidney failure???????
Also was deemed safe enough for healthy cats to eat as a weight control food????
What else is this POISON in? Human food as well?
We just lost one of our cats but not from food and I would hate to lose our other cat from bad food, I try to stick with either Friskies or Whiskas. Well read the ingredients on the cans from now on. BEv.
I feed my 6 cats ranging from the ages 1-1/2 to 12 years old. IAMS dry cat food for multiple cats contains the ingredient wheat germ. Is wheat germ similar to wheat gluetin?
Hi. My cat has kidney failure from eating contaminated food. She got sick while we were away on Spring Break in Florida. She is getting better and is running and playing. She was hospitalized for several days, has been to the vet several times. We have to give her medicine so she won’t vomit. We have to give her IV fluids twice a week. She doesn’t like it of course. The bills are substantial. I had to take out a new credit card just for her care!!! All this for a little stray that showed up at my door step about 5 years ago.
Sabrina is a sweetheart though.
I stongly recommend trying Natural Ultramix cat food by Castor and Pollux Pet Works. Accroding to their site their products do not contain wheat gluten and are therefore not affected by the recall http://www.castorpolluxpet.com/your_questions/canned_food_recall.
Our cat is a VERY picky eater and he loves this stuff!
IF YOU LOVE YOUR ANIMAL I WOULDN’T FEED IT ANYTHING THAT HAS WHEAT GLUTEN IN IT OR IS MADE BY MENU FOODS. I mean a lot of the natural food is made by Menu, but since I do not trust Menu foods, I am not going to take any chances with my babies. Also, stuff made by Purina contains wheat gluten and if you do a google search you will find lots of pet owners that their pets have died because of feeding them Friskies or Special Kitty dry, Iams dry, ect. so I say better safe than sorry… You may of feed your cat Friskies it’s entire life, like me, and get one bad batch and they die..
here is a link to a book with 100 cat food recipes. You just go to the link and then click on download for free with file factory basic
http://www.filefactory.com/file/d0fec3/
you may have to cut and paste the link in your browser
also, why is the news only reporting that around 15 pets have died, when it’s more like thousands? The fifteen that died were Menu Foods test cats. If you really love your animals, my suggestion is do not feed them anything with wheat gluten in it or anything that has any connection to menu foods. I researched and found Natural Balance, it is all natural and not affiliated in any way to Menu Foods. My cats are picky eaters and it is taking a little time for them to get used to it, but I think they will. You can get it at Petco store or online. I had been feeding them Friskies and Special Kitty dry, but I saw where a lot of people’s pets had died from eating that crap so I switched them.
Also I read somewhere that another company bought the tainted wheat gluten but is staying confidential. I wouldn’t doubt it, because we know for a fact they are trying to make this look smaller than it is.
here is just two of the stories i found about friskies
http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=6321325&nav=2gQc
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070405175255AALGyDu
here is one about Special Kitty dry (read the first comment)
http://hubpages.com/hub/Cat_Food_Recall_Is_Your_Cat_Sick
I have also found these stories on Meow Mix and other low quality cat food that contains gluten…so be careful, just because it isn’t recalled doesn’t mean it’s safe, they are still adding to the recall list everyday.
my cat had to be put to sleep yesterday because she had health problems and i am wondering if it was from the food. I was told that i should get a new cat to help with the loss and pain of the other one so i went today and instead of one i got two kittens from the same litter and i am told that they were being fed friskies dry food for kittens and i was wondering if anyone knows if the ingredients in it are safe to feed to them. thank you.
Has anyone heard about the CEO of Menu foods selling stock when he heard of pets first getting sick? I think he could learn a lesson from Martha Stewart.
I was wondering if purina one natural blends is being recalled because it has wheat gluten in it, and is it safe for my cats. I also have a bag of the new stuff by The Goodlife Recipe Petcare Company and found it also has wheat gluten im scared to give my cats.
Hi- I have 5 cats who mainly eat turkey can and dry foods. I have friskies, whiskas and some nine lives wet cans. I also have fancy feast, whiskas and friskies dry foods. I also have pounce moist tuna cat treats and pounce chicken & turkey crunchy treats. How can I determine if any of these are dangerous?
I’ve checked your list over and over – I don’t see ANY of Friskies or Purina on your list!!! Is it listed under something else??? Is there ONE COMPREHENSIVE UP TO DATE LIST???
patfar: You are commenting to a blog post that is almost 5 months old. Wheat gluten per se is no longer a factor in the tainted foods, as it has long since discovered that the melamine and cyanuric acid that wheat gluten was adulterated with that caused the illnesses and deaths of pets. Because of that, and other considerations, I no longer update that list as it is strictly academic at this point in time.