To refresh your memory, or if you happened to find this page in a search, we'll briefly cover the "Ingredients" portion of the label on a bag of cat food. You may already know that ingredients are listed in descending order, by weight.
Ideally then, the protein source should be the first listed ingredient in a bag of dry cat food in a "maintenance" diet, followed by secondary protein sources, if included, then whatever carbohydrate fillers are included, oils or fat, other ingredients, such as fruits and vegetables, a form of preservative, and added vitamins and minerals, including taurine. In Part 1 of this series, I featured a popular 'premium' supermarket brand of cat food. You don't need to know the brand names of either brand, because after you learn these definitions, and learn to read the rest of the label, you will be well-equipped to make educated food choices for your cat.
The AAFCO Definitions of ingredients are in plain text; my comments are in italics. My comments will make more sense, if you have also read "Tips for Choosing Cat Foods" and "Understanding Cat Food Labels."
Premium Brand Chicken and Rice Formula
- Chicken: the clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails.
Pretty straight-forward here, and an ingredient I would expect to find in a premium quality cat food. Keep in mind though, that the amount of bone, organ meat, and/or skin may play a part in the quality of the protein, and trust in the source is a subjective value.
- Chicken Meal: chicken which has been ground or otherwise reduced in particle size
Again, pretty straight-forward, although the "otherwise reduced" mention could refer to rendering. It is meal of a named protein source (as opposed to "meat"), which is important.
- Brown Rice: unpolished rice after the kernels have been removed.
This is not a complete AAFCO definition, but it should be noted that brown rice is a rich source of B vitamins, and is generally deemed to be easier to digest than corn, a popular (and cheap) filler.
- Duck: AAFCO definition is not available
I would assume it would closely parallel the definition for "chicken."
- Lamb Meal: the rendered product from lamb tissues, exclusive of blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices.
Lamb is a reasonable source of protein, and all-lamb (protein) foods are often used in eliminating possibilities of food allergies.
- Potatoes: potatoes.
"You say 'po-tay-to and I say po-tah-to," but about all that can be said about potato in cat food is that it probably isn't on cats' menus in the wild. If the skins are included, some vitamins and minerals might be a bonus. The manufacture of this particular food says "Rich in potassium and an excellent source of highly digestible carbohydrates."
- Chicken Fat..preserved with Mixed-Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E): Most premium foods now use mixed tocopherols as well as Vitamin A as preservatives. They are not quite as effective as the old chemical preservatives BHA/BTA, so it is important to always check the maximum shelf life date on the label. (The chicken fat is pretty self-explanatory.)
- Canola Oil: AAFCO definition is unavailable. This product contains 20% fat by dry weight, including the chicken fat and canola.
- Oatmeal:AAFCO definition unavailable. Yet more carbohydrates, but pretty far down the list. On the other hand, brown rice, potatoes and oatmeal adds up to a hefty carbohydrate percentage, more than cats really need. This is the downside of an exclusive dry diet, no matter how high the quality.
- Fish Meal: the clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil
Although an all-fish diet might be hard on the kidneys, cats do love the flavor of fish. You'll notice the addition of fish to many "chicken" flavors of cat food, very likely for this reason.
Next > Additional ingredients definitions
