What is worse: Carbs, Wheat gluten, Rice, Corn, Mercury, Phosphorous?

While researching commercially available canned foods, I am discovering
that it is almost impossible to find a brand that avoids all things
touted in the nutrition literature as bad:

1. High % of calories from carbs. (E.g., Science Diet, good otherwise)
2. Presence of wheat gluten
3. Presence of rice
4. Presence of corn
5. Mercury (mainly seafood, which would be low in carbs otherwise)
6. Phosphorous.

OK, so here is a question for the truly informed: If I can't avoid all
of the above-listed baddies, and it seems I can't, then which ones are
most harmful and must be avoided, while others can be tolerated?

Needless to say, if you know of affordable commercial brands that meet
all criteria, please do name them!

"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
While researching commercially available canned foods, I am discovering
that it is almost impossible to find a brand that avoids all things
touted in the nutrition literature as bad:

Will you please stop this obsessive stuff?

Give your cat canned food that has meat as a first ingredient. Meat, not
fish.
Supplement with a bit of dry if you want.

You have healthy cats, with no diagnosed problems, right?

Don't make problems for yourself. Believe me, they will come.

cybercat wrote:

: Will you please stop this obsessive stuff?...
: You have healthy cats, with no diagnosed problems, right?
: Don't make problems for yourself. Believe me, they will come.

I appreciate the thought. I guess I am "obsessive" about nutrition, but
only as long as I feel I don't understand the lay of the land. Some of
the problems caused by wrong nutrition can take years to develop. Has
happened to *people* in my family.

Nothing wrong if this doesn't interest you. That's cool. We'll meet in
other threads that we both fond interesting. Fortunately, participation
in any thread *is* voluntary. :-)

"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
cybercat wrote:

: Will you please stop this obsessive stuff?...
: You have healthy cats, with no diagnosed problems, right?
: Don't make problems for yourself. Believe me, they will come.

I appreciate the thought. I guess I am "obsessive" about nutrition, but
only as long as I feel I don't understand the lay of the land. Some of
the problems caused by wrong nutrition can take years to develop. Has
happened to *people* in my family.

Nothing wrong if this doesn't interest you. That's cool. We'll meet in
other threads that we both fond interesting. Fortunately, participation
in any thread *is* voluntary. :-)

Of course it is, but I keep seeing you belaboring minutia. In behavior and
nutrition. It is taxing.

Give your cats a chance to be young healthy cats if they are so lucky. High
quality protein in canned food so they get more water, lots of play, regular
vet care, window seats so they can enjoy the wildlife safely, and love.

Later, when and if they have any significant problems, please come share
your concerns.

You are an intelligent enough man to know that many of the problems we and
our pets encounter are unavoidable. And you already know what to do to avoid
endangering your animals.

cybercat wrote:

: You are an intelligent enough man to know that many of the
: problems we and our pets encounter are unavoidable. And you
: already know what to do to avoid endangering your animals.

I think you are giving me too much credit. Just because I know that
"many" problems are avoidable does not mean I know which ones can be
easily avoided and how.

Similarly, what I "already know" as being good is *not* possible: avoid
all of (1) High % of carbs, (2) wheat gluten, (3) rice, (4) corn, (5)
mercury, (6) high phosphorous.

I don't already know which of these are greater concern than others. Of
course, I know that good meat is good, but...

I don't know which can has meat from diseased animals---yes,
manufacturers are allowed to do that, and no they are not required to
disclose that they did that. So I assume, rightly or not, time will
tell, that higher price means better meat.

Next, I don't know how to choose among meat with wheat gluten, meat
with corn, and meat with phosphorous.

If I did, I wouldn't have asked.

If you do believe that I am an intelligent person---and I have a PhD to
justify that assumption, although not in feline nutrition ---then
you must also trust that I know which questions are interesting to me
and why.

And I don't demand that you must share that interest. I accept that you
and I are different persons, with different interests and experiences.

"RPSinha" wrote in message
I think you are giving me too much credit. Just because I know that
"many" problems are avoidable does not mean I know which ones can be
easily avoided and how.

In reality, you are belabouring minutia as has been suggested. When you take
your cat to the vet, indicate what you're feeding your cat and get an
opinion. After that, it's mostly choosing a brand of food that your cat
likes and not getting unduly upset at the minor differences between brands.
Anything else is just going to irritate that stress caused gastric ulcer
that you're in the process of constructing.

"RPSinha" wrote in message
...
While researching commercially available canned foods, I am discovering
that it is almost impossible to find a brand that avoids all things
touted in the nutrition literature as bad:

1. High % of calories from carbs. (E.g., Science Diet, good otherwise)
2. Presence of wheat gluten
3. Presence of rice
4. Presence of corn
5. Mercury (mainly seafood, which would be low in carbs otherwise)
6. Phosphorous.

OK, so here is a question for the truly informed: If I can't avoid all
of the above-listed baddies, and it seems I can't, then which ones are
most harmful and must be avoided, while others can be tolerated?

Needless to say, if you know of affordable commercial brands that meet
all criteria, please do name them!

This does not specifically answer your question, but I use several varieties
of Wellness canned food (and I avoid the fish varieties). Wellness does not
use grains in their products. This statement might interest you: "Human
Grade Meats: USDA inspected, deboned meat, is a cat's best source of protein
and our most plentiful ingredient." Go to www.petfooddirect.com if you want
to check the nutritional analysis. Select one of the Wellness brands (not
the variety packs) and click on "details." That will give you a list of
ingredients and a nutritional analysis. Incidentally, I do order Wellness
from this site because the nearest location where I could drive is 75 miles
away. If interested, add your name to their mailing list and watch your
email for discounts. The best ones are 20% off and 22% off. I wait for
them, and that essentially pays the cost of shipping. I don't know if this
would meet your criterion for "affordable," but I have found that it really
doesn't cost much more than some of the cheaper brands because my cats need
much less quantity. I give each cat 1/3 can (5.5 oz. size) twice a day, fed
on 12-hour intervals or as close to that as possible. One cat weighs 9 lb.
and the other is a little more than 8 lb. They have been thriving on this
diet, and their weight has stayed completely stable.

MaryL

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf
Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e