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

"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

"cindys" wrote in message
...
I wish I had read your post before posting mine. I wrote exactly the same
thing :-) FTR, my cats like the Beef and Chicken flavor of Wellness.
Best regards,
---Cindy S.


No problem! I do that frequently (respond to someone without checking all
the replies, then find that I duplicated information). Actually, I think it
is sometimes helpful to get similar information from more than one person.

MaryL