Pet Food Ingredients - N - Names - k/d ,l/d - Kidney - Liver

Names continued-

k/d-Renal Health   


        Kidney Disease Information
                  More Information


Ingredients - 

Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Pork Fat, Chicken By-Product Meal, Dried Egg Product, Dried Chicken, Powdered Cellulose, Fish Meal, Lactic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, DL-Methionine, Potassium Citrate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, Iodized Salt, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, L-Tryptophan, Phosphoric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Natural Flavors.

How it is stated to help-

• Reduced levels of protein to help minimize kidney workload
• Reduced phosphorus to help maintain healthy kidney function and minimize stress on kidneys
• Reduced sodium to help maintain normal blood pressure
• Increased levels of omega-3 fatty acids to support kidney health
• Increased levels of B-complex vitamins to compensate urinary losses
• Added antioxidants to control cell oxidation and promote a healthy immune system

Wait a second.. you want to give a cat with kidney issues a dry food?

Am I missing something here? 

Isn't protein rather important for all aspects of kitty life?

Could it be that your version of protein sucks??

Could you possibly be selling a product that has ingredients in it that are the possible main reason for the rise of Kidney issues in felines?

Is it possible. 

But I could be totally wrong. 

•  After taking a little walk on the web, I have learned that low vs high protein is under debate. 

In order to repair kidney cell damage and increase blood flow and volume - protein is needed.  

• Carnivores need protein.

•  Many of these cats are under weight and anemic 

•  They need protein 

• Carnitine becomes depleted in cats with renal failure  - red meats are high in Carnitine, so are other lean meats and fish.

Read this

I am sticking with my instinct on this one... and ..

Natures Variety - Instinct Grain Free Chicken 


High quality protein
Low Phosphorus
Available in Rabbit, Duck, Beef, Venison, Salmon, Lamb, Pork.

Betcha Fluffy could find one it likes. 

*One of the main things I read on all the sites  - Kitty needs to eat!
If kitty will only eat MeowChow in Gravy - then give kitty MeowChow in Gravy!


Figure it out, try things - start with the good stuff - then add a bit of the not so good. 
Kinda like ordering a salad on the side of Chicken Nuggets..
What ever works. 

Sadly, most kidney diseases are not caught early. You can blame their body for that one.. they seem to have a back up plan that fails to alert the animal or human  - after that - Kitty may have irreversible damage.

So how can someone try to prevent this? 

Wet Food or a Raw Food Diet may be helpful.

A chronically dehydrated cat ( which is basically what happens to a dry food fed only kitty) has a higher chance of kidney issues - that makes sense right?


Feed Fluffy wet food..Fluffy probably wants wet food. 
Fluffy may want really cheap wet food.
Fluffy will have to at least meet you half way - go for a mix of high and medium quality wet food. 
Low quality only if Fluffy goes on hunger strike. 

A medium quality food to me would be Canidae, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Natural Balance, Nutro. Stuff like that.

******************

l/d - Feline Hepatic Health (Liver)

Ingredients - 

Brewers Rice, Chicken by-Product Meal, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Soybean Meal, Pasta Product, Pork Protein Isolate, Soy Fiber, Dried Egg Product, Fish Meal, Lactic Acid, Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Powdered Cellulose, Taurine, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Menadione Dimethylypyrimidinol Bisulfite (source of vitamin K)), DL-Methionine, Calcium Sulfate, L-Carnitine, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), L-Arginine, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Phosphoric Acid, Rosemary Extract, Beta-carotene.

How it is stated to help - 

• High quality and highly digestible protein in moderate quantities to help reduce liver workload and helps maintain liver function
• Added L-Carnitine to help maintain normal fat metabolism in the liver
• Reduced in sodium to help maintain normal blood pressure
• Added antioxidant nutrients like vitamin E and C to control cell oxidation and promote a healthy immune system

High quality proteins?
Where? I see 4-D chicken and lard. 



Different sites have been stating that it is important to have a low copper - high zinc diet. 
Copper and Zinc Biological Role

I am not sure what I just read... but I did catch -

• When the liver is not functioning properly  - copper accumulates

• Meat is high in copper but it is also high in zinc which needs to be available along with manganese for proper absorption and metabolism of Copper.

• Though it is best to avoid foods that are high in copper - it is smarter to avoid foods that are high in copper but not also high in zinc. 

I found some sites that talk about Wilson's Disease  - this is not the same but copper is restricted so it gives good information on what to eat and what not to eat.

• A Chicken and Oatmeal formula may work - maybe ask your vet about the possibility of a food like that.

• Beef and Rice is also an option. 

• A home made meal might be the best course for your kitty - ask your vet if that is an option. 

* since water is very important- water can have a high copper content. Copper pipeing also adds to the levels in water.

Think about filtered water- ask about the options other than tap water.

There are certain things we can not change - genetics, birth defects, aging - all beyond our ability to control. 

We can control what we put down in front of our pets to eat. 
That is up to us. 

Pet Food Ingredients - I - Ingredient Splitting

I

Ingredient Splitting


Hello, welcome to one of the pet food industries Dirty Little Secrets 

So you have been doing your best to find a quality pet food for Fido and Fluffy.
At first you were unaware of what to look for on the back of a can.

Actually you, like most people ..including myself...did not even look at the back of the can or bag. 

Now you are doing your best to read the ingredients. You know what you want to see - MEAT- as the first ingredient. 

Sure it's still confusing what kind of meat you want to see.. trying to figure out the difference between whole chicken, deboned chicken, chicken, chicken by product, chicken meal, chicken by product meal...you may need a pet food to English dictionary. 

But you do know you want to see MEAT. 

Companies are also aware you are looking.


Now for your higher quality and more ethical companies , the fact that you are looking at the ingredients makes them happy. 

Finally the consumers will know that their product is worthy of being looked at under a microscope. 

Do it! They want you to!!


On the other hand...

Some of the big name brands are terrified. 
They are shaking in their money lined boots. 

They are profiting off of consumers lack of knowledge. 
Big time.
We are talking Billion Dollar Industries. 


They do use some of that profit towards improving their brand...name...
Marketing tactics that make Apple jealous. 

I would not be surprised if Blue Buffalo received a call from Blackberry, begging for use of their marketing staff. (with sales jumping 200% for Blue Buffalo I don't blame them) *not stating Blue Buffalo splits ingredients - I am speaking only on their rather fantastic marketing

So what am I talking about?

Deception. 

Ingredient Splitting :
The practice of subdividing a less attractive ingredient such as corn, in order to make it appear lower on the ingredient list. 
In doing so, meat floats up to the top of the list.
Giving a false impression that Meat is the predominant ingredient in the food. 

You may see a list like this (but not this, I just made it up)
Chicken Meal, Ground Yellow Corn, Animal Fat, Corn Gluten Meal, Turkey By-Product, Wheat Gluten, Brewers Rice, Corn Bran

If it were illegal to split ingredients you would see: Corn, Chicken Meal, Whole Grain, Turkey By-Product

That still looks better then most of your grocery store pet foods
(I could be wrong on the renaming of the rice and wheat gluten as whole grain)


Here are some of the Corn words used.
 
Corn, corn bran, corn flour, corn gluten, corn gluten meal, corn grits, corn starch, corn husks, corn syrup, corn meal, corn oil, ground corn, ground yellow corn, whole grain corn, maize


That is just a list that I could think of...I am really starting to hate corn. 


This is also done with other grains. 
There are some pet foods that are basically just grains.

How is that possible????
Damn plant based protein.
But that is another post...


Here are a few cat foods I have been looking at that currently seem to be good 
(seriously, tomorrow I could change my opinion because of an ingredient I currently know nothing about that happens to cause crazy cat syndrome or something equally fun)

 Nature`s Variety - Instinct

 Wild Calling 

 Orijen

Innova

Wellness Core












So what the heck does a person look for?

Honestly?

Grain Free.


But you also have to be aware of some of the grain free products being higher in fat and lower in protein - why? $$$



Once again I end this post with a hope that we all start to READ THE LABELS 

One of these days I will be able to get through a whole ingredient list on a Meow Mix bag ( why meow mix- long list with strange scary words)