Understanding Natural Cat Food Labels

Reading cat food labels isn’t much different from reading your own food labels, especially if you understand the value of a healthy, holistic and natural diet. And if you make label-checking a habit when shopping for food for your cat, you’ll have him on a road to better health and wellness.

What should you look for on a cat food label? Natural cat foods that tout a holistic and whole food wellness diet will show assurances of no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Look for high-quality protein sources like real chicken, liver, eggs or salmon high up on the ingredient list. These protein sources should be some of the first few items. Some pets may be allergic to fish, dairy or soy, so for those with sensitivity, lamb or turkey may be better protein sources.

Plus, the cat food should contain complex carbohydrate sources such as leafy greens spinach and parsley. Additionally, healthy additives would include essential acid sources like flax seed, natural preservatives like vitamin E, nutritional yeast, garlic and probiotics like acidophilus. Pet food labels should contain items that would be familiar to you if you were eating a healthy, natural, whole foods diet.

Partial sample product labels of natural cat food labels include this one by Wysong: Chicken, chicken giblets, poultry fat, corn gluten meal, ground brown rice, ground wheat, ground corn, ground oat groats, wheat gluten, whole egg, fish oil, DL-methionine, salt, taurine, lecithin, citric acid, natural extractives of sage, natural extractives of rosemary, dried kelp, garlic, black pepper, artichoke…

And Halo’s Spot’s Stew, which looks just like Mom’s own family recipe stew: chicken, carrots, zucchini, squash, green beans, celery…

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) regulates labeling of pet foods. For example, the AAFCO requires that products be listed in order of predominance by weight. The AAFCO notes that products labeled as “premium” or “gourmet” are not required to contain any different ingredients and are not held up to higher AAFCO standards. It also notes that it does not have an official definition as to what “natural” means, and that there are no official rules governing the labeling of “organic” pet foods. So, it’s up to you to scrutinize those labels and contact the manufacturer if you have questions or wish to verify a claim.

The AAFCO also determines the required nutrient profile for cat foods for growth and reproduction minimum requirements and adult maintenance requirements. For example, the AAFCO describes the percentage required of protein and particular vitamins and minerals and notes their importance in health.

However, though the AAFCO requires 26% protein in the maintenance formulas, not all proteins are created equal, according to Dr. Richard Pitcairn, author of “Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats,” Rodale Press. He notes that the digestibility of particular protein sources differs, and that one protein may be 75% digestible and another 95% digestible. Some proteins are not possible to digest at all. He says that manufacturers list the “crude protein” instead of the protein percentage that your pet will actually absorb. For this very reason, you must look at the cat food labels for preferable protein sources like turkey, chicken, beef, fish, lamb and eggs.

Less digestible and less efficient sources of protein are the by-products, such as chicken by-products, and meals, like liver glandular meal. You will also want to avoid what Dr. Pitcairn calls “collective ingredient terms,” like “vegetable products,” “processed animal protein products” or “plant fiber products,” because they do not accurately identify exactly what is in the product.

Reading labels now with this knowledge at hand, keep in mind that if it looks like something you wouldn’t eat, your cat probably shouldn’t be eating either.

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