I believe every cat parent is aware that our beloved feline friends are obligate carnivores. This means their diet should primarily consist of meat with only a minimal amount of carbohydrates.
When it comes to cat parenting, choosing the right cat food brand is one of the most critical decisions you can make. It directly impacts your furry friend’s dietary needs and overall health.
Now, you might be wondering: How to recognize which cat food should you avoid feeding your cat?
Worry not, it’s easy. You just need to pay attention to the food’s ingredients and be able to recognize the bad and low-quality ones.
High-quality cat food is well-balanced, contains real meat, and has a minimal carbohydrate content.
On the other hand, low-quality foods are full of carbohydrates, grains, by-products, fillers, unnecessary additives, and other ingredients that I’m about to mention throughout this article. So, stay tuned, and don’t miss a thing!
5 Low-Quality Cat Food Brands
Here’s a list of cat foods with low-quality ingredients that you should avoid for the sake of your cat’s overall health!
1. 9Lives Dry By JM Smucker
| Ingredients List |
| Whole ground corn |
| Chicken by-product meal |
| Soybean meal |
| Corn |
| Gluten meal |
| Beef fat |
| Preserved with mixed tocopherols |
| Whole wheat |
| Meat and bone meal |
| Animal digest |
| Titanium dioxide |
First on the list is 9Lives Dry Food. Unfortunately, this food won’t meet your beloved feline friend’s dietary needs if you take a closer look at its ingredients.
While by-products aren’t necessarily bad for cats, they don’t offer significant benefits either. Cats, being obligate carnivores, require real meat as the primary ingredient in their food.
However, in this food brand, you’ll find meat somewhere in the middle of the ingredient list, often mixed with bone meal.
Another concerning ingredient in this dry food is titanium dioxide, used for color, which is considered unsafe and potentially carcinogenic.
2. Cat Chow Dry By Nestlé
| Ingredients List |
| Chicken by-product meal |
| Whole grain corn |
| Soy flour |
| Whole grain wheat |
| Corn gluten meal |
| Rice |
| Beef fat preserved with mixed tocopherols |
| Chicken |
| Soybean hulls |
| Powdered cellulose |
| Red 40 |
| Blue 2 |
| Yellow 5 |
Cat Chow Dry food isn’t much different from the previously mentioned cat food brand. The first and primary ingredient of this food is chicken by-product meal, which is a processed chicken carcass that cats cannot benefit much from.
Moreover, this food contains a lot of grains, and food colors, which are completely unnecessary when it comes to cat food and diet.
3. Meow Mix Dry By JM Smucker
| Ingredients List |
| Whole ground corn |
| Soybean meal |
| Chicken by-product meal |
| Corn gluten meal |
| Beef tallow (preserved with mixed tocopherols) |
| Animal digest |
| Turkey by-product meal |
| Choline chloride, salt |
| Titanium dioxide (color) |
Another cat food from JM Smucker, Meow Mix Dry food, doesn’t fare well based on its ingredients. It includes chicken and turkey by-products, titanium dioxide, and also salt, which is not healthy for cats at all.
On the positive side, this food contains animal digest, which cats find tasty. Still, that’s not enough meat to meet the cat’s dietary requirements.
4. Fancy Feast Gourmet Dry Food By Nestlé
| Ingredients List |
| Brewers rice |
| Poultry by-product meal |
| Corn gluten meal |
| Animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherol |
| Ground yellow corn |
| Soybean meal |
| Animal liver flavor |
| Chicken |
| Turkey |
| Artificial flavors |
| Choline chloride |
While Fancy Feast Gourmet Dry food contains chicken and turkey meat, unfortunately, they are not the primary ingredients.
The food also includes by-product meals and artificial flavors, which can lead to allergic reactions and digestive problems in cats.
Despite words like “fancy” and “gourmet” in its name, this food is not any better than the previously mentioned ones.
5. Kit n’ Kaboodle Dry Food By Nestlé
| Ingredients List |
| Ground yellow corn |
| Corn gluten meal |
| Soybean meal |
| Meat and bone meal |
| Animal fat |
| Preserved with mixed tocopherols |
| Chicken by-product meal |
| Choline chloride |
| Red 40 |
| Yellow 5 |
| Blue 2 |
If corn were beneficial for felines, then this food would be perfect for their diet. Unfortunately, they need real meat, which this food lacks in necessary amounts.
This cat food mainly contains meat and bone meal, which is processed, along with animal fat. Additionally, it contains by-products and artificial colors, which, once again, don’t provide any benefits to our cat’s immune system.
In Conclusion
These five cat food brands aren’t the only low-quality options out there. Unfortunately, there are plenty of them in the market. That’s why it’s crucial to pay special attention to the food’s ingredients.
Our cats’ overall health and well-being depend on their diet, so it’s best not to cut corners when it comes to their dietary needs.
If you wish to learn more about cat food ingredients you should avoid, consider consulting with your vet. In the meantime, you can click on the article below and find out what experts say and advise!
Cat Nutritionist Shares 4 Cat Food Ingredients You Should Limit Or Avoid
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