Hi Siobhan,
i looked up James WellBeloved cat food and checked the ingredients. Here is an overview and explanation of some of the ingredients. i do not have the time to go thru the Royal Canin ingredients but, i think you get the picture of what is in _most_ if not all commercial kibble and why i am opposed. Companies use our naivete and trust in them to their advantage. Often times we see "fresh", "hypo-allergenic", "wholesome ingredients", and a hefty price tag and believe that this is the best we can do for our animals. We also read ingredients that would be healthy for human consumption and assume they are good or easily absorbed by our cats. Unfortunately, this is not the case. If you are a bit squeamish about feeding raw whole prey or prey model and want to feed commercial food i would recommend Oma's Pride. If on a budget and cannot afford Oma's Pride and want to provide your kitties with the best diet possible i would work on providing prey/prey model diet. Yahoo rawpaws and rawcat are great groups for those interested in feeding raw species appropriate diet.
Lamb and Rice
Ingredients: White rice (min 26%), Lamb meat meal (min 26%), lamb fat, prairie meal, potato protein (min 7%), lamb gravy, tomato, omega-3 oil supplement (min 0.5%), chicory extract, carrot, cranberry extract (min 0.05%), DL methionine, lysine hydrochloride, taurine, threonine, zinc methionate, yucca extract, rosemary oil.
Turkey and Rice
Ingredients: White rice (min 26%), turkey meat meal (min 26%), turkey fat, prairie meal, potato protein (min 9%), poultry gravy, tomato, omega-3 oil supplement (min 0.5%), chicory extract, carrot, cranberry extract (min 0.05%), DL methionine, lysine hydrochloride, taurine, threonine, zinc methionate, yucca extract, rosemary oil.
Duck and Rice
Ingredients: White rice (min 26%), duck meat meal (min 26%), duck fat, prairie meal, potato protein (min 9%), poultry gravy, tomato, omega-3 oil supplement (min 0.5%), chicory extract, carrot, cranberry extract (min 0.05%), DL methionine, lysine hydrochloride, taurine, threonine, zinc methionate, yucca extract, rosemary oil.
Fish and Rice
Ingredients: White Rice (min 26%), White Fish Meal (min 25%), prairie meal, Potato protein (min 9%), olive oil, fish oil, vegetable gravy, tomato, chicory extract, carrot, cranberry extract (min 0.05%), DL methionine, lysine hydrochloride, taurine, threonine, zinc methionate, yucca extract, rosemary oil.
Meat Meal- Slaughterhouse wastes and dead animals are used to prepare meat and bone meal. Slaughterhouse wastes consist of portions of animals that are not suitable for human consumption; normally hair, hooves and blood are not included. After animals have died their carcasses can be rendered to destroy disease organisms and made also into meat and bone meal. Yet, slaughterhouse animals rejected for human use due to high antibiotic levels also make their way into pet foods. (1)The American Journal of Cardiology has warned that children allergic to penicillin could die from accidentally eating pet food! (2)One 1985 scientific paper examined pentobarbital levels (an anesthetic agent used in euthanasia solutions) in pet food derived from dogs and cats that had been euthanized at shelters. This practice was still relatively common in the year 2000! A dog or cat on one of the very cheapest diets may be eating pet food that contains the remains of other pet dogs and cats, and the pentobarbital levels may be significant. (*1. O'Connor JJ, Stowe CM and Robinson RR, 1985. Fate of Sodium pentobarbital in rendered products. Am J Vet Res, 46(8):1721. 2. Markus CK, Chow LH, Wycoff DM and McManus BM, 1989. Pet food-derived penicillin residue as a potential cause of hypersensitivity myocarditis and sudden death. Am J Cardiol, 63(15):1154-6.)
Rosemary - Is a stimulant of the circulatory system; to treat bad breath; stimulates the hair bulbs to new growth. It's main use in animal food is as a preservative. i read a comment concerning preservatives in an article that really hit home to me. You should not feed your cat anything that can sit out for weeks or months without spoiling! REAL FOOD spoils!
Yucca - Used for its reduction of both breath and stool odor . A cat fed a natural raw diet as small tootsie roll shaped and very low odor stool. Oral health and bad breath is not an issue either as the mouth maintains proper balance. Kibble feeding is 100% to blame for our animals poor oral health and high costs for vet cleanings (which i am certain that Vets are not very sorry about).
White Rice - Well, rice is a grain. Grain should not be a part of an obligate carnivores diet. Rice is sometimes used as an anti-diarrheal ingredient (actually causes constipation) due to upset from questionable ingredients. It is also said that rice may help with dandruff and skin problems. Skin problems are not just skin problems?the skin should be viewed as a window to hidden physiologic processes and an animals health. If the food is so good why are they adding products that help with digestive upset and skin problems?
Cranberry - Prevents the spread of bacterial infections in kidneys and the urinary tract. Acidified dry cat food leads to the formation of calcium oxalate crystals. Natural meat based raw diet (species appropriate) maintains proper PH balance and there is no need to add anything to acidify the urine. It is that commercial food is not balanced that they need to add _anything_ other then meat.
carrot- why? They cannot process it and utilize the vitamins contained.
chicory extract- Used as fermentable fiber source. Always ask yourself why they need to add these things and can my cat even process this so that it is useful? Cats _cannot_ process and utilize vegetation (which is a source of fiber) independant of prey, meaning, that the vegetation needs to be processed by the prey's stomach first, when they consume the contents of the stomach they can then process it.
tomato - why again? What is good and easily absorbed by humans is not the case with cats. Tomatoes are of the Solanaceae family of plants and contain a bitter, poisonous alkaloid called Glycoalkaloid Solanine, which can cause violent lower gastrointestinal symptoms.
potato (protein?)- Not so sure as to what potato protein is but ..potato (Solanum spp) is toxic to cats. (including vines, green spots, and tubers).
Regards, shannon
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