Wellness for cats: the variety! or not...

I've been browsing the Wellness site in the cat food section, both dry and canned food. The variety is astounding, at least at first glance.

They have nine varieties of canned food (six of which are grain free :thumbs up) and six varieties of kibble, core included.

While reading the ingredient lists carefully, I saw that every single one of their product contained chicken, except their new Beef and Salmon canned.

It's not a bad thing in itself, but for people with cats allergic to chicken...

The most blatent case is in the canned food. Here's the top of the ingredient list for the Chicken formula:

Chicken, Chicken Liver, Turkey, Chicken Broth, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Guar Gum,

And now the Turkey formula:

Turkey, Chicken Liver, Chicken, Chicken Broth, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Guar Gum,

Okay, so the proportions are slightly different, but still... :rolleyes:

How hard would it be to use turkey liver and broth, I ask you.

For anyone looking for grain-free canned food without chicken, try the Nature's Variety Instinct (http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.lasso?r=1858152&page=1494&-session=naturesvariety:4492AC82167032D576SvK119C82 8) line. Also Evanger's Organic Turkey and Butternut Squash (http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50111.html) is a good one.

Seems most dog food lines have the same problem. What's up with chicken anyways, it's everywhere:frustrated:

That question is easily answered. It's the cheapest meat product on the market.

Next time you go shopping, compare the pirce/lb for chicken, lamb, beef, turkey, salmon, etc. You'll see that chicken is by far the least expensive.

If you want to have a heart attack, check out the price for fresh tuna in the fish department. It averages 45 CAN$/lb!

Does anybody know if chicken protien is easier to break down than the others? Especially for senior cats who may be heading towards renal failure and that is why chicken is used? :shrug:.

I do know that it's easier for cats to digest than beef, but not sure how it compares to other protein sources.

for renal cats and dogs phosphorus seems to be the big concern to keep down in foods. i do know that beef and turkey are a bit lower in phosphorus, with fish type foods being some of the highest. not sure about how the protein actually breaks down, but a high quality protein and a phosphorus level that is under 1.0 dry matter is what many try to keep their pets levels at. Some of the prescription foods deal with phosphorus levels of .50 or below, so for those that have pets that are being finicky, and depending on the blood work of the pet, 1.0 or below is acceptable.

sorry for the ramble hope that makes sense :)