Read About Understanding Cat Food Labels

Cat food labels are regulated by different rules than food Imagefor humans, but understanding cat food labels can help owners make proper food choices for their pets, too. Not all cat foods are alike in meeting their nutritional needs and cat food is very different than dog food. Cat owners need to choose the type of food that is both nutritious by understanding cat food labels and picking a food that also meets their life style.

Being true carnivores, cats need more protein in their diets than other mammals. Cats fed a diet high in carbohydrates (corn, wheat, and/or rice) as fillers are at risk for obesity and deposition of fat in the liver. Other types of ingredients in cat food include flavorings, preservatives and coloring which act to enhance the taste and preserve the food.

There are a few rules in understanding cat food labels. All ingredients are required to be listed in their proper order by weight. First, in order for cat food to be labeled as “chicken cat food” (or whatever meat, poultry or fish product), 95% of the total weight of the food must be chicken exclusive of the water content or 70% if including water content. If the name offers a combined product such as “chicken and fish cat food”, then both ingredients need to be 95% combined and there must be more of the first ingredient listed than the second ingredient.

If a food is labeled “chicken dinner”, “chicken feast”, or “chicken entre”, then chicken must make up between 25 and 94% of the total weight without counting the water content. Since only 25% of the cat food needs to be the named ingredient, this ingredient will probably be the 3rd or 4th ingredient listed on the label. Undesirable ingredients, such as carbohydrates, maybe present in higher quantities. If the name offers a combined product such as “chicken and fish dinner”, then both ingredients need to be 25% combined and the second ingredient listed has to be at least 3%.

Food labeled using the word “with chicken” indicates that only at least 3% of the total weight is chicken. If more than one ingredient is listed as “with”, each ingredient needs to be 3% of the total weight of the food. Finally, if a food is labeled as “flavored”, the flavor must be able to be detected. Generally this flavoring such as “beef flavor” is not beef meat but beef meal or beef byproducts that do not have the same nutritional content as beef meat.

Since the water content of canned and dry food is so different, to really compare the types of food, you need to level the playing field. In understanding cat food labels, use this formula to determine protein by dry matter value of any cat food by looking at the guaranteed analysis:

Crude Protein / (100 – Moisture Percentage) = Protein By Dry Matter

Here is an example: 1) Canned cat food with a moisture content of 80% and a protein content of 9%. ImageThis canned cat food would have 45% protein by dry matter. 2) Dry cat food with a moisture content of 15% and a protein content of 35%. This dry cat food would have 41% protein by dry matter. Now since you have removed the effect of the moisture in the two foods, you can see that the protein content is actually higher in the canned food. This formula can also be used to determine fat and fiber content of different types and brands of cat food.

Understanding cat food labels is necessary for a cat owner to make an informed decision when selecting a cat food.