Jennifer wrote to ask whether I knew anything about Nutro Natural Choice wet cat food and how good it was for her cat. She didn’t see it on the CAT CHAT® list of approved cat foods but she knew it was all natural and her cat really seemed to like it. And there was also an email from someone wanting to know about Tikki foods – another quality pet food that will go right upon the list. Thanks to both ladies for keeping me up to date and crossing my T’s as needed. These are both fine canned cat foods which are headed onto the CAT CHAT® approved cat food list, thanks to them!
While I’m at it, I never miss a chance to recommend that people have a look at Weruva – it’s what I would eat if I were a cat (actual pieces of the breast meat of antibiotic-free, hormone-free, free-range chicken). And I’ve just started feeding Halo to my dogs – lovely ingredients and a company with a good philosophy) and they make a really nice canned cat food, too.
Tracie
The Cat Bible
My cats love Weruva “Mac and Jack” and “Mideast Feast” with Tilapia and I ffed these two almost exclusively. They are not fond of the chicken varieties (but I will try again). I am worried about the mercury content in the mackerel and skipjack tuna. Apparently skipjack tuna has less mercury than albacore, but I have seen recommendations that children should eat skipjack (chunk light tuna) 3 or fewer times a month and adults 4 or fewer times a month because of mercury levels. I would think small kitty bodies and the fact that they are eating this 1-2 meals a day could pose a health hazard. Is this something I should worry about? Should I limit the number of times a week that I feed Mack and Jack?
Great question Hermione! I passed it along to David Forman, who owns Weruva, and is so careful & knowledgeable about all the ingredients they use in their foods.Here’s what he said:
Some of the concerns feeding fish too frequently may be due to mercury or
other toxins being present in the fish. All of our fish, prior to
processing, are screened according to human food standards, including
heavy metal analysis. Any fish that do not meet international human food
standards are not used. Yet, all fish in the ocean, big or small, will
have some level of mercury or other metal in them. The general rule of
thumb is that the higher the fish is on the food chain, the more mercury
it will have. Older fish will have higher levels of mercury than younger
fish of the same species. Also, certain waters, such as Pacific waters,
are known to have less toxins than other waters. We use fish that are
caught in the Pacific.
The FDA has a list of those fish that are both higher and lower in
mercury. The species of mackerel we use as well as the tuna and sardines
are on the FDA’s list of fish that are lower in mercury. There are some
species of tuna such as bluefin and albacore that high mercury content.
King mackerel is also high in mercury. We use much smaller species, such
as skipjack tuna. Skipjack, on international standards for human food
consumption, have such low levels of mercury that the species need not be
screened prior processing.
With all of that said, we do believe in a sound rotational diet of various
protein sources. A cat does not eat the same thing in the wild everyday,
so mixing it up does the body good. We often find that our cats really
love the fish formulas too, so to get them to eat a food the they may not
eat with gusto, such as our chicken formulas, we may mix in a bit of a
tuna formula.
Other “tricks” we have used is crushing some freeze dried chicken over our
chicken formulas. We have also sprinkled in a touch of nutritional yeast
(or brewers yeast), found at nutrition stores, on top of the food. They
take an interest to this and eat what is underneath it as well.
I hope this is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions.
Hermione- You are doing great! But yes, you re right on the money. You should limit how many days a week they fast on even the skipjack tuna – Paw Lickin’ Chicken is their best-seller ever, so your pussycats have another treat awaiting them!