I am not sure if there is such thing as a “flawless” food, “flawless”
being a word of choice of this critic. The perfect food for thousands of
cats will be the imperfect food for thousands of cats. While designing an
ideal formula would be great, we have to take into account the realities
of processing capabilities, the availability of raw materials and the cost
of raw materials.

The primary reason we got into the pet food industry was disatisfaction
with the choices on the market. There were many “hollow” claims made by manufacturers. These manufacturers could “hide” behind the minimums and maximums of the guaranteed analysis as well as their loaf style pates. There was never a way to know or identify the quality of ingredients used or the cuts used when ingredients were blended. When we designed Weruva, one of the first mottos we developed was the old cliche, “what you see is what you get.” We wanted our customers to have the ability to purchase pet food that they could identify and understand without the mystery, just as we wanted to do. In that regard, we use raw materials that can easily be eaten and chewed and that do not have to be blended. While there is of course natural calcium and phosphorus in bones, we cannot make a formula in our style that includes bones. The bones would have to be chunky, and this is not a viable option in canned cat food for many reasons. As we add calcium back in to meet AAFCO standards, we feel it is more than a great
tradeoff…real identifiable food and controlled amount of calcium.

As for the potato starch, it is used at around 1% of the formula. It is
for thickening purposes only. Would it be better to eliminate the potato
starch from a nutritional standpoint? Perhaps, but again, we have to deal
with the reality of processing. Without the thickener (and the same would
hold true in many human food products such as ice cream and yogurt), the ingredients would sink to the bottom and the gravy would essentially be water. There would be complaints from customers that the cans were not full. The only option would be to add in more meat. It would be very
beneficial to have more meat, but it would be by far the most meat packed food on the market. This would make an already expensive food even more expensive. It would be worth it ounce per ounce, but 99% of customers would only see the higher price point and not understand they are actually getting more food.

We also process our foods in Thailand, so we are limited in the raw
materials that we can choose. There are likely thousands of chicken
producers in the US which means there are loads of raw material sourcing options. We manufacture our foods in Thailand and do not have all of the options. I doubt there can be better bone sourcing. Also, unlike in the US, I know that bones, skin and offal are in high demand in the human food industry. This makes sourcing those materials even more difficult.

This person is calling it a “marketing scheme” to point out that we use chicken breast? That is “interesting.” Do cats eat the skin and bones and leave the breast behind? We all know that besides moisture, high quality protein is the number one nutrient that should go into a cat’s body. Never mind that other manufacturers do not identify the cuts of chicken they use, they probably don’t even know. When chicken on a pet food label can mean the “combination of flesh and skin without accompanying bone”, that means manufacturers can pump up the bone content to increase the weight of the “chicken” they use to get “chicken” listed first on the ingredient statement. Getting chicken listed first is great for marketing and human appeal, but how misleading would it be if the chicken that was first on the ingredient statement was all skin and bones and no flesh?! By pointing out that we use the breast meat only, we are providing specific information that we feel is important to the customer. I can’t think of any rational pet parent that would prefer any “combination of flesh and skin with or without bone”. Who wouldn’t prefer to know what they are feeding their pet?