Food Labels Explained

Marketing labels such as “natural,” or “premium,” or “veterinarian recommended,” or “prescription” are not necessarily indicative of high quality so please be careful not to fall into that trap.

“Indoor only” is another meaningless marketing  label that is nothing more than an enticing gimmick. This label originally started out in the dry food market but it has now made its way to canned food labels.  Cats did not stop being obligate carnivores just because we put a roof over their heads.

A Siamese is no different from Persian or a Maine Coon – or an ‘alley cat’ – when considering optimal dietary composition. No matter the breed, the cat is still an obligate carnivore.

Royal Canin was one of the first companies to come out with these breed specific diets as a marketing gimmick.

The labels on Hill’s over-the-counter products contain a statement that says “Veterinarian Recommended.”

Unfortunately, many of my colleagues do, indeed, recommend products made by Hill’s (as well as Purina, Iams, and Royal Canin) and this is a testament to the fact that most veterinarians are not well-versed in proper feline nutrition and simply defer to these large companies that have huge marketing budgets.  These large budgets include substantial sums of money dedicated to sponsoring – including very heavy advertising – our professional meetings and infiltrating veterinary schools to get students ‘married’ to their products.

Keep in mind that a large marketing budget does not equate with the manufacturing of high quality or healthy products. 

‘Prescription/Therapeutic’ Diets

Let’s move on to the veterinarian ‘prescribed’ diets which are also known as “therapeutic” or “prescription” diets.

“Prescription/therapeutic diet” is another label that is certainly not indicative of a high quality diet or one that is necessary.

These diets represent an area of the commercial cat food industry that is very misleading and, quite frankly, a source of embarrassment for this profession.

Many of these very expensive products contain corn, wheat, and soy which have no logical place in your cat’s diet.  These diets are often very high in carbohydrates and, of course, all of the dry versions are water-depleted.  Many of them also contain by-products as the main – and often only – source of protein.

While by-products can be very nutritious (and this really is the least of my concerns regarding these diets), they are cheaper than muscle meat so one would think that as much as these diets cost, the companies could include some muscle meat, in addition to by-products, for a more consistent source of high quality protein.  (See by-products on the Commercial Food page for more details.)

Study the ingredient list for Hill’s dry i/d while keeping in mind that cats are obligate carnivores.

This dry food is 29% carbohydrates on a dry matter basis and is, of course, water-depleted.  The ingredients are as follows:

Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Whole Grain Corn, Pork Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Powdered Cellulose, Dried Chicken, Chicken Liver Flavor

The base ingredients and composition mirror those of many dry foods found in pet stores and supermarkets.  Also, this is a very good example of the ingredient splitting rule.  This rule states that ingredients have to be listed very specifically which works in the pet food manufacturers’ favor.  It allows the grain fractions to be broken up into smaller components which places them lower on the list since ingredients are listed by weight.  However, when all of the grain fractions are added up, their contribution to the diet (including the protein content) often greatly outweighs the first ingredient.