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Fancy Feast is one of the most popular cat food brands on the market today. As such, it is readily available in many grocery stores, pet food stores, and is also available online.
Fancy Feast is owned by Nestle Purina PetCare. They introduced the Fancy Feast brand name in 1982 and only had 7 flavors of wet cat food initially. The brand name was introduced as their “gourmet line” of cat foods.
Nestle Purina PetCare has been the subject of several pet food recalls over the past several years. Be sure to frequently check the FDA pet food recalls website. You might want to sign up for their email alerts as well.
Ingredients In Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken Feast Wet Cat Food
Poultry broth, chicken, liver, wheat gluten, meat by-products, turkey, corn starch-modified, artificial and natural flavors, soy flour, salt, calcium phosphate, added color, potassium chloride, natural grilled chicken flavor, Taurine, Choline chloride, magnesium sulfate, thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, niacin, calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, Menadione sodium Bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), manganese sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide.
Top 5 Ingredients Analysis
Whenever you are reviewing a commercial cat food blend, it is good practice to pay special attention to the first 5 ingredients listed. These ingredients make up the vast majority of the nutritional content in the food. Let’s take a look at the top 5 ingredients in this cat food.
Poultry Broth: The main purpose if this ingredient is to add moisture and taste to the food. It is not considered to be a nutritional ingredient, but it considered to be a better alternative to using plain water. Poultry broth is safe to use and cats usually love the taste of it.
Chicken: Chicken is a very popular ingredient for pet food and in this case, they are referring to whole chicken. This is a very high quality meat source and we are pleased to see it listed. However, whole chicken loses about 80% of its content during the cooking process since the majority of whole chicken is water. After the cooking process is complete, the amount of whole chicken remaining is substantially reduced. Therefor, while whole chicken is a great source of meat protein, this ingredient alone is not enough to provide sufficient levels of meat protein in a cats diet.
Liver: In the wild, cats almost always eat the liver of their prey. It is a rich source of vitamin A which cats must obtain from their food since they can’t make it in their bodies. This is also a good secondary source of protein. If cats consume too much liver, it could cause toxicity, but the amount needed for liver to become toxic to cats is very high. Liver is provided in safe quantities in this cat food blend.
Wheat Gluten: We don’t think any grain is “good” for your cat. It doesn’t mean wheat gluten is “bad” for your cat, either, but the fact it provides almost no nutritional value makes us question the quality of the ingredient. Wheat gluten can be a decent protein source for animals with digestive systems that can break it down, but as obligate carnivores, cats are not one of those animals. Their digestive systems produce only the enzymes necessary for processing animal-based proteins. There are also some allergy risks associated with wheat gluten. In addition, too much of this in a cats diet can potentially lead to weight gain and diabetes. Unfortunately, diabetes in cats is a very serious health problem, so it is important to keep a close eye on your cats weight and diabetic risk when feeding a cat food containing ingredients like wheat gluten.
Meat By-Products: This is about the lowest quality meat product that can be included in any cat food. We are very disappointed to see this ingredient listed. Meat By-Products are parts of slaughtered animals including the lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomach and intestines freed of their contents. In addition, meat by-products can also legally contain animals that were dead, dying, or diseased before slaughtering. Many times, animals with tumors are ground and processed, meaning, ground up cancerous tumors could legally be included in your pets food. While unlikely, it can even legally include road kill. Perhaps worst of all, this ingredient COULD include meat from euthanized cats, dogs, horses, or other animals. Meat by-product is an unnamed meat source and you never know for sure where it is coming from or what animals are being used. Also note that meat by-products are not approved for human consumption. It consists of unwanted parts only acceptable in the pet food or feed industries. This is one of the most controversial meat ingredients that could be included and there is much to be concerned about when purchasing any pet food that includes meat by-products.
Other ingredients used
Turkey: This is an ingredient that is rich in minerals like zinc, iron, potassium and calcium. All these minerals help to maintain your cat’s overall health and also provide it with energy. Turkey also has low cholesterol levels making it easy to digest.
Corn-starch modified: This ingredient has been used in the formula as a thickener. It has very low nutritional value is, therefore, unnecessary. Corn-starch modified is basically formula filler.
Salt: This ingredient gives the formula electrolytes. The electrolytes i.e. sodium and chloride, help to maintain and regulate water balance, muscle contraction, nerve transmission as well as acid-base balance.
Choline chloride: This ingredient provides the formula with a source of Choline. Choline is a vitamin that helps in the building of cell membranes.
Artificial colors: This ingredient provides the formula with a source of Choline. Choline is a vitamin that helps in the building of cell membranes.
Allergy Risk Associated With Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken Feast Cat Food
Unfortunately, this Fancy Feast Cat Food blend contains corn, soy, and wheat – all of which have links to allergies in cats. We also see added color with possible cancer risks and meat by-products which can include some incredibly low quality meat products. We also find artificial flavoring. This ingredient can cause problems in some cats. If your cat has a history of stomach sensitivities or allergies, it is best not to feed this formula.
Conclusion
The Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Chicken Feast Wet cat food is a protein rich formula featuring both chicken and turkey. Initially it might seem like this is a high quality food, but we can see the use of meat by-products, corn, soy, wheat, artificial flavors, and other less desirable ingredients. They have even included food coloring which is very surprising considering the controversy surrounding the use of food coloring in pet food. Judging by the ingredients, we have determined this is a low quality cat food. Do you agree? Disagree? Have some information about this food you want to share? Let us know in the comment area below.
