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While the AvoDerm cat food brand has been in the market for the longest time now, it has had its fair share of controversy mainly because of the inclusion of avocado in their pet formulas. Most cat owners are indecisive when it comes to feeding their pets on this brand of pet food. This article seeks to shed some light on the Wild caught swordfish AvoDerm pet formula. After reading this review, you will be in a better position to make an informed choice.
The AvoDerm pet food brand is manufactured by the Breeder’s Choice Pet foods, an affiliate company of the Central Garden and Pet Company. This company initially introduced AvoDerm pet products in 1982. At this time, most people were under the impression that AvoDerm products were mainly meant for medical purposes. However, with time, the brand was accepted as a regular pet food. The pet company produces pet foods for cats and dogs.
The Wild caught swordfish cat formula is made with ocean fish (wild caught) meant to give cats a rich blend of nutrients.
Ingredients in Wild Caught Swordfish (Wet) Cat Food
Swordfish, Swordfish Broth, Sunflower Oil, Tricalcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Taurine, Avocado Oil, Vitamins & Minerals ( Zinc Oxide, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex (Vitamin K Activity source), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Choline Chloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Potassium Chloride.
It is important to note that the AvoDerm wild caught swordfish is grain free to offer a nutritionally balanced cat meal formula.
An overview of the first five ingredients in this product
Swordfish – A swordfish is a large edible marine fish with a streamlined body and a long flattened swordlike snout, related to the billfishes and popular as a game fish. We don’t normally see this type of fish used in cat food, but like all other fish products, it will supply a decent amount of protein as well as a high amount of fatty acids. Unfortunately, there is some concern about the mercury level in fish. All fish naturally contains some amount of mercury and while the FDA claims mercury levels are safe, many cat owners believe feeding even a small amount of mercury laced fish every day could cause long-term health effects. While there isn’t much evidence to back that up, there is evidence that swordfish contains a higher amount of mercury than many other types of fish.
Swordfish broth – Like other types of broth in cat food, swordfish broth is used as a flavor enhancer and source of moisture. It is considered to be a better ingredient to use than plain water. While not especially nutritious, your cat will probably appreciate the enhanced flavor and there are no known health risks associated with this ingredient.
Sunflower oil – Tomato pomace is an inexpensive by-product of tomato manufacturing. Effectively, it is what is left over after processing tomatoes for juice, ketchup, soup, etc. In all likelihood, this is the leftovers of what is cleaned off of the floors and other areas of plants that process tomatoes for other purposes. As such, this is probably used more as a flavor enhancer than for nutritional purposes.
Tricalcium phosphate – Dicalcium phosphate is a compound that is present in bone. It is a calcium salt. Usually, when people break their bones, the need to enrich themselves with this compound in order to help bone regeneration. For cat food, it is mostly used as a part of the processing of the food. While this ingredient sounds scary and doesn’t provide any nutrition for cats, it is considered safe and is usually included in very low levels.
Guar gum – This ingredient is also sometimes called guaran. It is primarily the ground endosperm of guar beans. The guar seeds are dehusked, milled and screened to obtain the guar gum. It is typically produced as a free-flowing, off-white powder. This ingredient is mostly used to thicken the food and give it more texture. It is an FDA-approved, all natural GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) ingredient used by the food and cosmetic industries. It also is used to improve the shelf life of the food and helps lower the glycemic index of food. Many cat food companies claim this ingredient also aids in digestion and weight loss. There is some minor debate about the benefits of this ingredient with some claiming negative impacts, but in general, this is thought to be a relatively non-nutritious yet safe ingredient.
Other ingredients of interest
Avocado oil – Avocado is a pear-shaped fruit that can sometimes be dangerous to pets if the pit is consumed. Obviously when used in cat food, the pit is removed completely. While avocado is toxic to some animals, in dogs and cats, we do not expect to see serious signs of illness. Cat food manufactures will tell you that avocados are nutrient-dense and high in crude fiber. This fruit also contains vitamins A, C and E as well as vitamin B6. Avocados certainly area nutritious, but since cats are obligate carnivores, the nutritional value will be a bit limited. The good news is there doesn’t appear to be any real harm to including avocado and it may even help make the food more palatable.
Choline chloride – Like humans and many other species, cats require choline. Almost all commercial pet food blends will contain supplemental choline. This ingredient mostly helps with cell function.
Taurine – Taurine is an essential amino acid that is critical for normal heart muscle function, vision, and reproduction in cats. Since cats are unable to create proper levels of taurine in their body naturally, it must be supplemented in their food. That’s why you’ll see this ingredient listed for so many different cat food blends. For cat foods that contain enough high quality animal based proteins, a taurine supplement may not be needed. However, most cat foods will need to add in additional taurine in the form of a supplement to the food. Even when included as a supplement instead, there is very low to almost zero health risk associated with this ingredient. In fact, a lack of taurine can cause a slew of issues, so it’s very important to make sure your cat is receiving enough taurine in his or her diet.
Is wild caught swordfish an allergy causing formula?
Since the wild caught swordfish is grain free and does not contain the most common allergens, it is safe to say that this pet product is allergy free. The ingredients are all natural to cater for your cat’s nutritional needs.
Ingredients to be wary of
Corn, soy and wheat – All three of these ingredients are known allergens for many cats. In addition, many cats have problems digesting these grain based ingredients. Since cats are obligate carnivores, their digestive systems are designed to digest meat and not grains. All of these ingredients will help to boost the protein percentage in cat food, but not all protein is created equally. Cats do not digest plant based proteins in the same way as meat proteins and in fact, gain little to no nutritional value from these grains. Several “grocery store brand” cat foods include these products to keep the price down as it is a cheap filler to help make your cat feel full as well as a cheap way to add protein to the food.
BHA and BHT preservatives – Both BHA & BHT are preservatives that have been banned in human foods in many countries due to cancer risks. However, they remain approved for use in pet foods. A growing number of pet owners are becoming aware of the potential dangers these ingredients bring and are shunning all foods containing BHA and BHT. A quick internet search on these preservatives will show that the backlash is gaining steam with many cat food companies abandoning these ingredients. BHA and BHT are extremely controversial ingredients in all forms of pet food.
Corn syrup – Unfortunately, corn is a known allergen for many cats and cats do not receive much of any nutritional value at all from corn, even though corn helps to boost the overall protein percentage of the food. Syrup extracts usually aren’t harmful to cats, but they aren’t all that nutritious, either. In fact, many syrup extracts will contain quite a bit of sugar which can lead to weight gain. Since many adult cats have diabetes, it’s probably a safer bet to stay away from syrups.
Artificial coloring – We find it quite irresponsible to include artificial coloring in pet food since the health concerns about these added colors are so controversial. Your cat does not care what color their food is and the only reason artificial coloring is added to this product is for marketing purposes. It makes the food look better to you YOU, the human consumer. Of course, many cat food brands are very defensive about their use of food coloring. Here is an example of how the Purina brand defends their use of fool coloring. Notice how even in their explanation, there is no perceived benefit to these ingredients other than changing the color. There is also a growing amount of evidence to suggest food coloring may be linked to cancer in not just dogs and cats, but also humans. Here is an article that explains a bit further. In short, since there is some controversy surrounding this ingredient, we find it a bit strange that cat food companies would spend money adding this ingredient into a product when at best, it has zero nutritional value for your cat and only has marketing value. At worse, it could pose health risks. It just doesn’t seem like the risk of including this ingredient is worth it.
None of the above mentioned ingredients is present in wild caught swordfish cat formula.
Conclusion
This cat food formula is fit for consumption by cats. The client reviews are fairly positive. This is mainly because it is a grain free product therefore causing no digestive or allergic problems in cats. Wild caught swordfish is a well balanced formula.
