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Do you take your cat’s feeding seriously? So may things can go wrong with your cat’s health if you fail to take time to evaluate what you feed it on. It is important to make sure you feed your cat on formulas that are nutritionally balanced. If you are clueless about checking for nutritional balance in formulas, cat food reviews can be of great help.
The AvoDerm Company is known for the manufacture of numerous pet formulas. Their cat formula brands range from wet formulas to dry and grain free formulas. The salmon and chicken wet formula is one of the formulas under this brand. According to the company, this is a grain free formula that offers your cat all the natural ingredients it requires to grow.
Does this formula live up to the claims? Read on to find out.
Ingredients in The Avoderm Salmon And Chicken Wet Cat Food
Fish Broth, Chicken, Sardine, Tapioca Starch, Pea Protein,Tricalcium Phosphate, Sunflower Oil, Avocado Oil, Taurine, Potassium Chloride, Guar Gum, Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Menadione Sodium Bisulfate Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate Monohydrate, Manganese Sulfate Monohydrate, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide, Copper Proteinate), Carrageenan.
According to the company, these ingredients have been formulated to meet the AAFCO cat formula nutritional standards.
Top 5 Ingredients Breakdown
Fish Broth
Fish broth is a mostly non-nutritious ingredient used to add moisture to the food. It is considered a better alternative to plain water and does provide an enhanced taste for cats. We do wish this broth came from a named fish source as the broth could have been made using almost any type of fish and almost any part of the fish. However, this is still considered a safe ingredient and we aren’t too concerned about the unnamed source this broth comes from.
Salmon
Salmon is an excellent source of high quality proteins for cats and is extremely rich in healthy Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. Some people worry about mercury levels in fish. It’s true that all fish contains some degree of mercury, the level in salmon is much lower than other types of fish and the FDA doesn’t believe it is cause for concern. Most salmon in cat food is farmed salmon, but higher end cat food (especially those labeled “natural”) can often times be fished from natural lakes and streams. The biggest problem with fish ingredients, including salmon, is if the fish includes an antioxidant called ethoxyquin (EMQ). It is believe that ethoxyquin could be very harmful to cats and other animals. Always make sure you are using “Ethoxyquin free” cat food blends when they include fish ingredients. When in doubt, call the customer service number and ask.
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.
Sardine
A sardine is a young pilchard or other young or small herringlike fish. Some cat owners like to avoid fish in cat food because sea food is not usually a part of a cats natural diet. All fish products also contain a certain level of mercury and some cat owners fear that over time, the ingestion of mercury could be harmful (although there is very little evidence to suggest a significant risk). Overall, this ingredient does supply some extremely nutritious properties including protein and very healthy fatty acids.
Pea Protein
As grain-free cat food becomes more popular, so does the inclusion of peas and pea fiber. That’s because peas can be used as a filler ingredient in similar ways grains are used, but they can still label the food as grain-free. Unfortunately, the full effect on a cats health from pea fiber is largely unknown. There have been some studies shown to suggest pea fiber can cause many dogs to have a runny stool, there is very little research that has been done on how cats are able to digest this ingredient. Overall, it probably will not harm your cat but it will not add much nutritional value to your cats diet, either.
Additional Ingredients Of Interest In Avoderm Salmon & Chicken Cat Food
Tapioca Starch
Tapioca flour, also known as tapioca starch, is a starchy white flour that has a slight sweet flavor to it. Tapioca flour is an alternative to traditional wheat flours and has a variety of uses in baking. Tapioca is a source of carbohydrate obtained from the roots of the cassava plant (Manihot esculenta), which is indigenous to Latin America. It is not a cereal grain like corn or wheat which have links to food allergies in cats. The benefit to using tapioca in a pet food as the primary carbohydrate source instead of typical grains is tapioca’s biochemical simplicity. Grains are complex in the sense that they contain proteins and other phytonutrients in addition to carbohydrates. Tapioca is just starch – a combination of amylase and amlylopectin. There are no known canine or feline allergies to tapioca, so this is becoming a more common ingredient in many pet foods.
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.
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.
Allergy Risk In AvoDerm Salmon & Chicken Cat Food
The salmon and chicken wet cat food formula is not an allergy causing food for most cats. Unless your cat suffers from an unusual food allergy, this cat food should be suitable for all cats, even those with sensitive stomachs.
Poor Quality Ingredients Commonly Found In Cat Food
Soy, wheat and corn – 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.
Gluten – This ingredient is associated with causing allergies in cats. It is also known to raise sugar levels in cats. Over time, this can lead to diabetes. Gluten refers to the proteins found in wheat endosperm which is a type of tissue produced in seeds that’s ground to make flour. Many pet food manufactures will use this ingredient to help boost the protein percentage of the food.
Artificial coloring, preservatives and flavoring – Artificial preservatives are a group of chemical substances added to food, sprayed on the outside of food, or added to certain medications to retard spoilage, discoloration, or contamination by bacteria and other disease organisms. These additives are man-made, though some do exist in some forms in nature. They are generally considered safe despite the fact that some are known to be carcinogenic and toxic. Many side effects and illnesses are related to their consumption. What’s even more unfortunate is that we are not given full information here. The label “artificial preservatives” could include any number of man-made chemical based preservatives. While it doesn’t necessarily mean this ingredient is harmful, it could be. We just don’t know which specific preservatives are being used here. Without adequate labeling and information for cat owners, we remain skeptical.
Artificial color is added to cat food for marketing purposes only. Unfortunately, there may be some evidence linking various food coloring to cancer in cats. Since this provides absolutely no nutritional benefit to your cat and can only harm your cat, we find it rather unfortunate they included it here.
Fortunately, none of these ingredients are present in the AvoDerm salmon and chicken wet formula.
Conclusion
The reviews and ratings on this product are mostly positive and cat owners who use this blend tend to stick with it long-term. This formula is grain free, which seems to please most cat owners. It is also free from most of the common allergy causing ingredients, making this an ideal food for many cats with food allergies. The only major pitfall with this cat food is probably the inclusion of avocado extracts, especially since the benefits of avocado in cat food is yet to be fully determined. Therefore, the AvoDerm salmon and chicken formula is listed as an average quality cat food.
