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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 Chunky Turkey Feast Wet Cat Food
Turkey broth, turkey, meat by-products, liver, fish, chicken, wheat gluten, natural and artificial flavors, soy flour, added color, soy protein concentrate, calcium phosphate, sodium tripolyphosphate, poultry by-products, guar gum, salt, potassium chloride, carrageenan, locust bean gum, taurine, zinc sulfate, choline chloride, Vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, niacin, manganese sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, folic acid, biotin, potassium iodide, Vitamin D-3 supplement.
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.
Turkey broth – Any type of broth is mostly used as an alternative to simply using water. It adds moisture to the food and a broth helps to make the food more appetizing and tastier for your cat. This ingredient is rather void of much nutritional value, but there is no evidence to suggest there are any problems with this ingredient. It can be commonly found in many different brands of cat food.
Turkey – As a whole meat ingredient, turkey is a fantastic source of very healthy animal based proteins. We are extremely pleased to see this ingredient listed. Unfortunately, in dry kibbles, there is not as much of this ingredient included as you might initially think. Ingredients are listed by weight prior to the cooking process and since whole turkey is about 70% moisture, the vast majority is cooked off. So while we think this is an excellent and nutritional ingredient, it does need to be complimented by other high quality meat protein ingredients when used in dry kibbles. In wet cat foods, however, this is not nearly as much of a concern.
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.
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.
Fish – The fish used in canned pet foods usually includes parts of the fish not typically used for human consumption. It is high in phosphorus and magnesium, which can be an issue in cats with a history of urinary tract disorders or kidney disease. Most fish used in pet food is that of very low quality, including farmed fish and discarded fish that is deemed unacceptable for human consumption. There is also a risk of mercury exposure as many types of fish contain a high mercury level. Over long periods of time, this can become hazardous. It is also important to try and find a cat food with ethoxyquin free fish. Most cat food brands do not disclose if their fish is ethoxyquin free and if it isn’t, that could pose some problems. Most cats love the taste of fish and will be happy to eat it, but it isn’t part of a regular diet for wild cats. Nonetheless, this is a high protein source with essential omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
Additional Ingredients Of Interest In Fancy Feast Chunky Turkey Feast Cat Food
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.
Soy protein – Soy protein is a protein that is isolated from soybean. It is made from soybean meal that has been dehulled and defatted. Some cat food producers will say that their research continues to show that soy products are a superb source of bodybuilding protein, coat-nourishing vegetable oil, and healthful fiber for cats. Unfortunately, soy in cat food is becoming even more controversial as time goes on due to soy being a known and common allergen for many cats. While soy protein does boost the protein percentage in the food, it is much more important for cats to receive meat based proteins. Despite what cat food companies claim, there is no question soy protein is a controversial ingredient with some possible negative health effects.
Soy flour – Many pet food companies seem pretty headstrong about defending their use of soy products, even calling health concerns associated with soy to be a myth. Wysong is one of those companies and to be fair, you can read their opinion about this ingredient here. However, we tend to agree with many of those outside the pet food industry that see major problems using any form of soy in cat food. There is no doubt this ingredient has been the subject of much controversy over the years and the benefits claimed by pet food companies is questionable at best. Why would pet food companies insist on using such a controversial ingredient? They claim it’s for health benefits, but we think it’s rather convenient that soy four is so cheaply made. It’s safe to say this is not considered a high quality ingredient by most experts and at best, it is a mediocre ingredient that we, in general, do not recommend for cats.
Allergy Risk In Fancy Feast Chunky Turkey Feast Cat Food
Unfortunately, this Fancy Feast Cat Food contains soy and what – two known allergens included in many cat foods today. Most cats will not have a problem with those two ingredients, but they are of almost no nutritional value to your cat and many cats are allergic to them. We also note the presence of meat by-products in this food as well as artificial flavors and added color. None of these ingredients are without controversy due to their possible negative health effects.
Conclusion
This cat food starts off well as it includes turkey for one of the main meat sources. However, that is quickly followed up with meat-by-products, a very controversial ingredient that can include some very low quality meat. We also see the inclusion of fish, but we have no way to identify what kind of fish is included. It could just be waste products like scales and bones. We don’t know. It’s really disappointing to see controversial food coloring added as well, considering they only use it as a marketing ploy.
After examining the ingredients, we believe this is a below average cat food blend. What do you think? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.
