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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 Tuna Tuscany With Grain, Rice, And Garden Greens Cat Food
Fish broth, tuna, wheat gluten, long grain rice, chicken, liver, spinach, meat by-products, corn starch-modified, artificial and natural flavors, salt, calcium phosphate, corn oil, added color (Red 3 and other color), soy protein concentrate, potassium chloride, taurine, choline chloride, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, niacin, zinc sulfate, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), ferrous sulfate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, copper sulfate, 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.
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.
Tuna
This ingredient is a well known saltwater fish. There is some debate about whether fish products should be included in cat food at all, because cats by nature do not eat much sea food. A lot of cat owners would rather see meat from other animals such as beef, chicken, turkey, or other meat sources. However, tuna does supply a good amount of protein and also contains an excellent amount of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.
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.
Long grain rice
Long grain rice is usually described as rice that is about four or five times as long as it is wide. While rice is one of the easier grains for cats to digest, they do not require rice in their diet and in fact, obtain no nutritional benefit from rice. This is a popular ingredient in pet foods because rice expands in your pets stomach (or your stomach when you eat it), thus helping to make dogs and cats feel more full. Fortunately, even though rice is a grain, there is very little allergic risk to rice. The biggest concern is the amount of arsenic that is naturally found in rice. The arsenic level in rice is increasing all the time and there isn’t much pet food (or human food) companies can do about that. The FDA still claims the arsenic level is so low that there are no health concerns, but you should periodically check this special FDA resource about arsenic levels in rice.
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.
Additional Ingredients Of Interest In Fancy Feast Tuna Tuscany With Grain, Rice, And Garden Greens Cat Food
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.
Spinach
While it certainly sounds like a healthy ingredient, the truth is, spinach doesn’t add much nutritional value to the food. It does supply some various nutrients and vitamins, but the levels are quite low. Many companies like to include this ingredient as it looks great on the ingredients list, but in general, it is not all that nutritious for cats. On the flip side, there is very little to worry about and this ingredient is considered to be very safe for most cats.
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.
Corn starch-modified
This is a derivative of corn, chemically altered to dissolve quickly and serve as a thickener. People who have wheat and gluten allergies should avoid products with this ingredient. The ingredient is made by physically, enzymatically or chemically altering starch to change its inherent properties. In this instance, modified does not necessarily mean genetically modified, however some modified starches are likely made from genetically modified ingredients (most corn in the United States is genetically modified, for example). You probably won’t find very many people who claim this is a high quality ingredient.
Allergy Risk Associated With Fancy Feast Tuna Tuscany With Grain, Rice, And Garden Greens Cat Food
Unfortunately, this Fancy Feast Cat Food blend does contain some ingredients that are known to cause allergic reactions in some cats. There are also some ingredients that could be difficult for your cat to digest. If your cat suffers from any stomach or digestion sensitivities, this probably isn’t the best food for your cat. You should also consider an alternative cat food if your cat has a history of food allergies. This is especially the case if your cat has has issues with corn.
Conclusion
While we’ve seen much worse, this cat food doesn’t really strike us as being high quality. The cost of this cat food is usually pretty appealing to cat owners, but we are a bit disappointed to see ingredients like meat by-products and corn based ingredients. While many cat owners report good things about this cat food, judging by the ingredients alone, we think this cat food is probably a below average cat food. Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comment area below. We love hearing from other cat owners, especially if you have experience using this food.
