Highly inappropriate food....

So reading wikipedia on cats, you get to this part:

"Cats are obligate carnivores: their physiology has evolved to efficiently process meat, and they have difficulty digesting plant matter.^[27] In contrast to omnivores such as rats, which only require about 4% protein in their diet, about 20% of a cat's diet must be protein.^[27]

[27] MacDonald ML, Rogers QR, Morris JG (1984). "Nutrition of the domestic cat, a mammalian carnivore". Annu. Rev. Nutr. 4: 521–62. DOI:10.1146/annurev.nu.04.070184.002513. PMID 6380542."

So then, why do Whiskas think it is ok to make a cat food, which by their own admission, contains less than half this amount?

Interestingly, it's almost impossible to find any specifics online, regarding composition. The Whiskas website doesn't even list the ingredients. A few online suppliers do.

OK so you'll have to trust me here - here I have a box of Whiskas Poultry Selection in Jelly.

There are 12 pouches, a mix of "with Chicken", "with Turkey", "with Duck", and "with Poultry".... hmm, the last one is odd given that the other three are poultry...

OK, so ingredients:

With Chicken:

meat and animal derivitives (including 4% chicken), vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals.

Analytical constituents: Protein 9%, fat content 4.5%, inorganic matter 2.4%, crude fibres 0.3%, moisture 82%

With Turkey:
meat and animal derivitives (including 4% turkey), vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals.
Analytical constituents: Protein 9%, fat content 4.5%, inorganic matter 2.4%, crude fibres 0.3%, moisture 82%
With Duck:
meat and animal derivitives (including 4% duck), vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals.
Analytical constituents: Protein 9%, fat content 4.5%, inorganic matter 2.4%, crude fibres 0.3%, moisture 82%

With Poultry:
meat and animal derivitives (including 4% poultry), vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals.

Analytical constituents: Protein 9%, fat content 4.5%, inorganic matter 2.4%, crude fibres 0.3%, moisture 82%

Poultry means that even the measly 4% 'specified' meat doesn't really have to be specified. But more worrying is that despite cats needing around 20% of their diet to be protein, if a cat is fed Whiskas pouches they are getting less than half this amount.

Whiskas in Gravy is even worse.

Here I have a selection of 12 pouches. The box boasts the flavours:

with BEEF
with LAMB & carrots
with TURKEY
with DUCK & green peas

Now, remember, cats are obligate carnivores: They cannot digest plant matter and would not eat them in the wild.

So, the ingredients:

with Beef:

meat and animal derivatives (including 4% beef), cereals, vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals.

Analytical constituents: protein 8.5%, fat content 4%, inorganic matter 2.4%, crude fibres 0.3%, moisture 82%

with Lamb & carrots:

meat & animal derivatives (including 4% lamb), vegetables (including 4% carrots), cereals, vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals.

Analytical constituents: protein 8.5%, fat content 4%, inorganic matter 2.4%, crude fibres 0.3%, moisture 82%

with Turkey:

meat and animal derivatives (including 4% turkey), cereals, vegetable protein extracts, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals.

Analytical constituents: protein 8.5%, fat content 4%, inorganic matter 2.4%, crude fibres 0.3%, moisture 82%

with Duck & green peas:

meat and animal derivatives (including 4% duck), cerals, vegetables (including 4% green peas), derivatives of vegetable origin, vegetable protein extracts, minerals.

Analytical constituents: protein 8.5%, fat content 4%, inorganic matter 2.4%, crude fibres 0.3%, moisture 82%



So why do people feed this rubbish to their beloved pet(s)?


My foster cats have had lamb meat (100% raw lamb taken from the spine & ribs), they have have chicken, including chicken necks, and they have had ox liver. All of which have come from organically reared livestock.
Have they had cereals? NO. Have they had vegetables? No. Of course not.
Are they healthy? Absolutely.