What’s Wrong With Byproducts in Cat Food?

Most cat experts recommend premium brands of cat food that avoid ingredients such as meat byproducts and chicken meal. However, feral cats consume a whole rodent or bird, often leaving only parts like feathers or the head. Thus, it seems cheaper brands that avoid excessive carbohydrate fillers might be closer to a natural diet than premium brands. Why isn’t this the case?

Meat byproducts can include clean, nutrient-rich organ meats like lungs, spleen, liver, kidneys, stomach, and intestines, cleaned of their contents. They cannot contain hide, hooves, horn, or teeth. Meat meal is further cooked (rendered) to eliminate bacterial contaminants and then dried.

Byproducts in Cat Food

Although wild cats consume entire bodies of their prey, including heads in some cases, the term “meat byproducts” has become negative among cat experts due to misuse by some in the cat food industry. Consequently, experts have traditionally advised against all byproducts.

While it’s true that cats in the wild eat the whole bodies of their catch (including the heads in some cases), the term meat byproducts has become a dirty word to many cat experts because of its misuse by some members of the cat food industry. As a result, experts have traditionally counseled readers to avoid all byproducts for this reason.

The founders of the Feline Future website studied the ingredients and nutritional properties of foods that wild cats consume for over a decade, resulting in their “recipe” for the Feline Future raw food diet for cats, setting standards for raw feeding. They use more meat than internal organs, with chicken hearts and livers (excellent taurine sources) added in limited amounts to avoid excessive vitamin A.

In summary, a named byproduct (e.g., “chicken byproduct meal”) can be acceptable if it’s not the first ingredient in cat food. However, the exact weight proportion of each ingredient is unknown. Although a label may state protein as 30% of the product’s weight, that includes meat, byproducts, eggs, certain grains, and other protein forms. Thus, it’s preferable for named byproducts to appear further down the label.

Carbohydrate Fillers

Many cheaper dry cat food brands contain large amounts of carbohydrate fillers, often in the form of corn, which can be hard for cats to digest. Some cats also have food allergies to corn.

However, many premium brands of dry food also contain large amounts of carbohydrate fillers. In the manufacturing process of extrusion (which is a heat-based process), it is necessary to have these dry ingredients in order to shape the dry food nuggets effectively. Some brands of dry food do not use grain fillers, although some of these foods are not carbohydrate-free.

Complete and Balanced Cat Food

The most important part of any pet food label is the nutritional adequacy statement. Look for “complete and balanced,” indicating that all the nutrients your cat needs are present in the right ratios. This statement ensures the product lacks excess carbohydrates.