I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I wanted to answer everyone’s questions...and I’m a nerdling.
HappyDaisy, my professor doesn’t like to “get into” endorsing certain foods because (as scary as this is) in MOST foods, the ingredients fluctuate ALL the time. Meaning, you could buy a can of Joe’s Chicken Dinner for your dog today and the ingredients that are in the can NOW may be totally different from what are in the exact same can next Thursday. Most dog food companies base their formulations on what ingredients are cheapest on the open market at the time that batch of food is being made. If corn is really cheap next week, their food will have lots of corn. If soy is cheap the following week, they put soy in instead of corn....and this is 100% legal. So the Joe’s Chicken Dinner your dog is eating today could be absolutely NOTHING like the Joe’s Chicken Dinner she eats three weeks from now -- even though the packaging is identical. The only thing that will change is the ingredient list, and people very rarely read the ingredients after buying it the first time.
Another very scary thing is that a dog (or cat) food company can fill the store shelves with 19 different “flavors” of their food, but -- legally -- these can ALL actually be the exact same food
. It’s just a marketing scam: the more “flavors” they offer, the more shelf-space they are given in the store -- and that means more sales.
So my professor’s advice is “read labels.” Cut them off and compare them to the new cans from time to time, just to be sure you’re still feeding your dog or cat what you THINK you’re feeding your dog or cat.
And just as an aside: the dogs who have the biggest problem with all this changing-around-of-ingredients-nonsense are those with food allergies. You may think you’ve found the perfect food for your wheat-allergic dog because you read the label when you first bought it, and there was no wheat. But if you don’t keep checking the labels, you may end up feeding wheat to your dog ANYWAY because the formula changed somewhere along the way (and LOL, “no one” told you). By the way -- and I think most people know this -- food allergies in dogs USUALLY appear as skin, coat, and ear issues, and not as vomiting the way it does humans.
The good news is that some companies DON’T change their formulations based on the price of ingredients (and actually state so). These companies are the ones that produce specific diets for dogs based on their nutritional needs. Science Diet and Iams were the first companies to come up with specific, need-based formulas and the promise that their ingredients will never change due to market factors.
Suzanne, we never talked about specific ratios, just that senior dogs need lower amounts of protein -- but higher QUALITY protein -- fewer fats, and fewer carbs than younger dogs. Liver -- raw or cooked -- is one of the best foods you can give an older reluctant eater. The protein content is high, but most importantly for an older dog, it is of excellent quality and (so I’ve been told) VERY tasty.
Carla, we were supposed to talk about cat food in class today, but we’ve been nailed by a big snow storm and school is cancelled. But I do know the following about picking a quality cat food:
1. Canned cat food should have at least 1 calcium source listed. Calcium carbonate is best. If there isn’t any calcium carbonate, there MUST be an animal protein source that includes ground up bones/cartilage. Ground fish meal is the best source of calcium for a cat.
2. If you have a neutered male cat, look for a statement such as “low magnesium” to ensure that he maintains a healthy urinary tract. This is important even if your cat has never had a urinary tract blockage before, because crystals can develop VERY quickly in a neutered male cat (especially older cats and those who are overweight) and have the potential to kill the cat within 24 hours.
3. Generally speaking, stay away from the “Gourmet” cat foods. Most “gourmet” formulas contain Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) which is extruded soy flour. VERY high in protein. But it’s plant protein, not animal protein. Companies will add colorings and flavorings to TVP so that it actually looks (and smells) just like meat. But it’s not meat. TVP has been proven to be “addicting” and cats who eat it regularly will often refuse to eat any other food, which means they begin to depend on protein as an energy source (as there are very few carbs and fats in a TVP-based food) and that dependence will almost certainly lead to kidney disease later on -- which is a MAJOR cause of death in domestic cats.
4. If your cat is 14 years old (or older) switch him or her to senior food. My professor insists that of all the special diets produced for all domestic animals, senior food for cats is the single most important one. The second leading cause of non-accidental death in domestic dogs and cats is renal (kidney) failure. And basically, no one knows why. But many vets and animal nutrition experts believe it is due to an overload of low-quality protein throughout the animal’s life. The “crude protein” percentage on a can/bag of pet food is (a) just an estimate -- the real level is almost always lower, and (b) tells you absolutely nothing about the quality or digestibility/accessibility of that protein. Feather meal, blood meal, animal “renderings” (rotted carcasses), and animal “waste” (feces/urine
) are all VERY high in protein. And ALL are “acceptable” -- and LEGAL -- ingredients in pet foods. The problem is that very few animals can eat feathers, feces, or blood and actually ACCESS the protein. But, adding ingredients like those (a) is cheap, and (b) boosts the crude protein level of the food, thus making the food “seem” healthier than a food with a lower CP level.
But back to kidneys....as animals (all animals) age, their renal function decreases, so it is very important that the animal gets LESS protein. But the protein the animal DOES get must be of a higher quality. And that’s what senior formulas are specifically designed to provide.
And Carla, I feel your pain about what to feed a crowd of cats!! I have 3 cats: a VERY active 1-year-old, a marginally active 10-year-old, and a morbidly obese 14-year-old eating machine who growls at me when he’s hungry. And they're all on senior food
. The 1-year-old gets extra protein and calories because I secretly feed him little chunks of canned kitten food when the other cats aren’t around. Not the best strategy, but’s the best idea I could come up with! As far as the weight-control foods go, I think I agree with the idea that they’re fattening anyway (although I have no scientific basis and/or direct knowledge that this is true). Before I got my kitten, both of my cats (18 lbs and 22 lbs, respectively) were on “weight-control” food for about 6 years. And guess what? They’re both overweight! So the carb thing sounds right on target to me. That’s one of the other good things about senior food -- fewer carbs and fats = fewer calories.
It's good to know that we are feeding our younger dogs the right food. However, little scary about the older dog we just put on soft food. Going to have to check it out a little closer. Thanks for all of the information!! 
Of course part of that is due to the normal kitten state, but I don't want to feed her byproduct junk. I got too sensitived to this as a vegetarian for 5 years, heh!
