Wet Foods Compared - Choice Magazine

[MereB]

I found this interesting and I'm happy my choice of wet food scored quite well.
At the beginning of this month Choice magazine here in Australia took a heap of wet cat foods that claimed to be "complete" foods that are available in supermarkets and pet stores and compared them to each other and against the Australian guidelines for cat nutrition.
Some brands won't be available everywhere obviously but some of the bigger brands will be, what's surprising is some of the expensive trusted brands really didn't do all that well.
Click below to see the Choice Magazine wet food test results

Hopefully I did the link right

 

[Toa and Ross]

Thanks for sharing this information. Very helpful!

 

[Hairless Blessing]

I'm very surprised about, Fancy Feast and Purina?
They are not good quality in the USA.

 

[AnetteMR]

I'm also surprised. All - Whiskas, Purina, Felix, Friskies, Kitekat are here with very bad reputation. They are the cheapest, contain very little meat and consist of poor ingredients. But maybe it's different there so I don't exactly know what to say about these test-results lol!

 

[Yoda mom]

@MereB , thank you for sharing the information.

Interestly , for two years I have fed proplan urinary focus wet food with l-lysine mixed in daily.(They refused all the expensive the vet formulas) It has nearly the same phosphorus % etc as the more expensive formulas sold at vets office he refused to eat.
Here in the US , I was told proplan is not good but my dog lived 13 yrs eating proplan ( twice his age for his breed )
I was 20 yrs old when I got him and thought I was feeding the best I could afford .

Now, I revisited the Proplan brand again for urinary health for my kitty who had Struvite crystals when I adopted him.
He refused all vet formulas. I started comparing urinary health formula phosphorus % etc to vet formulas .
he has been crystal free for over two years with the proplan urinary health formula.
I know many of us have had stories of kitties living long lives and no vet visits on some of the brands listed - I am sure some depends on genetics too-
One vet I know says corn ingredients gets a bad rap but may be better than some of the ingredient in grain free foods -that surprised me too

I saw your linked article and recognized those little proplan cans just a different formula flavor.

Yes here In US many of the brands listed on the study are not favored upon.
I wonder how the US and Australian guidelines differ?

 

[MereB]

All the brands you guys have mentioned as being seen as poor quality in the US have the same reputation here. I was REALLY surprised but how poorly some of the Hills science and the Advance fared. Both are expensive pet shop and vet brands here. You wont find them in a supermarket.
I wonder if the cheaper ones with lower meat percentages make up some points with added in nutrients. The article doesn't list meat content as one of the testing criteria just crude protein, fat, fiber etc. so it's very possible.
As it turns out the guidelines they used were set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) which is internationally recognised so barring any Australian food laws that may come into play with different approved ingredients and max/min %'s of other ingredients they should be the same foods in both countries. Only way to know would be to check each company's websites for all the different countries and compare labels.
In the meantime if anyone is curious about these guidelines.
AAFCO Guidelines for "Complete" Cat food