Nutritional Values Spreadsheet - As of August, 2010

Hello all. I've put together a spreadsheet with nutritional values. I've sent this to Janet (Janet and Binky) so that she can update the nutritional information web page. In the meantime, I thought many of you would like access to this. The web link to the spreadsheet (Google Documents) is: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B8Uu8g ... NThk&hl=en

Some Notes:

- You will notice there are tabs for canned cat food, canned dog food, and dry dog food (hopefully those of you with dogs will find this useful).
- All values were obtained from the manufacturers this year (2010).
- The values in the columns with the tan headings have been calculated according to the formulas on the Janet and Binky website, unless the manufacturer supplied a value. In that case, the manufacturer supplied value is used.
- On the canned cat food tab, the list of varieties and flavors is complete for each manufacturer according to the manufacturer's website, except for Nature's Variety, where I only listed the Instinct line, not Prarie (Instinct is lower in carbs than Prarie), and Pet Guard, where I just listed their one organic flavor.
- The dog food tabs show a sampling of varieties and flavors from each manufacturer, but may not be the complete list.

I put this together primarily because my cat, Hobo, was diagnosed with feline diabetes earlier this year. Unfortunately, I had to put Hobo to sleep in August due to a cause unrelated to the diabetes. So, I would like to dedicate this spreadsheet in memory of Hobo. I hope you find it useful.

This sounds like a wonderful gift, Wayne.

Wow, Wayne, this is fabulous. What a terrific amount of work but a beautiful homage to Hobo. Do you mind if I put a link to this sheet in the sticky section and also the food section of the regular FelineDiabetes.com site? I will of course give credit to you.

Thanks so much.

Hugs,
Rebecca

Hi Rebecca,

Please feel free to post a link to the spreadsheet wherever you like. Yes, a lot of work went into this but it was of course a labor of love.

Hugs to you too!
Wayne

Nicely done Wayne. Thanks very much for this.

This is very helpful & well done. Thank you for the effort as it is much appreciated. Do you know if there is similar, current data for Fancy Feast and Friskies?

Hi Susan, I do not have any data for Fancy Feast and Friskies. I used to feed Fancy Feast, but now avoid it because of meat by-products and artificial ingredients. I suspect Friskies has the same issues, and probably more. You may want to check out the "Feeding Your Cat" section at Catinfo.org. There is some great info about what to feed and what not to feed there.

Wayne, my heartfelt sympathy on the loss of Hobo(GA). Thank you so very much for all the work you have put into this.....I finally have info on Merrick and Weruva and Blue Buffalo. So funny when I call pet stores to ask if they carry Weruva. Quite a name.
Appreciate this info so much and is a big, big help.

Thanks Wayne. What is the difference between columns B through D and columns E through G? Same question about the different columns for fiber (H and I) and phosphorus (J and K).

Hi Venita,

The yellow columns E-G are the "as fed" values for protein,fat and carbs, that I obtained from the manufacturers. "As fed" is the percentage of a particular ingredient that is contained in the can or bag. The as fed values for any particular brand or flavor cat food of protein, fat, carbohydrate, fiber, ash, and water should add up to 100%, as these are the major categories of ingredients. However, for purposes of comparing protein, fat and carbs from one food to the next, we want to use the PERCENTAGE OF CALORIES from protein, fat and carbs, in each brand/flavor, NOT the as fed values, and NOT the guaranteed analysis minimum and maximum values for these things that are listed on the can. The percentage of calories values for protein, fat and carbs for each food (the ones we want to use for comparing) are what appears in the tan columns B-D. The percent of calories values are computed with a formula using the as fed values. These formulas can be found on the Janet and Binky web site at this link: http://binkyspage.tripod.com/foodfaq.html. The formulas are also described on the Catinfo.org website, in the Commercial Foods section, (along with a lot of other great nutitional information).

Concerning phosphorus and fiber, the answer is similar. We want to compare levels of phosphorus and fiber from one food to the next using the percentages of these things per 100 KCal (tan columns I and K). These values are also computed using formulas from the as-fed values for phosphorus and fiber (yellow columns H and J). The formulas may be found on the web sites mentioned above.

A simplier answer to all of this is as follows: use the values in the tan columns to compare one brand or flavor to the next when comparing levels of protein, fat, carb, fiber or phosphorus. You really don't have to worry about the as fed values on the spreadsheet.

I would suggest thoroughly reading the "Feeding your Cat" and "Commercial Canned Foods" sections at Catinfo.org. The concepts of as fed values, dry matter basis values, guaranteed nutritional values on the cans, and the formulas used to calcualte values as a percent of calories are all discussed in detail there. It is important to know how to compare nutritional values from one food to the next when chosing foods for a diabetic cat.

Wayne-

Just ran across this post recently. Great information and so well done. However I noticed some radical differences between some of the values information on this chart -vs- elsewhere and wanted to try and clarify some of the discrepancy.
I checked against my own records, information I got from calling a few of these manufacturers for AF/DM values, other posts, J&B charts, etc.

Especially concerned with discrepancy shown here for Nature's Variety INSTINCT at 12% carb per k/cal!!!!!??
Also shows it with much higher phosphorous values than what I had down for it. That one is part of our regular rotation and 12% is too high for us. I thought this was LC?
It is a 95% meat variety. Can this be right?

There were a few others I saw that were different than what we had form elsewhere, (only really checked the ones we feed). Majority were same or very similar to what I gathered.

BUT for Instinct I had the following...think these are off J&B list:
Protein per k/cal- 27-32% (most 27-29) ...depending on variety
fat 61-66% ...depending on variety
carbs per k/cal ranging 6-8% ...depending on variety
phosp: 183-214
Ie:
Instinct Chicken: 28P ~ 66F~ 6C 0.2 219phos 242 cals
Instinct Duck 27p 65F 8C 0.2 214 242


-Evo 95% Chic&turk : you: 25/73/2 - 237 phos (2x's)
j&B: 29/71/0- 105 phos
this i flavor we feed.. didn't look closely at others


-Noticed the phosp. value shown for the BG Turkey as MUCh less than on the other BG flavors shown on the chart. (90) Is that correct?

Perhaps these reflect formula changes??? But I phoned Natures Variety myself in the last 6 mos or so and have those current AF/DM values in my notes. They said the last formula change for that recipe was July '09.

So Help! I want to clarify this as sure hope we don't have to give up Instinct. That is a big difference.
We already lost another 2 foods recently for other reasons...running out of things that work.


recent post with some discrepancy for same foods:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=28439&p=290295#p290295
Instinct has been widely considered LC on board. Can we please clarify?


Side note: not on your chart, but...
BTW, I cannot get a consistent or straight answer out of the By Nature folks. Most recently was given the values below (differing form previously obtained) and was told the 95% versions had NOT changed formula (as did the Organic varieties):
*[AS FED] per 100 kcalories: PROTEIN: 36%
FAT: 53%
CARBS: 10%
P [PHOSPHORUS]: 125 mg ... (varies greatly form what I have seen elsewhere)FIBRE: negligible (not measured) ....( my commentary: whatever was told all formula had 1.5% in past)* 78% moisture content.
they failed to include ash
ANY COMMENTS anyone? does this seem credible?
Question: why would a 95% version with meat only and no grain, starch or veg ingredients have a 10% carb per 100 k/cal value? Makes no sense. What contributes to the carb?
They are no longer carrying this one locally anyway....but was another in our rotation. Again, we are running out of variety options.

Anyone?

Hi Betty,

Regarding Nature's Variety Instinct, I was a little suspicious of these numbers when they were given to me, because you will see that all six flavors on my spreadsheet have the exact same values for protein, fat and carbs. I questioned that at the time, and the rep on the phone told me "they are formulated to have the same values". I am no expert, but I don't know if would be possible to do that. It seems like it would be an awful lot of work to get all six varieties having different proteins to somehow come out to have the exact same values. So, did they give you different values for each flavor? If so, I would tend to believe your numbers are closer to the truth than mine. If that's the case, send me your values and I'll update my spreadsheet.

Evo 95% Chicken and Turkey: Yes, I was aware that my values are different that J&B. I believe that this flavor was reformulated. It is interesting to note that on CatInfrg, Dr. Pierson made a comment about the previously high phosphorus value of this flavor - so maybe they saw that and decided to reformulate.

Merrick Before Grain Turkey: I rechecked the email that I received from Merrick and all the numbers are correct. The protein content is a lot higher than the other flavors, so when that goes into the formula it drives the phosphorus per KCal down.

By Nature: I'm not familiar with that brand, but if it contains no grain, starch or veg, then the 10% as-fed carbs would not make sense to me either - besides the meat, what other ingredients are shown on the label?

BTW, have you tried Country Pet Naturals frozen slice and serve product? They advertize zero carbs on the website. They did not return my call when I wanted to get complete nutritional values (hence the blank line on the spreadsheet), but if you read the ingredients, I believe there are probably close to no carbs in it. Unfortunately, Hobo never got to try it, but my new cat Preston really goes for it (but he chows down on everything!). I like that fact that it is lightly cooked (just enough to pasteurize it), and that it is free-range and organic (New Zealand organic anyway). My understanding is that the high tempuratures that canned, and more so dry, foods are cooked at destroy a lot of nutrients and vitamins, which then have to be put back in. It also contains ground bone as a natural source of calcium, which the company claims helps to clean cats' teeth. My dogs love the dog food varieties also. It's really a great product!

Wayne--

I some how missed this when it was posted previously, and just wanted thank you SO much for your hard work in putting this together, and express my sympathies at the loss of your dear Hobo.

I've had my eye on the basic Blue Buffalo varieties for awhile, but have resisted as they weren't accounted for in the J&B charts, and the presence of potato as the third ingredient made me very, very leery. So glad to know that the product really is primarily turkey and broth and that the potato has very little presence. We'll be giving it a try thanks to you!

Hi Wayne - I anted to say thanks for all your hard work in compiling this data. I am so grateful that you took the time. What a great tribute to Hobo. I am so sorry for your loss.

Thanks Christie and Michelle and everyone else. I'm glad the spreadsheet has been useful to you. It's been almost eight months and I still miss Hoby very much, but I'm glad to know that somthing that I did for him is benefiting other people and cats. Take Care!

Wayne: Thank you for all the work you did on this....awesome. Here's the info I got from Nature's Variey Instinct on their canned foods:

Marjorie,
On the instinct cans when we went to our new labeling we did indeed put the actuals on our labels. GA’s, by creation are given in minimums and maximums, which is the way we’ve posted them in the past. However, we’ve found that our consumers are more interested in knowing the actuals, for good reason such as special needs pets. As a result, we reanalyzed our levels for things like protein and fat and with the new change in packaging, we have taken the opportunity to change our label and provided the actual on the cans now, which accounts for the percentage increase you see. Our GA’s are still in min and max, but what you are seeing on the can is now the actual.

So in regards to your question, on the protein, say on the Instinct canned food.

PROTEIN As Fed per label = 11.0%
Dry Matter = 44.0%

FAT As Fed per label = 8.0%
Dry Matter = 32.0%

FIBER As Fed per label = 3.0%
Dry Matter = 12.0%

WATER/MOISTURE 75%

ASH As Fed per label = 2.206%
Dry Matter = 8.824%

CARBS in Canned food is Less than 3%

I hope this is more helpful Marjorie. I

Sincerely,
Kerri

Customer Service
Nature's Variety
1-888-519-7387
www.naturesvariety.com

Click to expand...

When I plugged those numbers in to Janet's calculator, I got 3% kcal from carbs. But you make a great point....how do all their foods have the same analysis????

Wayne, what a beautiful tribute to Hobo! It will help a lot of other diabetic cats.

I noticed a couple things though that might need corrected or added.

I am wondering if the Purina DM is listed at the top of each page for comparison purposes? It probably should say that somewhere, if so.

The layout did not translate well from page to page because of the addition of the DM at the tops, for example, the heading for Merrick is completely separated from the list of foods and on page 3 it almost looks like Purina makes those varieties!

Sorry to be nitpicky, but that stood out to me because I know the Merrick varieties by name. Others who are not familiar might be confused.

Hope that helps. Didn't mean to make more work for you, as it looks fabulous otherwise.

Marjorie - I see the numbers that Nature's Variety gave you are pretty much the same as what they gave me. Regarding the differing numbers that Betty received, I am wondering who has the most recent info from the company? Betty and Marjorie, can I ask when you both received your numbers?

Vicky - yes, "freezing" the Purina DM line on the spreadsheet was supposed allow comparing DM to everything else - as DM is typically what vets recommend (BTW, just my opinion, but I think DM is sludge - full of by-products!). Anyway, I can see how that frozen line could be confusing when it appears at the top of every page when the spreadsheet is printed. I will unfreeze that line and upload it again. Thanks for the observation!

Wayne

I originally got that info from Nature's Variety in Oct, 2010. I called them again Monday and actually spoke with someone today. She said they had just updated their information (it's still pretty close to your chart). I asked her why their values for each protein are so similar and she said they actually formulate
the foods that way because they have alot of pets who have very specific protein, fat, or carb needs and so they formulate the foods so each has roughly the same amount of protein, fat, carbs, moisture, ash, and fiber....that way if someone has a special needs animal, then they can feed them a variety of foods but stay in the same nutritional value area so that one meal they aren't getting 11% protein and the next 17%. Here are the AS FED values she gave me today for the Instinct canned foods:
protein fat ash moisture fiber
Beef 11 7 2.3 75 3
Chicken 11 8 2.21 75 3
Rabbit 10 7.5 2.11 75 3
Duck 10 7.5 2.72 75 3
Lamb 11 8.5 2.29 75 3
Venison 11 6 4.01 75 3

I then took the values above and subtracted the ones for each food from 100 to get the AS FED carbs:
Beef 1.7
Chicken .79
Rabbit 2.39
Duck 1.78
Lamb .21
Venison 1

I then plugged the protein, fat, and carb values into Janet's calculator and got the %kcal from carbs as:
Beef 6%
Chicken 3%
Rabbit 8%
Duck 6%
Lamb 1%
Venison 4%

Hope this helps. And Wayne, I also think this is a wonderful tribute to Hobo that you did....it is helping to save FD lives. Thank you.

Hi Marjorie,

Thanks for following-up on this with Nature's Variety. Yes, I see the numbers they gave you are pretty close to what they gave me, but those slight differences caused the %kCal from Carbs to drop from what I had. I know that is a number that everyone is concerned about. So, I'll update the spreadsheet with your numbers and reload it to the webpag. It makes me a little suspicious that they keep giving out different numbers, depending on who you happen to talk to on the phone - but I do think the numbers you received are probably more accurate, because they show slight differences for each flavor - not just one blanket set of numbers for all flavors that I received. Nature's Variety is such a great company otherwise (IMHO). They know their customers are concerned with nutrtition, so I am a little suprised that they don't have one set of accurate numbers and give those same numbers out to everyone who calls.

Wayne: I know..it is odd that they don't seem more organized or have this info readily available on charts like Wellness. But they were very committed to helping and explaining their numbers. The store where I buy it only carries the best foods and the mgr told me they went to the production facilities and she would feel comfortable eating the ingredients! Thanks for updating the SS.

Hello All,

I've updated the spreadsheet with Marjorie's numbers for Nature's Variety Instinct, and also "unfroze" the top Purina DM line per the other suggestion. I also figured out how to turn on gridlines, which were missing before when looking at the spreadsheet online at the web page. As you know, you can download your own copy to work with or print as you please. Good luck - I am glad to hear that people are finding this useful. I know that Hobo would be pleased!!

Take care,

Wayne