UK Lidl Pate warning re sugars

[Hannah]

Hi,

Lidl pate has added sugars

I've not been on for ages as had been successfully managing Tabby's diabetes through diet. With lockdown in UK to reduce movement I tried her on some Lidl pate as at first glance it seemed ok carb & protein wise, I knew it was low quality but she only gets up to a pack a day to bulk up her chicken breast with some vitamins & minerals and help keep things moving (plus she gets bored of just chicken and goes off pretty much everything I try or gets allergic to it). What I hadn't noticed until I noticed excess thirst, increased eat and weight loss was that it has "various sugars" I feel terrible making my cat Ill as hadn't seen it when reading the ingredients (multiple times as I checked each flavour and double checked when buying) as I was looking for plant based carbs and the percentages and must have just not seen it. Also now I've added the nutritional info up with a calculator not rough calculation in shop I'm very dubious of the carbs, even taking minimum & maximum into account etc it doesn't seem all that realistic

Just a word of warning as wouldn't want someone else to make the same mistake especially as getting usual diet had been a bit hit and miss this past month.

Needless to say she's back on chicken breast only and pure pet food to disguise her meds while she's hungry enough to actually eat it!

I think I got mixed up as she was okay initially but maybe I had got an Aldi one as they all look very similar so once she is back on track might have a look at their ingredients in more detail

(The Lidl stuff did also set her allergies off, but so does most of them I've tried that she'll eat and the vitamins & minerals I bought to add to her food when first moved to homemade ish diet)

On the plus side my partner is going to have a go at being her personal chef so she'll be extra spoilt!

 

[jt and trouble (GA)]

On the plus side my partner is going to have a go at being her personal chef so she'll be extra spoilt!

Awwwwwwwwwwwww
welcome back although sorry for the reason. I hope kitty is feeling better.

 

[Deb & Wink]

@Elizabeth and Bertie was updating the >>>>>> UK Food Chart. Not sure if the Lidl is up to date, but she did note the "various sugars" in the notes column. But the chart still shows the Lidl as being 3.5% carbs, even with the "various sugars."

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

Lidl pate has added sugars

Hi, yes, many cat foods in the UK list things like 'various sugars' in their ingredients list, even many that calculate as being very low carb...
I try to list if a product contains 'various sugars' in the comments column on the UK list so that people can make more informed decisions about what to feed their kitty. And many people do choose to feed such foods in spite of their listing sugars in the ingredients. The currently most popular food with UK folks for example, Sheba 'fine flakes', also lists sugars in the ingredients.

'Various sugars' can mean a number of different things. Sugars in various forms are used to improve the palatability, smell, and/or the appearance of the food (for example, beet pulp or caramel for colouring, or sugars used in the browning of meat during the cooking stage.) Sugars can help improve shelf life of some products apparently. But there are also instances where it is actually used to increase calories in the product. But the label will normally just use the catch all term 'various sugars'.

Ultimately, 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating'. If we are hometesting blood glucose we should hopefully be able to 'see' the effect of a food on our cat's blood glucose. A significant spike in blood glucose after feeding may well indicate that, although a certain food seems to be low carb according to the data, it may not be a suitable food for our own kitty...

Other ingredients in food can also spike blood glucose in some cats of course. There are many possible ingredients that an individual cat may be sensitive to. One of my personal dislikes is the use of 'vegetable protein extract' in cat food. While many cats are just fine with this, a significant minority may have big spikes in blood glucose as a result of eating this, even though the food may be low carb. Similarly, some cats may get a spike in blood glucose from eating animal proteins that they are sensitive to (fish and beef sensitivities are possibly the most common); or they may be sensitive to additives such as carrageenan...
...It can take a bit of trial and error to find the best foods for our kitties...