email response from Purina in ref to Friskies low carb canned food

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

CalicoKira

Member Since 2015
After reading and receiving information from the group about Purina Friskies vs Purina Prescription DM, I sent an email to Purina to see which food had the lowest carbs. Kira has been eating the Purina DM, which many on the site stated is pretty much a waste of money. This is the reply I received from Purina:

Thank you for contacting Nestlé Purina PetCare Company.

We appreciate your interest in our product and we recommend Our Purina® Friskies® Cat Food Classic Paté Mixed Grill.A premium, canned cat food with tempting tastes from the grill and a smooth, pleasing texture. It is 100% complete and balanced nutrition for adult cats and kittens. This product contains 1.9% carbohydrates.

We recommend a gradual diet change to help avoid digestive upset. To learn more about using a gradual transition, we invite you to visit: https://help.purina.com/answers/do-i-need-to-introduce-new-food-gradually. Again,thank you for contacting Nestlé Purina PetCare Company.
 
Check out this online calculator. It'll get you some rough data. Then calculate the calories and percent calories from each source.
Also, we do calories from carbohydrate, not weight.
3.5 calories per gram for protein
8.5 calories per gram for fat
3.5 calories per gram for carbohydrate​
 
Last edited:
The Mixed Grill comes in at 11% carbs by calorie value.

As to whether 11% is necessarily a bad thing, I'd have to say it depends on the cat. I've found that feeding the Mixed Grill makes no difference to Rosa's numbers even though it's a touch over the 10% maximum that's recommended for diabetics, so I let her have it occasionally because she loves the flavor. But some cats do best on more restricted carbs than that. All you can really do is try it and see what happens. All of the other Friskies Classic Pate flavors are under the 10% and the Fancy Feast pates have a number of flavors that are under 5% carbs so there definitely are more affordable options out there.

ETA - I also just looked at the Friskies Tasty Treasures pates as I noticed them last time I was buying cat food, but didn't get any as I wasn't sure of the carb content. Your post reminded me I'd meant to check out the carb % of them...it looks like those pate flavors also come in under 10% - I'm going to get a few next time I buy cat food to see if our kitties enjoy them for a change.
 
Last edited:
Dr. Lisa, a vet with a great website, has calculated all the fat/carbs/protein in commercial canned foods and has the list available on her site, http://www.catinfo.org/. Take a look at the list on the right side. For diabetic cats you don't need to get to zero carbs - many cats do best on "some" carbs, in the 3-8% or so range.
 
I found that site the same day I found this forum. I had bookmarked both sites to review as much info as I can take in at a time. Great information...a must share :)
 
I think (just my opinion tho). That the reason cats do better with SOME carbs is because in the wild, the eat virtually all of what they kill. There are some carbs in the bones, cartilage, feathers and fur of their prey. They also eat grass, because they like it, which also has some carbs.
 
Liver stores glycogen, a form of carbohydrate that is easily converted to glucose when needed by the animal (including humans).
 
@Elizabeth and Bertie A mouse or bird is the normal prey for a cat. Both eat grains, and both would likely have a few grains in their stomachs when the cat ate them. I've noticed that some of the cats that bounce the worst are those on zero carb diets. Others bounce too, of course, but it just seems like zero carbs don't achieve the result that people want when they choose to feed zero carb. I always fed punkin 4-6%.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top