New Here - Fancy Feast in Canada

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beggargirl

beggargirl

Member Since 2011
I am in Canada and looking into fancy feast as an alternative to the Purina DM wet for my newly diagnosed cat. However, many of you are recommending the "Classic" type of fancy feast, and this does not seem to be available in my country. Binky's list only seems to mention nutritional info for the Fancy Feast Elegant Medleys on the US chart, and no fancy feast at all on the canadian/non-US chart.

I am also interested in the "classic" fancy feast as someone posted this <a href="http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm">link</a> mentioning that they are wheat gluten free. As I have two cats, the non-diabetic one with some sort of tummy issues (she sometimes passes bloody mucus after a stool; she has been like this most of her life and have taken her to the vet a few times with no answers), I would prefer to try these out.

The wal-mart near me has the following non gravy/non seafood varieties that I am possibly interested in: turkey feast sliced, chicken feast pate, tender liver and chicken feast pate, turkey and giblets pate, and chicken feast chunky.

The canadian fancy feast site does list <a href="http://www.purina.ca/products/cats/fancy-feast/fancy-feast-wet/fancy-feast-gourmet-wet-pate.aspx">some</a> nutritional info, but carbohydrate content is not listed. Eg:

<i>Turkey & Giblets Feast™
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (Min) 11.0%
Crude Fat (Min) 5.0%
Crude Fibre (Max) 1.5%
Moisture (Max) 78.0%
Ash (Max) 3.0%
Taurine (Min) 0.05%</i>

I am also interested in keeping the phosphorus content to a minimum since I do not know what issues my non-diabetic kitty may or may not have.

How do I chose which to give my cats? I am hoping you will point me to some link or info I have obviously overlooked, and I will *headdesk* and thank you for being so kind and patient. :)
 
I'm in Canada as well, and noticed that our Fancy Feast cans do not say 'classic' on them. I have fed Basil and Monkey the chicken feast, turkey and giblets, salmon and liver and chicken. Of all of those, chicken is their favorite. I would suggest picking up a couple of each and trying them out, as not all cats like the same flavours. Walmart is usually the best price for the FF and i noticed that Pet Value has them on this week as well.

Also, the nutritional info you have there is just the minimum of each they must contain. It's not a perfect match but check out http://binkyspage.tripod.com/CanFoodOld.html and get an idea of what kind of % the ones they list have. My vet told me that Basil would never come off insulin unless we saw a change in his body composition and that the fancy feast ckn only has 11% protein, where he needs 40%. After reading Binky's list I realized my vet looked at the side of the can. (btw Basil did so well once I switched him to FF that he is not taking insulin anymore)

Just watch out for how many carbs are in the flavours you chose. I actually emailed Purina at NestlePurinaInfo@casupport.com and asked for a nutritional analysis breakdown. This is what I got in response: We appreciate your inquiry. We would like to mail nutritional information regarding our Fancy Feast(r) Gourmet Cat Food products that will assist you in determining the product that is best suited for your cat's particular needs. We encourage you to share this information with your veterinarian, as he or she is in the best position to examine your cat's nutritional needs. Please email us with your mailing address for this purpose. Upon receipt, please allow 7-10 business days for delivery.

Once I get it I will share any info if it is not already on the pages on the board.

Good luck!
 
where in Canada? I'm in Alberta..

I feed a mix of fancy feast plus president's choice plus some of the walmart brands. I look for foods that don't contain grains but some do have wheat gluten.

Jen
 
Thanks guys!

Wow. I'd love to hear about the nutritional breakdown when you get it!

And I'm in BC. :)
 
I'm in Ontario Jen. What PC and Walmart ones do you use? I wasn't sure which ones were ok, so I've stuck to FF pretty much.
 
In Canada, we actually have a good selection of grocery store brands that are low carb. Compliments (Sobeys/IGA) and President's Choice (SuperStore, LobLaws) foods are good choices. One big bonus is that the PC and Compliments cost less than FF, and several of them have better ingredients! There are several PC flavours that are low carb- like duck - which FF doesn't even carry. The WalMart and PC ones are in Janet's international charts, and the FF ones are in her old charts. Regardless, stick with pate ones - no gravies. The gravy ones are full of corn starch. If it's used, wheat gluten is listed on the labels in the ingredients, so it's easy to avoid those if you like.

The Compliments ones (Sobeys) also have really good pates. The ones you buy in a box (turkey and giblets, beef dinner, and mixed grill) are all pates and good to use.

Friskies also has some really good low carb pates, and it says "Pate" clearly on the label. My guys like turkey & giblets, chef's dinner, chicken dinner and - as a once a week treat only!- the salmon dinner or whitefish and tuna.

If they are not in Janet's list, the next best thing is to label read- avoid obvious grains (wheat, rice, corn) and other carbs (potatoes, peas), fruit & vegetables, and things called "food starch".. which I assume is cornstarch, but the "starch" part says "stay away" to a sugarcat.
 
Oh, and Leanne - unless Purina sends you their dry matter or "as fed" analysis, the info won't be what we need. And it is not easy to get that data! (Perhaps you can email them back and request those numbers, specifically?)

Janet's charts don't calculate the carb content by weight or volume, etc. She has worked out what percentage of overall calories come from carbohydrates. That's the info we need. When we get info from a company that says "12% carbs", it tells us nothing. 12% by weight? Volume? Ingredients?

Take a cup of black coffee. Zero calories. Zero fat. Now add a Tbsp of cream. What precentage of the coffee is cream? 1 Tbsp in a cup is pretty small. There are 16 Tbsp in a cup ... 17 in this one, since we added 1 Tbsp of cream. So 1/17th of the total is fat - by volume. Less than 6%. Sounds good. BUT 100% of the calories in that cup of coffee come from fat. Very different values.

So unless all data is "on the same page", so to speak, we have trouble comparing.

Make sense? It's early morning, so I am still half asleep.

Hmmmm.... speaking of coffee... I better go get some! :lol:
 
Does anyone know which current Fancy Feast options in Canada are low carb and suitable for diabetes? Cant seem to find any of the classic options in Canada that are listed in the diet section. Thanks!
 
TanyaG said:
Does anyone know which current Fancy Feast options in Canada are low carb and suitable for diabetes? Cant seem to find any of the classic options in Canada that are listed in the diet section. Thanks!
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They don't call them Classics in Canada. Any of the pate versions are fine although others have commented on changes in the formula that has caused GI upset in some sensitive kitties. I'm lucky that my guy isn't one of those. Just avoid any with sauce or gravy. I've given Teasel the chicken, turkey and giblets and cod/shrimp/sole. I also feed him Friskies pates - chicken, turkey and giblets, chef's dinner and, occasionally, one of the seafood pates. I mix in with his prescription DM but occasionally he gets just these.
 
Sorry but we got that same advice from Binky's. We now call Fancy Feast "Pig Slop". Has to be one of the worst cat foods out there. Generally you get what you pay for.
 
Nigel&Noah said:
Sorry but we got that same advice from Binky's. We now call Fancy Feast "Pig Slop". Has to be one of the worst cat foods out there. Generally you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...
I think the following piece written by Dr. Lisa Pierson DVM (well known and highly respected in the world of feline diabetes) is worth reading and digesting before anyone poo-poos any brand of canned food. She explains why better than I could.

Please read:
Commercial Cat Foods

From the first paragraph:
"I would much rather see a cat eat any canned food versus any dry food – regardless of the price-point of the canned food. This includes Friskies, 9-Lives, Fancy Feast, etc."

She then goes on to explain why. It's a good read.
 
Also thought the world had ended when I saw "Tuscany" cat food and "Chicken Soup for the soul" dog food. Do advertising companies really think we fall for this? I use to work at the Moo-Works so I actually do know what goes into a hot dog! Doesn't keep me from eating them, just make mine REALLY well done!
 
Nigel&Noah said:
Sorry but we got that same advice from Binky's. We now call Fancy Feast "Pig Slop". Has to be one of the worst cat foods out there. Generally you get what you pay for.
Click to expand...
Hi Nigel, yes I am concerned about the quality of FF.With it being low carb I'm sure it would help diabetes but I ideally I don't want to feed a low quality food in the long run and cause other health issues. I was feeding Instinct grain free 95% for past week but it's higher in carbs then I'd like and contains peas and carrotsz I'm now feeding Instinct limited grain as its lower in carb. It's not the best quality but it's decent in that at least it's free of carrageenan, guar gum, artificial flavours, meat by product etc. I'd ideally like a food that is free range/antibiotic & hormone free/free of additives/high protein/low carb etc. I found wild calling Buffaloe and the alligator to be a good quality, will try these product but it does hv guar gum, but that's it. It's s high quality meat free range etc. I'd prefer her on something that mimics food in the wild like bird like turkey, chicken or duck but she had allergy to chicken and so may also hv to turkey. I'm giving her duck in the Instinct. Also will try some rabbit but it's a lean meat and she's underweight right now. She has skin issues likely from leaky gut and thus food intolerances so having novel options is helpful as we need to get her skin stable and off steroids. I was doing home cooked before which she enjoyed but I bout of sickness and the diabetes put her off her home cooked. Appetite is improving but still a bit of coaxing but she's liking the Instinct LI so far. Long term I'd love to go high quality low carb raw but she can be quite fussy and sensitive to food changes and is currently underweight so best to stick to tasty ideally good quality canned and low carb. What do you use or suggest? Thanks!
 
Jill & Alex (GA) said:
I think the following piece written by Dr. Lisa Pierson DVM (well known and highly respected in the world of feline diabetes) is worth reading and digesting before anyone poo-poos any brand of canned food. She explains why better than I could.

Please read:
Commercial Cat Foods

From the first paragraph:
"I would much rather see a cat eat any canned food versus any dry food – regardless of the price-point of the canned food. This includes Friskies, 9-Lives, Fancy Feast, etc."

She then goes on to explain why. It's a good read.
Click to expand...
I agree that any canned including FF is better than kibble. My cat doesn't eat kibble though so I'm ideally looking to source what she refers to in the category as muscle meat instead of meal by products and of course free of grain, additives and high qualify like antiobiotuc and hormone free, human grade etc. that is low carb and high protein. It's been a challenge to find this far but I'm sure there are some high quality products out there :)
 
A word about home-made food. This is a quote from www.petmd "Taurine is one of these types of amino acids, and has been found to play an essential role in the diet of cats. Lack of this amino acid results in severe health repercussions, such as blindness and tooth decay, amongst other things". I've added plenty of home-made things to cat food and they've all done well. Who wants to eat the same thing every day?
 
Nigel&Noah said:
A word about home-made food. This is a quote from www.petmd "Taurine is one of these types of amino acids, and has been found to play an essential role in the diet of cats. Lack of this amino acid results in severe health repercussions, such as blindness and tooth decay, amongst other things". I've added plenty of home-made things to cat food and they've all done well. Who wants to eat the same thing every day?
Click to expand...
Yes I agree taurine is essential. I was doing the Hilary's home cooked recipes they come with a vitamin in and mineral blend that contains taurine etc. that balances them. But there were only a few options that were suitable for Tinka, she was doing well on it for about a year but then she got a bout of sickness and had since gone off them and so she will only eat canned right now. What canned food do you use or suggest that's high quality and low carb? Thanks!
 
Kris & Teasel said:
They don't call them Classics in Canada. Any of the pate versions are fine although others have commented on changes in the formula that has caused GI upset in some sensitive kitties. I'm lucky that my guy isn't one of those. Just avoid any with sauce or gravy. I've given Teasel the chicken, turkey and giblets and cod/shrimp/sole. I also feed him Friskies pates - chicken, turkey and giblets, chef's dinner and, occasionally, one of the seafood pates. I mix in with his prescription DM but occasionally he gets just these.
Click to expand...
Thanks Kris, as Tinka has GI sensitivity I'm going to rather try source a higher quality product that's free of all the additives and artificial flavours, antiobiotics etc as these likely will cause more GI issues for her.
 
TanyaG said:
Thanks Kris, as Tinka has GI sensitivity I'm going to rather try source a higher quality product that's free of all the additives and artificial flavours, antiobiotics etc as these likely will cause more GI issues for her.
Click to expand...
Totally understand, Tanya. Teasel's very tolerant of these things.
 
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