Information on Australian canned food suitable for diabetic cats

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Bron and Sheba (GA)

Bron and Sheba (GA)

Member Since 2015
The following is information I have gathered about Australian canned food over the last 6 months or so. The list is not all that is available by any means but I hope it will be useful to the Aussies having trouble finding suitable canned food here in Australia. As requested by Eliz and Bertie I have also posted this information in the Food Link thread of the Think Tank.

CANNED CAT FOOD AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA

Gourmet Delight canned
. High Protein, low carbs, no by-products no preservatives or added salt. Cans 85 grams. www.gourmetdelight.com.au for website or phone 1800819785. There are several other varieties available but I do not know the nutritional information
· Healthy Weight (ocean fish and lean chicken) 2.8 carbs
· Heart Health (mackerel ocean fish and salmon) 1.9 carbs

Fancy Feast classic recipes canned (85grams). Phone 1800738238. The can states it has cereals but the spokesperson I spoke to on the phone said these ones did not. I have used them and they are definitely low carb. I phoned the company twice and got the same following information.

· Prime Filet Fish. Protein 12 fat 2 carbs 3.8 calories/100g=70
· Chicken and Giblet Pate Protein 11 fat 4 carbs 2 calories/100g=80
· Carved Beef Flavoured Feast Sliced Protein 11 fat 2 carbs 4.8
· Decadent Roast Chicken Protein 11 fat 2 carbs 4.8 calories/100g=70
· Prime Fillet of Salmon Grilled Protein 12 fat 2 carbs 4.0 calories/100g=70

Wellness info@wellpet.com
I received the following email from Wellness. At the time I was asking about the phosphorus levels in their food in Australia. I do not have the carb values but could probably get them if you like. There may be some people with CRD kitties who would like the phosphorus levels.
“Thank you for taking the time to write Wellness®. Unfortunately, our formulations are not prescription diets geared for particular health issues. Therefore, we recommend consulting with your Veterinarian for advice based on your pet's particular medical challenge. With that being, said below are the phosphorus values for our Wellness wet products available in Australia.

Wellness® Complete Health Wet Cat Foods
Complete Health Chicken Recipe
As Fed: 0.31%
Dry Matter: 1.15%
Complete Health Chicken & Herring
As Fed: 0.37%
Dry Matter: 1.48%
Complete Health Beef & Chicken
As Fed: 0.28%
Dry Matter: 1.17%
Complete Health Turkey
As Fed: 0.28%
Dry Matter: 1.04%
Complete Health Turkey & Salmon
As Fed: 0.35%
Dry Matter: 1.44%
Complete Health Salmon & Trout
As Fed: 0.33%
Dry Matter: 1.28%
Complete Health Chicken & Lobster
As Fed: 0.33%
Dry Matter: 1.31%
Complete Health Beef & Salmon:
As Fed: 0.26%
Dry Matter: 1.06%
Complete Health Salmon, Shrimp & Crab Recipe
As fed: 0.45%
Dry Matter: 1.57%
Complete Health Kitten
As Fed: 0.31%
Dry Matter: 1.15%

Wellness® CORE® Wet Cat Foods
CORE® Grain Free Chicken, Turkey, & Chicken Liver
As Fed: 0.30%
Dry Matter: 1.08%
CORE® Grain Free Salmon, Whitefish, & Herring
As Fed: 0.33%
Dry Matter: 1.20%

Wellness® Cubed, Sliced and Minced Wet Cat Recipes
Chicken Cubed Entrée
As Fed: 0.34%
Dry Matter: 1.51%
Minced Chicken Entrée
As Fed: 0.33%
Dry Matter: 1.48%
Sliced Chicken Entrée
As Fed: 0.34%
Dry Matter: 1.52%
Cubed Salmon Dinner
As Fed: 0.41%
Dry Matter: 1.86%
Sliced Salmon Entrée
As Fed: 0.41%
Dry Matter: 1.87%
Minced Salmon Dinner
As Fed: 0.41%
Dry Matter: 1.87%
Cubed Tuna Entrée
As Fed: 0.31%
Dry Matter: 1.37%
Minced Tuna Dinner
As Fed: 0.31%
Dry Matter: 1.37%
Cubed Turkey & Salmon Entrée
As Fed: 0.35%
Dry Matter: 1.55%
Sliced Turkey and Salmon Dinner
As Fed: 0.37%
Dry Matter: 1.66%
Minced Turkey & Salmon Dinner
As Fed: 0.37%
Dry Matter: 1.63%
Cubed Turkey Entrée
As Fed: 0.34%
Dry Matter: 1.49%
Minced Turkey Entrée
As Fed: 0.37%
Dry Matter: 1.64%
Sliced Turkey Entrée
As Fed: 0.37%
Dry Matter: 1.65%

Thanks again for contacting us.
WellPet Consumer Affairs Team
000390675A”

M/D Hills canned for diabetics. The following is correspondence I had with the company here in Australia. I was inquiring as to the percentage of carbs in the M/D in As Fed basis. I was surprised to be told it was 3.9%. The lady who wrote the email was the vet attached to the company here in Australia by the looks of it. The emails start with an inquiry from me.

· “Re: Hills prescription M/D canned cat food for diabetics. I have a diabetic cat and I feed her M/D canned food and she has insulin twice a day. I am concerned your food has 15 percentage of carbohydrates. It is given as dry matter. Could you tell me the percentage of carbohydrate when it is given as eg: percentage of water, percentage of protein, percentage of fat, percentage of carbohydrate please? I want to compare it with other canned cat food. I am not entirely happy with M/D - the texture and look of it changes, sometimes quite dry, and it is expensive. Thank you for your time.”

“Thank you for your enquiry. The percentage of carbohydrate on an As Fed basis- which is when water is included (I am assuming you are referring to the canned food?) is 3.9%. Since canned food is made mostly of meat, the water content will be high, around 75% - because this is the amount of water found naturally in meat. I am sorry to hear the texture is not favourable at times. Natural changes can occur as the product comes closer to shelf life. Fresher batches will generally be more moist. We can assure you that the product is clinically trialed and shown to be not only safe but effective up till the expiry date. If your cat ever dislikes the food because of the different texture, check with your clinic, they should be able to organise the 100% Money Back Guarantee on the remaining cans.
Kind Regards”

“Are you saying that M/D canned has 3.9% carbohydrate per can and 78% water (which all canned food has of course). If this is so, can you tell me the amount of protein and fat as a percentage as well please?”

“Yes, there would be approximately 6 grams (3.9% means 3.9g in 100 grams, so 3.9% of 156 gram can gives about 6g). The m/d has been clinically trialed and shown to, in some cases, bring diabetic cats into remission, however this is based on it being the only thing fed. Even though chicken and kangaroo and bones are not high in carbohydrates, addition of any food can dilute the active ingredients and components of the food and render it less effective. It may be worth while trying to cut out these foods and see if that helps control her levels again. Even if you previously fed these treats, our bodies change with age, so she could be experiencing changes that mean she cannot handle the extra nutrients. The Fat content is 4.8% and Protein is 13.1% (as fed not dry matter). The products are displayed in Dry Matter because this is a commercial standard in pet food labelling, and is the most accurate way to compare two different products- including different brands”

Weruva – cats in the kitchen. www.weruva.com This brand is now available from PETBARN and can be ordered online or collected from a store. PETBARN also carries the b.f.f.cans and pouches and the ‘cats in the kitchen pouches’. Look online for nutritional info for those. Some of the ‘cats in the kitchen’ canned food is low in phosphorus for CRD kitties which is a bonus. I have just added the lowest three. For CRD kitties it would be worth looking at the others listed as they are not all that high in phosphorus.

· Tu Two Tango Protein 56.9 fat 38.4 carbs 4.7
· La Isla Bonita Protein 50.6 fat 46.0 carbs 3.4 phos/100mg=166
· Goldie Lox Protein 66.0 fat 30.0 carbs 4.0
· Kitty Gone Wild Protein 60.3 fat 35.1 carbs 4.7
· Funk in the trunk Protein 63.4 fat 28.8 carbs 7.8
· Fowl Ball Protein 40.5 fat 55.4 carbs 4.1 phos/100mg=180
· Splash Dance protein 50.0 fat 45.7 carbs 4.4
· Lamb Burger-ini protein 45.3 fat 47.1 carbs 7.6
· Chicken Fric A Zee Protein 50.8 fat 47.2 carbs 2.0 phos/100mg=174
· The Double Dip protein 47.9 fat 44.5 carbs 7.6
 
Thank you, this is excellent! Dweezil eats some of these foods.

I hear a lot that Whiskas loaf is also low carb.

Also, Nature's Gift kangaroo is low carb.

I'm still not convinced about those Fancy Feasts. Is there a reason cod, sole & shrimp isn't included in your list? It is one of the few that doesn't say it contains cereals and i've heard a lot around here that it is safe. I'm sure the chicken & giblet pate lists cereals, but i can't recall.

Also, ziwipeak is available from some pet shops and online and is very low carb.
 
Hi Monty_dweezil,
Re the Fancy Feasts. They seem to have the same ingredients on most of the labels and yes they do say they have cereals. But when I rang the company ( twice) , they told me that some of them did not have cereals in them and the ones I have listed are low carb. I used chicken and giblet for several weeks and it was definitely low carb. The reason I stopped using FF was because Sheba had a couple of higher blood test readings with her kidneys. Fancy Feast is very high in phosphorus and I needed a food that was lower in phosphorus. I now feed home-cooked and raw and she is so much better in many ways. I use raw kangaroo meat from the human section at WW and also give her cooked chicken drumstick meat which I cook myself. Plus the supplements of course. Anyway I will ring the company again tomorrow re the FF and also ask about cod sole and shrimp.

Yes Ziwipeak is available and Wellness. I haven't tried either of them. Our local PETBARN has a big range of quite good quality canned cat food.
Have you tried Weruva 'cats in the kitchen' canned and pouches? The canned is lower in carbs. It is a really good quality cat food. Quite expensive - 1.75 for a 90 gram can but if you buy it in bulk (10 or more) it is 1.00 a can at PETBARN at the moment. They don't sell the larger cans out here yet. Hopefully they will.
I don't know about Whiskas, I will see if I can find out.
Bron
 
Yes, we just recently bought about 20 cans of the cats in the kitchen from our local pet barn! They both LOVE it!

I am so wary about the FF because after we fed Dweezy on three ones we thought were low carb, his symptoms flared up terribly again.
 
I rang the company today re the Fancy Feast gold classic range of canned food. They confirmed that the numbers I have listed above are correct. She was not sure why they put cereals in the list of ingredients but I was told last time that it was a standard list put on all the tins. Sounds a bit stupid to do that to me however.................anyway I am sure you are safe to use any of the listed ones. I did not find they raised the blood sugar.
I asked about the cod, sole and shrimp and here is the good news: protein 13, fat 2, carbs 2, and 70 calories per 100 grams. The cans are 85 grams.
The spokesperson said that the whole of the gold classic range of FF here on Australia was low carb; the highest ones being 4.8 carbs. Look for the gold band which circles the can and it has "classic recipes" written on the gold band.

I will try and find out about Whiskas next week for you.

I am pleased your cats like the cats in the kitchen range, Sheba does too. I keep a few pouches of the Chick Magnet in the cupboard and use it when I need some higher carb food. It has 15.8 carbs. I freeze the left over high carb food in small ice block trays, label it, then keep it in the freezer for when it is needed. I can just get out a teaspoon of it at a time when she drops low.
Bron
 
I don't trust FF at all, cereals is not a standard ingredient listed on all their tins. The cod and shrimp doesn't list it, neither does one of the pate varieties, nor does the kitten food which I do feed Vyktor. They have a list to read from so I expect you would get the same answers each time but as I recall from my research when Vyktor was first diagnosed there's something not right about how they calculate the carbs too - not right as in its not comparable to the U.S. list. That is probably also the case with at least some of the others too, eg the MD

Thanks for posting this though I didn't know weruva was available here now so will have to look into that as Vyktor is getting very picky about all his old foods.

Also ok for Australians are the entire natures gift range, ultimates (except the one with rice and they do all contain fish) and the Dines that don't have cereal listed as an ingredient - quite a few non-fish varieties. As well as the whiskas loaf varieties the 11+ pouches are ok but they do all have fish in them.
 
@Bron and Sheba

We've started a spreadsheet for the UK folks to experiment with. Would you be interested in one for the AU folks? You might take a look at theirs so far, then either save it to your own Google Drive to test out, have me copy one for AU, or set up an AU sheet yourself. Let me know.
 
I think it is a great idea. The spreadsheet for the UK folks is excellent.
What do you think about including the phosphorus amount as well for all the cats with CRD issues who have to watch their level of phosphorus as well as carbs?

Could you copy one for me for AUS please?
Bron
 
Bron and Sheba said:
What do you think about including the phosphorus amount as well for all the cats with CRD issues who have to watch their level of phosphorus as well as carbs?
Click to expand...
Yes, I've been thinking the same.

Phosphorous needs to be calculated on a dry matter basis, but it's a very simple calculation as long as you have the moisture % and the phosphorous %.
1.You deduct the moisture % from 100% to get the dry matter % (so, if moisture is 80% then dry matter will be 20%).
2. You divide the phosphorous figure by the dry matter %.
Done!

Eliz
 
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Liesha
They are in draft mode only and should not yet be used for reference. When the respective groups are happy with them, they may make them more widely referenced.
 
Thought I'd add the following to the discussion of Australian cat food options,
from an email I sent to a friend recently.

Akbah eats the following:

Long flat tins:
Anything from the brand called "ultimates"

In the small round ranges:
Dine Desire: flavours Pure tuna whitemeat (purple) / Virgin flaked tuna (green) ... they maybe could have others but didn't like them? There's one with crab?
Fancy Feast: Kitten Whitefish Feast (pink and pale blue) / Ocean whitefish and tuna (navy and gold) ONLY THOSE TWO FLAVOURS none of the rest of this brand is okay. [I said this because the others list cereal on the can, I've never tried them so maybe as suggested here, they are alright...]

Bigger sized cans:
Whiskas: anything loafstyle, my two cats will wolf down the chicken and turkey loaf once, and then turn up their noses for another week. They also like the lamb I think?

There is another brand which they used to eat and then stopped eating, its a kangaroo meat flavour. I forget the brand but I think there's only one does kangaroo. Its a smallish square container, with like, a foil top.

They have mince a few nights a week for variety. Raw premium mince, problematic I know but they love it.
They sometimes have beef chunks, raw. Or cooked prawns. Or cooked human fish. Because a cat cannot live on can alone.
 
akbahsMum said:
What's the word on this? Is it low calories from carbs? Has anyone sussed it out already?
Click to expand...
Hi,
Unfortunately, 'grain free' doesn't necessarily mean 'low carb'.
The food you linked to contains other carb sources; potato, field peas and tapioca. Therefore it is unlikely to be suitable for diabetics.... Sorry....
.
 
Hi,
I'm only brand new to this (diagnosed yesterday) and I'm wondering if there is a fairly cheap gravy or mince tin food option for my Gremlin? I have several cats and at the moment they eat Hill's Science Diet Original dry in the morning and some Whiskas mince or casserole in the evening along with the dry. My vet has recommended Hill's Diabetic dry food but from what I've read dry food is a no no.
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks!
 
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Hi Laura,
I am assuming you live in Australia.
Science dry is very high in carbs and the Hills dry is 15% .....also too high.
You need to use canned cat food less than 10% carbohydrates.
Has your cat started on Insulin yet.?
If you are going to change over to wet canned food....and you should.....it is better to do that BEFORE you start the insulin because the blood sugar can drop a lot with the change from dry to wet food. PIf you have already started insulin, you need to be testing the blood sugars while you do the change over to ensure your cat does not drop too low.
I have just seen you have a thread on the other forum. Could you answer my questions on that thread please and we can go from there. Welcome !!
 
If you're going to continue feeding your other cats dry food, you might try feeding half dry and half wet, morning and night, to level out the carb load somewhat for them and reduce their risk of developing diabetes. Ideally, though, you don't feed them dry - it puts more work on the kidneys due to lack of moisture and makes it easy for cats to become obese because of the concentrated calories.

This online calculator lets you estimate the calories from each of protein, fat, and carbohydrate.
Divide the carbohydrate calories by the total calories to get an estimate of the percent of calories from carbohydrates.
Under 10% calories from carbohydrate is ideal.
 
BJM said:
If you're going to continue feeding your other cats dry food, you might try feeding half dry and half wet, morning and night, to level out the carb load somewhat for them and reduce their risk of developing diabetes.
Click to expand...
I will do this. I had been advised in the past to only feed dry :nailbiting: but never did it. My cats were all grazers until now but with Grem's diabetes it's been necessary to switch to two meals a day, making it easier to change what their meals consist of. My only concern is my Maine Coon x Ragdoll 4yo girl has a sensitive stomach and that is why they're on that particular dry food.
 
I've been giving Gremlin the Dine trays and there is a new slices range, does anyone know if this will be okay will the sugar cats? Provided it doesn't list cereals, etc in the ingredients of course.

Edit: Never mind. They all have cereals in the ingredients :D
 
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Dear Bron, thank you for posting the info re: various brands of cats food. I have a diabetic cat and have been feeding him commercial brands canned food instead of prescription diet like M/D Hills (something he doesn't even touch!). Weruva and BFF are his favourite brands, in particular Weruva Cats in the Kitchen pouches. But I read from another website (though info may not be up-to-date) that the pouches' carbs reading is surely above 10% (both in terms of calorie % and dry matter %). It is not easy to get the Cats in the Kitchen cans here in HK and therefore I go for the pouches. I think it is unavoidable to have higher carbs level for cat food with lots of gravy. I even note starch is used in the Cats in the Kitchen pouches. Do you think the carbs level is too high for diabetic cats?

For Wellness, do you think the fat % is too high in general?

Also, has anyone on this thread been using herbal treatment for their diabetic cats please?

Look forward to hearing from you all.
 
The Cats in the Kitchen pouches are above 10% carbs. Only the tins are suitable. Mine get gravy food in the form of Dine trays (not tins) but it's not like any other gravy as it's not thickened with cereals. My cats love it but I don't believe it's available outside Australia.
 
Hi @mrspchan:)
Here is the website that will give you all the information you need on Weruva brand cat food. Just click on one of the four options to see what it has in it. It is quite detailed and you can get several steps further into each option. You may be able to get one of the other options of weruva cat food in HK. It has the bff brand of Weruva as well but I think that is quite a bit higher in carbs.
Generally you want to keep 10% or lower for diabetic cats. As Laura said The cats in the kitchen pouches are all above 10% but are good for higher carb food when you need it......such as when their BSL drops low and you want to get them up.
http://www.weruva.com/cat-cuisine.php

Can you get Fancy Feast canned food there.? The classic ones...they should have a gold band around them....are usually OK. The pate ones are fine.

Why don't you start a thread of your own in the main health forum and we can help you with any issues you might have including food. To start a new thread click on the 'start new thread' box which is up near the right hand corner of your screen on the main forum page. If you could tell us what brand of insulin you are using and how much would be good. Also if we could know your name and the name of your cat please?

Here is a link to most cat foods canned. You should be able to find wellness there and maybe any other you can get in HK.

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

Welcome to the FDMB :)
 
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