? Question about calories in cat food

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I don't have a definitive answer but here's my thought. The information about the nutritional composition on the label is based on the guaranteed analysis. In other words, the values are typically minimums and maximums which doesn't tell you exactly what's in the can. The information on Dr. Lisa's food chart is based on "as fed" values and is more accurate.

The bottom line may be what happens when you feed your cat. If you have a scale, weight your cat. Feed your cat based on what you think the calories are and then keep track of your cat's weight. Basically, if you use the amount of what you typically as your baseline, increase or decrease the amount based on what your weight goals are.
 
Hi Tom,

When I do the calculation based on the as fed anaylsis values from their website, I get 81.8kcal/100g. I use the following in the calculation:

Protein: 3.5kcal/g
Fat: 8.5kcal/g
Carbs: 3.5kcal/g

My calculation matches neither the value quoted to you by the manufacturer nor the value they give on their website. Bit of a head wreck, really. :rolleyes:

I've found that there can be variations between calculated ME and the values given by the manufacturers - when they actually provide them, and they don't show their working. Sometimes my calculated values are within a kilocalorie or two of the manufacturer's quoted values, sometimes they're out by around 5% or so.

I personally stick with the values I calculate, record what I feed each day to get a guide on calorie intake, weigh each week then adjust amount to feed for the following week if necessary. There's some bit of consistency that way. Given that any discrepancy between the calculated value and the quoted value from the manufacturer is only a small percentage of the overall calorie intake per day, it's not worth losing sleep over the difference.

All that said, it's not great that Lily's Kitchen quoted you an ME 15% lower than the value given on their website.


Mogs
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Tom & Monty said:
Hi there. When calculating calories per 100g of cat food, which of these values do I trust more?
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Mogs has given you some great advice above.

We are lucky in Europe in that most of our pet foods show 'typical analysis' values, rather than the (potentially far more inaccurate) 'guaranteed analysis' values that folks in the US have to contend with. But even so, pet food labelling really can't be relied upon to be that accurate. When doing calculations for the UK food list I've found loads of very obviously wonky data on pet food sites. Sometimes the manufacturer will give us the more accurate data if we ask for it.... And sometimes they won't....
But even with good data, we still really have to think of our calculation results as 'approximate'.
We just have to do the best we can with the data we get, and be guided by the results we see in our own kitties.

Just regarding Lily's Kitchen.... On a personal note, I have found them a very difficult company to deal with. I've sought clarification from them about their food data a number of times in the past. And I don't think I ever got a satisfactory answer to any question I asked. The people who replied to my emails clearly hadn't understood the data themselves... One of the most recent replies I got (and this was the point that I gave up contacting them, I think) related to my asking them why the data on one of their foods added up to much more than 100%. And I asked if they could give me the correct data. ...The reply I got said that the data didn't need to add up to 100%, and could be more than that.... :confused:
 
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Elizabeth and Bertie said:
the data on one of their foods added up to much more than 100%. And I asked if they could give me the correct data. ...The reply I got said that the data didn't need to add up to 100%, and could be more than that....
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Mogs
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@Elizabeth and Bertie -

Glad you got a chuckle out of it. Might make up a bit for the Lily's Kitchen craziness. :smuggrin:

Given your particular interest in things cat food, I thought I'd post this journal article for you (has some really good concrete dietary recommendations):

Nutritional Management of CKD in Cats and Dogs (by Martha Cline, ACVN Diplomate)

Not sure whether it will be of use to you, but I thought better to share it on the off chance you might find it valuable.


Mogs
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