Is this cat food harmful?

Question

I own a cat (a British shorthair). A few days ago I searched for cat food. I found a website that sells cat food, and I wanted to buy this ('Royal Canin British Shorthair Kitten cat food'), but I looked into Royal Canin cat foods, and there are some people who say it is harmful for cats. Should I buy this or not? What food should I give my cat otherwise?

Answer 1

This food can cause some problems, but overall it's not worse than most dry foods.

• It has a lot of calories. That's good for kittens, because they're more active than adult cats, but if you feed this food to an adult cat, it would probably gain weight rather quickly.
• It has too much grain in it. Grains in cat food are known to cause kidney stones and urinary tract diseases. Unfortunately grain is much cheaper than meat, so most commercial cat foods (especially the cheap ones) contain a lot of grain.
• Some people (but not many) report that their cats vomit or get diarrhea after eating this food. This is to be expected, because some cats are more sensitive than others or have allergies.

So, in summary:

This food is not ideal for cats and can cause medical problems in the long run, but it's not worse than most cat foods. If you want good, healthy cat food, read the list of ingredients and only buy cat food without any grains (rice, maize/corn, wheat, oats, barley or rye).

Answer 2

TL;DR: My personal opinion, backed by my vets over the years, is that the story you encountered is an overreaction at best.

---

Pet foods from reputable brands, in the United States at least, have been tested both in the lab and on the animals in question to make sure that they provide balanced and complete nutrition.

Royal Canin and Science Diet are considered among the better choices for dry food. Their "prescription" foods, for pets with special dietary needs, are often stocked and recommended by veterinarians in my area.

There are some additional long-term concerns. Cats in the wild normally get a lot of their water from their prey, so many veterinarians like to see them getting a lot of wet food in their diet. It also seems to put less strain on the kidneys, which is a legitimate issue for cats. On the other hand, dry food may help clean the surfaces of teeth, if you haven't gotten your cat used to having their teeth brushed, and has convenience advantages. (Not least that, if your cat is not food insecure, you can leave it out so they can feed themselves rather than pestering you for food.)

Remember that while cats must eat meat, since they cannot synthesize taurine, they can eat other things as well, and even in the wild have occasionally been known to do so. What they can eat is a bit different from what humans can eat, since as omnivores we have a more complex set of liver enzymes, but it is NOT necessary for a cat food to be 100% meat for it to be healthy. Both "all meat" and mixed foods usually contain added supplements to make sure the pet is getting all the trace elements it needs.

It is sometimes surprising what cats will find tasty. One of my cats liked broccoli, another liked graham crackers, and cats owned by friends have liked Cheerios (especially when dropped to the floor by the infant human they had adopted as a sibling) and bread (to the extent of not being able to leave bread unattended without coming back to find a tunnel carved into it -- apparently she didn't like the crusts). These are all harmless, luckily.

My first cat lived to age 19 while eating almost exclusively dry food from one of the middle tier US brands, so it isn't as if common cat food is an immediate or major danger. (She did eventually develop a kidney problems, but what took her out was thyroid cancer, untreatable because the kidneys had started to fail.) It isn't clear that all-meat foods are actually better, though they might be tastier and make the human feel more comfortable.

On the other hand, making the human feel good about what they are serving to the cat does have some value. I would still focus on the most reputable brands you can reasonably afford, but there is certainly no harm in looking at the (properly tested) all meat options.

By the way, if you really want an authoritatve answer, ask your vet rather than a bunch of amateurs on the internet. We can give you semi-informed opinion. A vet can give you expertise.