This page is a companion to our articles on homemade low carb diets for cats and the problems with commercial cat foods.
I’ve done two things here:
- Estimated the carbohydrate content for a range of wet foods sold in supermarkets, pet stores and vets
- Showed you how to work out these figures for other foods (most dry foods are between 20 and 35%)
Note: as you will see later, these figures are only estimates. They are hopefully close to the truth but cannot be verified without analysis.
Carbs In Adult Cat Foods
| Food | Carbs as %Dry Mass |
|---|---|
| Holistic Select Chicken Pâté tin | 0** |
| Holistic Select Turkey & Salmon Pâté tin | 0** |
| PRO PLAN Adult Salmon & Rice Entrée tin | 0** |
| PRO PLAN Adult Chicken & Liver Entrée tin | 2.3** |
| PRO PLAN Ocean Whitefish & Salmon Entrée | 2.3** |
| Holistic Select Salmon & Shrimp Pâté tin | 4.6 |
| Holistic Select Chicken Liver & Lamb Pâté tin | 6.4 |
| Holistic Select Turkey Pâté Recipe tin | 6.8 |
| Royal Canin Instinctive Adult in Jelly | 8.0 |
| Fancy Feast Chicken & Giblet Pate tin | 9.0 |
| Holistic Select Ocean Fish & Tuna Pâté tin | 9.1 |
| PRO PLAN Adult Chicken Entrée tin | 9.1 |
| Fancy Feast Cod, Sole & Shrimp tin | 13.6 |
| Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers tins (2) | 13.9 |
| Fancy Feast Filet tins (many) | 14.0 |
| PRO PLAN Adult Chicken & Rice Entrée tin | 14.0 |
| PRO PLAN Adult Tuna Entrée Tin | 14.0 |
| Purina Fancy Feast pouches (many) | 14.0 |
| Royal Canin Instinctive Adult in Loaf* | 15.5 |
| Purina Fancy Feast Inspirations pouches* | 15.9 |
| Purina Felix pouches (many)* | 16.8 |
| PRO PLAN Adult Turkey & Giblets Entrée tin | 17.3 |
| Fancy Feast Cheddar Delights tins (2) | 17.5 |
| PRO PLAN Adult Beef Entrée with Carrots tin | 17.5 |
| PRO PLAN Salmon Entrée with Wild Rice tin | 17.5 |
| Veganpet Vegan Cat Food tins | 19.2 |
| Ziwi Peak Tins (all varieties) | 20.5 |
| Fancy Feast Roast Chicken/ Carved Beef | 21.8 |
| Royal Canin Instinctive Adult in Gravy* | 22.3 |
| Hill’s Hairball Control Savory Chicken | 24.9 |
| Hill’s Salmon Tender Chunks in Gravy | 28.3 |
| Hill’s Tender Tuna Dinner Tin | 28.9 |
| Hill’s Savory Turkey Entrée Tin | 29.3 |
| Hill’s Tender Chicken Dinner Tin | 29.8 |
| Hill’s Ocean Fish Entrée Tin | 30.2 |
| Hill’s Ocean Fish Tender Chunks in Gravy | 30.4 |
| Hill’s Seared Tuna & Carrot Medley Tin | 31.1 |
| Hill’s Chicken Tender Chunks in Gravy | 32.5 |
| Purina Friskies pouches (many)* | 34.1 |
| Hill’s Roasted Chicken & Rice Medley Tin | 34.4 |
I have only included complete & balanced foods that either declare carbohydrates, or protein, fat, ash & fibre levels. I have also avoided supermarket own-brands and ‘special’ diets like light, hairball, indoor, urinary, senior etc).
* Moisture not declared so given average value of 78%
** some numbers seem impossible; the first three have ingredients adding up to 100.7%, 100.5% & 100% respectively before carbs are considered (my guess is that actual moisture levels are lower than the ‘max’ figures supplied).
Carbs In Kitten Foods
| Food | Carbs as %DM (est) |
|---|---|
| PRO PLAN Kitten Chicken & Liver Entree | 2.1 |
| Fancy Feast Kitten Whitefish Feast tin | 4.6 |
| Royal Canin Kitten Instinctive in Loaf* | 10.9 |
| Hill’s Kitten Liver & Chicken Entrée tin | 15 |
| Royal Canin Kitten Instinctive in Jelly* | 16.4 |
| Royal Canin Kitten Instinctive in Gravy* | 17.7 |
| Hill’s Kitten Tender Chicken Dinner tin | 19.2 |
| Hill’s Kitten Roasted Chicken & Rice Medley | 28.9 |
Kitten foods are much harder. Many companies just don’t offer them.
How to find out the carbohydrate content of your cat’s food
This is the same method I used above- it may slightly overestimate the true level but should be within a few percent.
Most foods have a Guaranteed Analysis. Weirdly, it doesn’t include carbs, but that’s OK; you can work them out from everything else.
Let’s use the Grain Free Blackhawk as an example. I’m not saying it’s any better or worse than other foods.
- Add up the %Crude Protein, Crude Fat, Ash, Crude Fibre and Moisture (34+16+3.5+8+10=71.5)
- Subtract this number from 100% (100-71.5=28.5)
- The carbohydrate level is approximately 28.5% (It’s not going to be exact but should be close)
This is as fed. To be able to compare wet and dry foods, let’s make it as a % of dry matter.
- Turn the moisture percent into a fraction (10% = 0.1. A wet food would be around 80% = 0.8)
- Subtract this from 1 (1-0.1=0.9. With wet foods, you’ll get a number around 0.2)
- Divide the nutrients by this number (28.5 / 0.9 = 31.7%).Remember these numbers are only estimations.
Now go out and explore. Please leave us a comment with your findings!
Have something to add? Comments are welcome below and will appear within 24 hours of lodging.
By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. These blogs are from a series regularly posted on Facebook and Twitter. We do not accept payments or incentives in return for stories. Like or follow our page or subscribe via email to read the latest.
Date on this page were collected as follows:
Fancy Feast, Purina, Veganpet: from package labels at Foodland Norwood 6/8/18
Hill’s from hillspet.com.au, Royal Canin from royalcanin.com.au, Ziwipeak from ziwipets.com, PRO PLAN from proplannutrition.com.au, Holistic Select from holisticselect.com.au. All accessed 7/8/18.
