Choosing cat food and dog food involves a lot of knowledge. So, how should one select the right kind of food for the beloved pet at home? Although it's important to look at the ingredient list, what exactly are the ingredients that pets truly need? Today, let's learn this ultimate guide to dry food, clearly understand the ingredient list at a glance, and easily pick the most suitable natural food for pets!
Common Pet Food Ingredient Definitions
This article explains common ingredient definitions found on pet food labels, particularly those related to meat and poultry components.
- Meat: Meat refers to the muscle tissue from animals, including its accompanying skin, tendons, fat, and neurovascular components. It is primarily the edible flesh of mammals such as cattle, pigs, sheep, and goats.
- Poultry: Poultry refers to the meat and skin mixture derived from birds. It may include bone but excludes feathers, heads, feet, and internal organs. It consists mainly of muscle and skin tissue from birds such as chicken or turkey.
- Meat Meal: Meat meal is a rendered (cooked and dried) animal tissue product, excluding blood, hair, hooves, horns, stomach and rumen contents, skin trimmings, and feces. It consists of dry, processed parts of animals and is used as a concentrated protein source in pet foods.
- Poultry Meal: Poultry meal is similar to meat meal but specifically comes from poultry. It is rendered poultry tissue, including flesh and skin, with or without bone. It excludes feathers, heads, feet, and entrails and serves as a concentrated protein ingredient.
- Meat and Bone Meal: This ingredient is like meat meal but includes rendered animal tissue with bone. It excludes parts that shouldn't be present such as hair or feces. It is a cooked and dried product providing protein and minerals from both meat and bone.
- Meat By-products: Meat by-products include non-rendered, clean parts other than muscle meat, such as lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fat tissue, and stomach or intestines freed of contents. By-products exclude hair, hooves, horns, and teeth. These parts are separated from the animal after slaughter and are used in pet food to provide additional nutrients.
- Poultry By-products: Poultry by-products come from non-rendered parts of birds such as heads, feet, and viscera, excluding fecal content and foreign matter. They may be used in pet foods but must be free from contaminants.
- Principles for Understanding Ingredient Listings: The first five ingredients listed on a pet food label generally indicate the major components of the food. Fresh meat or poultry listed as the first ingredient usually signifies high quality. The acceptance of meat meal as an ingredient depends on quality and consumer preference, but it is a concentrated protein source commonly used in pet foods.
Understanding Meat Meal and Animal By-Products in Pet Food
Fresh and reliably sourced meat meal and meat by-products are acceptable ingredients in pet food. Some pet owners consider pet dry food containing meat meal and meat by-products to be of inferior quality. However, according to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), meat meal is a product derived from mammalian tissues, excluding any added blood, hair, hooves, horns, raw skins, manure, and stomach contents. It must contain at least 4.0% phosphorus, a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio below 2.2, and limits on indigestible protein residues. The product is required to guarantee minimum amounts of crude protein and crude fat, along with maximum limits on crude fiber and phosphorus content, as well as calcium levels.
By definition, meat meal mainly consists of dried muscle tissue from mammals, which may include some internal organs and meat trimmings. From a nutritional standpoint, as long as the source quality of meat meal or fresh meat is good, it is not crucial whether the dry food contains fresh meat, meat meal, or a combination of both. What is important is whether the diet provides a complete and balanced nutrition for cats or dogs.
Animal by-product meal is similarly derived from mammalian tissues and excludes added blood, hair, hooves, horns, raw skins, manure, and stomach contents. It cannot contain foreign or undefined materials. Animal by-product meal typically consists of rendered parts left over from human food consumption, such as meat scraps and meat attached to bones. The quality of animal by-product meal varies greatly depending on the source.
High-quality animal by-product meals can be nearly equivalent in quality to meat meal. Therefore, pet foods containing animal by-product meals are not necessarily inferior; their quality depends on the source and processing.
AAFCO Definitions and Nutritional Standards
AAFCO defines meat meal as the rendered product from mammal tissues that excludes any added blood, hair, hooves, horns, hide trimmings, manure, stomach, and rumen contents except what uncontrollably occurs in good processing practices. The protein content is guaranteed with high digestibility standards. Phosphorus and calcium levels are regulated to ensure nutritional balance. These regulations assure that meat meal is safe, nutritious, and a concentrated protein source for pet foods.
Quality and Nutritional Value
Meat meals and animal by-product meals undergo rendering, a cooking process that eliminates bacteria, removes water, and separates nutrients such as protein and fat. This process creates nutrient-dense and economical sources of animal protein for pet food manufacturing. While meat meal generally contains mainly muscle tissue, animal by-product meal often contains organ meats, connective tissues, and other nutrient-rich parts.
Pet parents should focus on the overall quality source of these ingredients instead of avoiding them outright. High-quality meat meals and by-products contribute to a pet's essential nutrient intake, palatability, and sustainable use of animal resources.
Essential yet Often Overlooked Key Ingredients in Functional Pet Dry Food
Some specialized functional pet dry foods designed specifically for skin health often include added Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6 is an essential polyunsaturated fatty acid critical for pets' skin, coat integrity, and overall health. Sources of Omega-6 include oils like safflower, corn, and sunflower oil. Omega-3 fatty acids, mainly found in flaxseed oil and fish oil, are important unsaturated fats that complement Omega-6. Since Omega-6 fatty acids tend to trigger stronger physiological responses that can sometimes cause adverse reactions such as excessive itching in animals, supplementing with Omega-3 can help mitigate these responses and relieve itching symptoms. These fatty acids are indispensable components for healthy skin in pets.
Additionally, pet food labels often feature vitamins C and E, serving as natural preservatives. Vitamin C acts as a strong reducing agent, reverting oxidized substances back to their original form, while vitamin E contains a six-carbon ring structure capable of donating electrons to peroxide molecules, terminating oxidative reactions. These vitamins help extend the shelf life of pet foods by preventing rancidity and spoilage.
Grains in pet food are frequently linked to allergens. Certain grains, such as wheat, are more likely to cause allergies, leading to a greater preference for grain-free pet diets. Some products also include natural antioxidants from ingredients like cranberries and lingonberries, which offer beneficial antioxidant effects and support pet health.
In summary, when selecting pet food:
- Focus on the top five main ingredients for nutritional value.
- Consider additives based on the product's primary function, such as weight control, pregnancy, or senior formulas.
- Grain-free options may reduce allergy risks and are often favored for sensitive pets.
- Balance ingredient quality with palatability and the pet's specific health conditions.
Choosing the right food for pets is a complex task requiring consideration of both ingredient function and the individual pet's needs. This guidance aims to help narrow down options to find the most suitable pet nutrition.
Best Freeze-Dried Cat Food: A Great Choice for Your Cat's Healthy Diet
Most freeze-dried cat foods undergo minimal processing and are grain-free. They contain higher protein levels and lower carbohydrates, making them rich in nutrients and antioxidants. Freeze-dried raw food is more convenient than feeding a completely raw BARF diet.
For cat parents who want to provide their cats with a balanced diet, freeze-dried cat food is an excellent option.
What is Freeze-Dried Dehydrated Cat Food?
First, it is important to understand what freeze-dried dehydrated cat food is. Freeze-dried cat food is a mixture of meat and vegetables that undergoes advanced freezing and drying technology. This process removes moisture from fresh meat and vegetables, preserving their nutrients and delicious natural flavors.
The advanced freeze-drying process not only effectively extends the shelf life of fresh ingredients but also allows pet owners to easily provide all-natural (often raw) fresh meat and organs without needing to add any supplementary ingredients or preservatives.
It is worth noting that freeze-dried cat food is different from frozen raw meat diets, such as BARF. Raw meat diets need to be kept frozen in a refrigerator and must be thawed to room temperature before feeding. In contrast, freeze-dried cat food only requires adding an appropriate amount of water to rehydrate the food back to its fresh state before feeding.
Moreover, most freeze-dried cat food brands on the market use high-quality ingredients such as lamb, salmon, and even green-lipped mussels and rabbit. These premium ingredients provide higher nutritional value, balanced nutrition, and promote healthy digestion, effects that many dry and wet cat foods cannot achieve.
Benefits of Freeze-Dried Cat Food
What are the benefits of freeze-dried cat food? Switching cats of any age from dry or canned food to freeze-dried cat food can be highly beneficial. Most freeze-dried cat foods undergo minimal processing, contain no grains, and have very simple ingredients. This helps effectively prevent sensitivities that might arise from complex ingredient mixtures.
Freeze-dried cat food is higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates. It is rich in vitamins, nutrients, enzymes, and natural antioxidants. These characteristics contribute to significant potential health benefits for cats, such as healthier skin and coat and more regular bowel movements.
In addition, many cat owners find freeze-dried food more convenient than feeding raw meat. It can be stored for long periods at room temperature and is easy to carry. Simply add water to rehydrate it and provide nutritious meals that fully satisfy a cat's dietary needs.
Freeze-dried cat food typically requires rehydration with warm water or broth before feeding. Some brands even offer freeze-dried food that can be broken into small pieces and served directly, providing flexible feeding options.
Are Parents Concerned About the Safety of Frozen Dehydrated Cat Food?
Many parents worry about the safety of frozen dehydrated cat food. A lot of frozen dehydrated food is not cooked during the process to maintain the integrity of its ingredients and preserve nutritional quality. However, freeze-drying alone may not completely eliminate all microbial pathogens.
All reputable brands that use High Pressure Processing (HPP) utilize this technology to kill potentially harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E. coli), and Listeria without affecting the food's nutritional value.
Because these bacteria may pose health risks to humans, it is important to wash hands thoroughly after handling pet food, clean any surfaces that the food has touched, and regularly clean the cat's bowls.
Understanding High Pressure Processing (HPP)
HPP is a natural and chemical-free method where sealed pet food is subjected to extremely high pressure using cold water. This pressure disrupts the cell membranes of bacteria and deactivates bacterial enzymes, effectively eliminating harmful pathogens without cooking the food or reducing its nutritional benefits.
Safety Precautions for Handling Pet Food
- Always wash hands after handling pet food to prevent transferring bacteria.
- Clean and disinfect any surfaces or objects that have come into contact with the food.
- Regularly clean the cat's feeding bowls to reduce the risk of contamination.
Following these safety measures is essential to protect both pets and household members from potential bacterial infections.
How to Feed Freeze-Dried Cat Food
Freeze-dried cat food is a popular choice that preserves nutrients and offers a convenient, shelf-stable option for feeding cats. However, to maximize the benefits and ensure your cat's health, proper preparation is essential.
Rehydration is Essential
Freeze-dried cat food is very low in moisture due to the freeze-drying process. To feed it properly, rehydrate the food with warm water or meat broth before serving. This helps restore the food's natural texture, making it easier to eat and digest.
The packaging usually provides instructions on the appropriate water-to-food ratio. Typically, adding warm water at a measured proportion, such as one tablespoon of liquid per ounce of freeze-dried food, is recommended.
How to Rehydrate Effectively
- Break the freeze-dried food into small pieces to help it absorb water faster and more evenly.
- Add the warm water or broth and let the food soak for a few minutes until it reaches a meaty, soft consistency.
- Stir the mixture to ensure all pieces are hydrated.
Benefits for Your Cat's Health
Rehydrating freeze-dried food not only improves palatability but also increases your cat's water intake, which is important for urinary tract health and kidney function. Cats naturally have low thirst drives, so incorporating moisture in their food helps prevent dehydration and related diseases.
Additionally, rehydrated food is easier to chew and digest, especially for older cats or those with dental issues.
To feed freeze-dried cat food effectively, always rehydrate it before serving using warm water or broth as per the packaging instructions. Breaking the food into smaller pieces helps in better absorption. This practice supports hydration, improves flavor, and helps maintain your cat's urinary tract health.
Highly Recommended Freeze-Dried Cat Food and Treats
We are pleased to recommend the following freeze-dried cat food and treats:
- Most Popular Freeze-Dried Kibble: STELLA & CHEWY'S
- Freeze-Dried Kibble with the Most Flavor Options: PRIMAL
- Freeze-Dried Treats from Canada: GREAT JACK'S
Stella & Chewy's Freeze-Dried Raw Cat Food
Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw cat food is made from human-grade ingredients, enriched with healthy fruits and vegetables, probiotics, and natural antioxidants. It can be conveniently mixed into any food (dry or wet) at any time. The product features raw poultry meat sourced from free-range poultry, consisting of 98% poultry, organs, and bones. Natural vitamins and minerals are used in the formulation. It contains abundant taurine and probiotics to help promote health, offering a 100% complete and balanced nutrition formula.
Ingredients and Benefits
- 98% poultry with organs and bones
- Human-grade ingredients
- Added healthy fruits and vegetables
- Probiotics and natural antioxidants
- Rich in taurine for heart and eye health
- Natural vitamins and minerals for balanced nutrition
- Can be mixed with dry or wet food anytime
Flavors and Ingredients
Stella & Chewy's offers a range of freeze-dried raw meat cat food flavors suitable for cats of all ages. These formulas are crafted to provide complete and balanced nutrition, made with high-quality ingredients, and certified by AAFCO for nutritional adequacy.
Flavors and Key Information
| Flavor | Age Range | Protein Content | AAFCO Certified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicken | All Life Stages | 45% | Yes |
| Duck + Goose | All Life Stages | 40% | Yes |
| Turkey | All Life Stages | 40% | Yes |
| Salmon + Chicken | All Life Stages | 45% | Yes |
| Salmon + Cod | All Life Stages | 45% | Yes |
| Rabbit | All Life Stages | 44% | Yes |
Main Ingredients (Top 5)
- Chicken: Chicken (with ground chicken bones), chicken liver, chicken kidney, pumpkin seeds, potassium chloride
- Duck + Goose: Duck (with ground duck bones), turkey, turkey liver, goose, turkey kidney
- Turkey: Turkey (with ground turkey bones), turkey liver, turkey kidney, pumpkin seeds, potassium chloride
- Salmon + Chicken: Salmon (with ground salmon bones), chicken (with ground chicken bones), chicken liver, chicken kidney, pumpkin seeds
- Salmon + Cod: Salmon (with ground salmon bones), cod (with ground cod bones), cod liver oil, pumpkin seeds, potassium chloride
- Rabbit: Rabbit, rabbit bone meal, olive oil, pumpkin seeds, potassium chloride
Product Highlights
- All recipes are formulated to meet AAFCO nutritional standards for all life stages.
- High protein content ranging from 40% to 45%, sourced from raw meats, organs, and bones.
- Fortified with essential vitamins and minerals, including potassium chloride and pumpkin seeds.
- Made with quality animal proteins such as cage-free chicken, wild-caught fish, and responsibly sourced meats.
- Free from artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, antibiotics, and added hormones.
Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw cat foods provide a nutrient-rich diet closely resembling a cat's ancestral diet, supporting health and vitality at all life stages.
Customer Reviews
I bought the chicken-flavored freeze-dried food, and my cat loves it. Most importantly, my cat's health has greatly improved. When I adopted my cat, it was eating dry and canned food and had a bad odor and frequent burping about 3 times a day, along with occasional soft stools. After gradually switching to Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried food with the same brand canned food, my cat now only has one bowel movement a day with almost no odor, and the burping has improved. Since then, I stopped giving any food containing grains or peas. Thank you!
I am very happy that I tried the freeze-dried dry food because it is not only healthy but also helped my cat to avoid obesity. I recommend it for cats with allergies because the ingredients are very simple.
Primal Pet Foods Product Series
The entire range of Primal Pet Foods products is made using the highest quality ingredients, including 100% USDA edible-grade meats that are free from antibiotics and steroids, such as poultry and game meats, combined with fresh organic crops. USDA edible-grade meats are ground with bones to increase calcium content. Organic crops provide natural vitamins A, C, D, and complex B vitamins. Organic nutritional supplements support digestive and circulatory system health. Vitamin E serves as a natural antioxidant.
Flavors
- Chicken & Salmon
- Duck
- Turkey
- Beef & Salmon
- Pork
- Venison
- Rabbit
Age Group
All flavors are suitable for all age groups.
Main Ingredients (Top 5)
- Chicken & Salmon: Chicken, chicken necks, chicken gizzards, salmon, chicken liver
- Duck: Duck, duck necks, duck gizzards, duck liver, organic carrots
- Turkey: Turkey, turkey necks, turkey hearts, turkey liver, organic kale
- Beef & Salmon: Beef heart, beef liver, beef bones, salmon, organic kale
- Pork: Pork heart, pork liver, ground pork bones, organic kale, organic pumpkin
- Venison: Venison, venison heart, venison liver, ground venison bones, organic kale
- Rabbit: Rabbit, rabbit liver, rabbit heart, organic kale, organic zucchini
Protein Content
- Chicken & Salmon: 52%
- Duck: 37%
- Turkey: 57%
- Beef & Salmon: 53%
- Pork: 57%
- Venison: 62%
- Rabbit: 60%
AAFCO Certification
All flavors are AAFCO certified.
Customer Review
I have been feeding this to my cat, who has had Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and has been overweight for nearly 7 years. Now, it is the healthiest of my seven cats. At the start, I had to continuously adjust the ratio of water to freeze-dried food; adding the right amount of hot water helps the freeze-dried food absorb water faster, and then I add a bit of cold water before feeding it to my cat. This method encourages my cat to drink plenty of water daily, as she consumes the water along with the food like soup.
Regarding her sensitive stomach, I have tried all available foods, but only the dehydrated freeze-dried food works best. She has never had any flare-ups in nearly seven years. Her coat is also excellent. This is her only food because it contains all the nutrients she needs. I believe it is best not to mix ordinary dry food; otherwise, it defeats the purpose of raw feeding.
My three cats each have mixed flavors of Primal or Stella & Chewy's at every meal. Chicken and fish are common flavors because there are many cans of the same brand to mix. Freeze-dried food needs to be rehydrated with water, so be careful. The only problem is that my cats steal the food from the bags. They have torn open several bags and secretly stash them under the sofa.
Great Jack's Natural Healthy Snacks from Canada
Great Jack's offers a line of natural, healthy snacks originating from Canada. Their grain-free snack series is specially formulated with single protein sources to reduce the risk of allergies, making them a safer choice for pets with sensitivities.
Freeze-Dried Snacks with Advanced Technology
Using advanced high-end freeze-drying methods, Great Jack's preserves the original flavor and nutrition of the snacks without any loss. This process ensures that pets receive the full natural taste and nutritional benefits of the ingredients.
Flavor
| Flavor | Chicken | Salmon | Turkey |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age Group | All Ages | All Ages | All Ages |
| Protein | 35% | 48% | 33% |
| AAFCO Certified | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Main Ingredients (Top 5)
- Chicken: Chicken, Whey Protein, Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Vitamin C
- Salmon: Salmon, Whey Protein, Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Vitamin C
- Turkey: Turkey, Whey Protein, Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Vitamin C
Customer Reviews
One satisfied customer shared their experience: I often add these freeze-dried treats to my cat's food. My cats love them, especially since they tend to be lean and drink very little water. This method helps me 'trick' them into supplementing their hydration. I have one cat and one dog, and my dog also enjoys these snacks. Dogs have a bit more varied taste preferences because they are pickier, but both my cat and dog like these freeze-dried snacks very much.
