If you’re a modern cat owner, you’ve probably heard of “limited ingredient” cat foods. Perhaps your vet has recommended one of these diets to treat your cat’s food allergies. Or you may have seen grain-free, limited ingredient diets advertised as the most natural option for cats.
But before you start putting these foods in your cat’s bowl, it’s important to know what these diets mean, which cats they really work for, and how to choose a product that works the way you and your vet want it to.
What does “limited ingredient cat food” mean?
In theory, a restricted ingredient cat food diet is exactly what it sounds like: a diet with fewer ingredients. The goal is to limit the number of protein and carbohydrate sources while still maintaining a nutritious diet, usually to avoid adverse food reactions or food allergies.
However, the term “limited ingredients” is not regulated by the FDA, which means pet food companies can list “limited ingredients” on the label of any cat food, no matter how many ingredients it contains.
If you want to be sure you’re feeding your pet a restricted diet, you should look at the pet food label and ingredients list and compare it to other ingredient lists, or best yet, have your veterinarian check it for you.
What’s in limited ingredient cat food?
A truly controlled ingredient cat food will only contain the following ingredients:
- One Protein Source
- 1 carbohydrate source
- supplement
- Fats for nutritional balance
Cats are obligate carnivores and must eat meat, so it is very important that their protein source comes from animals. In a limited ingredient diet, animal protein is usually a “novel protein”, that is, a protein that your cat has never eaten before.
Common veterinarian recommended protein sources for limited ingredient diets include:
Common carbohydrate sources in restricted diets include potatoes and peas.
Additives such as fruits, extra vegetables and kelp should generally be avoided in diets designed to treat food allergies, as they may interfere with your cat’s reaction to the protein source.
Is a grain free diet a limited ingredient cat food?
Grain-free cat foods may have ingredient restrictions, but veterinarians do not consider them to be restricted-ingredient diets.
The term “grain-free” is not regulated by the FDA and is used for marketing purposes rather than to indicate food content or quality, and says nothing about the number of ingredients used. These diets typically replace whole grains with other carbohydrate sources such as lentils, peas, or sweet potatoes, but have protein sources very similar to other cat foods (chicken, eggs, fish).
There is no evidence yet to suggest that grains are harmful to cats (grain allergies are very rare), and most cats digest grains very well. That said, there are grain-free and restricted-ingredient diets where the carbohydrate source is not grain-based, if you and your veterinarian determine that this is best for your cat.
Is a cat food with limited ingredients better?
If your cat is healthy, there’s no reason to switch to a restricted ingredient diet just because it might be “good” for your cat. The nutrients in your cat’s food are far more important than the ingredients that provide them.
A balanced diet made from chicken, beef, eggs and rice is likely to be better than a cat food with limited ingredients that is less balanced but made from new proteins.
Does my cat need a limited ingredient diet?
The most common reason cat owners seek out a limited ingredient diet is to try to diagnose or treat a food allergy.
Symptoms that may be related to allergies include:
-
vomiting
-
diarrhea
-
Itchy skin
-
Frequent ear infections
True food allergies are less common than you might think, but if your veterinarian suspects a food allergy, they may recommend a restricted ingredient diet. A restricted ingredient diet can also be effective in treating pancreatitis and inflammatory bowel disease.
First of all, if you’re tempted to change your cat’s diet with the idea that a restricted-ingredient diet might prevent the onset of food allergies, you’re actually doing more harm than good. Exposing your cat to exotic proteins like venison, kangaroo, or duck could also make any actual allergies more difficult to treat (although they’re unlikely to develop an allergy) because these new protein options won’t be available for dietary trials.
Testing for food allergies using LID cat food
Although high-quality limited-ingredient diets are readily available, due to contamination control issues with store-brand limited-ingredient diets, most veterinarians recommend only prescription hydrolyzed protein diets for food allergy testing. Royal Canin We carry out strict quality control, even conducting PCR testing for contaminating proteins.
In a prescription hydrolyzed diet, protein molecules are broken down into microscopic fragments that the body can utilize and digest but that are not recognized as potential allergens. If your cat is exposed to a variety of protein sources, this type of diet can take the trial and error out of dieting.
If you think your cat might benefit from a new protein or limited ingredient diet, be sure to ask your veterinarian about your options; they can work with you to determine the best brand and protein source based on your cat’s dietary history.
Featured image: iStock.com/pat138241
