There are increasing numbers of cat food manufacturers cashing in on the 'grain-free' cat food movement. Where it's ideal to avoid feeding grains to your cats, other considerations must be addressed.

Whether a fish-based diet is or is not healthy for cats hasn't been conclusively tested. I recently read that a raw fish diet results in malnutrition in cats. Reading the ingredients to Tiki Cat Lanai Luau Tuna In Crab Surimi Consomme Canned Cat Food, I see nothing objectionable except question the fish. They claim to avoid the 'ocean whitefish' which is a suspected link to feline interstitial cystitis.

The concerns about a cooked fish diet include:

Cats evolved in a savannah environment. This means that there wasn't a lot of running water nor ocean to provide fish. Fish is NOT a natural food for cats. I think that feeding a fish-based diet might have consequences later on, although that has probably not been researched. Perhaps cats cannot metabolise fish or all of its nutrients. Perhaps they can. I would err on the side of caution, especially since there are so many meats available that are more naturally suited to a cat's needs.

Next. We no longer feed tuna nor other ocean-derived fish/seafood to our children because of suspected mercury content, as well as concentrations of other toxins or heavy metals. We don't have to put the tuna industry out of business if we feed it to our cats instead. Would cats suffer from mercury poisoning? I prefer to just avoid feeding it to my cats. Again, because there are so many other options.

Next, by-products aren't necessarily bad. These include bits and bobs that are trimmed to suit the HUMAN's sense of aesthetics, not because they're unhealthy. No matter how careful a manufacturer is, there will typically be small amounts of bone, skin, feather, organ or connective tissue in the mix. Guess what? These are things that a cat would consume with the flesh of its prey in the wild. Later it tends to hork up or poop out the unusable bits, just as it would hairballs. Even cancerous tissue, which the activists claim are the sole ingredient of by-products, isn't going to cause cancer in your cats. It just offends OUR aesthetics. If people knew how much offensive tissue they eat in their own 'human grade' meats they'd probably swear off meat. Not because it's unhealthy, but because they're squicked out. Are all by-products safe? Probably not, but I hazard the guess that they won't kill a cat as easily as your favourite home cleaning products or OTC meds.

Lastly, the Tiki tinned foods are very expensive. If you really want to reduce or remove grains from your cats' diets, you can prepare meats at home for far less than the fad foods and commercial 'grain-free' cost. Use your home-made preparations as a supplement to a more moderately priced wet food. If you examine the provided link, you can read ingredients to all the products that they sell. I don't buy often from them. Although their sales are good, their shipping charges still make it cost more to order than to just slip out to pick up at the specialty pet food market. I do strongly appreciate being able to easily read ingredients on the PC monitor rather than squinting at them at market.

YOU will make the best decision based on your interest and abilities and your owns cats' needs. That you are concerned enough to post a thread about a new food proves that to me. Good luck in your research.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cat Food Ingredients in LOTS of Products!

Thanks, harebell, for your feedback. The concerns you raised matched the same as what I have considered. I'm interested in what others may say as well.

The financial aspect isn't an issue for me though.

Thanks again.

Many of the foods have sunflower oil, which I suspect cats can't digest being they are Carnivores. Plant oils are not a natural part of the feline diet, and shouldn't be included in cat foods, IMHO.

Some have guar gum, other random gums that again are probably not digestible to cats and are added as a thickening agent which is for human benefit, not feline benefit. They are not a natural part of a feline diet and shouldn't be included in cat foods, IMHO.

Sorbitol is a concern for me. It is a sugar alcohol which can cause increased blood sugar levels. With all the problems kitties have with diabetes already, it seems adding a sugar to the food is just going to cause more problems. I can't for the life of me figure out why cat foods need to be sweetened. Maybe it's not enough to cause problems, but sorbitol certainly isn't part of the natural feline diet, so it shouldn't be included in cat food IMHO.

I'd be happier if the foods included by-products such as heart, brain, liver, intestines, and everything else cats should eat instead of just muscle meat like humans eat.

What I'd really like for pet food manufacturers to do is list how the foods are prepared. I'd prefer a cold-processed food to a heat-blasted, extruded, irradiated, and who knows what else processed food. But unless the manufacturer advertises how the food is processed, I have to assume it is by cooking and extruding all the nutrients away.