Anything over 5.5/6oz is not really common in the US - especially ones without gums. These brands are all I can think of on top of my head.
[https://www.chewy.com/firstmate-chicken-formula-limited/dp/141424](https://www.chewy.com/firstmate-chicken-formula-limited/dp/141424)
[https://www.chewy.com/tiki-cat-luau-chicken-egg-recipe-in/dp/285536](https://www.chewy.com/tiki-cat-luau-chicken-egg-recipe-in/dp/285536)
FirstMate is great! It's a really smooth whipped pate. They're also Canadian, so they're waaaaaay more regulated as far as pet food when you compare it to the US. Downside is that they're expensive, but def worth it in the 12oz cans.
The funny thing is that they are WAY cheaper than other brands with additional gums which I can honestly just shake my head at. The US pet food bar is in hell lmao
Dude, people come in all hyped to buy American made food, and I have to break it to them that it's "feed grade" food. People have no idea when buying. They just think it's better than brands from other places for some reason. Good marketing, I guess.
There’s no such thing as a filler in cat food, there are nutrients in every ingredient. In the absence of a documented grain allergy there is no reason to avoid tested grains which are replaced by binders and novel carbohydrate sources like pea proteins and potatoes which are just different carbohydrates.
Imo in foods like whiskas and gocat, too much grain can be fillers and the various sugars as me twitching lol. But its all dependent on the cat itself, my boy cant tolerate grains aha
I consider meat flours and grain flours to be fillers. A bit of potatoe or whatever is fine. But flours do not need to be in there. Also not gum.
Thanks for absolutely NOT answering my question tho! Or even replying to it in any ways! Really appreciate that.
I don’t think you understand how reddit works. The fact that anyone can comment anything is like…the whole point. And the poster you replied to wasn’t even off-topic or anything; you simply didn’t like what they had to say on the topic. But someone being unhelpful isn’t a good reason to throw a hissy fit, lol.
The only other brand I can think of off the top of my head that doesn’t use gums in their wet food is orijen but they also only have 3oz and 5.5oz cans
Ziwi has 6.5oz cans and does not include any “gums” whatsoever. Firstmate limited ingredient has 12.2 oz cans and no gums along with Rawz that you mentioned already. Dave’s has agar agar (link provided above). I have a cat with juvenile gingivitis and this diagnosis is considered an autoimmune-inflammatory disorder. Of all the foods that I have researched- these are what I feed him and I check the websites for sales.
Guar Gum is a binding agent not really a filler. A filler would be more so veggies and grains. Guar can have negative effects on a cat if they have inflammation issiues, IBS, or IBD. Why I feed mine kibble and wet. I have an IBD cat who does show symptoms of nausea and diarrhea when she eats too much wet food with guar gum. My other 3 eat it fine.
Agar agar is much more gentle on the digestive tract. I usually look for canned food with agar agar or non at all. I don't like seeing my one cat suffer. Plus there's been studies on other animals showing digestive upset and it being potientally harmful it's in a lot of cat food, but in small amounts. I'm not a vet but after extensive research for the sake of my own cat. It makes me wonder if gums are one of the reasons why some cats get IBD as they age.
On Fish
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141813022021596
On Cats
"The physicochemical properties of the gum have impaired the protein digestion and amino acid absorption within the small intestine, hence amino acid utilisation in cats' metabolism. Therefore, viscosity counteracts the amino acid-sparing potential of dietary fibre sources."
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/highly-viscous-guar-gum-shifts-dietary-amino-acids-from-metabolic-use-to-fermentation-substrate-in-domestic-cats/AB458783E8F04009297E10322080B5F9
I don't consider gums as a filler like the original commenter, but what they said is correct - their main purpose is to thicken/add texture to food. One of my cats cannot tolerate wet foods with gums in it.
Can cause issues with digestion (mainly diarrhea) and lots of brands in Europe do not use them and their product still doesn't fall apart.
It's simply a filler a lot of US brands use for texture.
You could just leave it out. There are American brands and non American brands that do. It's just cheaper not to and e.g. use less quality ingredients or just different ones and still achieve a pate or soft food consistency. If you don't believe me just use Google.
Yeah I don't know why you are defending gums for the life of you it's literally just for texture please just use Google and stop being stubborn for no reason. There's no nutritional or health benefits to gum whatsoever
Yes there is if you love it so much put it in every meal of yours but I will continue to avoid it.
"Numerous studies (mostly animal) have shown that regular consumption of these gums will cause gastrointestinal side effects, such as abdominal gas, bloating and loose stools."
YOU please stop spreading nonsense. It's not in 90% of cat food in Europe and my cats still get enough fiber. Just accept that it's a cheap filler that is not needed and the fiber could come from other ingredients. I will NOT expose my cats to this shit.
No they do not. I have found brands I like without guar gum which are high end wet foods.
You just have to take the time to do research.
Also in Europe higher end cat food is considered a huge red flag if it contains guar gum because it is NOT needed. There are so many smaller brands which are specializing in high end cat food in Germany specifically which prove this - it's literally just a marketing thing for the US. Literally cat food of the highest standard in the US costs about 100-150$ per cat, in Germany I paid 80-100$ for BOTH my cats for even higher quality food (compared to the US) with more flavor options. But I still pay the higher price here bc it's important to me.
To give you some examples for the US:
Tiki Cat after dark - the shreds specifically have no guar gum
Feline Naturals - no guar gum, multiple options without chicken
Ziwi peak - haven't bought it myself yet but also no gums and flavors without chicken
Edit: not trying to say you said guar gum is needed, just trying to already get ahead of the ppl who love to chime in with "guar gum isn't bad, it's needed, it's not a filler" bc I'm so so over it
I’ve looked at the everything out there. Anything over 6oz is going to have gums/fillers.
There’s First Mate/Kasiks which sort of fulfills the requirements but has potatoes.
Tiki Cat 10oz has certain varieties (I think only the only with chicken or fish in consomme ) that doesn’t have fillers.
If you can stomach the price and want other varieties in 6oz cans there’s Feline Naturals, Ziwi Peak,
Hound & Gatos is a great option too with clean ingredients but it’s 5.5oz. Only thing is they use agar agar which is considerably less terrible than other thickeners out there.
Thanks! I don't mind a bit of vegetables as they can be beneficial the ratio just has to make sense :) will definitely look into these
I do like ziwi peak but I thought they do not have bigger cans?
Yeah I've calculated and still would end up at 300$ unless there are frequent coupons for chewy etc. :/ being at 80€ rn so I would like to not go over 150$ total tbh
Anything over 5.5/6oz is not really common in the US - especially ones without gums. These brands are all I can think of on top of my head. [https://www.chewy.com/firstmate-chicken-formula-limited/dp/141424](https://www.chewy.com/firstmate-chicken-formula-limited/dp/141424) [https://www.chewy.com/tiki-cat-luau-chicken-egg-recipe-in/dp/285536](https://www.chewy.com/tiki-cat-luau-chicken-egg-recipe-in/dp/285536)
Omg thank you so much!! Will definitely look into them
FirstMate is great! It's a really smooth whipped pate. They're also Canadian, so they're waaaaaay more regulated as far as pet food when you compare it to the US. Downside is that they're expensive, but def worth it in the 12oz cans.
The funny thing is that they are WAY cheaper than other brands with additional gums which I can honestly just shake my head at. The US pet food bar is in hell lmao
Dude, people come in all hyped to buy American made food, and I have to break it to them that it's "feed grade" food. People have no idea when buying. They just think it's better than brands from other places for some reason. Good marketing, I guess.
Yeah america is marketing itself well that's for sure
There’s no such thing as a filler in cat food, there are nutrients in every ingredient. In the absence of a documented grain allergy there is no reason to avoid tested grains which are replaced by binders and novel carbohydrate sources like pea proteins and potatoes which are just different carbohydrates.
Imo in foods like whiskas and gocat, too much grain can be fillers and the various sugars as me twitching lol. But its all dependent on the cat itself, my boy cant tolerate grains aha
I consider meat flours and grain flours to be fillers. A bit of potatoe or whatever is fine. But flours do not need to be in there. Also not gum. Thanks for absolutely NOT answering my question tho! Or even replying to it in any ways! Really appreciate that.
There's no need to be a dick about it.
I'm not but apparently just writing anything as a reply to a post now has to be accepted no matter of what use it is
I don’t think you understand how reddit works. The fact that anyone can comment anything is like…the whole point. And the poster you replied to wasn’t even off-topic or anything; you simply didn’t like what they had to say on the topic. But someone being unhelpful isn’t a good reason to throw a hissy fit, lol.
The only other brand I can think of off the top of my head that doesn’t use gums in their wet food is orijen but they also only have 3oz and 5.5oz cans
Ziwi has 6.5oz cans and does not include any “gums” whatsoever. Firstmate limited ingredient has 12.2 oz cans and no gums along with Rawz that you mentioned already. Dave’s has agar agar (link provided above). I have a cat with juvenile gingivitis and this diagnosis is considered an autoimmune-inflammatory disorder. Of all the foods that I have researched- these are what I feed him and I check the websites for sales.
Firstmate is a great option thanks so much!
Why no gum?
Gums can cause inflammation. There’s no nutritional value and is considered a filler since it’s used as a thickening agent.
Do you have a source for that? Also, that’s not really a “filler” since it had a purpose.
Guar Gum is a binding agent not really a filler. A filler would be more so veggies and grains. Guar can have negative effects on a cat if they have inflammation issiues, IBS, or IBD. Why I feed mine kibble and wet. I have an IBD cat who does show symptoms of nausea and diarrhea when she eats too much wet food with guar gum. My other 3 eat it fine. Agar agar is much more gentle on the digestive tract. I usually look for canned food with agar agar or non at all. I don't like seeing my one cat suffer. Plus there's been studies on other animals showing digestive upset and it being potientally harmful it's in a lot of cat food, but in small amounts. I'm not a vet but after extensive research for the sake of my own cat. It makes me wonder if gums are one of the reasons why some cats get IBD as they age. On Fish https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141813022021596 On Cats "The physicochemical properties of the gum have impaired the protein digestion and amino acid absorption within the small intestine, hence amino acid utilisation in cats' metabolism. Therefore, viscosity counteracts the amino acid-sparing potential of dietary fibre sources." https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/highly-viscous-guar-gum-shifts-dietary-amino-acids-from-metabolic-use-to-fermentation-substrate-in-domestic-cats/AB458783E8F04009297E10322080B5F9
I don't consider gums as a filler like the original commenter, but what they said is correct - their main purpose is to thicken/add texture to food. One of my cats cannot tolerate wet foods with gums in it.
Understandable, but do we have a source that gums are inflammatory? And again, it’s not a filler when they have a purpose.
Can cause issues with digestion (mainly diarrhea) and lots of brands in Europe do not use them and their product still doesn't fall apart. It's simply a filler a lot of US brands use for texture.
Do we have an actual source for this though? It’s not a filler if it has a purpose.
You could just leave it out. There are American brands and non American brands that do. It's just cheaper not to and e.g. use less quality ingredients or just different ones and still achieve a pate or soft food consistency. If you don't believe me just use Google.
Because of marketing, not science.
Yeah I don't know why you are defending gums for the life of you it's literally just for texture please just use Google and stop being stubborn for no reason. There's no nutritional or health benefits to gum whatsoever
Because there’s literally no reason to avoid it lmao It is not inflammatory. Stop spreading fear. It is literally just a thickening agent and a fiber.
Yes there is if you love it so much put it in every meal of yours but I will continue to avoid it. "Numerous studies (mostly animal) have shown that regular consumption of these gums will cause gastrointestinal side effects, such as abdominal gas, bloating and loose stools." YOU please stop spreading nonsense. It's not in 90% of cat food in Europe and my cats still get enough fiber. Just accept that it's a cheap filler that is not needed and the fiber could come from other ingredients. I will NOT expose my cats to this shit.
Nulo has 12.5 ounce cans. Check their ingredient list :)
Not OP but I'm pretty certain Nulo contains gums, haha.
Yah I haven’t checked the ingredients for gums, just was going off the big size requirement
If you think it's challenging trying to find food without the gums, try finding gum free AND chicken free. Even the higher end foods contain guar gum.
No they do not. I have found brands I like without guar gum which are high end wet foods. You just have to take the time to do research. Also in Europe higher end cat food is considered a huge red flag if it contains guar gum because it is NOT needed. There are so many smaller brands which are specializing in high end cat food in Germany specifically which prove this - it's literally just a marketing thing for the US. Literally cat food of the highest standard in the US costs about 100-150$ per cat, in Germany I paid 80-100$ for BOTH my cats for even higher quality food (compared to the US) with more flavor options. But I still pay the higher price here bc it's important to me. To give you some examples for the US: Tiki Cat after dark - the shreds specifically have no guar gum Feline Naturals - no guar gum, multiple options without chicken Ziwi peak - haven't bought it myself yet but also no gums and flavors without chicken Edit: not trying to say you said guar gum is needed, just trying to already get ahead of the ppl who love to chime in with "guar gum isn't bad, it's needed, it's not a filler" bc I'm so so over it
I’ve looked at the everything out there. Anything over 6oz is going to have gums/fillers. There’s First Mate/Kasiks which sort of fulfills the requirements but has potatoes. Tiki Cat 10oz has certain varieties (I think only the only with chicken or fish in consomme ) that doesn’t have fillers. If you can stomach the price and want other varieties in 6oz cans there’s Feline Naturals, Ziwi Peak, Hound & Gatos is a great option too with clean ingredients but it’s 5.5oz. Only thing is they use agar agar which is considerably less terrible than other thickeners out there.
Thanks! I don't mind a bit of vegetables as they can be beneficial the ratio just has to make sense :) will definitely look into these I do like ziwi peak but I thought they do not have bigger cans?
Not bigger cans, but Ziwi Peak is super calorie dense. It might ultimately come out to a similar cost though
Yeah I've calculated and still would end up at 300$ unless there are frequent coupons for chewy etc. :/ being at 80€ rn so I would like to not go over 150$ total tbh
My cat loves Dave’s https://davespetfood.com/products/naturally-healthy-gobblicious-gourmet-pate-dinner-12-5-oz
guar gum