The Surrey Community Cat Coalition is low on canned food donations for cats and hopes the public will do some Christmas shopping in July and buy quality cat food to donate.
“We definitely appreciate all cat food donations,” says Lubna Ekramoddoullah, Manager, Surrey Community Cat Coalition. “But the best type of food for cats is wet food, and we hope our donors will spend a little more money on quality brands, such as FirstMate and Wellness, which don’t have any by-products.”
When animals are slaughtered for food production, the lean muscle is cut off for human consumption. The remaining carcass (bones, organs, blood, beaks, etc.) is what goes into pet food, commonly known as "by-products," "meal," "by-product meal." By-products in pet food includes but is not limited to lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, blood, bone, fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. By-products have no nutritional value and are used as a cheap way to keep the protein levels high while keeping food production costs low.
A simple way to find out if the cat food you are buying is a quality brand is to look at its ingredients list. Ingredients are listed by weight, so the first five ingredients in a top-quality brand will:
use named meat protein sources;
contain no by-products;
contain no fillers such as corn, wheat, or soy; and
contain no artificial ingredients or preservatives.
Quality canned cat food can be purchased and dropped off at one of the locations collecting for the Surrey Cat Food Bank.