Yes, there are lots of meat based foods out there that contain little or no corn. But they aren't found in grocery stores. I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with corn (though some animals become allergic) the problem is it's just cheap filler, and there isn't a digestive system in the world that can digest it, except maybe cattle ;~D. It just goes right through them, relatively unchanged, and makes for more poop.
Of the grocery store brands, the best is probably Purina One. But the better, more expensive foods are found either in pet stores, farm supply stores, or vet clinics.
I buy chicken and rice cat and dog foods that are packaged locally for the farm and feed supply in my area. I read the labels and the ingredients and compared the labels and it's comparable in protein and fat to the premium foods like Iams and Nutro. If one of the first three items on the list of ingredients are corn, it's just a filler food.
The first ingredient, IMHO, should be meat. And it should be the named meat in the flavor, such as "chicken, beef or lamb." And in my house, nothing is allowed that says "animal" or "animal" byproducts. Here's the hint. If the type of meat is named, that's what it is. If it just says "animal" it's horse, waste products from slaughterhouses, the remains of euthanized and dead animals brought to rendering plants, and whatever else they end up needing to grind up. I am philosophically opposed to horse slaughter, so I don't buy any of that. Most of the grocery store brands contain lots of unnamed "animal" byproducts. It's cheap.
Good pet food will cost over a buck a pound, not $10 for a 40 pound bag. I don't recommend a particular label, others do. Some of the best stuff is local, I'd go to your local feed and farm supply and read labels.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
"The first ingredient, IMHO, should be meat. And it should be the named meat in the flavor, such as "chicken, beef or lamb." And in my house, nothing is allowed that says "animal" or "animal" byproducts. Here's the hint. If the type of meat is named, that's what it is. If it just says "animal" it's horse, waste products from slaughterhouses, the remains of euthanized and dead animals brought to rendering plants, and whatever else they end up needing to grind up. I am philosophically opposed to horse slaughter, so I don't buy any of that. Most of the grocery store brands contain lots of unnamed "animal" byproducts. It's cheap. "
THANK YOU for stating that. So many people have such a nonchalant attitude it's nice to hear a voice of reason.
Purina One isn't all that bad. Nevertheless, I prefer Nutro Max Cat Complete Care. Science Diet used to be good, but after Dr. Hill died they got sold out to Colgate-Palmolive, and Iams used to be good too, but they got sold out to Proctor & Gamble. Now you see both brands in the grocery store.
Compare:
Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Rice Flour, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Flaxseed Meal, Tomato Pomace, Brewers Dried Yeast, Natural Flavors, Dried Beet Pulp, Mixed Vegetable Fiber (carrots, celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress and spinach), Potassium Chloride, Menhaden Fish Oil, Soy Protein Concentrate, Oat Fiber, Choline Chloride, Cranberry Powder, Taurine, DL-Methionine, Dried Egg Product, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Inositol, L-Carnitine, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Dried Bacillus Licheniformis Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract, Dried Chicory Root, Lutein, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Niacin, Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Beta-Carotene, Garlic Flavor, Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B-2), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B-6), Copper Proteinate, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B-1), Lycopene, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Sodium Selenite, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide (source of Iodine), Folic Acid.
With:
Brewers rice, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with BHA, ground yellow corn, soybean meal, turkey by-product meal, beef and bone meal, fish meal, dried whey, deflourinated phosphate, dried cheese powder, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, dried liver digest, salt, L-lyine, artificial color, choline chloride, calcium carbone, taurine, wheat germ meal, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, citric acid, niacin, vitamin supplements (A, D-3, E, B-12, calcium panthothenate, manganese oxide, riboflavin, biotin, inositol, folic acid, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione, sodium sulfphate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate.
One thing that pet-owners should absolutely stay away from is anything that has ethoxyquine in it.