Originally posted by Nomilynn
Also, how do you know if you've found a "good" food?
Do you mean in quality? A good kitty food shouldn't have any corn, by-products, soy, peanut hulls, or harmful preservatives such as ethoxyquin or BHA/BHT. It should also be supplemented with taurine. Also, I'm not sure about cat food, but dog food should have animal protien for the first ingredient and one of the next two. I think cat food should probably have it in atleast the first two.

This is off of my site. I know it's for dog food, but these shouldn't be found in cat foods either.
LOOK OUT FOR:

Ethoxyquin - Ethoxyquin is a chemical preservative that carries specific toxins. These toxins have been known to cause itchy skin, lethargy, hair loss, thyroid problems, reproductive disorders, birth defects, epilepsy, cancer, and stillbirth. The chemical was developed by a company as a rubber hardener. It is also used as a herbicide and insecticide. In Canada it is illegal in human foods. in the US, over 100 ppm illegal in human foods.

BHA (Butylated Hydroxysanisole) & BHT (Butylated Hydroxytoluene) - Often seen together, these carcinogenic chemical preservatives have been known to cause cancer, tumors, epilepsy, kidney failure, and a number of other things. A dog who eats food containing one or both of these has a 60% chance of developing urinary stones.

Propyl gallate - Tendency to cause the blood disorder, methemoglobinemia.

Propylene Glycol - A chemical often used in antifreeze, engine coolant, cigarettes, oil, and wax. Used to keep food moist and so is most commonly seen in wet or semi-moist foods. It can cause skin problems, hair loss, dull coats, diarrhea, overweight and death.

Sugar Glycol - Mostly found in wet or semi-moist foods because it keeps foods moist. Dogs are borderline diabetic and too much sugar can give them diabetes. They can become addicted to sugar to the point where they won't eat any other food but a food with this in it. Also known to cause hypoglycemia, obesity, nervousness, cataracts, tooth decay, arthritis and allergies. Sugar can also drain vitamins and minerals from the body.

Sodium Metabisulphite - Preservative known to cause weakness, difficulty swallowing, loss of conciousness and brain damage in humans. No testing has been done on the affect it has on dogs or other animals.

Pentobarbital - Chemical that is injected into pets during euthanization. Also used to treat people with severe head trauma as a sedative. The dog food companies refuse to say how this gets into their foods, but we know it is there from testing. Pentobarbital is usually found in the foods where euthanized cats and dogs have been added in. Yes, that's right. Undercover agents have witnessed companies taking the euthanized animals from shelters and vets and adding them into the food. Scientists have done testing and confirm that there is, truly, dogs and cats in some pet foods. The editor has yet to find out which brands, although Iams/Eukeneba has been mentioned and is under suspicion.

Corn - Mostly considered a filler by the dog food companies, corn is the leading cause of allergies in dog food. Extremely hard for a dog to digest, it may sit in a dog's body for up to 16 hours. The protien, like most vegetable protiens, is hard to extract from the corn, and so a dog may not be getting the amount of protien that the bag says the food has. Because it sits in a dog's stomach for so long, the dog has a longer time to extract the fat from the food. This will not help an overweight dog. BEWARE of the dog food that has corn as one of it's main ingredients!

Wheat - One of the leading causes of allergies. 20% of the nutritional value escapes digestion, so the nutritional value on the food bag may be inaccurate. Sometimes contains a fungus that produces vimotoxin, a substance that can kill or sicken dogs (In 1995, Nature's recipe sickened many dogs,in 1999, Doane Pet care, aka Ol' Roy killed 25 dogs and sickened more -- due to wheat contaminated with vimotoxin). Wheat is not nessecarily bad when human-grade, but should generally only be used in a food for overweight or inactive dogs, and dogs without allergies.

Soy - Soy is mainly used as a filler, or as a protien source in vegetarian foods. Linked to gas in some dogs. Hard for dogs to digest, and can take away nutrients. Soy shouldn't be given to a deep-chested dog, such as a German shepherd, because it has been known to cause bloat. Not nessecarily bad for a dog, just make sure it's good for YOUR dog.

By-products - Mostly the parts of an animal that a human would not eat -- The tail, hooves, stomach, blatter, intestines, beaks, ligaments, fur, feathers, scales, etc. Mainly whatever doesn't have any meat. Depending on what kind of by-product, the digestablity varies.

Peanut Hulls - A cheap filler. No nutritional value.