Is Cat Food That Contains Corn Gluten Healthy for Cats?

Read the label of most dry cat food packages and there's a good chance you will run across the ingredient corn gluten meal. But despite its prevalence in cat food, corn gluten meal is not a food cats would eat on their own. This leads many to suggest that it is not good for cats to eat.

  1. Why Cat Food Contains Corn Gluten Meal

    • Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they require meat. But real meat, as opposed to animal by-products, which are low-quality proteins, are expensive to produce in mass quantity. Also, according to the National Center for Biological Information incidents of mad cow disease around the world have triggered a movement away from beef products and by-products as pet food filler. In their place, corn gluten meal -- which is itself a protein -- has become a popular filler and protein replacement. It also holds the food together.

    Corn Allergies

    • Cats thrive on pure proteins, meaning they do not need vegetables or grains in their diet. Corn products such as corn gluten meal offer little to no nutritional value for cats. In fact, corn is one of cats' major allergens. Some cats are allergic to any form of corn and may develop dry, itchy, skin if they ingest it.

    Gastric Distress

    • A more serious reaction to corn gluten meal in cats is gastric distress. In 2005, several scientists in Japan studied corn gluten meal as an ingredient in dry cat food. Their report in the October 2005, issue of the Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research found that cats could not digest or process food containing corn gluten meal nearly as efficiently as food containing meat meal or even straight cornmeal. The scientists concluded that corn gluten meal should not be used as a protein source or filler in dry cat food.

    Taurine

    • Taurine, a protein available only in meat, is a must for cats. Taurine deficiency will cause blindness and heart problems in cats. Taurine simply does not exist in plants, no matter how heavy the protein content. According to veterinarian Lisa Pierson, the often plant-heavy protein in dry cat food simply is not equal to the more meat-rich protein available in canned foods. Cats may survive on a dry food diet, she says, but they will not thrive on one.