As cat owners, we all want our cats to live long, healthy lives. In fact, we don’t just want them to live, we want them to thrive! A diet full of high-quality protein is a big step in that direction. Some of the cat foods on the market are pretty scary! Thankfully there are some excellent cat food choices, like Weruva, available to help us reach our goal.
The Importance of Animal Protein in a Cat’s Diet
All cats are obligate carnivores whether domestic or wild. This means that their bodies require animal proteins and can process only a small amount of plant-based proteins.
All proteins whether plant or animal are made up of amino acids. Unlike humans, cats can not take the amino acids from plant-based proteins and piece them together to create the amino acids they need. Eleven of the 22 amino acids can not be synthesized by a cat’s body. These amino acids, including taurine and arginine, are known as essential amino acids.
What is a high-quality protein?
Not all proteins are equal. Some are very easy for the body to digest and to use while others are not. This concept is known as bioavailability. In general, to be a high-quality protein a food must be as close as possible to its natural state including the water it naturally contains. Processing and dehydrating meats moves them lower on the bioavailability scale.
High-quality protein is very important for your cat – especially if your cat is getting older or suffering from an illness. These proteins process easily through the cat’s body and become the building blocks of your cat’s cells. They also provide the energy necessary for performing all of the life function of the cat’s body. After a long time of having to process low-quality proteins, the functioning of the cat’s kidneys and liver may begin to suffer.
Defining Protein in Pet Food
Here in the US, the regulatory body over pet food is known as AAFCO. They regulate how pet foods are labeled and what standards pet food makers are held to. Here are a few important AAFCO definitions you need to know when you are looking at a pet food label. Click on the link next to the definition for further clarification straight from the source.
Meat
“The clean flesh derived from slaughtered mammals and limited to that part of the striate muscle which is skeletal or that part which is found in the tongue, in the diaphragm, in the heart or in the esophagus; with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and portions of the skin, sinew, nerve and blood vessels which normally accompany the flesh. It shall be suitable for animal food. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereto.” (Source)
Meat Meal
“Rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. It shall not contain extraneous materials not provided for by this definition. The Calcium (Ca) level shall not exceed the actual level of the Phosphorus by more than 2.2 times. It shall not contain more than 12% Pepsin indigestible residue and not more than 9% of the crude protein in the product shall be Pepsin indigestible. The label shall include guarantees for minimum crude protein, minimum crude fat, maximum crude fiber, minimum Phosphorus (P) and minimum and maximum Calcium (Ca). If the product bears a name descriptive of its kind, composition or origin it must correspond thereto.” (Source)
Meat By-Products
“The non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves. It shall be suitable for animal food. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond thereto.” (source)
Use of Diseased Animals or Animals Found Dead
“Meat and meat byproducts not directly suitable for animal food that are designated as 4-D (dead, dying, diseased or disabled). These are considered adulterated—unless processed in a manner that rids them of disease-causing microorganisms prior to becoming animal feed. This is most often done by rendering, which subjects the materials to heat and pressure to eliminate harmful bacteria. (Most commercial pet food is heat-treated during ingredient processing or manufacturing to kill any potential disease-causing organisms.)” (Source)
Natural

I couldn’t believe it when Cinco and Manna actually ate Weruva’s BFF Tuna and Shrimp Sweethearts Recipe (blue can)! They usually won’t eat anything but chicken.
“A feed or feed ingredient derived solely from plant, animal or mined sources, either in its unprocessed state or having been subject to physical processing, heat processing, rendering, purification, extraction, hydrolysis, enzymolysis or fermentation, but not having been produced by or subject to a chemically synthetic process and not containing any additives or processing aids that are chemically synthetic except in amounts as might occur in good manufacturing practices.” (Source)
Organic
“Produced through approved methods that integrate cultural, biological and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance and conserve biodiversity. Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation and genetic engineering may not be used.” (Source)
Premium, Human-Grade, Human Quality
There are no legal definitions of these. They can be used anytime the manufacturer sees fit. (Source)
Weruva: High-Quality Protein with Style
Weruva produces cat and dog foods with the highest quality proteins available. They believe that our pets should eat as well as we do. All of their foods are made from the same meats (and cuts of meats) that will be used for human foods. These foods are also manufactured in plants that produce human foods with the same standards that human foods require. All of the chicken, beef and fish used are made from top quality muscle meat.
When you receive a can of Weruva cat food, there is no doubt that it is full of high-quality protein. There is a ton of moisture and it looks and smells just like the meats that you would cook for yourself! No more mystery meat! They have a ton of different flavors and recipes – even the pickiest can will find one to fall in love with.
Weruva is a family owned company that is very proud of the quality of the food they provide. All of the ingredients are listed on their website so that you can see what’s inside before you buy. Don’t know where to start? Try the Paw Lickin’ Chicken. A lot of cats love it and it is Cinco and Manna’s favorite. Check out Weruva’s rap video below for more information on their products.
Have your cats ever tried Weruva’s cat food?
More Sources:
Protein: The Nutrient Your Pet Needs More Of As They Age – Dr. Karen Becker
The Importance of Animal Proteins Versus Plant Proteins – Catinfo.org
Great info Robin, thanks!!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
You are very welcome! I wonder how these laws and definitions are different in Canada. That’s something to look into. 🙂
We have Weruva here sometimes! Yum.
I’m glad that you ladies enjoy Weruva too! It is definitely a favorite around here. I get it into our rotation as often as possible. 🙂
guys…grate ree view…thanx for sharin…we knead ta tell de food gurl ta pick up sum Weruva for uz ta try !! ♥♥♥
I hope you enjoy your Weruva! It is good stuff and they have several fish flavors. Even my kitties were willing to try their fish! That says something because my cats refuse to eat anything but chicken.
Very interesting that “human grade” is at the user’s discretion. I don’t think I knew that. Weruva is one cat food I’ve yet to try, but I’d like to. Well, Callie would anyways! 😉
I’m sure that Callie would love Weruva! 🙂 It is really high quality. Cinco and Manna are big fans. I thought it was interesting that “human grade” didn’t have a definition too. You would think that it would. That does explain a few things though!
We love Weruva. It’s probably one of our favorite foods.
That’s pawsome! Cinco and Manna love Weruva too. We buy it for them whenever we can. It is great cat food. 🙂
Good information! Cats need quality protein, and it’s important to always look on the label and be sure you’re getting good stuff. Weruva is one of our favorites.
Oooh, gut rot! TW makes me eat this every day for lunch only we get the Weruva offshoot Soulistic.
I haven’t seen Soulistic. I will have to check it out. It sounds like you enjoy it quite a bit! Cinco and Manna are big fans of Weruva. I think it is one of the highest quality cat foods out there.
Soulistic is only available at Petco and is made by Weruva. It’s slightly cheaper in price.
Weruva is a great brand. I was lucky and won 2 cases plus $100 worth for a local shelter. They do have a high quality food that cats love.
Wow! You are really lucky! Those shelter kitties had to have been ecstatic to get some Weruva. It is such a great brand of food.
This is great information. My sister has a cat and she gives him Weruva.
It sounds like your sister’s cat is a spoiled guy! 🙂 Weruva is great food. They make dog foods too! I love how much they look and smell like the meat mentioned in the name of the food.
Great post! Very informative. Weruva as far as I know isn’t available here in Portugal.
Thank you so much! Perhaps Weruva will get to be large enough to come to Portugal soon. 🙂 It is a great company, but it is still fairly small.
Weruva sounds like a great food brand. Purrs
Weruva is great! Cinco and Manna love it. I hope that they have some great nutrient dense cat foods in Switzerland too. 🙂
Wow, what a comprehensive post. Nutrition is so important and rarely understood, thanks for the info!
Thank you so much for the compliment! There is a lot of information here. I will probably break it down into easier to digest bits in later posts. Nutrition really is important!
So important to read and understand labels. Thanks for the comprehensive info.
We tried a sample from BlogPaws of Weruva and loved it. Sounds great.
Absolutely! The labels can be a bit confusing. I hope to do a post that explains those definitions a little better. I didn’t have the room in this post! I’m glad you loved your sample of Weruva. 🙂
Wow, it seems like people really underestimate a cat’s nutritional requirements. Thanks for shedding light on this subject!
You hit the nail on the head. People do underestimate a cat’s nutritional requirements. Unfortunately, people tend to believe that a cat is just like a human or a dog when it comes to nutrition, but the truth is that they are nutritionally more like a dolphin than they are like us. Their demands aren’t difficult to meet, but they are less profitable for pet food companies. Weruva does a great job making species appropriate foods.
Mr. N has not tried Weruva but I’ve heard good things.
My cats love Weruva and I make sure that it ends up in their rotation. I believe that I read that Mr. N is on a raw diet – which is wonderful. 🙂 Should you ever need/want a canned food, Weruva is definitely something to try.
Great job at clarifying all of that, food products themselves can be so confusing with all the different labels they use. Nutrition itself is such a huge subject, and still seems quite misunderstood. Awesome information.
Very informational for people wanting to feed their cats the best food they can. There’s a lot of junk out there.
There really is a lot of junk out there! It is amazing what companies can get away with putting in pet food. I’m really glad to see that pet owners are starting to demand higher standards.
Weruva is such a great quality food and one that I would consider feeding for sure.
I totally agree with you. Pet food doesn’t get much higher quality than Weruva. My kitties love it. I hear that dogs love it too. 🙂
Excellent post. We love Weruva! We’ve been eating it for over 3 years (ever since we became adult ladycats).
That is great to hear! Your Mom has you two spoiled (just like all cats should be). No wonder you have such beautiful fur. 🙂 Weruva is really good stuff. I wish I could afford to give it to my cats all of the time.
Nice review! As far as canned cat food goes, Weruva is one of the best brands around… our cats are big fans too!
I agree! Weruva does a great job with their foods. They really stick to the basics and don’t mess around with a lot of the hard-to-pronounce ingredients.
Great post! This food looks so delish, I’d almost eat a bowl of it myself!
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
Thank you for the compliment! I agree with you – the Paw Lickin’ Chicken looks a lot like chicken soup. It smells like it too!
I fed Jewel Weruva a few times, and she really liked it. It might be something to consider for Carmine and Milita now that their food is off the market.
Weruva is great stuff! If you take a look at their website, there is information about how to get the most benefit out of their foods when your cat has kidney and lower urinary tract problems. They have a lot of great information there.
What an informative post, thank you, Robin! Will have to check out Weruva for our boy, Binx!
I appreciate the compliment! It is always my hope to put enough information out there to help cat owners to make good choices. I hope that your Binx enjoys Weruva as much as Cinco and Manna do. 🙂
Nutrition is important and what they allow in food is so sad ! Glad there are products like this ! Thanks for sharing <3
I agree! There is a lot of dirty stuff going on behind the scenes in the pet food industry. I’m glad that consumer’s voices are being heard by companies like Weruva.