At the pet store this weekend, we were approached by a sales representative marketing a "gourmet" pet food brand. One of the biggest selling points was apparently that the food contains "wholesome whole grains, garden veggies and healthy fruit", in addition to meat.
While I understand that vegetable products such as corn meal are frequently used as fillers for dry pet food, I question the value of fruits and vegetables being added to cat food, since cats are obligate carnivores.
The main selling point was that the first ingredient on the list of each of their foods were "real meats" (as opposed to meat by-products), so presumably the food contains enough crude animal proteins to meet the cats primary dietary requirements, but does adding fruit and vegetables have any actual health benefits to a cat? Or is it just a marketing gimmick, playing on people's assumption that if the food sounds appealing to them, it might be more appealing to their cats?
