I first heard about Dr. Elsey’s new line of food, Clean Protein™ from Dr. Elsey himself at last year’s American Association of Feline Practitioners conference. Given that I’ve long been a fan of Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat Litter, which I’ve been using for the last two decades, I was pretty excited to hear that he was working on developing a high-protein cat food.
Cats need protein not just to survive, but to thrive
Cats are obligate carnivores. They cannot get enough nutritional support from plant-based proteins such as grains and vegetables. Feeding foods high in carbohydrates leads to a number of degenerative diseases, including diabetes, kidney disease, and inflammatory bowel disease.
Some pet food manufacturers are using plant-based proteins to boost protein content. Plant-based proteins are high in oxalate and lead to rapid metabolization, which actually increases your cat’s hunger. Feeding a high quality protein rich diet make your cat feel full longer, which helps maintain a healthy weight at every age.
About Clean Protein™
Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein™ formulas are paté style, and are grain-free and gluten-free. Over 90% of the protein used is animal based, and there are no fillers or preservatives added. The canned formulas come in chicken, turkey, beef, salmon and ocean whitefish flavors. Clean Protein™ is also available in two dry formulas, chicken and salmon. At 59% and 56% respectively, these dry formulas have the highest protein content of any dry food currently available, but I still don’t recommend any dry food, no matter how good a quality. However, if you absolutely must feed dry, this is an acceptable option.
All proteins are sourced and manufactured in the USA, as are 90% of all ingredients. The remaining ingredients are sourced from Switzerland, France, Germany, Scotland, and Canada. Up until now, taurine was sourced from China, but starting this quarter, it will be sourced in the US only.
Putting Clean Protein™ to the test
Since I don’t feed fish except as a very occasional treat, I requested the turkey and chicken flavors for Allegra and Ruby. The girls like paté style foods, so I was pretty confident they’d like these. Paté style foods vary in consistency from brand to brand. These formulas are very moist and juicy, something I like in a food.
Ruby practically inhaled the turkey flavor. Allegra needed a little coaxing, but once she got over “this is something new,” she cleaned her plate. They both loved the chicken flavor, which isn’t a given with these girls since they’re such big turkey fans.
For more information about Dr. Elsey’s Clean Protein™, please visit Dr. Elsey’s website.
