Is 7% ash in Halo dry cat food safe for my 2-year-old cat's health?

This is an interesting question! The ash content of a pet food refers only to what is left fter everything else has been industrially burned off in a laboratory and when felne urinary tract issues were first being recongnised high ash food was implicated as a risk factor. Unfortunately however, cat food selection is not quite so black and white and the suitablility of a diet for a cat with a history of urinary issues actually lies in what exactly that ash component is made up of in each diet! A low magnesium diet (less that 0.12%) that is designed to acidify urine is preferred, I recommend wet food for such cats to encourgae water intake and produce a more dilute, less irritant urine

This is all under the guaranteed analysis on the bag of dog food. The "crude" means that this is just and estimate of all of these values. The ash refers to the minerals. These values are generally not useful for choosing a dog food and is only there because it's a requirement. The most important thing on that bag is a tiny bit of writing under the guaranteed analysis called the AAFCO statement. This statement tells you what actual research went into making the product. Below is a link to an article that will help explain this more and give some other info about feeding your dog: https://www.petcoach.co/article/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-your-pet-s-food/ There is nothing known to be bad about wheat, corn, soy, or other grains. There has recently been a great deal of bad information spread (by people who are not nutrition experts) about these ingredients and the pet food industry has responded. This last decade has brought an incredible amount of new products to the shelves and I know it must be daunting and very confusing to consumers. Unfortunately, most information about these foods comes from the pet store employee or an equally unqualified source on the internet. It's very wise of you to ask an expert. The truth about most of these foods is that their claims usually amount to nothing more than that of a fad diet (i.e. paleo or atkins) and are not supported by sufficient evidence (even though they will make it sound like it is). As scientifically trained practitioners, us vets prefer to offer evidenced based treatment and the same goes for feeding suggestions. This is why you don't see vets suggesting that all their clients to feed grain-free diets. I hope that helps clear up some of the confusion here.

If the food is very high in calcium it would not be ideal for any cat and there could be health complications. I always recommend feeding a food that has an AAFCO label to make sure it is complete and balanced for an adult cat - there is a maximum acceptable calcium level that is determine by AAFCO.

As long as your cat is eating a diet that has undergone feeding trials or is formulated to meet AAFCO standards and is eating an amount of food in the range recommended in the feeding directions on the label for his weight, then he is likely getting enough protein. As long as he does not have any underlying liver and/or kidney problems it does not matter how much protein you feed him. Please know that feeding a diet that is higher in protein than cats need does not result in any health benefits. For a healthy cat, excess protein is unlikely to be harmful, either. The extra protein will just be broken down by the body and eliminated in the urine.

The procedure of freeze drying is safe, but not necessary or any better for a cat food. My first question would be whether it's nutritionally adequate. In order for a food to be nutritionally adequate it must have gone through a diet trial, or was formulated based on know nutritional requirements. In order to find this out, you will have to research the food a little more. Different countries will have different or no requirements for the company to show that the food is nutritionally adequate. For more information about choosing a food, I recommend you read the short article at the link below. https://www.petcoach.co/article/what-to-look-for-when-choosing-your-pet-s-food/ I hope that helps and all is well.

As long as Julie does not have any health concerns that require a special diet, this food should be fine for her, you just may need to monitor her that she doesn't lose weight if she is currently at a good weight. You may need to give her a little extra food that your overweight cat does not get if she does begin to lose weight.

Unfortunately, I do not think you are going to get a consensus or simple answer to this question. The short answer is that we think the most biologically appropriate food for a domesticated cat is a mouse. And that is quite high in protein. In a young cat like Autumn wihout any health issues, I do not have a problem feeding a high protein food. Cats are obligate carnivores and generally thrive on a high protein diet. One thing you have to think about is that if the food is lower in protein, then it will have to be higher in carbohydrates and/or fat. Again, since cats are obligate carnivores, they are not able to utilize carbohydrates effectively and will often just gain weight on foods that are higher in carbohydrates. You also have to consider if you are comparing dry food or canned food. Dry food will "appear" to have more protein than canned food on the label, but often canned food is actually higher in protein. I feed my cats a rotation of different canned foods and Blue Buffalo is included in that rotation. I do not consider it too high protein for them. Please let me know if that was helpful. I am passionate about cat nutrition, so let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.