Corn: Evil Filler or Nutritious Additive?
Last week, Skeezix and I visited Iams/Eukanuba’s facilities in Dayton, Ohio. This is one in a series of posts on what I learned.
Every discussion of corn in the cat’s diet starts out something like this: “You have corn on the cob for dinner, and the next morning, if you care to peek, you’ll note it has been expelled from your digestive tract wholly intact. Thus, it’s only a cheap nutrition-free filler in pet food.”
When it came to discussing the nutritional value and makeup of Iams and Eukanuba foods last week, the word on the tip of everyone’s tongue was CORN, spoken with the same derision as one might say “cyanide” or “rat poison.”
At the earliest opportunity, I asked Dr Maury Docton, DVM (right), the Technical Services Vet at Iams/Eukanuba, what role corn plays in the composition of their foods, and whether the new grain-free diets are a better bet for our pets.
We were in for an episode of Mythbusters.
There’s been a lot of recent press about grain-free diets, with corn, wheat and rice portrayed in a negative light.
According to Dr Maury the most common myths include:
- Corn is not digestible
- Corn causes allergies
- Cats don’t have the ability to digest grains
Dr Maury explained that corn is a nutritionally superior grain because it provides a highly available source of complex carbohydrates and substantial amounts of essential amino acids and fatty acids, providing more of the nutritional building blocks the pet needs for repair and maintenance of its body. And, corn minimizes blood glucose response to help maintain a healthy weight and blood sugar level.
To access the nutritional part of corn, you have to remove its outer hull and produce ground corn meal which is highly digestible. Although there are individual variations, once the hull is removed, ground corn is less than 2% fiber; therefore 98% digestible by your cat. Being 98% digestible means that more of the nutrition stays inside your cat, and less ends up in the litter box.
The only part of an ingredient that can trigger an allergy is the protein portion of that ingredient. Unless corn is used as a protein, in its gluten form, it is very unlikely to trigger an allergic reaction — corn meal contains less than 8% protein. Beef, dairy and fish account for most reported food related allergies in cats. Of food ingredients reported in veterinary medical literature to cause adverse reactions in cats, corn was at the bottom of the list, just above egg*.
The trend to replace grains with fruit and vegetables for the same carbohydrate function is well-meaning, but as yet there is little research documentation to prove how they will affect the energy level and glycemic response of the cat. Although you won’t see cats in the wild chowing down corn on the cob, they do consume a diet of up to 10% carbohydrates, which they get from the stomach contents of their prey.
Bottom line: When processed correctly, corn is an excellent source of complex carbohydrates, as proven by data that Iams has collected during 50 years of research. Although cats are obligate carnivores, most do need a small percentage of complex carbohydrates in their diets for energy, and they will get that from a correctly balanced diet.
In rare cases, corn may cause an allergic response, but if your cat eats a food that contains corn and develops an allergic reaction, it’s far more likely due to beef, dairy or fish.
Like humans, some cats may need to be on low-carb diets, in which case your vet can recommend the best food for your cat’s needs.
In the interest of full disclosure, this trip was fully paid for by Iams/Eukanuba. I’ve fed my cats Eukanuba for nearly 20 years, and the only cat of mine with digestive issues is the one who won’t eat the Eukanuba, but sticks to an all-meat Catkins diet.
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* source: Advances in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Vol 5, Issue 9, 2002.
Sorry – I’m not convinced until I start seeing herds of feral cats hunting down corn. The real question is not whether corn is a good carbohydrate. It’s really how much carbohydrates cats require, as obligate carnivores. And the answer there is ‘not much.’
In our house we can’t have anything at all with gluten in it (wheat, barely, spelt, rye). Actually, the corn industry has done itself a disservice by calling the protien “gluten” because it actually isn’t gluten as in the stuff that the LL can’t eat or touch because she has Celiac’s Disease. Corn= good Wheat=bad for us at least. We do eat a grain free diet but that is because it is gluten free so the LL can touch it.
I agree with Hattie. Some of us are supposed to have low carbs because we are prone to diabetes or get hyperactive with too much sugar.
Corn adds to the total carbohydrate load. Mama is pre-diabetic and has been told to not eat a lot of corn because it has a lot of carbs, even if they are better than some other carbs. So doctors recognize that for people corn has a lot of carbs, and I am sensitive to carbs. Therefore, I can’t eat food with corn in it.
It’s just logic.
To be honest, I get tired of all the “this food is bad, this food is good.” Right now everyone is saying, oh grain free is the best. Next year, we’ll find out it isn’t. I feed Ashley what she’ll eat. I don’t care about wild cats and what they will and won’t eat. Ashley is a domesticated cat.
But, Skeezie, we catz iz Obligate Carnivorz unlike doggeez an peoplze hoo iz Omnivorz. An sum leetle birdeez onli eats certain thingies too. So while a leetle bitty bit a cornz iz ok, like about az much a iz inna mousie tummy or so we reelie likez pure good qwalitee protein likz hooman grade animul protein da best. Yummy yum yum. An since yoo haz a speshul delicate leetle kittee tummee-tum yoo gotz to be speshully kareful. Luv an kissez frum Alla Us Kitteez over heer.
if your cat has a problem with carbs, then you should talk to your vet instead of complaining about the food you buy. our cats need high carb diets because they spend much of their time outside. (all three still have their claws, they are up-to-date on shots, and spend nights inside) if they had low carb diets, they might lose energy in the middle of running away from a threat (like a dog or hawk). we feed our cats what they like (which is unanimous, Purina Cat Chow is their favorite), instead of what they don’t like (won’t eat) but is better for them. we’ve fed our cats Purina brand cat food for as long as i can remember, and we’ve never had a problem (and we’ve had dozens of cats over the 21 years my older brother has been around). i dunno about you Iams eaters, though. (our cats don’t like Iams for some reason) and the youngest of the group likes corn for some reason (he’s also fond of grapes, but he’s not allowed to have them since i found out grapes are potentially harmful to cats). i’ll just follow the advice of our vet, who prefers Purina or Iams if your cat doesn’t need Science Diet (the clinic we go to only sells the specialty mixes of Science Diet)
Grain free isn’t a trend, Ashley. It’s simply a fact that cats are obligate carnivores and DON’T need corn or other grains. Your cat is directly related to wild cats-living with you doesn’t change that. She eats this unnatural food because it’s sprayed with animal digest & fat. This article was a disappointment. Whether its corn, wheat or rice – it’s not good for carnivores. And corn IS cheap compared to meat – what cats should be eating. And the quote about how corn helps maintain a good blood glucose is an insult – I have a diabetic cat. Where are they getting this info. Very disappointed. Sad
10% carb is different than 30-50% carb which most dry food is. 
Yeah, we agreez wif Hattie an Allie: kitteez don’t need carbz fer goodness’ sake! Peoples don’t need tons a carbz eethur. Look how dey changed da hooman food peeramid lately becuz peoples gotz peeramid-shaped, ha ha! An yoo know, Ashley’s Food Lady, jus becuz Ashley is a domestic animal doesn’t change what she need to eat to stay healthy. Thas like sayin since peeplez not wild peeplez anymore dey should eatz wite bred insted a whole weetz an dey no dats not true.
Our Foodz Lady thinks mabee kitteez gets too pudgy wen dey tryz to getz enuf of what dey needz frum foodz dat don’t havz it. Like too much carbs an cheap protein an not enuf best qwality meatz protein.
So we kittez eatz lotsa meatz protein for a reezon! It iz for our survival!
xxxooo
well ever since the catster staff went to the Iams place they’ve been talking wonders about its food , and I think they may have been just a teeny bit influenced by the scarves and bowling trips I mean hard to say bad things about someone when they give you all that , right?
Haaaarley! Carbs don’tz give kitteez energee fur bein outside an runnin around. That’s fur peeplez wen dey carbo-loading beefore a beeg race! Catz needz protein fur energee! Dey not peeplez (altho our hoomanz sez we leetle fur peoplez, yay!) How much birdeez an miceez yoo guyz eatin to make up the protein yoo not eatin inside when yoo guyz iz outside?
Toomorrow iz chikin by-produkt meel? Icky poo! Pu-leeze, Skeezie, no anything by-produkts fur us! Kreepie deepie! Not sutch a hi qwalitee protein there!
We luvz yoo, Skeezie, an wee gladz yoo had sutch a spektakular trip inna plane an a bus an a limmo wif da nice limmo persun an all that grate stuff–wow! A jaket wif yore name onnit! An scarfies! Sooo glamorus, Skeezie! But we stickin wif our hi qwalitee hooman grade protein.
xxxooo
Harley, you need to do some reading about feline nutrition and physiology. Cats don’t get much energy from carbohydrate, they are built to get energy mostly from protein and some fat, little from carbohydrate — one of the reasons for obesity in cats. http://www.catinfo.org is a great site. Cats don’t need carbohydrate! In the wild it may be 5%, if they consume any. So all this talk about how corn is a good source of complex carb blah, blah blah…Do they even have enzymes to effectively process carbohydrate?
“I’ll just follow the advice of our vet”.With respect, vets are great for a lot of things, but often not nutrition (an important issue to get wrong).Vets get most of their nutrition education info from pet food companies/reps. And selling food is a large chuck of income. The pressure is only going to continue though. Grain free is no trend. Humans are intelligent and the truth always comes around. Owners want quality, species appropriate food, not grain filled, highly processed bags of convenient “food”. Catkins is best for cats
Here’s the guideline my human and I keep in mind: if it were up to me, I’d be hunting mice and birds. If I were lucky enough to get my paws on one, I’d eat just about all of it, including the contents of my prey’s stomach. That might include a bit of grain or seeds or other plant product, but by percentage, it would be just a small bit of my entire meal. The vast majority of the meal would be animal flesh, muscle and organs.
O, I kno, itz me again, Skeezie! But our Food Mommee sez wen she began too feed The Twinnies, Charlie an Teddy, raw meat when dey wuz leetle kittenz, shee had to laugh every time shee called ‘em for foodies becuz they got soooo excited about their new raw food they were like leetle slavering beasties! They were soooo funny! Dey luv dat suf!
Yoo gotz to take anuther plane trip tho Skeezie, becuz yoo dint get yore jr pilot’s wings! Maybe a leetle pilot’s hat would just hit the spot, huh? (Our mommy still haz herz frum 1975, ha ha!)
Tee and the Wildlife,
You are wonderful, very smart and funny. And sweet too. Youz knowz yer stuff aboutz species appropriatez foodies. Yay for you! Charlie and Teddy iz realee lukky to be eatin da raw foodiez. My little fur buggers also are like leetle slavering beasties when dey eat de raw foodies. Dey growl and got nutzie for the raw foodies.
Once again in human speak. No corn, no grain, no highly processed pellets, no non-human grade ingredients. We want species appropriate health-promoting foods, please.
Once again I will say Education is Key to knowing about feline nutrition,consider the physiological structure of the cat.
Just because our cats are domesticated does not change their digestive tracts, they are still obligate carnivores. Cats in the wild only get about 2% carbs from their prey’s stomach, their major diet is protein in the form of meat matter, not plant matter.
Sure they may eat carbs, but it does not do anything for them.
Sorry but I’m not buying the “corn is great for your cat!” position that Iams is trying to sell. Although I love the Cat’s Meow and read it every day, I’ve been disappointed with this series about Iams. I’m sure they are very nice people and it was certainly nice of them to fly cat bloggers out to their company. But so far these blogs have discussed Iams issues from a pro-Iams position without discussion of the other side of the issues- particularly yesterday’s animal-testing blog. A more balanced article that includes more information from non-Iams sources would hold more crediability for me.
i don’t eat the mice and birds i catch. i just kill them because my people can’t do it themselves.
O, fank you, GG and Me, fur da nice komplyments! Wow! An, Harley, our Auntee Roo had a kittee named Zelda Plushbottom who liked to go outside early in the morning an shee wud leeve da door open so Zelda could go in an owt an den Auntee Roo wud go bak to sleep an Zelda wud bring hur leetle worm gifteez an leev ‘em on Auntee’z pillo! So Auntee wud wake up to a leetle wurm lookin her in da eye, ha ha! Sumtimez dey wuz dead an sumtimez dey wuz ALIVE! But Auntee Roo alwayz thanked Zelda fur hur luvly gift!
With all respect, this Iams series is reading almost like an advertisement for Iams/Eukanuba. It is noted that Iams/Eukanuba has Dr Maury Docton, DVM on their staff and that he advocates for Iams/Eukanuba food. I agree with Lucy that an impartial opinion is needed for balance and credibility. Although, the opportunity present then for this to degenerate into a “war of the experts” as in the judicial system where each side has a credentialed expert espousing an opinion favorable to their “side.” For every pro-corn DVM or VMD it is easy to find an opponent.
Besides the already mentioned physiological reasons not to feed a corn/grain heavy diet to an obligate carnivore is the concern of my own regarding Genetically Modified foods. Conventionally grown corn, soy and peanut are the top 3 GMO foods. In choosing a commercial prepared food for our cats I am already feeding them animals who have themselves been fed GMO feed. I choose not to compound that by feeding a grain free diet.
It helps to remember that this is our opinion alone and that this blog is also a representation of a personal opinion.
Karen:
I recommend you read the book “Foods Your Pets Will Die For”. It is the product of 10 years of research on the pet food industry. The federal government subsidizes the factory farms that grow corn, therefore, it is in such abundance that corn is now used in almost every product on the market, including pharmaceuticals – see the documentary “Food, Inc.” or buy the book with the same name. Yes, cats need carbs, but not in the amount that is being added to the commercial cat foods.
And, of course the Iams vet is going to tell you the opposite – he works for the company – you really did not expect anything different did you???
Two points. (being a militant cat food person myself I will stay away from what I REALLY think of what he’s saying and just point out the inconsitancies)
1) he says that cats naturally get 10% of their diet from carbohydrates. Lets say for a second that it is true. Ok.. so keep your corn down to 10% of your diet!!
2) um.. you didn’t even address the third “myth” in your list..
Come on my kitties friends, let’s go chow on on some corn – corn on the cob, corn meal, whole grain corn, corn gluten…Then we’ll be so healthy and happy. Who really needs real meat anyways?
Actually, YUCK, corn is not healthy. Even people wouldn’t be healthy eating so much corn (it’s certainly more than 10% — probably up to 50% total grain content)
Dr. Iams sure knows how to spin and sell the corn is good story.
Wow, what a horribly biased article. Did you consider any non-Iams sources? And seriously, talk about a conflict of interest.
This article is a waste of time. Wow, what a surprise that a doctor on the payroll of a company finds a way to defend it’s product. I suggest that t Dr. Docton read some articles written by Dr. Jean Hofve or Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins who warn about the potential harmful effects of corn on the PANCREAS and LIVER. Dr. Docton skillfully avoided this fact.
First, why would Dr Maury Docton, DVM, who WORKS for/in the Technical Services at a MANUFACTURER of Iams/Eukanuba who actively uses CORN as a main ingredient in their food turn around and shoot himself in the head and not say corn is okay. I mean c’mon folks think about it! Secondly, whether it is a human or an animal, you should have learned in elementary school that carbs, when digested turn to sugar, PERIOD! If you eat enough sugar day in and day out chances are one if not two things are going to happen: you’re either going to gain weight probably excessively and you’re going to greatly increase your risk of becoming diabetic. This is not “myth” and there is no “busting” needed. Go to an endocrinologist (or ask online) for yourself. It’s almost next to impossible to find dry pet food that doesn’t have the first and main/majority ingredient as corn. Don’t get me wrong, there are some, but far and away the vast majority of them ladden with corn. Also in the past year or so pet prices have escalated at a greater rate than before and this too can be contributed to the rising cost of corn (many corn uses and now as a fuel additive). And last and most importantly, when was the last time you saw a cat or dog grazing in a corn field or even the least interested?? Doesn’t that say it all?! This article is nothing short of irresponsible and shouldn’t have seen the light of day in being posted! You belong on the wall of shame if you really are any kind of doctor Docton!!
Corn can be a good thing, as a whole-grain product; L-lysine, which is found in stone-ground cornmeal. Lysine is a wonderful amino acid that helps boost the immune system. And, having rescued 10 furbabies from a neighborhood [out in the country] where disease runs rampant, through my vet, I discovered the importance of this amino acid.
I do feed my furkids Eukanuba for Sensitive Stomachs, since one tends to urp frequently from eating other diets. I’ve long had them on this brand, so “Dr. Maury” had nothing to do with this decision.
As for giving them Lysine, I do it in the form of a supplement, which I purchased from Drs. Foster & Smith. They love it because of the strong fish smell. The CATS, not the Drs……
Cats are obligate carnivores. This means that they use protein as their energy source. Meat is what they need. They cannot digest grain. They have absolutely no use for corn. Vets do not know anything about nutrition. Nothing, nada niet, nothing. This post is absolutely irresponsible. I am so glad to hear so many people realize the truth! It makes me very happy. I have 3 cats, fed raw recipe from Holisticat. My oldest kitty is 12 and he got kibble till I got educated. His health has improved so much even my vet is impressed.You can absolutely see the improvement. My two younger kitties, 2 years old, have been on raw diet since I rescued them from a shelter. One had runny eyes and really bad breath, he is beautiful and healthy now, no runny eyes, although his breath is still bad sometimes. I will have to watch his teeth. That is a result of his ancestors being fed kibble. If you have outdoor cats, when they eat prey, they always leave the stomach. Maybe not all cats, but all the ones I have had.
My cats all have shiny coats, clear eyes and they jump and play and have good appetites and are beautiful. Join Holistcat to get educated about cats. Read “Whole Health for Happy Cats” by Sandy Arora.