Bob C and Bill K, thanks for the computational efforts! OK so that means Iams canned kitten food is 45.3% protein and 32.8% fat, which is 78.1% of the dry contents of the can. That means no more than 21.9% carbohydrates for the canned food. For dry food we have 40 + 24.4 = 64.4, which means no more than 35.4% for carbohydrates. But Bob says kibbled foods are 50% or more carbohydrates. Please explain the discrepancy. Bob has an excellent point about the biological value and digestibility of protein. This is why it is so darned hard to really compare foods. Totally Ferret, for example, uses chicken by-product meal, which from the definitions Gina Hart found, says may include nice things like intestines and feet. Chicken and chicken meal (flesh, skin and bone) may sound better, since those less nutritious bits are not included, but note that if you grind up a whole chicken to make Bob's chicken gravy, you are making chicken by-product, since the neck and innards are included. (By the way feathers are diallowed by definition!) So while one pet food says theirs is better because they use chicken and chicken meal, another that uses by-products says theirs is better because it includes organ meat and has higher protein value/digestibility than the competition. But NOBODY reports those numbers. To some extent, price may be a guide: more expensive food PROBABLY uses more expensive (better) ingredients. Linda Iroff Oberlin OH [Posted in FML issue 3029]