Let’s talk about carbs.
Big pet food loves to tell us cats need carbohydrates.
They do not.
Cats have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates. That is the short answer, and it has been well established in feline nutrition for a long time.
What cats need is protein, fat, essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals - all derived from animal tissue. That is what their digestive system is built around. There is no biological role for grain, starch, or plant-based fillers in a cat's diet. They are not equipped to process them efficiently, and they do not benefit from them nutritionally.
So why are carbohydrates in almost every commercial cat food?
Cost, shelf life, and manufacturing. Grains and starches are cheap. They bind kibble together. They extend products and reduce the amount of actual animal protein needed to fill a bag or a tin. That is the reason. It is not a nutritional one.
The protein percentage problem
This is where it gets worth paying attention to. The protein percentage on a pet food label does not tell you where that protein comes from. Wheat gluten and pea protein both register as protein on a guaranteed analysis. So does chicken. They are not the same thing for a cat.
Some products use plant proteins specifically to inflate the protein number on the label while using less animal-sourced protein in the actual formula. A cat's body cannot use plant protein the way it uses animal protein. The number looks good. The nutrition is not.
When you are looking at any cat food - raw, canned, or otherwise - the question is not just how much protein, but where it comes from. Check the ingredient list, not just the panel.
The small exception
A small amount of a functional ingredient is not the same as building a recipe around carbohydrates. Some formulations include minor amounts of specific ingredients for a practical purpose. That is different from a product where the first three ingredients are grains and the animal content is an afterthought. Context and proportion matter.
The bottom line
Cats do not need carbs. A high protein percentage means nothing if that protein is coming from plants. Read the ingredient list, know what you are actually feeding, and do not be misled by numbers on a panel.