Avoderm Natural Cat Food (Dry) Review And Nutritional Analysis

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Here’s a few important points to consider for this particular line:

• Multiple types of meat, including as the first ingredient
• Contains multiple fillers like rice, tapioca and peas
• Low protein content, even though protein is being boosted with vegetable sources of protein
• Contains vitamins and quality, chelated versions of minerals
• A decent formulation, but protein is too low and filler content is too high

The Avoderm Natural product line includes 3 dry recipes/flavors.

Each recipe below includes its related AAFCO nutrient profile when available on the product’s official webpage or packaging: Growth (G), Maintenance (M), All Life Stages (A), Supplemental (S) or Unspecified (U).

The star rating is a rough average of all of the flavors in a single line of food. If an individual recipe scored lower or higher, we will mark that below, next to the flavor.

• AvoDerm Natural Chicken Herring (A) 3 stars
• AvoDerm Natural Ocean Fish Chicken (A)
• AvoDerm Natural Salmon Brown Rice (A)

AvoDerm Natural Chicken Herring was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

Ingredient Breakdown

The first ingredient in this cat food is chicken meal. Good.

Chicken is a very good protein source for cats.

Chicken meal is a concentrated form of chicken, and is considered a high quality ingredient.

In short, much of the moisture of the chicken is taken away, and you are left with a very high-protein, low-moisture powder-like substance.

The inclusion of chicken meal helps to ensure a very high protein level.

The second and third ingredients are ground whole brown rice and ground whole white rice. Bad.

It may be slightly better than corn in some areas, but rice is simply not biologically appropriate for cats.

It is a filler ingredient.

Studies hypothesize that rice may decrease taurine absorption in cats, leading to taurine deficiency, a dangerous ailment.

The fourth ingredient is chicken fat. Good.

Named animal fats in cat food is usually a good thing.

Chicken fat is a great source of healthy fats and omega fatty acids.

It is preferred to canola oil or unnamed animal fats.

The fifth ingredient is dried tomato pomace. OK, but with reservations.

It is basically a by-product of tomatoes after they have been used for sauces, ketchup, and the likes.

Some say it’s a useful form of fiber, while some say it’s a pointless, cheap, filler ingredient.

Whatever the case, there’s probably not enough to make much of a difference here.

The sixth ingredient is herring meal. Good.

Herring is a good low calorie, high protein fish.

Cats should not eat a lot of fish, but as a secondary ingredient in a food like this, it’s a good way to increase protein.

Just like other ocean fish, higher levels of PCB and dioxin are being found in some herring, thanks to water pollution, so as noted, it should not be a major protein source.

The seventh ingredient is avocado meal. Good.

The steam, pit, leaves, and skin contain persin, which is not good for your cats.

However, the actual flesh of the avocado is a reasonable source of fats.

It is mostly a gimmicky ingredient that doesn’t drastically alter the makeup of this food.

After natural flavors, which are fine, the eighth ingredient is dried egg product. Good.

Even though eggs are not meat, they are a highly digestible form of protein.

In fact, they are one of the most complete, bioavailable forms of protein for both humans and cats.

As long as it is not the main protein ingredient, the addition of egg is a quality ingredient.

This recipe includes a number of other ingredients, but once you get down this far, none of them will be in large enough quantities to make a real difference, except for the added vitamins and minerals.

However, there are a few things you should know about.

Whey is included. Whey is a popular protein source for humans, and is very high quality. 

However, unless it is specifically whey protein isolate, which is not mentioned on the label, it will have some lactose. Most cats are lactose intolerant.

Further, adding whey only makes sense insofar as the manufacturer must be trying to boost the crude protein content of this food. 

Whatever the case, it is not a good ingredient to see on a label.

This recipe utilizes chelated minerals, which may be easier to digest and more bioavailable for your cat. This is usually a sign of a high quality cat food.

To read a more in depth article about any of the ingredients listed here, check out our Cat Food Ingredient Wiki (currently under development).

The Catological Verdict on Avoderm Natural Dry Cat Food

From top to bottom, this is an average dry product.

Meat is the first ingredient, but we assume that if you combine all the rice, peas, potato proteins, etc. throughout the recipes, they would be the top ingredient. That means there’s probably not a lot of actual meat.

It does contain a lot of extra vitamins and even chelated minerals. 

Overall, this is not a great example of a dry food you should be feeding to your cat.

Meat is the first ingredient, but with so many other plant-based carbs added, there’s probably not enough meat to call it a meat-based food.

We can assume that this is a plant-based cat food, which is not biologically appropriate for your kitty’s body.

To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 36% protein, 22% fat, and 31% carbs.

As a group, the brand has an average protein content of 36%, and average fat content of 20%, and an average carb content of 33%.

Compared to the other 2000+ foods in our database, this food has:

• Below average protein.
• Average fat.
• Above average carbs.

Because it likely contains limited meat and is full of fillers, our average rating for this brand is 2.5 stars.

Not recommended.

Avoderm Cat Food Recall History

We do not believe that a recall indicates a low quality food or company, and we respect the fact that sometimes things happen that cause a manufacturer to recall a food.

Usually these things are non-life-threatening, and we think it’s important to take a moment to be thankful about just how few recalls there really are in the industry, considering the enormous volume of food produced.

However, we do believe that a history of recalls may point to a larger issue with a company, and that discerning consumers want to know who they’re buying from, especially when it comes to something as important as the food you feed your beloved cat. 

Here is a list of recalls that have affected the Avoderm brand in the past:

• September 2012 – Possible salmonella contamination – 1 dog food recipe affected

If you want to stay up to date on the latest recall information affecting your cat’s food, sign up to our email list and receive an email every time a recall is announced. We’ll also let you know about any updated ratings, recipe changes, or new cat foods on the market. (Our alert system will be launched shortly, check back soon.)

Where To Buy Avoderm Cat Food

We recommend purchasing your pet products from Chewy.com. They continually prove that they walk the walk while talking the talk, and I’ve never dealt with a more dedicated pet-parent base of people than those who work at Chewy. 

Plus, they offer 20% off and free shipping on lots of orders.