Avoderm Natural Cat Food (Wet) Review And Nutritional Analysis

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

• Meat is the first ingredient, but they are very fish-heavy, which we don’t think is appropriate for feeding at most meals
• Contains multiple fillers like rice, tapioca, and oats
• The Tuna and Crab option is significantly better than the others, but is still too fish-heavy
• Contains added vitamins and minerals
• A decent formulation, but would be better if not reliant on fish protein

The Avoderm Natural product line includes 4 wet 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 Ocean Fish (A) 2 stars
• AvoDerm Natural Tuna Crab (A) 4.5 stars
• AvoDerm Natural Salmon (A) 3.5 stars
• AvoDerm Natural Indoor Weight Control (M)

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

Ingredient Breakdown

The first ingredient in this cat food is salmon. OK, but with reservations.

A good source of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.

Fish oils support the health of the skin, coat, joint, kidneys, heart, and immune system, and may even help with serious illnesses such as cancer.

While salmon is generally a high quality protein, cats can be allergic to fish, some fish contain toxins from polluted water, and fish are generally not a species-appropriate protein.

It is a myth that cats and fish go hand in hand, as even wild populations who live by the water do not consume much, if any, fish.

The second ingredient is salmon broth. OK, but with reservations.

Instead of using water for processing, salmon broth is added for moisture.

Broth may contain vitamins and nutrients from the original animal (salmon, in this case), that water would lack.

This is usually a sign of a high quality food.

However, our point above about fish still stands.

The third ingredient is turkey. Good.

While quality of the individual ingredient can vary, turkey is a good protein source for cats.

It’s also important to note that turkey contains about 70% water, so when it is processed and cooked for use in cat food, it will become a smaller part of the total recipe.

The fourth ingredient is chicken liver. Good.

Liver is an important organ meat that your cat would eat in the wild to get extra protein, vitamins, and minerals.

This is usually a sign of a high quality food.

The fifth ingredient is rice flour. 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, and may cause digestive issues.

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

The sixth ingredient is oat bran. Bad.

Oats are generally a good source of fiber and energy, but grains are not biologically appropriate for cats.

We believe that oats of any kind have no place in a recipe that looks to mirror natural feline diets.

There are better options for fiber, like pumpkin or coconut.

The seventh ingredient is avocado oil. 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.

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.

Guar gum comes from guar beans, and is a thickening agent.

In small quantities, like those in cat food, it should be a harmless ingredient.

However, some research has shown that including guar gum in a commercial cat food “had a significant negative effect on apparent protein digestibility in many of the cats and tended to depress apparent fat and energy digestibilities.”

While not heavily substantiated beyond this study, it might mean your cat needs to eat more protein to make up for the lower digestibility.

It also uses carrageenan, another thickening agent.

Carrageenan is a very controversial ingredient. It is derived from a red seaweed.

One of it’s forms, degraded carrageenan, is a potential carcinogen.

While degraded is not used in food applications, some people have concerns that the ingredient could become degraded from a cat’s stomach acid, therefore potentially increasing cancer risk.

It is likely fine, but with so many other options on the market, many people choose not to take the risk.

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 Wet Cat Food

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

Meat is the first ingredient, but we do not support feeding fish to cats as their main food source. There aren’t a lot of fillers, but they are still there. It’s nice to see chicken liver in some recipes.

It does contain extra vitamins and minerals. 

Overall, this is an okay example of a wet food to feed your cat, but it should not make up the majority of your kitty’s diet.

There are a variety of meat ingredients, and not a ton of extra plant-based proteins, so we can safely say this is a meat-based cat food.

To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 45% protein, 23% fat, and 16% carbs.

As a group, the brand has an average protein content of 49%, and average fat content of 22%, and an average carb content of 10%.

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

• Average protein.
• Average fat.
• Average carbs.

Because it has multiple meat proteins, but is too reliant on fish, our average rating for this brand is 3 stars.

Not recommended as a main food option. Alright for a supplemental food.

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.