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Rating
- Meat is the first ingredient – 1 Star
- Uses some unnamed meats – 1 Star
- Above average protein content – 0.5 Star
- Less than 4 controversial ingredients – 1 Star
- Catological Discretionary Rating – 0 Star
Here’s a few important points to consider for this particular line:
- Meat is the first ingredient
- Everything is organic, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good recipe
- Includes extra vitamins and minerals
- Although better than the dry version of this food, protein is still a bit too low, and carbs are still too high to be ideal for your cat
The Organix product line includes 7 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.
- Castor & Pollux Organix Chicken (A)
- Castor & Pollux Organix Chicken & Chicken Liver (A)
- Castor & Pollux Organix Turkey (A)
- Castor & Pollux Organix Turkey & Spinach (A) 3 stars
- Castor & Pollux Organix Shredded Chicken & Chicken Liver (A)
- Castor & Pollux Organix Turkey, Brown Rice & Chicken (A) 3 stars
- Castor & Pollux Organix Shredded Chicken in Gravy (A)
Castor & Pollux Organix Shredded Chicken in Gravy was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.
Castor & Pollux Organix Shredded Chicken in Gravy
Wet Cat Food
| Estimated Nutrient Content |
| Protein | Fat | Carbs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guaranteed Analysis | 8% | 5% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 42% | 26% | 15% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 35% | 53% | 13% |
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Fiber (guaranteed analysis)
1%
Calories/100g
113
Is real, named meat the first ingredient?
Yes
Ingredients
Organic Chicken, Water Sufficient for Processing, Organic Chicken Liver, Organic Pea Protein, Organic Dried Egg Product, Organic Coconut Flour, Organic Flaxseed, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Organic Dried Alfalfa Meal, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Organic Guar Gum, Organic Spinach, Taurine, Minerals (Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate), Vitamins (Niacin, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Sodium Alginate, Organic Cranberries, Organic Rosemary, Organic Sage, Xanthan Gum.
Ingredients in red are controversial or of questionable quality.
Ingredient Breakdown
The first ingredient in this cat food is organic chicken. Good.
While quality of the individual ingredient can vary, chicken is a very good protein source for cats.
It’s also important to note that chicken 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.
After water, the second ingredient is organic 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 third ingredient is organic pea protein. Bad.
Peas are a quality carbohydrate, but cats don’t need much in the way of carbohydrates.
Peas are also rich in protein, and this ingredient is a concentrated form of that protein, which means the actual meat content of this food may be lower than the macronutrient profile suggests.
Peas are not the worst carbohydrate your cat can consume, but they’re simply not at all biologically appropriate.
The fourth ingredient is organic 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
The fifth ingredient is organic coconut flour. Good.
Typically used as a binding agent in wet recipes, this is much better than most of the other ingredients that could have been included here.
It is high in fiber, low in sugars, and lacks the “anti-nutrients” found in many grain-based fibers.
While not a necessary ingredient for your carnivorous cat, it’s much better than the alternatives.
The sixth ingredient is organic flaxseed. Good.
Flaxseed provides a quality omega-3 fatty acid source, and nutritive fiber to the recipe.
It can only be digested when the outer shell is removed or destroyed, but there is no information given in this ingredient to determine if it is made bioavailable by grinding or flaking.
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 xanthan gum as a binding agent. While this is usually a harmless ingredient and is used in plenty of cat and human foods, some research suggests that cats with inflammatory bowel disease should not consume xanthan gum.
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 Castor & Pollux Organix Wet Cat Food
From top to bottom, this is an average wet product.
Don’t be fooled by the fact that everything is organic.
Organic does NOT automatically equal healthy when it comes to your cat.
Meat is the first ingredient, but it does have a few filler ingredients, including protein-boosting plant ingredients.
Protein-boosters like pea protein increase the protein amount manufacturers can put on the label – usually at the expense of adding more meat (which is more expensive than plant ingredients).
Foods that need to boost protein because there’s not enough meat in the recipe are usually not good for your cat.
This is a decent example of a wet food you should be feeding to your cat.
Based on the ingredients and the macronutrient profiles, meat likely plays a small part in most of the recipes, and we can therefore say that it is likely a mix of a meat- and plant-based cat food, being only somewhat appropriate for your feline.
To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 42% protein, 26% fat, and 15% carbs.
As a group, the brand has an average protein content of 40%, and average fat content of 25%, and an average carb content of 21%.
Compared to the other 2000+ foods in our database, this food has:
- Below average protein.
- Above average fat.
- Above average carbs.
Because meat comes first, there are a few filler ingredients, but overall the recipe is alright, our average rating for this brand is 3.5 stars.
Recommended, but not the best.
Castor & Pollux 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 Castor & Pollux brand in the past:
- We could find no evidence of recalls for the Castor & Pollux brand, although they are now a Merrick brand. Merrick has had recalls, but not since acquiring this brand in 2012.
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 Castor & Pollux 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.
