Evanger’s Super Premium Cat Food (Wet) Review And Nutritional Analysis

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Here’s a few important points:

• Meat is the first ingredient, and organ meat is included
• The “fillers” are whole-food fruits and vegetables – not really necessary for the cat’s diet, but much better than what you typically find in a canned option
• Ideally they would add a little more meat and little less veg to increase protein and decrease carbs
• Extra vitamins and quality, proteinate versions of some minerals have been added to make this a complete meal
• Reasonably good protein, fat, and carbohydrate content

Evanger’s Super Premium 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.

• Evanger’s Super Premium Rabbit & Quail (A)
• Evanger’s Super Premium Quail (A)
• Evanger’s Super Premium Seafood & Caviar (A) 4 stars
• Evanger’s Super Premium Duck (A)

Evanger’s Super Premium Rabbit & Quail was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

Ingredient Breakdown

The first ingredient in this cat food is rabbit. Good.

Rabbit is an excellent food that is fairly commonly eaten by wild cats.

Very biologically-appropriate and full of good protein.

The second ingredient is quail. Good.

A high quality source of protein, quail, like other game birds, is low in calories and high in protein.

It is a very good source of protein, and very close to what cats would eat in the wild.

It is also a “novel” protein, which can be good for cats who are allergic to, or have a hard time digesting, the more common meat proteins found in most foods.

After water, the third ingredient is 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.

While we wish it was labelled for more clarity, according to Chewy.com, the liver is from both the rabbit and the quail. Both high quality options.

The fourth ingredient is whole egg. 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 tomato paste. OK, but with reservations.

Tomato is OK, but is usually just a gimmick or whole food additive that companies use to make their ingredients “seem” better to human shoppers.

There’s probably not enough nutritional value to make a difference, though too many tomatoes may be too acidic for your cat and cause digestive upset.

The sixth ingredient is carrots. Good.

The beta carotene in carrots turns into vitamin A, which is a useful antioxidant compound.

However, cats can’t turn much beta carotene into vitamin A like we can, so much of it is stored for growth or cell reprouction.

Therefore, carrots are most useful for kittens or senior cats.

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 still a few things you should know.

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.

This recipe uses the proteinate form of minerals, which means that they should be easier to digest for your cat, and be more readily available for her body to use to maintain her health. This is usually a sign of a quality 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 Evanger’s Super Premium Wet Cat Food

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

It includes a decent amount of meat, including organ meat, which makes it very good for your kitty.

Some recipes are also “novel” proteins, which allow you to feed your pet a highly nutritious meal even if she’s allergic to a common protein like chicken.

While we think adding vegetables as main ingredients is gimmicky and unnecessary, the vegetables and fruits they use are mostly inoffensive in terms of being damaging to your cat.

Like other Evanger’s offerings, the protein content in this is fairly average compared to the other 2000 foods in our database, and the carbs are reasonably low. We believe that even with the added fruits and vegetables, this is a mostly meat-based cat food, which is appropriate for your carnivorous feline’s dietary needs.

To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 41% protein, 27% fat, and 14% carbs.

As a group, the brand has an average protein content of 43%, and average fat content of 27%, and an average carb content of 13%.

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

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

Because it the first ingredient is meat, organ meat is used, the filler ingredient’s aren’t the worst, and the macronutrient profile is fairly good, our rating for this brand is 4.5 stars.

Recommended.

Evanger’s 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 Evanger brand in the past:

• 2017 – Serious concerns about pentobarbital, an animal euthanasia drug, being present in a variety of dog foods, among other FDA violations
• 2011 – FDA violations

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 Evanger’s Super Premium Wet 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. 

Not Convinced?

Check out our ratings and reviews of the best cat foods in our comprehensive, data-backed guide right here.