Halo Indoor Cat Food (Wet) Review And Nutritional Analysis

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Here’s a few important points:

• Meat is the first ingredient
• Some recipes utilize liver, which is a quality ingredient
• Most recipes have very minimal filler ingredients
• Some recipes rely too heavily on fish, which we do not recommend feeding as a main protein source
• Includes added vitamins and high quality, chelated versions of some minerals

Halo’s Indoor product line includes 9 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.

• Halo Indoor Chicken (M)
• Halo Indoor Turkey & Duck (M)
• Halo Indoor Whitefish (M)
• Halo Indoor Salmon (M)
• Halo Indoor Seafood Medley (M)
• Halo Indoor Turkey & Giblets (M)
• Halo Indoor Chicken & Beef (M)
• Halo Indoor Turkey & Quail (M)
• Halo Indoor Chicken & Trout (M)

Halo Indoor Chicken was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

Ingredient Breakdown

The first ingredient in this cat food is 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.

The second 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 third 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

The fourth ingredient is dried peas. Bad.

Peas are a quality carbohydrate, but cats don’t need much in the way of carbohydrates.

They are full of fiber, but also contain a fair amount of protein, which we should keep in mind when judging the meat content of this food.

There probably aren’t many peas in here, but there really doesn’t need to be any.

The fifth ingredient is dried chickpeas. Bad.

An obvious non-biologically appropriate carbohydrate filler, beans are at least potentially better than corn.

They are unlikely to do any damage to your cat.

However, some cats may have trouble digesting them.

They are also protein-rich, which means the actual meat content of this recipe may be lower than the macronutrient profile suggests.

The sixth ingredient is soy protein concentrate. Bad.

Soy is a bad ingredient for cats, particularly soy manufactured in factories in the US, where soy bean protein is used to create other products, compared to Asia, where soy is typically fermented, which makes it much better for the body.

This ingredient has been processed and had the water removed to create a high-protein concentrate.

We have to remember that this may mean there is even less meat in here than we thought, because this is a plant ingredient that will still increase the protein content on the bag’s label.

Soy contains many anti-nutrients that inhibits your cat’s body from digesting nutrients from the other foods she eats.

The seventh ingredient is dried potatoes. Bad.

These are typically used as filler in grain-free recipes.

They are not biologically appropriate and may cause digestive upset.

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.

Pea fiber is high in insoluble fiber.

It is not a biologically appropriate ingredient for cats, and is a filler ingredient to boost fiber content.

Potatoes are usually used as filler carbohydrates, but potato protein is the concentrated form of potato that gives it a high protein count.

Potatoes are not biologically appropriate and may cause digestive upset.

Plant-based proteins are added to pet food in order to boost the crude protein amount on the label.

This usually means there is less meat than you expect, since the protein that you expect to come from meat, is actually coming from a vegetable source, which is not great for your cat.

Normally dried sweet potatoes are a good source of carbohydrates and fiber, with less sugar than beets.

However, cats do not require carbohydrates like this, and while it won’t necessarily hurt the cat, it is not biologically appropriate.

It may be hard to digest, and is unnecessary.

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 Halo Holistic Dry Cat Food

From top to bottom, this is a below average food.

Meat is the first ingredient, which is great, but from there things go downhill.

There are a huge variety of filler ingredients and plant-based protein boosters. 

With so many types of fillers, you get the idea that they were trying to break up the cheap, inappropriate filler ingredients so that they didn’t have to list just one as the #1 ingredient. 

Protein is low, which means there’s not much meat, but when you factor in all of the plant-based proteins that are in here, the actual meat content is likely very low.

This is NOT a good example of a dry food you should be feeding your cat.

Since it’s clear that plant products make up the majority of this food, we can assume that this is a mostly plant-based food, which is not ideal for your carnivorous feline’s dietary needs.

To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 36% protein, 14% fat, and 36% carbs.

As a group, the brand has an average protein content of 36%, and average fat content of 16%, and an average carb content of 34%.

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

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

Because meat is the first ingredient, but a wide variety and high quantity of fillers are used, our rating for this brand is 2 stars.

Not recommended.

Halo 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 Halo brand in the past:

• October 2015 – Potential mold – 1 product 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 Halo Dry 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.