Nutro Soft Loaf Kitten Food (Wet) Review And Nutritional Analysis

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*** Unfortunately, the Nutro Soft Loaf and Chunky Loaf Cat Food Lines have been discontinued. This review is left here for reference. ***

Rating

  • Meat is the first ingredient – 1 Star
  • Uses some unnamed meats – 1 Star
  • Above average protein content – 1 Star
  • Less than 4 controversial ingredients – 1 Star
  • Catological Discretionary Rating – 1 Star

Nutro Soft Loaf Kitten Chicken is one of our top 2 choices for best kitten food.

Here’s a few important points:

  • Packed with high-quality meat ingredients, including organ meat
  • No added fillers
  • Full of important minerals and vitamins that kittens need to thrive

The Nutro Soft Loaf Kitten product line includes 1 wet recipe/flavor.

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.

nutro soft loaf kitten

Nutro Soft Loaf Kitten Chicken

Wet Cat Food

Estimated Nutrient Content
ProteinFatCarbs
Guaranteed Analysis13%6%NA
Dry Matter Basis59%27%0%
Calorie Weighted Basis50%56%0%

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Protein

59%

Fat

27%

Carbs

0%

Fiber (guaranteed analysis)

1%

Calories/100g

110

Is real, named meat the first ingredient?

Yes

Ingredients

Chicken, Chicken Broth, Chicken Liver, Pork Broth, Natural Flavors, Guar Gum, Minerals (Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide), Sodium Phosphate, Fish Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride [Vitamin B6], Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Salt, Taurine.

Ingredients in red are controversial or of questionable quality.

Ingredient Breakdown

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

While quality of the individual ingredient can vary, chicken is a 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 broth. Good.

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

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

This is usually a sign of a high quality food.

The third 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 fourth ingredient is pork broth. Good.

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

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

This is usually a sign of a high quality food.

Ignoring natural flavors, which are fine, the fifth ingredient is guar gum. OK, but with reservations.

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 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 about.

This recipe contains fish oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols). They are a good source of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids, which are vital for the development of kittens.

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 Nutro Soft Loaf Kitten Wet Food

From top to bottom, this is an above average kitten food.

From the numerous cuts of meat, to the lack of fillers, to the added vitamins and minerals, this just ticks all of the boxes.

This is a fantastic example of the type of food you should be feeding your kitten.

Since this food is almost exclusively meat, we can assume that this is a meat-based cat food.

To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 59% protein, 27% fat, and 0% carbs.

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

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

Because it contains almost exclusively quality meat products that are suitable for kittens, our rating for this brand is 5 stars.

Highly recommended.

Nutro 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 Nutro brand in the past:

  • December 2015 – Potential of mold contamination – 1 recipe affected
  • September 2009 – Plastic found in production line (from worker’s hat) – 2 recipes affected
  • May 2009 – Potentially incorrect zinc and potassium levels – 7 recipes affected
  • March 2007 – Potential melamine contamination – 6 dog food recipes 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 Nutro Soft Loaf Kitten 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. 

Emily Parker

Emily Parker is the Content Manager at Catological. She's passionate about helping cat parents love their cats better by providing the best information and recommendations about everything you'll need to know about your cat, from kitten to senior years. She believes natural, biologically-appropriate products are best...why wouldn't you provide the best for a member of your family?!