Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Cat Food (Dry) Review And Nutritional Analysis

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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 – 0.5 Star

Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Chicken Luau is one of our top 5 choices for best dry cat food overall.

Here’s a few important points:

  • Packed with high-quality meat ingredients, including some organ meat
  • Added vitamins and minerals
  • Very good macronutrient profile for a dry food, though somewhat reliant on plant sources
  • Contains a number of unnecessary filler carbohydrates, though carb content is average compared to every food in our database.

Tiki Cat Born Carnivore product line includes 3 dry 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.

tiki cat born carnivore

Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Chicken Luau was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.

Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Chicken Luau

Dry Cat Food

Estimated Nutrient Content
ProteinFatCarbs
Guaranteed Analysis46%20%NA
Dry Matter Basis51%22%13%
Calorie Weighted Basis43%46%11%

Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content

Protein

51%

Fat

22%

Carbs

13%

Fiber (guaranteed analysis)

3%

Calories/100g

390

Is real, named meat the first ingredient?

Yes

Ingredients

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Dehydrated Chicken Liver, Dried Egg Product, Tapioca Flour, Ground Whole Flaxseed, Whole ChickpeasWhole Peas, Natural Salmon Flavor, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols And Citric Acid), Brewer’s Dried Yeast, Natural Chicken Flavor, Calcium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Chicory Extract, Salmon Oil, Taurine, Pumpkin, Iron Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Niacin Supplement (Vitamin B3), Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin A Acetate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Calcium D-Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Rosemary Extract.

Ingredients in red are controversial or of questionable quality.

Ingredient Breakdown

The first ingredient in this cat food is deboned 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.

Finely ground chicken bone can actually be a useful ingredient for cats, so specifically deboned chicken is not necessarily better than non-deboned.

The second ingredient is chicken meal. Good.

Chicken is a very good protein source for cats.

Chicken meal is a concentrated form of chicken, and is considered a high quality ingredient.

The third ingredient is dehydrated 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 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 tapioca flourOK, but with reservations.

Used in many grain-free recipes as a starch to bind the food together.

While it’s not very nutritional and doesn’t compare well to grains in some cases, there’s likely not enough of it to cause any digestive issues for your cat.

The sixth ingredient is ground whole flaxseeds. Good.

Flaxseed provides a quality omega-3 fatty acid source, and nutritive fiber to the recipe.

The seventh ingredient is whole chickpeas. OK, but with reservations.

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.

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 whole peas, which are a quality carbohydrate source.

They’re also high in protein. However, they are not biologically appropriate for your cat to have in any large quantity, and they also force us to evaluate just how much meat protein is in this food, since the peas will boost the crude protein content.

It also uses brewer’s dried yeast, which is a by-product of brewing beer. It is used for flavoring and for protein and B-vitamins.

However, some reports suggest that it can become very toxic to the liver, causing allergies and arthritis, in large doses.

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 Tiki Cat Born Carnivore

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

From the numerous meats, to the somewhat acceptable amount of carbohydrates, to the addition of important minerals and vitamins, this just ticks many of the boxes.

This is a good example of the type of food you should be feeding your cat if you choose to feed a dry diet.

Since meat shows up frequently, and right at the top of the ingredient list, we can assume that this is a meat-based cat food.

However, we must remember that chickpeas and peas are present, which will increase the stated protein content.

In this case, we don’t believe there is enough plant protein to warrant too much concern, and believe that there is enough meat to make it biologically appropriate for a cat’s dietary needs.

To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 51% protein, 22% fat, and 13% carbs.

As a group, the brand has an average protein content of 50%, and average fat content of 22%, and an average carb content of 14%.

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

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

Because it contains quality meat products and a variety of helpful nutrients, our rating for this brand is 4.5 stars.

Recommended.

Tiki Cat 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 Tiki Cat brand in the past:

  • We could not find any recalls in Tiki Cat’s history

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 Tiki Cat 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. 

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?!