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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
Here’s a few important points to consider for this particular line:
- Meat is the first ingredient
- Almost no fillers – just tapioca starch and one or two thickening agents
- Includes extra vitamins and minerals
- Very high protein, which is good, but not quite enough fat in each recipe
- Some recipes have a lot of fish in them, which we do not recommend as a main protein source for your cat
The Cats In The Kitchen product line includes 16 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.
- Cats in the Kitchen Mack, Jack & Sam Salmon, Mackerel & Skip Jack Tuna in Gravy (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Love Me Tender Chicken & Duck in Gravy (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen 1 If By Land, 2 If By Sea Tuna, Beef & Salmon in Gravy (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Pumpkin Jack Splash Tuna in Pumpkin Soup (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Pumpkin Lickin’ Chicken in Pumpkin Soup (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Chick Magnet Chicken & Mackerel in Gravy (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Fowl Ball Chicken & Turkey (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Chicken Frick ‘A Zee Chicken (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Funk In The Trunk Chicken in Pumpkin Consomme (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Splash Dance Chicken & Ocean Fish (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Lamb Burgini Lamb (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen The Double Dip Chicken & Beef (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen La Isla Bonita Mackerel & Shrimp (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Goldie Lox Chicken & Salmon (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Kitty Gone Wild Salmon (M)
- Cats in the Kitchen Two Tu Tango Sardine, Tuna & Turkey (M)
Cats in the Kitchen Pumpkin Lickin’ Chicken was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.
Cats in the Kitchen Pumpkin Lickin’ Chicken
Wet Cat Food
| Estimated Nutrient Content |
| Protein | Fat | Carbs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guaranteed Analysis | 9% | 1.4% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 60% | 9% | 14% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 62% | 23% | 14% |
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Fiber (guaranteed analysis)
0.5%
Calories/100g
72
Is real, named meat the first ingredient?
Yes
Ingredients
Water Sufficient for Processing, Chicken, Pumpkin, Tapioca Starch, Sunflower Seed Oil, Tricalcium Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Nicotinic Acid (Vitamin B3), Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Manganese Sulfate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement.te Complex (Vitamin K), Biotin (Vitamin B-7), Vitamin B-12 Supplement].
Ingredients in red are controversial or of questionable quality.
Ingredient Breakdown
The first ingredient in this cat food, after water, 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 pumpkin. Good.
Pumpkin is a high quality dietary fiber for cats, and is recommended over other ingredients like rice.
The third ingredient is tapioca starch. OK, 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 fourth ingredient is sunflower seed oil. Good.
This is a decent source of fat for energy and potentially for a healthy coat.
Some prefer meat-based fats, like chicken fat, but sunflower seed oil is not bad.
The fifth ingredient is tricalcium phosphate. Good.
Tricalcium phosphate is both a useful phosphorous supplement to help regulate acidity in the body, and an emulsifier.
It helps the food stay together a bit more in general, but without “caking” or “clumping”.
The sixth ingredient is xanthan gum. OK, but with reservations.
Xanthan gum is a binding agent. While it’s usually harmless, and is used in plenty of cat and human foods, some research suggests that cats with inflammatory bowel disease should not consume xanthan gum.
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.
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 Weruva Cats In The Kitchen Wet Cat Food
From top to bottom, this is an above average wet product.
Meat is the first ingredient, and there are minimal fillers.
The ingredients are great, and the protein levels are fantastic, but we wish they would have added a fattier cut of meat, because the fat content is too low to be perfectly suited for your kitty.
Still, this is a very good example of a wet food you should be feeding to your cat.
Based on the ingredients and the macronutrient profiles, meat is the main ingredient, and we can therefore say that it is a meat-based cat food, which is appropriate for your carnivorous feline.
To review, on a dry matter basis, this food is 60% protein, 9% fat, and 14% carbs.
As a group, the brand has an average protein content of 61%, and average fat content of 10%, and an average carb content of 12.5%.
Compared to the other 2000+ foods in our database, this food has:
- Above average protein.
- Below average fat.
- Average carbs.
Since meat is the first ingredient and there aren’t a lot of fillers, but it should have more fat, our average rating for this brand is 4.5 stars.
Recommended.
Weruva 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 Weruva brand in the past:
- We could find no evidence of recalls for the Cats In The Kitchen brand, although the parent company, Weruva, had an Australia-only recall of another brand, BFF, in May 2017.
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 Cats In The Kitchen 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.
