The 20 Worst Consumer Rated Cat Foods
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5. Friskies Seafood Sensations
One of the most widely bought cat foods on the market is Friskies, which is also made by Purina. It has garnered one star ratings on most consumer boards and is a low end food packed with nutrient lacking by-products and hard to digest ingredients such as corn gluten, soybean meal, and ground corn. The Seafood Sensations formula has several different meals, which usually have very little meat and a bunch of leftover scraps. This formula also has four different artificial colorants added to it.
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6. 9 Lives Indoor Complete
This is one of the worst cat foods that pet owners can buy, and the packaging’s claims are dubious at best. On the package of this particular formula, it claims to have an “advanced nutrient system” that controls the formation of hairballs, supports a healthy metabolism and weight, and makes cleaning up litter boxes easier. That’s a lot of promises for a pet food, and it truly doesn’t deliver. It contains cancer causing BHA as a preservative, ground corn, poultry by-product, and way too much salt.
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7. Fancy Feast Filet Mignon Formula
When people eat filet mignon, it’s typically an expensive and decadent affair. Many cat owners probably think they’re treating their pets to a fabulous meal when they buy this for their cats, however it’s anything but. There is absolutely no filet mignon anywhere in the food, just animal liver flavor and different types of fish meal. It also has a variety of harmful added colorants and its primary ingredient is ground yellow corn.
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8. Purina Cat Chow Complete
There’s way too many mystery ingredients in this cat food, which is probably why so many pet owners have claimed their cats suffer after eating it. Poultry by-product is the top ingredient, followed by corn meal, corn gluten meal, and ground whole wheat — none of these need to be in cat food and won’t be easy on any cat’s stomach. This formula also contains brewers dried yeast and brewers rice.
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9. Hill’s Prescription Diet w/d Feline Low Fat- Diabetic-Gastrointestinal Formula
The worst thing about this cat food is that it purports to help animals that have GI issues or that are afflicted with diabetes. How will brewers rice and corn gluten help a diabetic cat? It won’t, and neither will powdered cellulose, which is near the top of the ingredients list. This food is basically a bunch of fillers with little nutritional value, which isn’t what ailing cats need to eat.
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10. Purina Feline UR RX diet
Here is another one of the many cat foods on store shelves that claims to be beneficial for animals that are suffering from illnesses, but Purina Feline UR RX diet is aimed specifically at cats with allergies. On the package it claims to be hypoallergenic, yet it contains a ton of ingredients that are known allergens. Corn gluten meal, oat fiber, wheat gluten, and preserved animal fat don’t sound appetizing, nor are they nutritious or hypoallergenic. This formula also contains egg product and salt.
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11. Iams Healthy Naturals Adult with Wholesome Chicken
This cat food formula proves that just because a product claims to be natural or healthy doesn’t make it so. Iams Healthy Naturals line stops being natural after the first ingredient: chicken. That’s fine, but then it goes on to list chicken by-product meal, corn meal, brewers rice, and ground whole grain barley which aren’t healthy or wholesome. It also has other concerning ingredients, such as dried egg product and dried beet pulp.
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12. Tender Centers Salmon & Turkey Flavors with Vitality Bursts
What, exactly, is a vitality burst? Apparently, it’s a nugget filled with fillers and junk that cats really have no business eating. It’s insane that so many cat foods have names that make it seem like they’re healthy, and this is just another example. The “bursts” in this food are comprised of whole ground corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, and animal fat preserved with mixed tocopherols. With an ingredient list like that, it’s no wonder the formula is poorly rated and so many cat owners complain about its adverse effects on their pets.
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13. Friskies Surf And Turf
Friskies truly has a knack for appealing to pet owners by making them think they’re buying something that is equivalent to what people would find enjoyable. Surf and turf is typically a pricey meal that’s a mix of quality cuts of meat and seafood such as lobster or shrimp. However, that’s not what your cat will be eating if you give it this food. In addition to the typical by-products in the worst cat foods, it has a slew of artificial colorants.
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14. Meow Mix Original Choice Dry Cat Food
Most people probably recognize Meow Mix because of its catchy ad jingle. As cute as the song is, there’s nothing good about the many fillers and poor ingredients in the food. It has soybean meal, preserved beef tallow, various by-product meals, and brewers yeast. Here’s a hint: if the smell of cat food repulses you, it probably won’t be too good for your pet’s stomach. Scores of cat owners claim that this formula smells absolutely atrocious.
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15. Goodlife Recipe Indoor Dry Cat Food
There’s not much in this food that will help your cat live a good life at all. In fact, its packaging claims it contains “real chicken, brown rice, and garden greens”. That sounds great — what cat wouldn’t love a wholesome meal like that? The problem is that the “chicken” is chicken by-product meal and “natural poultry flavor”, and the brown rice isn’t easy at all for cats to digest. The formula does contain dried peas, but you could just give your cat actual fresh peas or ones that aren’t as highly processed as the ones in this food.
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16. Muenster Natural Cat Food
The reason that so many cat owners give this food a low rating is probably because they spend so much more on it than other brands, only to find that it upsets their pets’ stomachs all the same. It claims to be “natural”, but natural isn’t always good. It has chicken meal, ground corn gluten meal, and preservatives among the top ingredients. Cat owners would do well to make their own pet food instead of throwing away money on packaged formulas that will probably end up on the carpet.
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17. Purina Cat Chow Naturals
This is one of the Purina cat foods that seems to have the most dishonest packaging. What is so natural about the fillers and preservatives in the formula? Nothing, but it claims to be a natural formula with added vitamins and minerals. As is the case for humans, the best type of food for cats is that which is whole and as unprocessed as possible. Purina Cat Chow Naturals is processed to the tilt and its top ingredient is chicken meal. Soybean meal, brewers rice, and preserved animal fat are close behind on the list.
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18. Ami Cat Vegan Cat Food
There’s been so much debate about Ami Cat Vegan Cat Food, and it’s easy to see why. Here’s the thing: while people are certainly free to go vegan if they want, it’s nowhere near healthy for a feline. Cats need protein and they naturally eat meat – whether it’s a big cat in the wild or a domesticated kitty, eating meat is essential for the health and longevity of any cat. This particular formula preys on people’s ignorance of pet nutrition and their equation of vegan food for people equaling healthy food. Those who have fed this to their cat cite that they become sick, lethargic, and start having digestive issues.
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19. Evolution Vegan Cat Kibble
This is another “vegan” cat food on the market — eventually, with all the complaints these types of cat foods should be taken off store shelves permanently. There’s absolutely no meat included, which is the major problem with the formula. If you only feed your pet this, it won’t thrive and will have a very hard time digesting the ingredients and fillers in it. What’s worse, the price of Evolution Vegan Cat Kibble is nowhere near cheap, yet it contains many of the same fillers as cheaper cat foods.
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20. Optimum Adult Cat Food Formula
The draw to this pet food is that it’s endorsed by an actual veterinarian. However, when you take a look at the list of ingredients it’s hard to understand why any pet doctor would recommend such a by-product and filler laced food. On the package it notes that it has “ocean pilchards”. If the company that produces it would stop with the run-around and simply say that it contains sardines and oily fish, that would go a long way towards being honest and not suckering cat owners into thinking they’re buying a truly high end food. If you want to give your cat sardines, it’s best to just buy the best quality that you can find whole — the same ones people would eat — and give them that.
image sources
- cat eating: © Shutterstock
- 81469._AC_SL1500_V1460478783_: © Shutterstock
- Purina One Adult Formula: © Shutterstock
- Hill’s Science Diet Original Adult Formula: © Shutterstock
- Kit ‘N Caboodle from Purina: © Shutterstock