Blue Buffalo True Solutions (Wet) Review

The Blue Buffalo True Solutions wet product range is made up of four recipes which all recieve 5 stars.

Made from high-quality natural ingredients including real fish and with no artificial flavors or preservatives, this range is formulated to support your cat’s lifestyle. Variants include digestive care and skin and coat care for more specific needs.

The True Solutions wet range comes in a variety of flavors and is enhanced with vitamins and minerals. It also meets AAFCO standards.

The table below shows each recipe in this range including our rating and the AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (kitten), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Blue Buffalo True Solutions Adult Cat Blissful Belly Digestive Care Formula wet food was selected to represent the other products in the line for a detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.¹

Chicken is naturally rich in the 11 essential amino acids required by a cat to sustain life.

The second ingredient is chicken broth. Broths are of only modest nutritional value. Yet because they add both flavor and moisture to a cat food, they are a common component in many wet products.

The third ingredient is potatoes. Potatoes can be considered a gluten-free source of digestible carbohydrates. Yet with the exception of perhaps their caloric content, potatoes are of only modest nutritional value to a cat.

The fourth ingredient is chicken liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The fifth ingredient is whitefish, a marine or freshwater species native to Canada and the California coast. It contains essential fatty acids for cats and is high in protein.

The sixth ingredient is potato protein, the dry residue remaining after removing the starchy part of a potato.

Even though it contains over 80% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this cat food.

The seventh ingredient is dried plain beet pulp. Beet pulp is a controversial ingredient, a high-fiber by-product of sugar beet processing.

Some denounce beet pulp as an inexpensive filler while others cite its outstanding intestinal health and blood sugar benefits.

We only call your attention here to the controversy and believe the inclusion of beet pulp in reasonable amounts in most cat foods is entirely acceptable.

The eighth ingredient is natural flavor. According to AAFCO, natural flavors are ingredients derived from plant, animal or mined sources, not having been produced by or subject to chemically synthetic processes nor do they contain any additives or processing aids that are chemically synthetic.

The ninth ingredient is brown rice, a complex carbohydrate that (once cooked) can be fairly easy to digest. However, aside from its natural energy content, rice is of only modest nutritional value to a cat.

The tenth ingredient is flaxseed. One of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this cat food.

Another notable ingredient is fructo-oligosaccharides, an alternative sweetener ² probably used here as a prebiotic. Prebiotics function to support the growth of healthy bacteria in the large intestine, to improve general gut health.

From here the list goes on to include a number of other items. But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of the product.

This recipe contains carrageenan, a gelatin-like thickening agent extracted from seaweed. Although carrageenan has been used as a food additive for hundreds of years, there appears to be some recent controversy regarding its long-term biological safety.

The article, The Carrageenan Controversy, published in Scientific American, does a good job of addressing this topic.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, True Solutions Adult Cat Blissful Belly Digestive Care Formula looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays an excellent dry matter protein reading of 38.6%, a fat level of 13.6% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 39.7%.

As a group, the brand features a below-average protein content of 31.2% and a mean fat level of 12.4%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 48.4% for the overall product line, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 41%.

This means this Blue Buffalo True Solutions (Wet) product line contains below-average protein, above-average carbs and near-average fat when compared to typical wet cat food.

Has Blue Buffalo cat food been recalled in the past?

Yes, Blue Buffalo has had a few recalls. The most recent cat food recall was in November 2015, when a small number of Blue Kitty Yums cat treats were recalled due to reports of propylene glycol.

In 2007 there were also multiple cat food recalls. Blue Buffalo Blue Spa Select canned cat food and Blue Buffalo Spa Select Kitten dry food were both recalled in April due to Melamine.

The other recalls were for the following dog products:

• Blue Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Red Meat Dinner Wet Food (March 2017)
• Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipe Healthy Weight, Chicken Dinner With Garden Vegetables (February 2017)
• Blue Buffalo dog food cups (February 2017)
• Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Fish and Sweet Potato Recipe (May 2016)
• One lot of Cub Size Wilderness Wild Chews Bones (November 2015)
• Blue Buffalo dry dog food (October 2010)
• Blue Buffalo Blue canned dog food and dog treats (April 2007)

You can view a complete list of all cat food recalls since 2021 here.

To stay on top of any cat food product recalls, sign up for our free email alerts, here.

About

Blue Buffalo’s headquarters is in Wilton, Connecticut. It has two facilities, one in Missouri and a manufacturing plant in Indiana.

The company started from humble origins but is now owned by General Mills.