9Lives (Dry) Review

The 9Lives Dry Cat Food product range is made of six recipes which all receive  2 stars

It is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO for adult maintenance. Each recipe in the range is tailored to meet the nutritional needs of cats in different stages of life.

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

Daily Essentials was selected to represent the other products in the 9Lives Dry Cat Food 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 whole ground corn which is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain. And aside from its energy content, this grain is of only modest nutritional value to a cat.

The second ingredient is chicken by-product meal. A dry rendered product of slaughterhouse waste. It’s made from what’s left of a slaughtered chicken after all the choice cuts have been removed.

On the brighter side, by-product meals are meat concentrates and contain nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.

The quality of this ingredient can vary, depending on the caliber of the raw materials obtained by the manufacturer.

The third ingredient is soybean meal, a by-product of soybean oil production more commonly found in farm animal feeds.

Although soybean meal contains 48% protein, this ingredient would also be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

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 fourth ingredient is meat and bone meal, a dry “rendered product from mammal tissues, including bone, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents”.¹

Meat and bone meal can have a lower digestibility than most other meat meals. 

Scientists believe this decreased absorption may be due to the ingredient’s higher ash and lower essential amino acid content. ²

What’s worse, this particular item is . So, the meat itself can come from any combination of cattle, pigs, sheep or goats — which can make identifying specific food allergens impossible.

Even though meat and bone meals are still considered protein-rich meat concentrates, we do not consider a generic ingredient like this to be a quality item.

The fifth ingredient is corn gluten meal. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once corn has had most of its starchy carbohydrate washed out of it.

Although corn gluten meal contains 60% 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 sixth ingredient is beef fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols). Beef fat (or tallow) is most likely obtained from rendering, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.

Although it may not sound very appetizing, beef fat is actually a quality ingredient.

The seventh ingredient is whole wheat. Like corn, wheat is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain. And aside from its energy content, this grain is of only modest nutritional value to a cat.

For this reason, we do not consider wheat a preferred component in any cat food.

The eight ingredient is natural flavor. Natural flavors doesn’t give us much information about the particular ingredients included in this cat food for flavoring purposes.

We’re pleased that the flavorings used are natural, but more details are required to give any further information about these natural flavoring ingredients. Flavorings are used to make the foods more appealing and tasty for our cats.

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.

However this recipe contains BHA, a preservative added to a wide variety of processed foods to keep them fresh. While it’s labeled as being safe in low doses, it has been shown to cause tumors in lab animals, however, a little BHA is unlikely to harm your cat.

It also contains a number of artificial colors which we’re always disappointed to find in any pet food. That’s because coloring is used to make the product more appealing to humans – not your cat. After all, do you really think your cat cares what color their food is?

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, 9Lives Dry Cat Food Daily Essentials is a below average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 31.8%, a fat level of 10.2% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 50%.

As a group, the brand features a below average protein content of 33.3% and a mean fat level of 10.6%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 48.1% for the overall product line, alongside a fat ratio of 32%.

This means that the Daily Essentials product line contains lower than average protein, higher than average carbs and lower than average fat when compared to typical dry cat food.

Has 9Lives cat food been recalled in the past?

Yes. 9Lives has been recalled at least twice during its 60-plus year history. The most recent was in December 2018, when two varieties of 9Lives canned cat food were recalled due to potentially low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1).

In early January of 2017, several flavors of Meaty Paté canned food were pulled off the shelves due to potential thiamine deficiency. The recall was expanded eight days later to include more Meaty Paté flavors. In addition to 9Lives foods, the recall involved two other Big Heart Pet brands — EverPet and Special Kitty.

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

9Lives was founded in 1957 and, after taking on its iconic spokescat, became one of the most recognizable brands in the pet food industry.

9Lives is owned by Big Heart Pet Brands, a subsidiary of the J.M. Smucker company. Other brands in the Big Heart Pet Brands’ family include Meow Mix, Natural Balance, Nature’s Recipe, and Milo’s Kitchen.