Castor & Pollux Organix (Wet) Review

This product range has been discontinued

Castor & Pollux Organix wet cat food receives the Cat Food Advisor rating, 5 stars.

These organic and grain free recipes contain nutrient-packed superfood blends of organic flaxseed, organic dried egg, organic coconut and organic cranberries. 

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (kitten), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

The Castor & Pollux Organix product line has four wet cat foods.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Castor & Pollux Organix Grain Free Organic Chicken & Chicken Liver recipe 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 organic 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 water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most wet cat foods.

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

The fourth ingredient is organic peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, they’re rich in natural fiber. However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this cat food.

The fifth ingredient is organic coconut flour, a powder derived from dried, defatted coconut meat. This cereal grain replacement is high in fiber and low in digestible carbohydrates. In addition, coconut flour also contains about 18% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this cat food.

The sixth ingredient is organic dried egg product, a dehydrated powder made from shell-free eggs. Eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

The seventh ingredient is pea protein, what remains of a pea after removing the starchy part of the vegetable. 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 meat content of this cat food.

The eighth ingredient is organic 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.

Since this recipe contains a number of organic ingredients, we feel compelled to grant this line a more favorable status as we consider its final rating. That’s because organic ingredients must comply with notably more stringent government standards — standards which significantly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.

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 sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.

This recipe receives a 5–star rating.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Castor & Pollux Organix Grain Free Organic Chicken & Chicken Liver recipe looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 40.9%, a fat level of 22.7% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 28.4%, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 56%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 39.8% and a mean fat level of 23.9%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 28.4% for the overall product line, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 60%.

This means the Castor & Pollux Organix wet product line contains near-average protein, near-average carbs and above-average fat when compared to typical wet cat food.

Has Castor & Pollux cat food been recalled in the past?

No, there have been no recorded recalls for Castor & Pollux.

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

The Castor and Pollux Natural Petworks company makes Castor and Pollux Organix Cat Food. Shelley Gunton and Brian Connolly started the company to prepare better food for their pet Joey, a dog they rescued from the Humane Society. 

The company headquarters is in Clackamas, Oregon, and you can find its products in most grocery stores or online.