Dave’s Naturally Healthy Grain-Free (Wet) Review

The Dave’s Naturally Healthy grain-free wet product range is made up of 30 recipes with ratings varying from 3 to 5 stars. The average rating of the whole range is 4 stars

This range of food has good levels of animal-based protein. Carbohydrates are low, although some recipes do have high fat content. Nonetheless, these recipes offer a good range of well balanced diet choices.

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

Naturally Healthy Grain Free Chicken & Whitefish Dinner 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 water which adds nothing but moisture to this food.  Water is a routine finding in most wet cat foods.

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

The fourth ingredient is whitefish which is a marine, or freshwater, species native to Canada and the California coast.

The fifth ingredient is egg product which is an unspecified (wet or dry?) form of shell-free eggs.  Quality can vary significantly.  Lower grade egg products can even come from commercial hatcheries — from eggs that have failed to hatch.

In any case, eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

The sixth ingredient is guar gum, a gelling or thickening agent found in many wet pet foods.  Refined from dehusked guar beans, guar gum can add a notable amount of dietary fiber to any product.

The seventh ingredient is potassium chloride, a nutritional supplement sometimes used as a replacement for the sodium found in table salt.

The eighth ingredient is salt (also known as sodium chloride).  Salt is a common additive in many cat foods.  That’s because sodium is a necessary mineral for all animals — including humans. 

Salt can often be found in cat foods to promote cats to drink more water too. This is a means of increasing their hydration and diluting their urine which helps to reduce the likelihood of urinary stones forming.

However, since the actual amount of salt added to this recipe isn’t disclosed on the list of ingredients, it’s impossible to judge the nutritional value of this item.

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.

Recipe star rating 4

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Dave’s Naturally Healthy Grain Free Chicken & Whitefish Dinner looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 40.9%, a fat level of 29.5% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 21.5%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 50.8% and an average fat level of 17.9%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 23.3% for the overall product line, alongside a fat to protein ratio of 42%.

This means that Dave’s Pet Food Naturally Healthy range contains above-average protein, below- average carbohydrate and below-average fat, when compared to typical wet cat food.

Has Dave's Pet Food cat food been recalled in the past?

No. Dave’s Pet Food has never had to recall one of its cat foods. However,  there have been two recalls of its dog foods. One in December 2015, the other in June 2018. To find out more information, visit the Dog Food Advisor.

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

Dave’s Pet Food was founded by Dave Ratner, an independent retailer and the man behind a chain of pet stores in New England.

It offers a wide range of cat and dog food products including canned, dry, grain-free and limited ingredient options. Most of the products feature natural ingredients and avoid artificial additives and by-products.