Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers (Wet) Review

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Wet product range is made of eight recipes which all receive the Cat Food Advisor rating, 2 stars.

It is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO cat food nutrient profiles for all life stages.

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

Recipe and Label Analysis

Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers Beef in a Roasted Beef Flavor Gravy 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 meat-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 second ingredient is beef. Beef is defined as “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle” and includes skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.¹

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

The third ingredient is liver. Normally, liver can be considered a quality component. However, in this case, the source of the liver is not identified. For this reason, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

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

Compared to meat, glutens are inferior plant-based proteins low in some of the essential amino acids cats need for life. This inexpensive plant-based ingredient can significantly 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 fifth ingredient is meat by-products, an item made from slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered animals after all the prime striated muscle cuts have been removed. With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this item can include almost any other part of the animal. ²

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

Although most meat by-products can be nutritious, we do not consider such vaguely described (generic) ingredients to be as high in quality as those derived from a named animal source.

The sixth ingredient is corn starch, a starchy powder extracted from the endosperm found at the heart of a kernel of corn. Corn starch is most likely used here to thicken the broth into a gravy. 

Corn starch isn’t a true red flag item. Yet we’ve highlighted here for those wishing to avoid corn-based ingredients.

The seventh ingredient is fish. This item is typically sourced from clean, undecomposed whole fish and fish cuttings of commercial fish operations. ³ Without more detailed information, it’s difficult to judge the quality of this particular ingredient

In any case, fish meat is naturally rich in the 11 essential amino acids required by a cat to sustain life.

The eighth ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.⁴ And like fish meat, chicken is also naturally rich in the 11 essential amino acids required by a cat to sustain life.

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 does include artificial and natural flavors, as well as added color.

There are so many great quality palatants, gravies and flavors to use in cat food which are meat based, that it is disappointing to find artificial flavorings. 

We understand that flavorings are used to make the foods more appealing and tasty for our cats, but natural or meat based flavors are always our preference. 

We’re also always disappointed to find artificial coloring 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?

This recipe receives a 2-star rating.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Gravy Lovers Beef in a Roasted Beef Flavor Gravy looks like a below-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 50%, a fat level of 11.1% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 30.9%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 50% and a mean fat level of 11.1%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of  30.0% for the overall product line, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 22%.

This means the Fancy Feast Gravy Lovers product line contains above-average protein, mean-average carbs and near-average fat when compared to typical wet cat food.

Has Fancy Feast cat food been recalled in the past?

No, Fancy Feast cat food has never been recalled, but other Purina brands have been recalled multiple times.

The last one was in July 2021 when cans of Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials Tuna Entree in Sauce Wet Cat Food were recalled as they may have contained plastic. Full details here.

In March 2019, Purina issued a recall of one of its Muse cat foods.

In 2012, a single lot of Purina Veterinary Diets OM Overweight Management Feline Formula was recalled due to low levels of thiamine. Production Code #11721159.

In June 2011, Friskies issued a small recall due to the potential risk of salmonella contamination. This recall only affected a small range of Friskies products, – the Friskies Grillers Blend dry cat food recipe in 3.15lb and 16lb bags with best-by dates of August 2012.

In the same year, some other Purina dry cat foods were recalled due to suspected salmonella contamination. The products affected were: Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ dry cat food, 3.5 lb. and 7 lb. bags, with a “Best by” date of May 2012 and Production Code #03341084 or #03351084 and Purina Cat Chow Naturals, 6.3 lb., Production Code #10331083 13, with “Best by” date of August 2012.

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

Fancy Feast was created in 1982 and was likely the first cat food brand to capitalize on the gourmet concept, though it is now one of the cheaper brands on the market.

The brand is owned by Nestlé Purina PetCare which is an American subsidiary of the Swiss corporation Nestlé, based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces and markets pet food, treats, cat and dog litter. 

The cat food brands owned by Purina are: Beyond, Breeze, DenaLife, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Kit & Kaboodle, Petivity, Purina Cat Chow, Purina ONE, Purina Pro Plan, Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets, Tidy Cats and Whisker Lickin’s.