Fancy Feast Kitten (Wet) Review

The Fancy Feast Kitten wet product range is made of six recipes which all receive 3 stars.

Although the products in the range contain more than one protein source with added minerals and milk, the bulk of the recipes are made up of meat by-products.

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 Kitten Classic Paté Tender Chicken Feast 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 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 third 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 fourth 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 fifth 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 eleven essential amino acids required by a cat to sustain life.

The sixth ingredient is milk. Milk is a palatable ingredient for many cats. It is nutrient-rich, as it is intended to supply the growing young with all the nutrients required to grow healthily. Milk is actually one of the most nutritious foods available. Milk is rich in protein and fat, but as a fresh ingredient, milk is 87% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the milk to just a fraction of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product. The downside to Milk, is that it contains lactose – a sugar – which many animals are not able to digest once they reach adulthood. In humans, this is “Lactose intolerance”. Ingestion of lactose can cause digestive upset.

The seventh ingredient is egg product, 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 eighth ingredient is artificial and natural flavors. 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 product contains 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?

This recipe receives a 3-star rating.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Fancy Feast Kitten Classic Paté Tender Chicken Feast looks like an average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 50%, a fat level of 22.7% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 19.3%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 50.8% and a mean fat level of 21.2%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 20% for the overall product line, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 42%.

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

Has Purina 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.