Multi Cat (Dry) Review

Multi Cat dry cat food is made up of one recipe which receives the Cat Food Advisor rating, 2 stars.

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

Multi-Cat Adult Chicken and Fish Formula Dry Cat Food and nutrient analysis is detailed below.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient is ground whole corn, a coarsely ground flour made from dried corn. Corn is an inexpensive and controversial cereal grain of only modest nutritional value to a cat.

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

The second 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. 

The third 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 fourth 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 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 fifth ingredient is wheat middlings, commonly known as “wheat mill run”. Though it may sound wholesome, wheat mill run is actually an inexpensive by-product of cereal grain processing.

Unfortunately, the variations in nutrient content found in wheat middlings can be a critical issue in determining their suitability for use in any cat food — or even livestock feeds.[1. Wheat Middlings as defined in an article by Wikipedia]

The sixth ingredient is animal fat. Animal fat is a generic by-product of rendering, the same high-temperature process used to make meat meals. It is also worth noting that this animal fat is not only anonymous, but preserved with bha which is a suspected cancer-causing agent.

Since there’s no mention of a specific animal, this item could come from just about anywhere: salvaged roadkill, spoiled supermarket meat… even dead, diseased or dying cattle.

The seventh 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 eighth ingredient is natural flavors and 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.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Multi-Cat Adult Chicken and Fish Formula Dry Cat Food looks like a below average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 34.1%, a fat level of 10.2% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 47.7%.

As a group, the brand features an below average protein content of 34.1% and a mean fat level of 10.2%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 47.7% for the overall product line, alongside a fat to protein ratio of 30%.This means this Multi Cat contains lower than average protein, higher than average carbohydrate and lower than average fat, when compared to typical dry cat food.

Has Multi Cat cat food been recalled in the past?

Yes, in November of 2023 due to the potential for Salmonella contamination.

Lot code affected:

Multi-Cat Adult Chicken and Fish Formula Dry Cat Food; 44lb Bag

MFG To: 3233 TFP 

MFG From: 3316 TFP

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

Multi Cat is owned by TFP Nutrition, a family-run manufacturer of pet food and livestock feed, founded in January 1930.

The company distributes its products across many states including Arkansas, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.