Nutro Paté (Wet) Review

Nutro Paté product range is made of six recipes which all receive the Cat Food Advisor rating, 3.5 stars.

Nutro Paté recipes feature high-quality protein as the foundation of every recipe, and is a natural cat food with added vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients a cat needs.

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

Nutro Turkey Recipe Pate 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 turkey is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey. ¹

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

The fourth ingredient is chicken which is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”. ²

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

The fifth ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most wet cat foods.

The sixth ingredient is dried pork broth. Although dehydrated broths can add flavor and a trace amount of protein and other nutrients, they can be considered of only modest nutritional value to a cat.

The seventh 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. This description doesn’t tell us what kind of gum is used in this food. Gums are a plant extract likely used here as a gelling agent and providing no nutritional value to this food. Some gums contribute fibre to the food. Without knowing what kind of gum this is, we can’t give more details.

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

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.

This recipe receives a 3.5-star rating.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Nutro Turkey Recipe Paté looks like an above-average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 52.3%, a fat level of 25.5% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 14.3%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 52.3% and a mean fat level of 25.5%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 14.3% for the overall product line, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 49%.

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

Has Nutro cat food been recalled in the past?

Yes.

In September 2009 Mars Petcare issued a recall for select varieties of dry dog food and dry cat food. Here is an excerpt from the original press release: 

Small pieces of melted plastic were recently found in the production line of select varieties of NUTRO® dry dog and cat food products. We immediately retrieved the affected pet food from our distributors, and only three SKUs reached retail stores. These were delivered to a small number of PetSmart and Petco stores.

In the same year, Nutro issued a voluntary recall for select varieties of cat foods. The recall is due to incorrect levels of zinc and potassium in the cat food. According to Nutro, this error is due to a production error by a US-based premix supplier.

In 2007 Nutro pet foods were included in a nationwide recall initiated by Menu Foods. At the time, Menu Foods manufactured multiple varieties of Nutro products. The recalls were due to contaminated ingredients imported from China in 2006 and early 2007. These contaminated ingredients were used in the production of several Nutro pet food products.

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

Nutro cat food is owned by Mars along with food brands including Whiskas, Royal Canin, Sheba and IAMS.

All Nutro food is produced in the USA.