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Fancy Feast is one of the most popular cat food brands on the market today. As such, it is readily available in many grocery stores, pet food stores, and is also available online.
Fancy Feast is owned by Nestle Purina PetCare. They introduced the Fancy Feast brand name in 1982 and only had 7 flavors of wet cat food initially. The brand name was introduced as their “gourmet line” of cat foods.
Nestle Purina PetCare has been the subject of several pet food recalls over the past several years. Be sure to frequently check the FDA pet food recalls website. You might want to sign up for their email alerts as well.
Ingredient that are used to make the cat formula
Poultry broth, chicken, liver, wheat gluten, meat by-products, corn starch-modified, cheese (source of cheddar cheese), artificial and natural flavors, salt, calcium phosphate, sodium caseinate, soy protein concentrate, soybean oil, added color, potassium chloride, dried whey, taurine, sodium tripolyphosphate, choline chloride, magnesium sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, niacin, sorbic acid (a preservative), ferrous sulfate, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), pyridoxine hydrochloride, copper sulfate, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, potassium iodide
Top 5 Ingredients Breakdown
Poultry broth
The main purpose if this ingredient is to add moisture and taste to the food. It is not considered to be a nutritional ingredient, but it considered to be a better alternative to using plain water. Poultry broth is safe to use and cats usually love the taste of it.
Chicken
Chicken is a very popular ingredient for pet food and in this case, they are referring to whole chicken. This is a very high quality meat source and we are pleased to see it listed. However, whole chicken loses about 80% of its content during the cooking process since the majority of whole chicken is water. After the cooking process is complete, the amount of whole chicken remaining is substantially reduced. Therefor, while whole chicken is a great source of meat protein, this ingredient alone is not enough to provide sufficient levels of meat protein in a cats diet.
Liver
In the wild, cats almost always eat the liver of their prey. It is a rich source of vitamin A which cats must obtain from their food since they can’t make it in their bodies. This is also a good secondary source of protein. If cats consume too much liver, it could cause toxicity, but the amount needed for liver to become toxic to cats is very high. Liver is provided in safe quantities in this cat food blend.
Wheat gluten
We don’t think any grain is “good” for your cat. It doesn’t mean wheat gluten is “bad” for your cat, either, but the fact it provides almost no nutritional value makes us question the quality of the ingredient. Wheat gluten can be a decent protein source for animals with digestive systems that can break it down, but as obligate carnivores, cats are not one of those animals. Their digestive systems produce only the enzymes necessary for processing animal-based proteins. There are also some allergy risks associated with wheat gluten. In addition, too much of this in a cats diet can potentially lead to weight gain and diabetes. Unfortunately, diabetes in cats is a very serious health problem, so it is important to keep a close eye on your cats weight and diabetic risk when feeding a cat food containing ingredients like wheat gluten.
Meat by-products
This is about the lowest quality meat product that can be included in any cat food. We are very disappointed to see this ingredient listed. Meat By-Products are parts of slaughtered animals including the lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomach and intestines freed of their contents. In addition, meat by-products can also legally contain animals that were dead, dying, or diseased before slaughtering. Many times, animals with tumors are ground and processed, meaning, ground up cancerous tumors could legally be included in your pets food. While unlikely, it can even legally include road kill. Perhaps worst of all, this ingredient COULD include meat from euthanized cats, dogs, horses, or other animals. Meat by-product is an unnamed meat source and you never know for sure where it is coming from or what animals are being used. Also note that meat by-products are not approved for human consumption. It consists of unwanted parts only acceptable in the pet food or feed industries. This is one of the most controversial meat ingredients that could be included and there is much to be concerned about when purchasing any pet food that includes meat by-products.
Additional Ingredients Of Interest In Fancy Feast Delights With Cheddar Chicken & Cheddar Cheese
Artificial and natural flavors – Both artificial and natural flavor ingredients are considered to be lower quality ingredients. Since we are looking at two different ingredients here, let’s check out what natural flavor is first. The actual definition of natural flavor is very long and confusion, but basically states that the flavor of an item can be extracted, then sprayed onto other products. Natural and artificial flavors are produced in the same factories these days. Both are considered safe, but artificial and natural flavors alike can be dangerous depending on what they are. It is actually best to avoid flavoring altogether, both natural and artificial.
Artificial flavor is usually derived from petroleum. Most have not been studied for safety or toxicity. They are all synthesized chemicals that don’t even have common names. Most artificial flavors actually contain many chemical ingredients, not just one. Many of those chemicals are volatile. In short, both natural and artificial flavors are chemical based ingredients and we don’t get all that excited when we see either one of those ingredients listed, let alone both together. Both of these ingredients have potential allergy risks and other possible health problems in cats.
Added color – There is absolutely no reason to included added color into any cat food, ever. It’s extremely disappointing to see this ultra-low quality ingredient included. Added color is used for marketing purposes only. They want their product to stand out sitting on the shelf at the store, so they add coloring to their product. Essentially, the coloring is added to entice YOU (the human) to purchase the food over other brands. Your cat could care less what color the food is. Unfortunately, added color is quite controversial as there is growing evidence suggesting cancer in cats from too much food color exposure. At worse, this is a harmful ingredient and at best, it is a marketing ploy with no nutritional value or positive benefit to your cat. We usually have a tough time recommending any cat food that includes such a controversial ingredient.
Soy protein – Soy protein is a protein that is isolated from soybean. It is made from soybean meal that has been dehulled and defatted. Some cat food producers will say that their research continues to show that soy products are a superb source of bodybuilding protein, coat-nourishing vegetable oil, and healthful fiber for cats. Unfortunately, soy in cat food is becoming even more controversial as time goes on due to soy being a known and common allergen for many cats. While soy protein does boost the protein percentage in the food, it is much more important for cats to receive meat based proteins. Despite what cat food companies claim, there is no question soy protein is a controversial ingredient with some possible negative health effects.
Soybean oil – Soybean oil is a vegetable oil extracted from the seeds of the soybean (Glycine max) and is one of the most widely consumed cooking oils. Soy is a plant protein used by pet food companies to boost protein content and add bulk. Because plant proteins are less expensive than meat proteins, pet food manufacturers use them to increase profit margins. The majority of experts on pet nutrition agree soy isn’t good nutrition for cats or dogs. It is considered a low-quality, incomplete protein well known to create food allergies in pets. Many cat food companies take a hard stance against the “negative publicity” that soy products receive and defend the use of soy strongly, claiming that soy helps add nutrients and improves a cats coat and skin. However, we do not find soy products to be reminiscent of a high quality cat food.
Allergy Risk Associated With Fancy Feast Cheddar Grilled Chicken and Cheddar Cheese Feast Cat Food
Unfortunately we do see some allergy risks with the Fancy Feast Cheddar Grilled Chicken and Cheese Cat Food formula. This food includes wheat gluten, corn starch (modified), artificial and natural flavors, soy products, and even added coloring. While most cats should not experience problems with these ingredients, all of these ingredient are known to cause allergies and other health problems in cats.
Conclusion
Fancy Feast Delights With Cheddar Chicken & Cheddar Cheese Feast Cat Food leaves a bit to be desired. While we are delighted to see high quality ingredients such as chicken and liver, there are a whole lot of poor quality ingredients we aren’t all that excited to see listed. Allergy causing ingredients like corn, wheat, and soy would make this food unsuitable for cats with food allergies or digestion issues. Meat by-products are about the lowest quality meat a cat food company can include. In fact, we don’t even know what animal that meat is coming from and the ingredient can include some really nasty sources of meat. We also see artificial and natural colors which are both controversial ingredients and they even use added color, an extremely controversial ingredient that is only used for marketing purposes. So, even though we do think there are some good ingredients in this food and we do see a pretty decent amount of meat protein, the poor quality ingredient included in this Fancy Feast blend makes it a below average cat food.
What do you think about this Fancy Feast cat food blend? Do you think it should have a higher rating? A lower one? Speak your mind in the comment section below. We love hearing from other cat owners!
