Created in 1982, Fancy Feast is one of the oldest, most well-known cat food brands that pretty much every pet parent in the world is familiar with. Marketed as “gourmet cat food”, Fancy Feast is considered a luxury pet food brand by many, however, this is also one of the more affordable options on the market. With over 100 delicious recipes to choose from, including appetizers, chunky gravy formulas, smooth pates and many, many more, it’s hardly a surprise why this is the choice of most owners of finicky eaters. But is this iconic brand the right choice for your kitty? Find out in our Fancy Feast cat food review, where we cover everything you need to know about this popular brand.
Fancy Feast Cat Food Review
With a smooth and tender pate texture, this Fancy Feast wet cat food is ideal for super-fussy eaters. It’s made with liver, fish, chicken and meat by-products so it’s quite rich in protein as well as healthy fats, making it a good choice for active kitties. The recipe is also enriched with all necessary vitamins and minerals, including taurine, an amino acid that plays an essential role in a healthy feline diet. This is a 100% complete and balanced nutrition for adult cats so it can be used on its own or mixed with dry foods. It should be noted, however, that it contains artificial flavor, so it may not be suitable for extremely sensitive cats.
Calorie content: 1,147 kcal/kg; 97 kcal/can
Minimum protein: 10%
Minimum fat: 5%
Maximum fiber: 1.5%
Maximum moisture: 78%
With Taurine
First three ingredients: chicken broth, liver, meat by-products
- Brand: Purina Fancy Feast
- Model: 10050000429049
- Weight: 4.5 pounds
If you’re dealing with a picky eater but are not comfortable feeding foods that contain artificial flavors, check out this Fancy Feast Naturals with white meat, chicken and coconut. Featuring exquisite cuts in gravy with only natural ingredients, this recipe is the perfect choice for pet parents looking for both healthy and delicious cat food. Made with multiple animal protein sources, including chicken, liver and turkey, the formula is high in protein, but surprisingly low in fat. This is thanks to canola oil it contains, which is a fantastic healthy fat source for cats. Besides these nutritious ingredients, the recipe also contains wheat for carbohydrates and coconut milk for that luxurious, creamy texture and fantastic taste.
Calorie content: 777 kcal/kg; 66 kcal/cup
Minimum protein: 11%
Minimum fat: 2%
Maximum fiber: 1.5%
Maximum moisture: 82%
With Taurine
First three ingredients: chicken broth, chicken, liver, wheat gluten
- Brand: Purina Fancy Feast
- Model: 050000500987
- Weight: 3.04 ounces
Looking for affordable, tasty dry cat food? Check out this chicken and turkey recipe featuring tasty ingredients and super-crunchy texture. Despite containing rice as the first ingredient, this Fancy Feast dry cat food is high in protein (34%) thanks to multiple animal protein sources and wholesome grains. Some of the stuff you can find here include poultry by-products, chicken, turkey, whole grain corn and other easy to digest ingredients. As for fat sources, there is beef tallow and fish oil, a combination that provides a good balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids. While highly nutritious, this recipe does contain some artificial flavors and colors to entice the picky eaters, making it potentially unsuitable for extremely sensitive cats.
Calorie content: 4010 kcal/kg; 476 kcal/cup
Minimum protein: 34%
Minimum fat: 17%
Maximum fiber: 3%
Maximum moisture: 10%
With Taurine
First three ingredients: ground rice, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal
- Brand: Purina Fancy Feast
- Model: 00050000576234
- Weight: 12 pounds
Crafted from quality cuts of real, whole fish, these tuna treats are healthy, delicious and absolutely irresistible. They’re 100% natural as they contain only pure tuna that is steam-baked to the perfect texture – they’re neither very dry nor overly juicy, but just right. Because they’re healthy and rich in protein and low in fat, you can give them as you normally give treats to your cat, or serve them on top of your kitty’s regular meals to tempt them. That said, you should be mindful of the total calories your cat consumes as treats are normally more caloric than regular cat food. A big bonus is that the treats come in nicely portioned, easy to use pouches that keep them fresh and tasty.
Calorie content: 1099 kcal/kg; 3.3 kcal/pouch
Minimum protein: 25%
Minimum fat: 0.3%
Maximum fiber: 0.5%
Maximum moisture: 75%
Ingredients: 100% natural tuna
- Brand: Purina Fancy Feast
- Model: 96343
- Weight: 12 ounces
Treat your kitten with this delicious and nutritious Fancy Feast wet food that is specially formulated to support growing felines. With a smooth pate texture and gourmet ingredients like tender turkey, poultry broth, milk, fish and eggs, this canned food is perfect for weaning kittens. Of course, there are also added vitamins, minerals and other nutrients so that the recipe can provide a complete and balanced meal that supports growing kittens. For a healthy heart and eye vision there is taurine, and for growing bones potassium and calcium. Because this is 100% complete food, you can serve it on its own or use it as a topper over your kitten’s regular kibble. For more options, check out our detailed review of the Best Kitten Food.
Calorie content: 1122 kcal/kg; 95 kcal/can
Minimum protein: 11%
Minimum fat: 5%
Maximum fiber: 1.5%
Maximum moisture: 78%
With Taurine
First three ingredients: turkey, liver, meat by-products
- Brand: Purina Fancy Feast
- Model: 50000575015
- Weight: 5.3 pounds
Fancy Feast Cat Food Review Buying Guide
Whether you’re considering buying Fancy Feast cat food for your kitty for the first time, or you’re already a faithful customer who wants to learn more about the brand, this buying guide is for you. In this section, we cover company information you should know about, some possible reasons why you may want to give Fancy Feast a try, and we do a quick ingredient analysis of their popular recipes. To conclude, we provide major pros and cons of feeding this cat food, giving you a well-rounded insight into the Fancy Feast brand, and hopefully helping you decide if it is the right pick for your cat.
Company Information
Founded in 1982 as the world’s first “gourmet” cat food, Fancy Feast has decades of experience in crafting unique, fancy dishes that cats seem to love. Three years after its creation, Fancy Feast was purchased by Purina, which later became Nestlé Purina PetCare. Merging with this pet food manufacturing giant is what allowed the brand to become ultra-popular and widely available.
When it was first created, the brand was introduced in 3-ounce cans of wet food in only seven different tastes. Today, there are over 100 flavors and both wet and dry cat food recipes to choose from: tender bits, smooth pates, delicate broths, rich gravy formulas…if your cat can think of it, Fancy Feast has it! And this seems to be the reason for the brand’s great success – with so many flavors and varieties available, there is something for everyone here, including (and especially) the picky eaters.
Importantly, most of Fancy Feast products are made in the USA, with only a few product lines, including Fancy Feast Purely, Fancy Feast Broths and Fancy Feast Flaked Fish and Shrimp, being made in Thailand. But regardless of location, all products are manufactured in facilities owned by the company.
Why Choose This Brand?
If your cat is an extremely fussy eater that won’t deign to even smell anything less than “gourmet” food, Fancy Feast may be the brand you’re looking for. With more than 100 truly delicious recipes, this is the food for picky cats. Besides exceptional taste, many Fancy Feast formulas also offer great nutritional quality as most recipes are quite rich in protein and moderate to low in fat. Also, because most products are sourced and manufactured right here in the USA, you can be sure of their quality.
- Irresistible taste
This is the best-selling point of Fancy Feast: all of their recipes are, simply put, irresistible to cats. This is because many formulas use simple but rich, delicious ingredients such as real meat, meat broths and easy-to-digest meat byproducts that cats love. Also, many recipes include either added natural or artificial flavors which only enhance the taste of the food. Granted, artificial flavors are not exactly beneficial for cats, however, they’re not the devil either – most cats tolerate them perfectly well if they eat them in small quantities. Still, we would prefer if all recipes contained added natural flavors instead of artificial ones, but sometimes, that is the only thing that can entice extremely picky eaters.
- A wide variety of recipes
As mentioned, Fancy Feast offers more than 100 recipes to satisfy every cat’s taste. There are soft pates, rich gravy recipes, grilled chunky feasts, tender filets, marinated morsels, milk-infused meals, delicate broths… it’s practically a paradise of food for finicky cats!
- Well-balanced formulas
Most Fancy Feast foods contain a nice balance of macronutrients, with plenty of protein, moderate fat and moderate to low carbohydrate content. Also, all formulas are enriched with essential vitamins, minerals and other nutrients, making them 100% complete and balanced.
- Affordable price
Although marketed as a “gourmet” or “luxury” cat food brand, Fancy Feast remains one of the more affordable pet foods on the market. Pretty much allproducts are sensibly priced, including both wet and dry cat food, as well as cat treats.
- Safety and quality
Because most Fancy Feast products are sourced and manufactured in the USA, safety and quality are ensured. Even the product lines made in Thailand are still manufactured in company-owned facilities. The fact that Fancy Feast has never been recalled speaks to the brand’s safety.
Ingredient Analysis
Is Fancy Feast good for cats? Let’s take a look at the ingredients commonly used in their recipes to find out.
- Protein
Real chicken, turkey, salmon, tuna, beef, milk… these are the typical protein sources in Fancy Feast recipes. Usually, formulas contain multiple animal protein sources, including meat by-products, which although not the best protein sources, can also be very nutritious. If you’re not a fan of meat by-products, we have good news: Fancy Feast Gourmet Naturals line doesn’t contain any byproducts, only wholesome meats, seafood or poultry.
- Fat
When it comes to fat sources, Fancy Feast ingredients typically include animal fats like chicken or beef fat and fish oil, plus vegetable oils such as canola oil. Sometimes, a recipe will contain unnamed animal fat which we’re not huge fans of, but the good news is that they’re always naturally preserved with tocopherols (vitamin E).
- Carbohydrates
Most Fancy Feast formulas contain several carbohydrates, including grains like corn, barley and rice. That said, there are several grain-free recipes that you and your cat may prefer. While there are usually multiple carbohydrate sources, Fancy Feast recipes are typically low to moderate in carb content, depending on the formula.
So, what’s the conclusion? Is Fancy Feast bad for cats or is it good? Truthfully, it all depends on your cat and the recipe(s) you buy. For the most part, this is a solid-quality cat food that is a good choice for picky eaters and pet parents on a budget. In the end, it all depends on the recipe and what your cat likes.
Pros & Cons
- Highly palatable, gourmet food that is ideal for fussy eaters
- A wide array of recipes to choose from
- All products, including wet and dry food and treats, are reasonably priced
- Most recipes are rich in animal protein
- All foods are supplemented with essential vitamins and minerals
- Most products are sourced and manufactured in the USA
- Some recipes contain artificial flavors and colors
- Some recipes contain unnamed meat by-products
