The 11 Best Cat Foods From The Honest Kitchen
- May 27, 2023
- By Dr. Deborah Fletcher
Lucy Postins, the company's creator and Chief Integrity Officer, founded The Honest Kitchen in 2002.
She developed her recipes in her own kitchen while attempting to figure out why her Rhodesian Ridgeback, Mosi, was suffering from ear infections and skin irritation.
She decided to help other creatures after realizing that her homemade dog chow healed her own cherished pet.
This company offers a "The Honest Difference" criterion that attempts to make recipes suited for human consumption, allowing our pets to enjoy complete foods.
According to their impact report, 84% of their ingredients are sourced from North America, 34% of all ingredients purchased in the previous year were certified organic, nearly 100% of the chicken in their dehydrated foods is humanely raised, free-range chickens, and 46% of their products are powered by solar energy.
Based on this information, The Honest Kitchen appears to be a firm that genuinely cares about what pets consume and their environmental impact.
Is this a good food option for your cats? Continue reading to discover the best cat foods from The Honest Kitchen with BestForPets (bestforpets.org).
Reviews
Our Favorite: Minced Turkey, Chicken, and Duck in a Bone Gravy
The packaging was the first thing that drew my attention when I received this dish. It came in small cardboard cartons that were easy to open and didn’t spatter on me as some tin cans do.
The ingredients list is incredible, beginning with turkey broth, turkey, chicken, and duck. Furthermore, everything is well labeled. You can find feeding recommendations as well as a nutrition analysis for your pet.
This dish contains 10% crude protein, 5.5% fat, 1% fiber, and 82% moisture. My pets benefit from the high moisture content.
Chewy, my male cat, has a history of urinary tract infections (UTI), so making sure he gets plenty of water is critical to keeping this problem at bay.
I fed them this in addition to their normal kibble to ensure they had a balanced diet. The only drawback to this recipe was the appearance of the consistency.
It was quite loose, almost like baby poop. My kitties didn’t seem to bother that it didn’t appear delicious to me.
Pros
- A fantastic ingredient list
- Moisture content is high.
- The first four ingredients are derived from animal protein.
- Easy-to-open and long-lasting packaging
Cons
- Unpleasant texture
Clusters of Grain-Free Chicken and White Fish
This dish had a good protein level. It contains 35% protein, 16% fat, 4% fiber, and 8% moisture. There are no artificial flavors, colors, corn, wheat, or soy in this product.
The kibble pieces are small and soft, making them easy for my cats to chew. It also lacked a strong odor, which I appreciated because some cat meals can stink up an entire room. The packing was plush and of great quality as well.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy that peas and lentils were listed before white fish and chicken liver. However, chicken was the first ingredient listed.
While it’s a good everyday food, my kitties appeared to prefer their regular kibble over this one for some reason—you never know with cats.
Pros
- Excellent packing
- The first ingredient is chicken.
- There are no artificial flavors, colors, corn, wheat, or soy in this product.
- Small, easily chewable bits
Cons
- The second and third ingredients are peas and lentils.
White Fish Cat Treats by Smittens
I honestly can’t rave about these sweets enough. First and foremost, the ingredient list is brief and straightforward. They are solely used for two things: dehydrated white fish and sea salt.
Second, their nutritional analysis is outstanding, with 82% crude protein, 1% crude fat, 1% crude fiber, 12% moisture, and 1% omega-3 fatty acids.
Third, each goodie contains less than 2.5 calories, so I can give them a couple without worrying that they’ll become a little hefty.
The only disadvantage of these delights is the fragrance. Pee-yew! My female cat, Lena, began to nibble on this bag the moment I took it out of the box.
Unfortunately, she chewed some holes in the packing, which caused my entire kitchen to smell like fish. While it’s logical that my cats would be drawn to these, you should definitely keep them out of reach of them.
Pros
- Only two ingredients
- High protein content
- Omega-3 essential fatty acids
- Each treat contains only 2.5 calories.
Cons
- Fish odor is really strong.
Review of The Honest Kitchen Cat Food
Overall, I’m quite pleased with the Honest Kitchen things we received.
My cats seemed to appreciate the most of their goods, which included kibble, wet food, treats, and probiotic toppers. If you own a cat, you know how picky our feline friends can be.
Chewbacca (Chewy) and Lena, my two cats, were immediately interested in the delicacies.
As their “mom,” I was particularly thrilled to see that they use healthful products and are concerned about where and how their food is produced.
Who manufactures The Honest Kitchen and where is it manufactured?
Lucy Postins founded The Honest Kitchen in 2002, as previously stated. The company began producing food in San Diego, California.
However, they constructed a second factory in Topeka, Kansas in 2021 to support the expansion of their Whole Food Clusters recipes.
Which Cats Are Best Suited for The Honest Kitchen?
Cats of all types, ages, and sizes are welcome at the Honest Kitchen. They offer a diverse selection of products. So, if your pet has a health problem, they most certainly have a product that can help.
You’re bound to find something your pet enjoys among basic kibble, dehydrated food, wet food, treats, toppers, and supplements.
Furthermore, they offer grain-free, legume-free, high protein, low fat, low salt, and low carb recipes.
That doesn’t even begin to cover the variety of proteins available. Depending on your pet’s needs and tastes, you can choose from chicken, beef, fish, turkey, or duck.
Primary Ingredients Discussion (Good & Bad)
Overall, each of this brand’s food products appears to have a fairly clean ingredients list. My main concern is their Clusters recipes.
Chicken is the first ingredient, followed by peas, lentils, and eggs. After those three components, white fish and chicken liver are added.
While peas and lentils are healthy for cats in moderation, the order of the components is determined by how much of each ingredient is used in the recipe.
White fish and chicken liver should be the second and third ingredients in this recipe, not the fifth and sixth.
However, their wet food (which my cats loved) has turkey broth, turkey, chicken, and duck as the first four ingredients.
These are the types of ingredients I prefer to see in the everyday diet of my pet. It’s also worth noting that they don’t contain GMOs, fillers, maize, wheat, soy, or artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.
Is the packaging from The Honest Kitchen recyclable?
One factor that I believe is worth mentioning (because to its importance to me personally) is how transparent they are in their impact report.
If you want to learn more about the company, this is extremely useful. One thing that struck me was that 61% of their packaging is comprised of renewable materials and is recyclable once used.
While there is definitely space for improvement, they have set a target of making it 80% renewable and recyclable by the end of 2022.
An Overview of The Honest Kitchen Cat Food
Pros
- Ingredients that are non-GMO
- There are no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives in this product.
- Recipes for a variety of medical conditions
- Animals without cages
- There are numerous proteins to choose from.
- Made in the United States
Cons
- Proteins may be listed higher on the ingredient list in some recipes.
- A little costly
The Honest Kitchen’s Experience
I’m quite pleased with The Honest Kitchen and the recipes they supplied me to test.
These foods appear to employ entire and sustainable ingredients, which is essential to me, while also being nutritious and wonderful for my cats.
Chewy stated unequivocally that he is obsessed with their wet food. He is my pickiest eater, so the fact that he took to it so fast warmed my heart.
He’s tried a lot of different brands of wet food, but I’ve never seen him dig in quite like he did with The Honest Kitchen’s wet food. This will undoubtedly be incorporated to his daily feeding schedule.
Lena, my other cat, didn’t seem to have strong feelings about the food. She isn’t fussy, however she seemed to prefer her usual kibble to the Clusters that were supplied.
Why? I’m not 100% certain, but I’m not going to fight with her. That being said, she became a savage when it came to the white fish snacks.
She ripped open the bag as swiftly as she could. In the process, she stunk up my entire house. Rest assured, those are now kept in a drawer out of reach of her.
It may take some trial and error to sort through The Honest Kitchen’s many recipes and items, but I genuinely feel that there is something for every cat, regardless of nutritional needs or health concerns.
If you’re concerned about where your food comes from, how it’s grown or raised, and the environmental impact, this is a brand to look into. They are forthright about their weaknesses and their plans to address them.
Conclusion
The Honest Kitchen is a pet food brand that every pet owner may support. There are numerous recipes and proteins to pick from whether you have dogs or cats.
However, make careful to read the ingredients list for each dish. Some are the best of the best, while others might use some work.
At the end of the day, Chewy and Lena had preferences for certain things and disliked others.
I’ll keep buying their wet food and snacks since I’ve never seen them love mealtime so much. And that’s saying a lot because my cats dash through the house when it’s time to eat.
BestForPets (bestforpets.org) hopes that our selection of the best cat foods from The Honest Kitchen has aided you in your hunt for the ideal product for your cat!
Dr. Deborah Fletcher
Deborah R. Fletcher, DVM, is a skilled veterinarian with more than 15 years of experience dealing with companion and exotic animals. She has experience caring for a variety of animals, including household cats and dogs, reptiles, birds of prey, and even primates. Dr. Fletcher is a valuable part of the BestForPets team, where she contributes to their aim of providing pets and their owners with the finest possible treatment and services.
Veterinarian (DVM) Dr. Deborah Fletcher
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