Dry Cat Food Without Chicken Meal

Formulas With Animal Proteins In The Main 5 Ingredients

The following list contains the dry cat foods in which the first 5 ingredients are either meats or meats & fish or meats & fish & eggs. The exception on this list is Wellness Core Original because this formula contains one carb as ingredient #5, but due to its high level of protein and the fact that informs all the 11 essential amino acids, I decided to put it in this classification. As a side note, if you have a cat with urinary sensitivities or if your cat doesnt drink very much water, I dont recommend formulas with only fish as the first 5 first ingredients.

• PETCUREAN GO! FIT + FREE GRAIN-FREE

Petcurean Go! Fit + Free Grain-Free contains 46% meat proteins and its grain-free. The recipe contains a good amount of meats and fish, such as chicken, turkey, duck, salmon, and trout. Also, it adds chicken fat as a natural source of energy for cats, but not too much to prevent obesity. Listed as the first ingredient, chicken meal provides a concentrated source of proteins, and de-boned chicken and de-boned turkey balance the formula with a crude source of proteins.

Petcurean Go! Fit + Free Grain-Free formula includes essential fatty acids such as Omega-6 and Omega-3, fresh farm-grown fruits, and garden vegetables. First 5 ingredients: Chicken meal, deboned chicken, de-boned turkey, duck meal, turkey meal. Go to FULL REVIEW or get it on Chewy here. .

• ACANA GRASSLANDS GRAIN-FREE NEW 2020 FORMULA

• ORIJEN ORIGINAL CAT NEW FORMULA

• ORIJEN CAT & KITTEN CANADIAN FORMULA

Whats The Best Cat Food

Maybe you are expecting to find here some brands that you have read in other reviews, but this is not the case, and Ill tell you why The best cat food is not necessarily the winner of the year award or the most expensive brand. Usually, these brands known as healthy belong to big companies, and pet food is just a business line among so many others they have. They usually use by-products from other production processes to use in pet foods. The best cat food is the one made by companies whose business is just pet food and they have specialized only in that, working to get the best formula for cats needs. These formulas wont normally contain by-products.

Harmful Ingredients Of A Cat Food Formula :

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Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet

This type of cat food from Instinct is made specifically for cats with food allergies. Their recipes are based on one central ingredient to make it a good choice for cats that are allergic to one or even several types of meat. The Limited Ingredient canned food has a turkey, a duck, a rabbit, and a salmon-based recipe you can try out.

Why Feed Your Cat Dry Cat Food

What are the benefits of feeding your cat dry food? Let’s take a look.

• Convenience

Dry cat food is convenient and less messy than wet food.

Some cats dont eat a full meal all at once they prefer to graze as they feel the need. Dry food can be left out all day without spoiling, so your kitty can pick at it as he pleases.

You can alternate between dry cat food and wet cat food to provide a varied diet that is less likely to bore your cat.

Pound for pound, dry cat food tends to be cheaper than wet cat food.

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What To Avoid In The Main 5 Ingredients Of A Cat Formula:

Smalls For Smalls Fresh Beef Cat Food

First Five Ingredients: Ground Beef 90% Lean, Beef Liver, Green Beans, Peas, Beef Heart

Smalls for Smalls makes fresh cat food that is carefully formulated for your cat based on a profile you create when you sign up. Smalls for Smalls recipes have high protein content because cats are primarily carnivores and get most of their nutrition from meat. They also have high water content, because cats rely on their food to help them stay hydrated.

Because cats are primarily carnivores, most of their nutrition should come from meat, and in Smalls for Smalls recipes, they do just that. Beef is definitely the most abundant ingredient in this recipe. The reason its important to call attention to the beef in this recipe is because it is human-grade. Human-grade ingredients are fit for human consumption, so there is no guess work involved in figuring out if this food is safe for your cat or not.

Here are 7 More Top-Rated Cat Foods without Chicken:

We looked at many popular cat foods, including lower-priced foods such as Friskies, Fancy Feast, and 9 Lives. We have no objection to including some of these foods since its important for cats to get plenty of meat protein, even if that means feeding foods that have some meat by-products. However, we simply had a hard time finding foods that didnt contain chicken in some form. These foods dont contain chicken. Weruva had several other foods without chicken that we could have included.

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Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain

The third dry cat food without chicken is the Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain-Free Dry Cat Food. This puffed cat food provides your kitty with all the protein they need to stay healthy and active.

It contains flaxseed meal which helps provide essential omega 3 fatty acids for healthy skin, coat, and brain development. It also contains potatoes which provide potassium for your kittys overall health.

The main ingredients in this cat food are:

Even The Best Dry Cat Food Isnt The Ideal Diet For Your Cat

While even the worst wet cat food manages to give your cat plenty of moisture, all dry food is moisture-deficient. Compared to those who eat a high-moisture diet, cats who eat dry food are at an increased risk of chronic dehydration and urinary tract disease.

Dr. Jamie Whittenburg, DVM, makes it clear that cats live in a constant state of dehydration and do not drink enough to adequately hydrate themselves. To prolong the life of their kidneys, cats need wet food. Most kibble is too high in carbohydrates to be a good choice for cats.

Furthermore, almost all kibble has more starch than your cat needs. If you have to give your cat dry food, here are a few tips to help you do it better.

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Best Overall: American Journey Salmon Recipe

My number one selection is Chewy.coms exclusive brand called American Journey. Specifically, the salmon recipe as the other flavors do feature chicken in the ingredient list. American Journey has been on the market since 2017 and theyre easily taking the number spot due to their high-quality ingredients, great price, and perfect recall history. American Journey is exclusive to Chewy.com and you can find it by clicking here.

Pros:

• Awesome ingredients with animal-based proteins as the first 4 out of 5 ingredients on the list
• American Journey has ZERO recalls for any pet food product
• The salmon recipe has no poultry of any kind
• The price is great, especially when you consider the quality

Cons:

• Features multiple protein sources which may upset the tummies of sensitive cats
• Only one flavor thats actually chicken free

All American Journey cat foods are also free of corn, wheat, soy, and even artificial preservatives. To get a better idea of how good this product really is, lets take a look at the first five ingredients with a quick explanation.

1. Deboned Salmon

Any cat food that doesnt feature an animal protein as the first ingredient should be avoided. The first ingredient we see on American Journeys salmon recipe is exactly what we want to see: deboned salmon.

2. Salmon Meal

This is salmon but with the fat and water removed after high heat treatment.

3. Tapioca Starch

4. Menhaden Fish Meal

5. Dried Egg Product

Summary

Taste Of The Wild Canyon River

Status: Best Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

Find at: Chewy

Taste of the Wild Canyon River hypoallergenic cat food is one of the best on-a-budget options. This is the USA brand you can trust, «chicken-free» on the label really means no chicken in any form. Instead, it includes fresh trout as the main source of protein. This product has a similar ingredients list to our overall best Blue Buffalo Basics LID but the price is much more affordable.

Also, Taste of the Wild Canyon River includes canola oil, fresh fruit, and vegetables to provide your kitty with omega-6 fatty acids and nutrients.

Pros:

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What Is Chicken Meal

Chicken meal is commonly used in most commercial pet foods. Youll see it on the label of most dry foods. Chicken meal is a dry rendered product from a combination of chicken flesh and skin with and without accompanying bone, most often leftovers from the meat used for human consumption. Rendered means its ground down, melted and cooked for hours to finally create a powder. It is then cooked again to make pet food.

Taste Of The Wild Canyon River Grain

Most Popular Cat Food without Chicken: It can be tough to pick a cat food with so many options out there, even if you limit yourself to chicken free options. If you want to go with a brand you can trust, try a popular choice like Taste of the Wild. This Canyon River Grain-Free Dry Food is completely free from chicken ingredients including fresh chicken, chicken meal, chicken by-products, and even eggs. It features fresh trout as the main ingredient with ocean fish meal and smoked salmon for supplemental protein. Canola oil provides omega-6 fatty acids to balance out the natural omega-3s from the fish and fresh fruits and vegetables offer nutrient-rich sources of digestible carbohydrate.

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The 10 Best Cat Foods Without Fillers

Any cat food manufacturer worth its salt wont use inexpensive fillers. If they do, its a sure sign that theyre more concerned about their bottom line than about the pets theyre feeding. Even the best pet food companies still need to make a buck, but theyre a little more honest and upfront with their customers about the fact that better ingredients cost more they sell it as a benefit. If youre willing to invest in your cats health, you should invest in a better quality product.

There are hundreds of cat food brands out there that dont use fillers and just as many that do. We couldnt possibly list or review them all, so weve compiled short reviews of 10 brands you can trust:

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Wysong Optimal Geriatrx Dry Cat Food

Best Senior Cat Food without Fish: As your cat gets older, he may slow down so you need to be careful of how many calories he needs. At the same time, his general nutritional requirements dont change, so you still need a healthy and high-quality cat food. We werent able to find a high-quality senior cat food completely free from fish oils, but this Wysong Optimal Geriatrx dry food is formulated specifically for senior cats and only contains a small amount of fish oil that appears more than 30 ingredients down in the list. This formula contains chicken meal, chicken, and turkey meal as the top three ingredients followed by nutritious whole grains like brown rice and oat groats. Overall, it is a complete and balanced formula.

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Chicken Free Cat Food

If your cat prefers chicken free cat food, enjoy a number of quality options. Some cats simply do not enjoy the taste of chicken, others are allergic to chicken. If you’re cat is suffering from itchy, dry skin and you’ve ruled out all grains as potential allergens, it’s worthwhile to see if chicken is to blame. Many cats are allergic to chicken and owners state it is a struggle to uncover this type of allergy.

It’s also difficult to find high quality pet foods that bypass poultry because it’s a less expensive meat choice. Many companies add chicken fat regardless of the cat food’s flavor. There are foods, however, that swap the poultry for lamb, fish or venison. Learn more about them.

Is There Any Perfect Cat Food Out There

There is not a perfect cat food because there are so many factors involved when it comes to nutritional needs for cats. The best cat food will depend on whether the cat is indoor or outdoors, age, medical conditions, it will even depend on the breed and genes.

Some cats do very badly with dry foods containing any grain while other cats live until a very old age eating foods with grains. The important point here is to choose a meat-based dry cat food with no by-products or fillers such as corn or soy, wheat, white rice, artificial flavors or colorants, etc.

Also, you need to find: 1) a good balance between dry and wet food, 2) a price that fits your budget, and 3) a cat food that will make your cat healthy and happy. Most likely you will need to go through the trial-and-error method to find the best dry cat food for your cat.

Sometimes, even with excellent cat food, cats still get diseases. Cats, like people, get sick and you need to try to do your best to keep your cat healthy but nothing can be guaranteed.

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So Why Are There Vegetables In Cat Food

If cats dont need things like vegetables, why does it constantly show up in cat food?

One of the biggest factors is cost. Plants and plant proteins will always be cheaper to produce than animal sources. Theres also the perceived benefit since many cat owners might assume that seeing a load of vegetables in their cats food is a good thing.

But its not all bad.

While vegetables wouldnt be something your wild cat would seek out, they do have benefits in terms of providing micronutrients and theyre much preferred to mostly useless fillers like corn. There have also been studies showing that cats can digest plant proteins.

Purina Pro Plan Wet Cat Food Chicken And Turkey Favorites Variety Pack

If your cat likes gravy a lot, then this pack is an excellent option for your cat. One batch contains 24-count packs and offers three different recipes: Chicken and Rice, Turkey and Rice, and White Meat Chicken and Vegetable. All dishes are packed with healthy skin and coat ingredients like vitamin A, linoleic acid, and omega-6 fatty acids.

They are also packed in gravy for a savory flavor that most cats go crazy for. This pack is good value for the money. It includes healthy ingredients that support your cats skin and coat. It is made in the U.S. with the facilities. It is made without by-products, artificial colors, or preservatives that suit your cats head th to receive all the nutritional elements.

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What You Need To Know About Fish In Cat Food

The most commonly used fish in cat food are salmon, tilefish , and tuna. Each of these types has its own related health concerns. Farm-raised salmon are often treated with antibiotics and antifungals and may be laced with ocean pollutants like pesticides and PCBs. Tuna is near the top of the predatory ocean food chain, so it may accumulate high levels of mercury and other heavy metals as well as the pollutants consumed by smaller fish. Tilefish is one the worst in germs of contamination and toxicity so much so that the FDA advises women and children to avoid it entirely.

Fresh fish like salmon and tuna are much better than unnamed fish and seafood products, though the health concerns just listed still apply. In lower quality cat foods where a real fish is not actually named, the fish may come from the leftovers of the seafood industry. One of the main issues is high magnesium and phosphorus content which can cause serious problems in cats with urinary or kidney diseases.

To help you interpret the information on a label for cat food made with fish, here are some things to know about fish ingredients:

Now that you know a little more about the different forms fish might take in pet food, you may be wondering what makes it so bad? The answer is that there is no simple answer.

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