Whole Earth Farms Grain-Free Indoor Chicken & Turkey Adult Recipe Dry Cat Food Review

Our Recommendation

When it comes to feeding cats, the most important box to tick is Taurine. It’s an essential component in feline diets, and it comes from eating meat. High-protein foods, where the protein comes from meat and fish, are the best sources of taurine for your cat.

The next thing to look at is whether the food has a high carbohydrate load. Many manufacturers bulk their foods with cheaper ingredients including grains like wheat, corn or rice.

This causes two problems for your cat: the first is that ingredients like wheat can cause stomach upsets as they are not a natural part of a cat’s diet. The second is that these foods tend to be high in calories.

This is a particular concern for indoor cats, who use up far less energy than cats who are free to roam. For an outdoor cat, their territory could be around 200 square meters; for an indoor cat, their territory could be as little as 35 square meters. It stands to reason that even the most energetic indoor cat won’t burn off the same amount of calories as an outdoor cat.

So, when you are looking to choose dry food for your indoor cat, you want a high level of protein with little in the way of carbohydrates. Unfortunately, Whole Earth Farms Grain-Free Indoor Chicken & Turkey Adult Recipe Dry Cat Food doesn’t tick either of those boxes particularly well.

The first ingredient is a chicken meal, which does a good job of providing cats with the nutrient mix they need. Unfortunately, the second ingredient is potatoes.

As you can imagine, potatoes are not part of a cat’s natural diet. In their raw form, they are toxic to cats, and although they are safe to eat when cooked they don’t meet your pet’s needs for vegetables. Your cat doesn’t have the enzymes necessary to digest potatoes.

What Whole Earth Farms gets right is the mixture of chicken, turkey, and salmon, for a food with a high percentage of protein and healthy fats.

Their food is grain free, so it is better suited to cats who have sensitive stomachs. They have also added vitamins and minerals, and probiotics to help support a healthy digestive system.

If you are looking for dry food for your indoor cat, then there are better alternatives available. For example. Blue Buffalo Indoor Health Dry Cat Food which we reviewed here.

If your cat prefers Whole Earth Farms, there’s nothing wrong with this mix and we’re certainly not saying that you shouldn’t use it for your pet, however, there are better choices.

Ingredients

Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Peas, Turkey Meal, Pea Fiber, Natural Flavor, Chicken, Turkey, Salmon Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Phosphoric Acid, Choline Chloride, Salt, Organic Dried Alfalfa Meal, Taurine, Minerals (Iron Amino Acid Complex, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Zinc Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Copper Sulfate, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Proteinate, Cobalt Carbonate), Yucca Schidigera Extract, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product.

Read More: How to Find the Best Cat Food

Nutritional Analysis

Pet food ingredients, nutritional values, and the way they are labeled for consumers are monitored by several organizations in the United States including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the NGO, Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

• CRUDE PROTEIN – 32% min
• CRUDE FAT – 10% min
• CRUDE FIBER – 6.0% max
• MOISTURE – 11% max
• TAURINE – 0.20% min

Feeding Amounts

To avoid upsetting your cat’s stomach, you should gradually introduce any new food. If you are switching to Whole Earth Farms from any other brand, begin by adding no more than ¼ of a portion of the new food to their regular bowl. Slowly increase the proportion of Whole Earth Farms over a two week period until your pet is happily eating only the new food.

The Bottom Line

Whole Earth Farms have produced a good indoor cat foot, which is grain-free and has a reasonable balance of high protein and low calories. They are an independent pet food manufacturer, and their food is produced in the USA.

While their product is good, it’s not the best. There are indoor recipe cat foods that have higher protein without bulking ingredients like potatoes.

While using a meat meal rather than prime cuts is not bad for your cat, the choice to use them and bulk the food out with vegetables does make it a lower quality product.

Whilst we feel this is reasonable cat food, we would recommend that you look at feeding your pet with something like Blue Buffalo Indoor Health Dry Cat Food instead.

Continue reading:

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• Instinct Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Wet Cat Food Review
• Wellness Complete Health Natural Grain Free Dry Kitten Food Review