6 Dry Cat Food Brands to AVOID (And the 2 That Still Put Real Meat First)

"Real chicken is the #1 ingredient" is the least useful line on a bag of dry cat food. The ingredient list is ranked by weight before cooking, water included, so a wet meat can sit on line one and cook off in the oven. The AAFCO protein minimum for adult cats counts how much protein is in the food, not where it came from. So a bag can put meat on line one and build a good part of its protein from corn gluten meal, soy protein isolate or pea protein a few lines down. Most owners never read that far down the panel. The rules allow all of it. In this video I read the ingredient panels on eight dry cat foods, check them against the federal labeling rule, the AAFCO protein minimum and the state flavor rule, read Blue Buffalo's settlement filing with the SEC, and trace who owns each brand. Six bags I'd put back, three of them from the same parent company. Two that put meat first and keep it going for the next several lines. And one 15-second label check you can run on the bag in your pantry right now. SOURCES: 21 CFR Part 501, animal food labeling, ingredients in descending order by weight AAFCO, "Ingredients: Making Pet Food," as-formulated ingredient weight Merck Veterinary Manual, Dog and Cat Foods, moisture content of fresh meat ingredients FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, "Complete and Balanced Pet Food," AAFCO adult cat protein minimum Michigan Administrative Code R 285.635.4, pet food flavor designations The J.M. Smucker Company, Form 8-K (2026) Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Form 10-K for 2015, Exhibit 10.19, Stipulation of Settlement, In re Blue Buffalo Co. Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, No. 4:14-md-02562 (E.D. Mo.) FDA, investigation into diets and canine dilated cardiomyopathy, June 2019 update Corporate ownership records: Nestle Purina, J.M. Smucker, Post Consumer Brands, General Mills (Blue Buffalo, 2018), Mars (Champion Petfoods, 2023), Wellness Pet Company, current at time of filming Individual brand ingredient panels, brand websites and retail listings, verified at time of filming PetSmart retail price listing, at time of filming #CatFood #ReadTheLabel #PetFood #CatHealth #CatNutrition #PetParents #PetCare #PetSafety