Blackwood is a US-based, family-owned pet food company serving up slow-cooked, small-batch meals for felines and canines. Blackwood sounds like the real deal on paper, but is it the right choice for your cat?

We rate Blackwood cat food 3.5 out of 5 paws up. The Blackwood Bounty range stands out from the rest of its offerings, thanks to its protein levels and ingredient quality. However, Blackwood misses out on a higher mark due to its use of filler ingredients and the high fat-to-protein ratios in some recipes.

Read on for our full Blackwood cat food review, where we examine product lines, recalls, and ingredient quality to help you decide if this is the right food for your feline friend.

Blackwood produces 13 dry cat foods and two wet cat food recipes, including recipes for kittens and seniors.

Blackwood cat foods are "complete and balanced," meeting the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profile guidelines for all life stages, maintenance (adults), or growth (kittens).

Blackwood's main dry cat food range uses meat meal as the primary protein source. Despite being rich in protein, meat meals are highly processed and of worse quality than real cuts of meat.

All of these recipes are grain-inclusive, with some including corn as a secondary ingredient ahead of brown rice. Corn is a filler ingredient with little nutritional value to cats aside from fiber. Brown rice is the primary grain, and it's one of the best grains used in cat food. It's rich in fiber and other nutrients like vitamin B1 (thiamine) and antioxidants.

Many low-quality ingredients that are considered filler can be found in Blackwood dry cat foods, including millet, dried plain beet pulp, and brewer's dried yeast.

The Blackwood Kitten Chicken Meal and Brown Rice recipe is higher in protein (36.6% as dry matter) and fat (23.3% as dry matter) to fuel growth and development.

As you might've guessed, the Senior/Lean Chicken Meal and Brown Rice recipe is significantly lower in fat (8.8% as dry matter) to help prevent obesity in seniors. The ingredient quality in the senior and kitten recipes is similar to the adult dry foods.

Blackwood adult dry cat foods have average protein (33.3% as dry matter) and above-average fat (18.8% as dry matter) compared to standard dry cat foods.

Blackrpoduces three specialty dry foods as part of its main dry cat food range. Its two Special Diet cat foods are formulated for cats with sensitive guts and food allergies.

The Special Diet Duck Meal, Salmon Meal, & Field Pea recipe contains novel protein sources for cats with protein allergies. It also includes no corn, soy, or wheat, which are common allergens.

The Special Diet Chicken Meal & Field Pea contains cranberries and blueberries, which are excellent fiber sources and support urinary tract health. Both recipes are enriched with probiotics and prebiotics to support gut health. These recipes are higher in protein than Blackwood's standard dry food and are better quality.

Blackwood Indoor Formula Chicken Meal & Brown Rice is largely the same as its standard Chicken Meal & Brown Rice recipes but with lower fat (13.3% as dry matter) to help prevent obesity.  

Blackwood Special Diet recipes have above-average protein (43.3% as dry matter) and above-average fat (20% as dry matter) compared to standard dry cat food.

Blackwood Bounty is Blackwood's premium dry cat food range. Each recipe lists a cut of real meat as the top ingredient, with meat meals as a secondary protein source.

Plus, Blackwood adds nutritious produce to its Bounty recipes, including cranberries, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Cranberries are high in antioxidants, while carrots are rich in nutrients like thiamine and vitamins A and E. Fish oil appears in several ingredient lists, which is an excellent omega fatty acid source.

One of the best features of the Blackwood Bounty range is its above-average protein content compared to Blackwood's main dry food range. While many recipes contain plant-based proteins like peas and lentils, they consistently appear outside the top five ingredients.

Overall, Blackwood Bounty is by far Blackwood's best dry cat food range and is relatively budget-friendly—highly recommended.

Blackwood Bounty dry cat foods have above-average protein (46.7% as dry matter) and above-average fat (19% as dry matter) compared to standard dry cat food.

Blackwood produces a couple of canned wet cat foods for your purring pal to sample. As with all cat food brands, Blackwood's wet foods are considerably better quality than its dry foods. They list real meat as the top ingredient—no meat meals, corn, soy, or wheat in these recipes!

Blackwood includes nutritious fruits and veggies in its wet foods, including pumpkin, dandelion greens, and parsley. Dandelion greens are an unusual ingredient that’s rich in micronutrients like B vitamins and choline. 

The main downside of Blackwood wet cat foods is their fat content. These recipes are high in fat compared to other wet cat foods, meaning they may be unsuitable for indoor cats and felines struggling with weight gain.

Blackwood Chicken & Salmon With Pumpkin & New Zealand Mussels wet cat food contains above-average protein (41.95% as dry matter) and high fat (40.8% as dry matter) compared to standard wet cat food.

Here are a few reasons to pick Blackwood cat food for your purring pal.

Aside from Blackwood's main dry food line, its cat foods contain above-average protein levels. Protein is your cat's primary energy source and aids in countless bodily functions, from eye to heart health.

It's worth pointing out that several Blackwood recipes include several plant-based proteins. Plant-based proteins aren't considered whole proteins for felines as they don't include all the essential amino acids a cat needs. 

Many plant-based proteins, like peas, inflate the protein levels in cat foods without adding the same nutritional value as animal-based protein.

Despite having a relatively small range, Blackwood produces a good variety of flavors, with grain-free and grain-inclusive options available. With fish, red meat, and duck options, Blackwood is a good option for cats with chicken allergies.

Bear in mind most recipes include some form of fish meal, so they may not be suitable for cats with fish allergies or sensitivities. 

Blackwood Bounty is our top pick among Blackwood's cat food range. It's overall a quality cat food that deserves a higher rating than the rest of the range.

It's grain-free and high in protein, with real meat as the top ingredient. Plus, Blackwood adds several nutritionally valuable fruits and vegetables, like carrots, spinach, cranberries, and blueberries.

Blackwood Bounty is also affordable—with a list price of $28.99 for a 4.5-lb bag on Chewy, it's similarly priced to comparable quality foods like Blue Buffalo Wilderness.

Think Blackwood is a good choice for your cat? Keep reading for a few things to bear in mind before you buy! 

Many Blackwood recipes include high-carb ingredients, like peas, lentils, corn, and brown rice. Carbs should be a minor energy source for cats—ideally, a cat's diet should consist of between 10% and 15% carbs. Too many carbs in a cat's diet can contribute to health concerns like obesity and diabetes mellitus. While it's unclear how many carbs are in Blackwood cat foods, several recipes include high-carb ingredients within their top 10 ingredients. 

Some of Blackwood's cat foods have high fat levels, especially its wet foods. Too much fat in a cat's diet can upset a cat's stomach in the short term and contribute to long-term health problems like obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease, fatty liver disease, and more.

Blackwood includes some filler ingredients in its cat foods. While this ingredient won't harm your cat, they offer little nutrients and are used as cheap ways to bulk out pet foods.

One example is dried beet pulp, which is high in fiber but is a beet processing by-product with low nutritional value and is considered filler. Other ingredients considered fillers include corn, millet, and pea protein.

"This is a better quality food than most brands. It has whole fish as the first couple of ingredients and salt is about 1/3 of the way down on the list. My cat and kitten were strongly enticed by the smell and ate it quickly. I like that I don't have to separate them to feed different foods, this is for all ages."

"Our cat absolutely loved this food! He was caught with his head in the bag gobbling away! Then we put the bag up and the next day it had claw marks from him trying to get in. He has never done that with any food we have had. He was excitingly waiting [for] us to fill his bowl! I highly recommend this cat food!"

You can trace Blackwood's roots back forty years to when Jim Golladay and his family began making their own pet foods at their feed mill in Rogers, Ohio.

They eventually moved to a larger facility in Lisbon, Ohio, where Jim realized slow-cooking pet foods led to higher starch conversion, putting extra pep in your pet's step. Jim teamed up with pet nutritionists at Kansas State University to scientifically confirm his theories about the relationship between slow cooking, starch conversion, and higher energy levels in pets.

After decades of research and perfecting his formulas, Jim Golladay founded Blackwood in 1994. Today, Blackwood is still a family-run business operated by Jim's three children. Blackwood's headquarters is located in Lisbon, Ohio, with manufacturing plants in Lisbon, Ohio, Sherburne, New York, and Kiel, Wisconsin.

There has never been a Blackwood cat food recall at the time of writing.