Fancy Feast Cat Food Review 2024

With over 40 years in the business, Fancy Feast is one of the top-selling cat food brands in the United States. It’s Purina's largest cat food brand, offering a massive range of over 150 wet and dry food varieties for your tiny tiger to try. 

Wag! gives Fancy Feast cat food 3 out of 5 stars. It loses marks for including meat by-products and high quantities of grains in its cat foods. Many of its recipes also include artificial flavors, soy, and corn. Fancy Feast deserves praise for including real meat as the top ingredient in many recipes and its affordable pricing. 

Keep reading for Wag!’s comprehensive Fancy Feast review, where we examine individual product ranges, ingredient quality, and recalls.

Fancy Feast covers all the cat food bases, with kibbles, wet foods, meal toppers, and treats for your feline to sample. 

All Fancy Feast 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). Fancy Feast treats and meal toppers are for supplemental feeding only.

Fancy Feast dry cat food

Fancy Feast produces only a handful of dry cat food recipes compared to its huge wet food range. Overall, Fancy Feast dry foods aren't good-quality kibbles. While each variety contains real cuts of meat, they're the eighth on the ingredient lists below natural flavors. 

Rice and poultry by-product meals are the most common ingredients in Fancy Feast dry cat foods. Corn, soybean meal, and beef fat are also high on the list. As all recipes contain poultry by-product meals, Fancy Feast dry food is unsuitable for cats with chicken allergies. 

Meat by-product meals are among the worst primary protein sources you’ll find in cat foods. It's made from slaughterhouse leftovers and can contain any part of an animal, including kidneys, lungs, and hearts. It's highly processed and less nutritionally complete than real meats. 

Rice and other grains shouldn't be the most abundant ingredients in cat foods. Grains offer less nutritional value than meat and produce. Grains are also high in carbs, which should be a minor energy source for cats behind protein and fat. 

Fancy Feast With Savory Chicken & Turkey Dry Cat Food contains 37.7% protein as dry matter and 18.8% fat as dry matter, both of which are above average compared to most dry cat food.

Fancy Feast dry cat food varieties:

• Chicken & Turkey
• Filet Mignon Flavor with Real Seafood & Shrimp
• Ocean Fish & Salmon and Accents of Garden Greens Gourmet
• With Chicken & Turkey for Kittens

Fancy Feast paté wet cat food

Fancy Feast paté is Fancy Feasts' largest wet food line, with over 40 varieties and several ranges. Fancy Feasts' wet foods are better quality than its dry foods, with real cuts of meat as a common top ingredient and meat by-product meal as a secondary protein source.

Classic Paté is Fancy Feast's standard paté range. Each recipe is grain-free, with no artificial colors or preservatives. However, Fancy Feast does use artificial flavors in its Classic Paté varieties. With real cuts of meat as top ingredients and a blend of supplements like vitamin E, vitamin B2, and potassium, Fancy Feast Classic Patés aren't a bad budget-friendly option for cats.

Savory Centers is similar to the Classic Paté range but includes a gravy center for extra moisture and flavor. All recipes list broth as the top ingredient, with real meat and meat by-products as primary protein sources. There's only a handful of recipes that all include chicken — not ideal if you have a fussy feline that turns their nose up at poultry.  

Gravy Lovers is almost identical to Savory Centers, except the gravy is outside the paté. One standout difference is that Gravy Lovers recipes aren't grain-free, as they include corn starch-modified and wheat gluten, which act as thickeners and minor protein sources. Grilled and in-gravy recipes are available for felines that prefer more texture to their meals.

Gourmet Naturals is one of Fancy Feast's best wet cat food ranges. Its recipes contain no meat by-products, artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. Some recipes include wheat gluten, so they're not grain-free. If you're considering Fancy Feast for your cat, Gourmet Naturals is an excellent choice. 

Petites are available in two consistencies: paté and in-gravy. They're similar to Gravy Lovers recipes, with real meat as the primary protein and meat by-products and wheat gluten as secondary proteins. Each variety's small size and twin-pack packaging make them a decent choice as a food topper.

Gems Mousse may look fancy, but they're not much different from Classic Patés. Like Petites, Gem Mousses come in a tray instead of a can and are shaped like a pyramid of paté topped with gravy. One difference is the Gems Mousse line is grain-free and contains no artificial flavors. Overall, they contain similar ingredients to standard Fancy Feast.

Fancy Feast Classic Paté Chicken Feast contains 45.4% protein as dry matter and 22.7% fat as dry matter, both of which are above average for wet cat food. These protein and fat percentages are similar across Fancy Feast's entire wet food range.

Fancy Feast age-specific wet cat foods

Fancy Feast has two age-specific wet food sub-ranges catering to kittens and seniors over seven years old.

Paté Kitten recipes include real milk and dried egg product to add flavor and nutrients for your pint-sized purring pal. Dried egg product is high in omega-3 DHA fatty acids, which are essential to growth and development. The ingredients are almost the same as the Classic Paté sub-range, with real meat and meat by-products as the main protein sources.

Senior 7+ recipes come in paté and minced consistency and are enriched with vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant that helps reduce the effects of aging. They're slightly higher in protein than standard Classic Paté varieties to support healthy muscle mass as your fur-baby gets older.

Other Fancy Feast wet cat foods

Fancy Feast has seven other wet cat food ranges with different textures and flavor combos.

Purely is the cream of the crop when it comes to Fancy Feast wet foods. Aside from vitamin and mineral supplements, each recipe only has four or fewer ingredients: real meat, broth, and sunflower oil. Recipes are grain-free, with no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.

Delights and Creamy Delights are part of the same range — the main difference is Creamy Delights recipes contain a small amount of real milk. Many Delights recipes include cheese for flavor, meaning they're not a good choice for cats with dairy allergies or sensitive stomachs. Real meat and meat by-products are the primary protein sources in every recipe.

Medleys take inspiration from classic Italian cuisine — not that your cat is likely to be familiar with the tastes of Tuscany. The standout component of these recipes is they include some nutrient-rich dried produce like spinach, carrots, and tomatoes. Spinach is rich in vitamin A, while carrots are a healthy source of fiber.

Marinated Morsels in Gravy have the consistency of chunks of meat in a gelatinous gravy, as you'd expect from traditional wet cat food. It's largely the same as Fancy Feast's other grain-inclusive wet foods, with broth, real meat, meat by-products, and wheat gluten as the top ingredients.

The Sliced, Minced, Flaked, and Chunky ranges have almost identical ingredients to Marinated Morsels in Gravy, but have different consistency to please your feline's discerning palate.

Fancy Feast meal toppers

Meal toppers are incomplete cat foods that add nutrients, flavor, and moisture to your cat's existing food. Fancy Feast has two meal topper ranges.

Broths are good quality in general, consisting of broth, real meat, dried carrots, and thickening agents. Fancy Feast adds thiamine (vitamin B1) to its Broths, which is essential for metabolizing energy. You'll also find a Senior Broth with controlled vitamin E and taurine levels.

Appetizers work well as meal toppers and snacks for your feline friend. Like Broths, Fancy Feast Appetizers are high-quality — they only contain a few ingredients, with real meat and broth at the top of the list.

Fancy Feast cat treats

With 12 dry and wet treats on offer, Fancy Feast spoils your cat with its wide variety of goodies.

Savory Cravings aren't the healthiest treats for your fur-baby — they don't include real meat or meat meal, using liver flavor and preserved beef fat as the main ingredients. Each Savory Cravings square is 3.3 calories, meaning they're not low in fat either.

Purely Naturals are Fancy Feast's best cat treats. They're made with just one ingredient — a quality cut of meat. Each treat is 3.7 calories, so they're best given to your cat when you want to treat them to something extra special.

Savory Purée Naturals are lickable cat treats that are great for felines with dental issues. They're fairly good quality, with no meat meals or artificial ingredients. That said, they contain carrageenan, a natural thickener and stabilizer rumored to cause gastrointestinal problems in cats and dogs.

Think Fancy Feast might be a good fit for your feline? Here are a few reasons why Wag! likes Fancy Feast cat food.

Real meat is the top ingredient in wet foods

While most Fancy Feast wet food recipes include meat by-products, they also include real, unprocessed meat as the number one ingredient. Using real meat ensures your cat gets a more nutritionally complete meal that's unlikely to upset their stomach.

Wide variety of flavors and consistencies

With over 130 wet food varieties, Fancy Feast has a huge range of flavor combos and consistencies. As a result, there's bound to be a flavor even the fussiest feline will love. Be wary if your cat has a poultry allergy, though — many flavors include chicken, even if Fancy Feast doesn't state it in the recipe description. 

Two premium ranges

Two of Fancy Feast's premium ranges are better quality than the rest. Purely and Gourmet Naturals are the two ranges in question — these varieties have no meat by-products, artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. Purely is especially high quality with limited ingredient recipes that are an excellent fit for cats with food allergies.

Purely and Gourmet Naturals deserve a higher rating than the rest of the range — at least 4 out of 5 paws up.

Reasonably priced

One reason Fancy Feast is so popular is its pricing. At the time of writing, a Classic Paté Variety Pack, which includes 30 3 oz cans, costs $21.64 on Chewy, at $0.25 per oz.

By comparison, a Sheba Perfect Portions Variety Pack, which includes 24 1.3 oz twin-packs, costs $25.98 on Chewy, at $0.84 per oz.

Sheba Perfect Portions might be slightly better quality than Fancy Feast Classic Patés, but they cost four times as much per oz.

Here are a few concerns worth addressing about Fancy Feast cat food.

Controversial and low-quality ingredients

The main reason we don't Fancy Feast a higher rating is its cat foods include several controversial or low-quality ingredients.

Meat by-products are the most common low-quality ingredient in Fancy Feast cat foods. Meat by-products are from leftover slaughterhouse waste. What meat by-products consist of is unclear and may include parts of an animal that aren't as nutritionally valuable as organ and muscle meat.

Another controversial ingredient is artificial flavors, which aren't necessarily harmful to cats, but it's unclear exactly what they are. Artificial flavors could upset your cat's stomach and contribute to long-term health issues.

Other low-quality and potentially controversial ingredients in Fancy Feast cat foods include caramel coloring, carrageenan, soybean meal, and Yellow 5, Blue 2, and Red 40 food colorings.

Wheat gluten is a protein source

While wheat gluten is a source of fiber and protein, many brands use it as an inexpensive alternative to meat in cat foods. Many Fancy Feast recipes list wheat gluten as one of the top three ingredients.

Wheat gluten doesn't include taurine, an essential amino acid for cats found in meat, meaning it isn't nutritionally complete as a protein source for cats. That said, wheat gluten is acceptable as a secondary protein source, but it does indicate that Fancy Feast recipes are lower quality than brands that use only meat as protein.

Above-average fat contents

Most Fancy Feast cat foods contain between 18% and 22% fat as dry matter, which is above average compared to other cat foods. AAFCO nutrient profiles suggest a minimum of 9% fat as dry matter in cat foods. While these percentages aren't significantly above average, it means Fancy Feast isn't the best option for indoor or obese cats.

"I know with confidence that when I put the cans of cat food out that come in this box that I will only find empty plates at the end of their feed time. All 3 love it. One indoor senior cat and two outside barn cats all love the flavors and taste of this variety pack. Many reorders on this and one of the reasonably priced FF selections."

"I purchased a larger bag than normal, thinking I would use half and then switch to another flavor. I planned on then using the rest of the large bag. But there was no need to switch as my cats went through the entire bag of the Gourmet Filet Mignon Flavor and loved every bite."

Read more reviews on Chewy.

The Carnation Company launched Fancy Feast in 1982. It was marketed as a "gourmet" cat food but is now one of the cheapest brands available. Nestlé purchased the Carnation Company in 1985, with Fancy Feast becoming part of the Purina PetCare family.

Fancy Feast was the first brand to sell cat food in single-serving 3 oz cans. In 1987, it went international, launching in Japan as Mon Petit.

Eight years later, Fancy Feast entered the European market under the name Friskies Gourmet. By 1999, Fancy Feast offered over 40 cat food varieties and further increased its range in 2006 with the launch of its Medleys range.

Fancy Feast grew its international market further in 2012 by establishing itself in Latin America. In 2009, Fancy Feast began manufacturing meal toppers and meal complements, starting with Fancy Feast Appetizers. 

Today, Fancy Feast is the top-selling wet cat food brand in the United States, with manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe, and Thailand. Fancy Feast’s headquarters is located in St. Louis, Missouri.

Fancy Feast cat food has never been recalled as of September 2024.

It's worth mentioning that Purina has had to recall other pet food brands on several occasions.

The most recent was on February 8, 2023, when Purina voluntarily recalled several batches of its Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets EL Elemental dry dog food, due to potentially elevated vitamin D levels. Purina expanded this recall on March 10, 2023.

The last Purina cat food recall was on March 29, 2019. Purina issued a precautionary recall of a limited amount of its now-discontinued Muse brand Natural Chicken Recipe in Gravy, as some batches may contain rubber pieces.

Fancy Feast isn't a bad choice for your feline, but there are lots of better cat foods on the market. Check out some of the cat food brands we gave flawless ratings below!

• The Honest Kitchen - The Kitchen Kitchen makes some of the finest feline food available, with 100% human-grade ingredients.

• Open Farm - Another human-grade cat food brand, Open Farm prides itself on being environmentally friendly and sustainable.

• Raised Right - Take Raised Right's quiz to find the perfect human-grade pet food for your purring pal!

• American Journey - Chewy's own pet food brand, American Journey is one of the best budget-friendly cat food brands, made without animal by-products and artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.

Looking for more cat food alternatives? Check out some of our top-rated product round-ups:

• Best Dry Cat Foods 2024
• Best Wet Cat Foods 2024
• Best Budget-friendly Cat Food 2024