Lotus Cat Food Review 2024

Lotus is a pet food company producing an assortment of wet, dry, and raw cat foods. One of Lotus' big selling points is that it bakes its cat food instead of extruding it like most brands, ensuring higher nutrient levels and better digestibility.

We highly rate Lotus cat foods due to the quality of its ingredients, its protein content, and its use of no GMOs, antibiotics, or hormones. Lotus loses a few points as some of its recipes are high in carbs and include plant-based protein.

So, is Lotus cat food good for your feline friend? Keep scrolling for an in-depth Lotus cat food review, where we analyze different product ranges, recalls, considerations, and more!

Lotus offers 25 cat food varieties, including one topper recipe.

All Lotus 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). Lotus Beef Tripe food topper is for supplemental feeding only.

Lotus dry cat food

Lotus produces four oven-baked kibbles for cats. All recipes list a quality cut of meat as the top ingredient but include lower-quality meat meals as a secondary protein source.

A couple of Lotus's dry cat foods, like its chicken variety, list lentils, chickpeas, and/or peas within the top five ingredients. Plant-based protein sources like chickpeas and lentils don't contain all the essential amino acids that cats need and shouldn't be a significant protein source in cat foods. Lentils, chickpeas, and peas also raise the amount of carbs in cat foods.

Examples of common secondary ingredients include fish oil, carrots, and pumpkins. Fish oil is an excellent source of omega fatty acids, carrots are high in vitamin C, and pumpkins are rich in fiber.

Lotus Low Fat dry cat food recipe is great for cats that struggle with weight gain—it contains 9% less fat as dry matter compared to the standard Lotus Chicken variety.

Lotus dry cat food is generally high quality but is higher in plant-based protein and carbs than some alternatives.

Lotus cat kibbles contain 36.8% dry protein matter on average, which is above average compared to other dry cat food.

Lotus dry cat food flavors:

• Chicken
• Duck
• Sardines
• Low Fat (Chicken)

Lotus Pâté wet cat food

Pâté is one of two wet food ranges by Lotus. Its smooth, uniform texture is ideal for fussy cats and felines with dental issues. Each recipe contains only quality cuts of meat and no meat meal, carrageenan, or grains.

Lotus adds New Zealand green mussels to all its Pâté recipes, which are an excellent source of omega-3. Lotus Pâtés include less plant-based protein than Lotus's dry foods. Common secondary ingredients like blueberries, cranberries, and eggs provide a nutrient and antioxidant boost.

Each recipe is high in moisture to help prevent dehydration and urinary tract infections. There's also a decent variety of flavors, making Lotus Pâtés a good choice for felines with meat allergies or sensitivities.

Lotus Pâté wet cat foods contain 36.3% dry matter protein on average, which is above average compared to other wet cat foods.

Lotus Pâté wet cat food flavors:

• Chicken
• Duck
• Pork
• Rabbit
• Salmon
• Sardine
• Turkey

Lotus Just Juicy wet cat food

Just Juicy is Lotus' stewed wet cat food range. Each recipe consists of chunks of meat and vegetables in a tasty broth. Lotus uses only quality cuts of meat in its Just Juicy range and no carrageenan or grains.

Like Lotus Pâté, Just Juicy recipes contain limited ingredients, making them suitable for felines with sensitive stomachs. Most recipes only contain a handful of ingredients and supplemental vitamins and minerals like taurine, vitamin E, and niacin. Lotus adds carrots to each recipe as a source of antioxidants and vitamin C.

Overall, Lotus Just Juicy and Pâté recipes are high-quality. They're baked in small batches to ensure quality and come in a variety of flavors.

Lotus Just Juicy recipes contain 55.4% dry protein matter on average, which is high compared to other wet cat food.

Lotus Just Juicy wet cat food flavors:

• Chicken
• Pollock
• Pork
• Salmon
• Turkey
• Venison

Lotus Raw cat foods

Lotus uses vegetarian-fed meat and wild-caught fish in its raw cat foods. It comes in a pâté-like consistency and consists almost entirely of cuts of muscle and organ meat.

Dried egg yolks are added as an amino acid source, while organic dried dulse powder is rich in zinc, iron, and copper. Other common ingredients in Lotus raw cat foods that provide a nutrient boost include psyllium husk and dried miscanthus grass.

Lotus Raw recipes are biologically appropriate for all age groups and made with limited-quality ingredients. They are a great choice if you plan to feed your fur-baby raw food.

Lotus Raw cat foods contain 56.7% dry protein matter on average, which is above average compared to other raw cat food.

Lotus Raw cat food flavors:

• Beef
• Chicken
• Lamb
• Pork
• Sardine
• Turkey
• Venison

Lotus Beef Tripe cat food topper

Lotus has one cat food topper designed to add flavor, texture, and nutrients to your feline's dinnertime. This Beef Tripe food topper consists of two ingredients: beef tripe and water. It's rich in protein (38.8%) and is suitable for all life stages.

Lotus Beef Tripe cat food topper flavors:

• Beef Tripe

Keep reading for a few reasons why we high rate Lotus cat food.

High-quality ingredients

Lotus generally uses high-quality ingredients in its recipes, which you would only find in premium cat foods. All of Lotus' cat food recipes list a quality cut of meat as the top ingredient. Only its kibbles contain meat meal as a protein source.

Most recipes have limited ingredients, meaning they're rich in quality protein and contain few filler ingredients. Some recipes include New Zealand green mussels as a secondary protein and omega-3 source. Lotus also uses quality fruit and veg to provide nutrients, including blueberries, pumpkin, apples, and carrots.

Eco-friendly and transparent practices

Lotus implements several eco-friendly practices to help reduce your and its environmental impact. Lotus states that its raw cat food recipes only use vegetarian-fed meat and wild-caught fish. All its ingredients are non-GMO, hormone-free, and antibiotic-free. 

Lotus manufactures and cans all its foods in North America, which helps reduce its carbon footprint as it doesn't need to ship its foods to the US from overseas. On Lotus' website, you'll find a map of where it sources all its protein for full transparency regarding its practices.

Wet and dry foods are oven-baked

One of Lotus' biggest selling points is that its foods are oven-baked and not extruded. Lotus states its ovens are set to 500 degrees, but the internal temperature of its foods only reaches 160 degrees. One hundred and sixty degrees is a high enough temperature to kill pathogens like Salmonella while preserving as much nutritional value as possible.

By comparison, extrusion involves heating foods to high temperatures under high pressure, which removes a lot of the food's original nutrients. Plus, extruded pet foods expand when eaten, making them harder for your cat to digest.

Now we've examined the benefits of Lotus cat food, let's take a quick look at a few things to consider before you buy.

Pricier than some alternatives

Lotus cat food is on the pricey side compared to some of its premium rivals. At the time of writing, an 11 lb bag of Lotus Chicken dry food costs $70.76 on Chewy, which works out at $6.44/lb.

By comparison, a 10 lb bag of Nulo Freestyle Chicken & Cod dry cat food costs $51.99 on Chewy, which works out to $3.72/lb. Nulo dry cat food is similar in ingredient quality to Lotus dry cat food.

It's worth noting we ranked Nulo dry cat food as one of the best dry cat foods in 2024.

Plant-based proteins and filler ingredients

Lotus cat foods include some ingredients that are considered fillers. Peas, lentils, and chickpeas are listed in the top five ingredients in several Lotus cat food varieties.

These plant-based proteins don't have all the essential amino acids your cat needs to be healthy and aren't a suitable replacement for meat. Cats are obligate carnivores that need meat to survive.

Another reason plant-based proteins are problematic is they inflate protein percentage in cat foods, making them seem higher in healthy protein than they actually are. 

Chickpeas, peas, and lentils are also high in carbs, which cats have more trouble digesting than protein and fat. However, several studies and articles have cast doubt on whether cats are unable to digest and metabolize carbs efficiently.

"My cat likes this brand, and I appreciate the alternative to kibble, hopefully easier to digest than the harder processed kibble."

"My very picky cat can't get enough of this food. The pork is his favorite but he also enjoys the turkey variety."

Read more reviews on Chewy.

Daron Matsuura, owner of LA specialty pet store Centinela Feed and Pet, co-founded Lotus in 2003 and is currently its president. Lotus Pet Foods, Inc.'s headquarters are located in Torrance, CA. It's a family-owned and operated business that isn't run by a conglomerate.  

Lotus is founded on the principles of oven-baking its pet foods in small batches to preserve as much nutrients as possible. It primarily sources its ingredients from the USA and Canada, apart from certain ingredients like green mussels and venison, which are from New Zealand.

Lotus cat food has never been recalled as of August 2024.