Sheba Cat Food Review 2024

Sheba is one of the world’s biggest cat food brands, serving wet cat foods and treats to feline friends from North America to Europe to Asia. Recently, Sheba has shifted focus to being more environmentally friendly—in 2021, Sheba began using only 100% sustainably sourced fish in its products.

Sheba's recipes are high in protein and include quality cuts of meat, but they also contain some lower-quality ingredients. As a result, we give Sheba a rating of 3 out of 5 paws up! 

Keep scrolling for our comprehensive Sheba cat food reviews, where we look at different product lines, recalls, considerations, and more! 

Sheba manufactures only wet cat food and treats—no kibble to be found here. At the time of writing, Sheba offers 29 wet cat foods and three cat treat varieties. All wet cat foods are part of the Perfect Portions product line, with four main sub-ranges.

All Sheba wet cat food recipes are "complete and balanced," meeting the Association of American Food Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profile guidelines for all life stages, maintenance (adults), or growth (kittens).

Perfect Portions Cuts in Gravy

Perfect Portions Cuts in Gravy is the ideal sub-range for cats that like a chunky texture to their meals. Water is the first ingredient in these recipes, with at least one quality cut of meat within the top five.

Each recipe includes animal plasma, a nutritious emulsifier rich in protein. Sheba also adds glycine, an essential amino acid that helps digestion, and supplements like taurine, zinc, and vitamin E. 

A couple of low-quality, controversial ingredients in Cuts in Gravy recipes are tapioca starch, another binding agent that is high in carbs, and caramel color, which prevents pet food from looking gray.

Sheba Cut in Gravy recipes come in 11 flavors, making them suitable for cats with specific food allergies or sensitivities.

Shea Perfect Portions Cuts in Gravy contain 43.7% protein as dry matter, which is above average for wet cat food.

Perfect Portions Cuts in Gravy flavors:

• Salmon
• Turkey
• Trout
• Mixed Grill
• Sustainable Tuna
• Roasted Chicken & Beef
• Roasted Chicken
• Whitefish & Tuna
• Salmon & Seafood
• Salmon & Shrimp
• Tuna & Shrimp

Perfect Portions Gravy Indulgence

Sheba's Gravy Indulgence sub-range is a premium version of its Cuts in Gravy sub-range. Each recipe is loaded with more tasty gravy to add flavor and keep your kitty hydrated.

Despite being more palatable, Gravy Indulgence formulas contain the same lower-quality ingredients like guar gum, tapioca starch, and meat by-products. One notable difference is the inclusion of dried egg products to boost protein levels.

Aside from adding more gravy and dried egg products, Gravy Indulgence recipes are basically identical to Cuts in Gravy.

Perfect Portions Gravy Indulgence recipes contain 42.3% protein as dry matter, which is the lowest of any Sheba cat food range.

Perfect Portions Gravy Indulgence flavors:

• Beef
• Chicken
• Salmon
• Whitefish

Perfect Portions Premium Paté

Perfect Portions Premium Paté recipes are best suited to fussy felines that prefer a smooth, uniform consistency. Premium Paté recipes are very similar to Cuts of Gravy varieties. Water and cuts of quality meat are among the top ingredients.

Sheba uses guar gum as a thickener in its Premium Paté recipes. Although guar gum is high in fiber, it has little to no nutritional value. Some cats have guar gum allergies, which can cause constipation, vomiting, and bloating.

Some recipes use poultry by-products. A poultry by-product is slaughtered non-rendered meat consisting of organs. It's less nutritious than standard meat.

Perfect Portions Premium Paté Kitten recipes have slightly higher protein levels to support growth and development. These recipes are also rich in DHA omega-3 fatty acids, which are critical to brain development and growth.

Sheba Perfect Portions Premium Paté contains an average of 44.6% protein as dry matter, slightly more than its Cuts in Gravy sub-range.

Perfect Portions Premium Paté flavors:

• Salmon
• Turkey
• Chicken
• Seafood
• Beef
• Sustainable Tuna
• Chicken & Tuna
• Roasted Chicken & Liver
• Whitefish & Tuna
• Kitten Chicken
• Kitten Salmon

Perfect Portions Bistro

Perfect Portions Bistro features three recipes in a flavorful sauce that'll please any feline's palette. They have a similar consistency to Cuts in Gravy recipes.

Perfect Portions Bistro might sound more premium than Sheba's other sub-ranges, but they're largely made with the same ingredients.

A quality cut of meat and water are among the top ingredients. Recipes also include lower-quality ingredients like tapioca starch and poultry by-products.

Perfect Portions Bistro recipes contain 43.7% protein as dry matter, like the Cuts in Gravy range.

Perfect Portions Bistro flavors:

• Chicken in Alfredo Sauce
• Salmon in Creamy Sauce
• Seafood in Scampi Sauce

Sheba Tender Sticks cat treats

Sheba offers a range of classic stick treats for your purring pal to devour. These treats contain low-quality and potentially controversial ingredients, with a meat by-product as the top ingredient in two of the three varieties. 

Dried brewer's yeast is a good protein source that is high in B vitamins like niacin. Taurine, vitamin A, vitamin E, and vitamin D3 supplements are added to these treats to boost their nutritional value.

Each stick is 13 calories but can be broken up and used as a high-value training reward.

Sheba Tender Sticks flavors:

• Salmon
• Tuna
• Chicken

Here are a couple of reasons we give Sheba cat food a respectable 3 out of 5 paws up!

High in quality meat and protein

Sheba cat foods lists a quality cut of meat as the primary protein source. A quality cut of meat means better nutritional value and digestibility. Plus, Sheba uses only sustainably sourced fish in its products.

Each recipe consists of over 40% dry protein matter, 14% more than the minimum recommended by the AAFCO. As a result, Sheba recipes ensure your cat has plenty of energy and the building blocks for healthy muscle growth.

No grains or corn

Sheba avoids using unhealthy filler ingredients like corn and grain in its cat food recipes. Fillers like grain and corn are high in carbs, which shouldn't be a cat's primary energy source and don't need to be part of a cat's diet. 

It's worth noting that Sheba states its recipes may contain trace amounts of corn and grain, meaning they may not be suitable for cats with severe corn or grain allergies.

Reasonably-priced

Shebe is reasonably priced compared to other cat food of similar quality on the market. At the time of writing, a box of 24 2.6-oz twin packs of Sheba Perfect Portions Cuts in gravy costs $25.98 on Chewy. That works out to $0.42 per oz or $6.72 per lb.

By comparison, a 24-pack of Purina Pro Plan Chicken & Turkey canned wet food costs $35.54, which works out to $0.50 per oz or $8.00 per lb.

Let's examine why we didn't give Sheba cat food a higher paw rating.

Low-quality ingredients

The main reason Sheba doesn't get a higher rating is it uses several low-quality and controversial ingredients in its recipes.

Meat and poultry by-products are top protein sources in many of Sheba's recipes, and they are much less nutritious than quality meat cuts. Ingredients like guar gum and tapioca starch, which are used as binders and emulsifiers, have little nutritional value.

Lack of ingredient transparency

Some ingredients in Sheba cat food are vague or hide aspects of its recipes.

For example, several recipes use caramel coloring, which hides the actual color of Sheba cat food to make it more appetizing. 

The term "poultry" in some ingredients, like poultry liver, is vague, meaning these recipes may not be suitable for cats with specific allergies to chicken or turkey. The use of caramel coloring and the term "poultry" means Sheba isn't being fully transparent about its cat foods. 

Another vague ingredient is natural flavors. According to the AAFCO, the FDA does not define the term "natural" regarding cat food, which means that the term can be misleading.

"My cats LOVE this food. It's perfectly portioned and easy to feed. Even my "feral stray" sits at the door and waits for his breakfast every morning. Highly recommend. This is also the only wet food one of my cats doesn't throw up."

"I think my cats were getting a little tired of fancy feast so I wanted to try something else. They're so picky, but they actually ate all of it. After one case I tried another one, but ordered the pate instead. They wouldn't even try it. It sat in the bowls all day. I ordered this chopped Sheba and once again, all 3 cats are eating it."

Read more reviews on Chewy.

There isn't much information available on Sheba's early history. Mars, Incorporated owns Sheba, one of the world's largest food conglomerates. The name Sheba comes from Arabic and means "to become sated." 

In January 2011, Mars, Inc. announced that Sheba would no longer be available in the US, citing economic issues. However, they reversed this decision in July 2012, with Sheba returning to the US market.

After returning to the US, Sheba briefly packaged its foods in cans rather than plastic trays. They reverted to using plastic trays in 2014. In 2021, Sheba began using only sustainably sourced fish in its cat food.

Sheba cat food has never been recalled as of July 2024.

Searching for a higher quality cat food for your feline friend? Here are some review round-ups to help you on your cat food hunt:

• Best Wet Cat Food 2024

• Best Dry Cat Food 2024

• Best Budget-Friendly Cat Foods 2024

• Weruva Cat Food Review 2024