Stella & Chewy’s Cat Food Review 2024

Stella & Chewy's is a pet food brand specializing in raw and natural recipes with lines of frozen, freeze-dried, and raw-coated kibbles. Stella & Chewy's also produces an extensive range of wet foods that cater to different age groups and specific health needs, like food allergies and digestive issues. 

Wag! highly rates Stella & Chewy's cat foods due to the quality of their ingredients, their high protein content, and their variety of recipes catering to specific needs. 

Is Stella & Chewy's cat food right for your feline? Scroll down for our Stella & Chewy's Review, where we examine different product lines, recalls, considerations, and more!

Stella & Chewy's offers over 50 cat food products across four main product lines. Dry, wet, frozen raw, freeze-dried raw, and topper options are available.

Apart from supplementary meal toppers and mixers, all Stella & Chewy's cat foods are complete and balanced, meeting the nutrient profiles established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for all life stages, maintenance (adults), or growth (kittens). 

Read on to find out which Stella & Chewy's recipe is best for your feline friend!

Dry food

You'll find six Stella & Chewy's dry food products on the market, split between two sub-ranges: Raw Coated Kibble and Raw Coated Kibble with Raw Bits. All recipes contain no fillers like soy, grain, and wheat and no animal by-product meal.

This range consists of standard kibble pieces coated with freeze-dried raw meat. The Raw Coated Kibble with Raw Bits sub-range contains extra pieces of freeze-dried raw meat for extra protein. All recipes are excellent quality dry foods, with a named cut of meat as the top ingredient.

Stella & Chewy's dry food isn't human-grade and contains meat meals. Most recipes include multiple protein sources, so they aren't ideal for sensitive stomachs. Recipes are fortified with taurine and rich in omega-3 fatty acids to improve immunity and skin and coat health. Stella & Chewy's dry food kitten recipe is rich in DHA, which is essential for brain and eye development. 

Stella & Chewy's dry food flavors:

Raw Coated Kibble

• Raw Coated Kibble Kitten Cage-Free Chicken
• Raw Coated Kibble Cage-Free Chicken
• Raw Coated Kibble Cage-Free Duck
• Raw Coated Kibble Wild-Caught Salmon

Raw Coated Kibble + Raw Bits

• Raw Blend Cage Free Recipe
• Raw Blend Kibble Wild Caught Recipe

Wet food

Stella & Chewy's wet food is the company's largest product range, with 34 available recipes across three sub-ranges: Paté, Shreds, and Morsels. Each range contains similar ingredients but has a different consistency to match your cat's texture preference. 

Cartoned recipes of Stella & Chewy's are 100% human-grade; however, canned and pouch options aren't. These recipes aren't human-grade, due to the manufacturing process and not ingredient quality. It's worth noting that most of Stella & Chewy's wet food recipes contain chicken so aren’t suitable for cats with chicken allergies.

All recipes list a named quality cut of meat as the top ingredient. No recipes contain fillers like corn, soy, and wheat. Some recipes, like the the Cage-Free Turkey Morsels and the Cage-Free Chicken Paté have limited ingredients, making them great for picky eaters and cats with sensitivities. 

Stella & Chewy's wet food flavors:

• Chicken
• Turkey
• Chicken & salmon
• Chicken & beef
• Duck & chicken
• Tuna & mackerel
• Tuna & salmon
• Chicken & beef

Frozen raw food

Stella & Chewy's frozen raw cat foods thaw in just a few minutes for quick and easy feeding. They are very high quality and consist of up to 98% animal protein, including muscle meat, organs, and bones. 

Each recipe contains only one animal protein source and limited ingredients, making these recipes an excellent choice for cats with allergies and sensitive stomachs. Stella & Chewy's frozen raw cat foods are pea, lentil, and potato-free. 

They're enriched with taurine, probiotics, and potassium chloride to support digestion, the immune system, and kidney health. 

Stella & Chewy's frozen raw cat food flavors:

• Absolutely Rabbit Frozen Raw Dinner Morsels
• Chick, Chick Chicken Frozen Raw Dinner Morsels
• Duck Duck Goose Frozen Raw Dinner Morsels
• Tummy Ticklin' Turkey Frozen Raw Dinner Morsels

Freeze-dried raw food

Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw food is a shelf-stable alternative to frozen raw foods. These recipes are freeze-dried at the height of freshness, and you can store them in a cool, dry place — no freezing and refrigeration needed.

Like their frozen counterparts, Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw food recipes consist of 98% animal protein with a named quality cut of meat as the top ingredient. Recipes contain limited ingredients besides added vitamins and minerals, making them great for allergies and sensitivities. 

Like Stella & Chewy's frozen raw cat foods, freeze-dried raw foods are enriched with taurine, probiotics, and a variety of vitamins and minerals like potassium chloride. 

Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw food flavors:

• Absolutely Rabbit Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Morsels
• Bountiful Beef Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Morsels
• Chick, Chick Chicken Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Morsels
• Duck Duck Goose Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Morsels
• Sea-licious Salmon & Cod Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Morsels
• Tummy Ticklin' Turkey Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Morsels
• Yummy Lickin' Salmon & Chicken Freeze-Dried Raw Dinner Morsels

Freeze-dried raw mixers and toppers

Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw mixers and toppers are supplemental, designed to be added to your cat's food to boost flavor and nutrients. Stella's Solutions is a sub-range of toppers that provide skin and coat or digestive support. Marie's Magical Dinner Dust has a powdery consistency and is meant to encourage picky eaters to chow down. 

All freeze-dried raw mixers and toppers contain no filler ingredients, with a named quality cut of meat as the top ingredient. Stella's Solutions Digestive Support contains prebiotics, probiotics, and natural enzymes to aid digestion. Stella's Solutions Skin & Coat Support is loaded with biotin, vitamin E, and linoleic acid to improve skin and coat health. 

Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried raw mixers and toppers flavors:

• Marie's Magical Dinner Dust Cage-Free Chicken
• Marie's Magical Dinner Dust Salmon & Chicken
• Stella's Solutions Digestive Support
• Stella's Solutions Skin & Coat Support

Here are a few reasons why Wag! gives Stella & Chewy's cat food 4.5 out of 5 paws up! 

Vet recommended

Dr. Georgia Jeremiah, pet nutrition expert and one of Wag! 's veterinary consultants, recommends Stella & Chewy's cat food to her clients:

"Stella & Chewy's cat food offers raw and freeze-dried options with high-quality, sustainably sourced ingredients that are minimally processed for nutrient retention. It provides a variety of protein sources, is free from artificial additives and grains, and is a trusted choice for raw and natural pet diets."

High-quality ingredients

Stella & Chewy's cat food recipes are made with high-quality ingredients, with a named cut of meat as the top ingredient in all variations. Some of Stella & Chewy's wet food recipes are human-grade, while others miss out on this label due to the manufacturing process. High protein levels, with several recipes containing 98% animal protein, suggest this is an exceptional cat food. Stella & Chewy's contains no fillers or artificial additives or preservatives.  

Freeze-dried and frozen processing preserves nutritional value

Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried and frozen recipes contain high levels of natural nutrients due to their lack of processing. All freeze-dried and frozen recipes are simply dried or frozen when fresh, meaning they don't lose nutrients through cooking or manufacturing procedures.

Recipes for specific age groups and health needs

Stella & Chewy's offers two recipes specifically for kittens and dozens of recipes suitable for all life stages. Its wet and freeze-dried recipes are ideal for senior cats due to their high protein levels and probiotic, vitamin, and mineral enrichment. Stella & Chewy's also offers recipes for allergies, digestive health, skin and coat health, and picky eaters.  

Focus on sustainability

Stella & Chewy's is committed to sustainability practices. It's a Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) accredited company, which ensures companies meet 17 sustainability and performance goals set by the United Nations. Stella & Chewy's also limit food waste, donating 213,665 pounds of excess food to animal shelters in 2022. Thoughtful ingredient sourcing is important to Stella & Chewy's, using only cage-free poultry, grass-fed beef, and wild-caught fish in its recipes.

Here are a few things to think about before purchasing Stella & Chewy's cat food for your feline. 

On the pricey side

While Stella & Chewy's cat food isn't as expensive as some high end premium cat foods, it's still a little pricey. At the time of writing, Stella & Chewy's Raw-Coated Chicken Kibble costs $37.99 for a 10-pound bag, which works out at around $3.80 per pound. By comparison, Purina Pro Plan Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Cat Food costs $49.88 for a 16-pound bag, which works out to $3.12 per pound. It’s worth noting that Raw-Coated Chicken Kibble is one of Stella & Chewy's least expensive meal options. 

Raw cat food is more likely to be contaminated with pathogens 

Raw pet foods are more susceptible to pathogens as there’s no cooking process. Bacteria such as Salmonella, E. Coli, and Listeria are more likely to present as they aren't killed off during cooking. That said, Stella & Chewy's uses high-pressure processing (HHP), an effective way to remove bacteria from its products.

"I have two extremely picky cats with completely different taste. Both of them love this cat food. Bonus for me, I have an older male who had been gaining weight. Since switching him to a healthier cat food than I had been using, it has made him more energetic and he has lost weight."

"I really love the freeze dried raw formulas that are available. They are easy and convenient, my kitties love the taste and raw is the healthiest version you can give your pet."

Read more Stella & Chewy's reviews on Chewy.

Stella & Chewy's story begins in 1997 in NYC when Marie Moody adopted her dog Stella from a local animal shelter. Marie quickly decided that Stella could do with a buddy to keep her company. So, Marie adopted Chewy, a pup with serious health problems. 

To help Chewy's health issues, Marie began taking advice from a veterinarian, who said she should put Chewy on a natural, raw diet. Chewy soon overcame his health problems, and both he and Stella flourished on a raw diet. 

Discovering the benefits of a raw diet for pets, Marie soon decided to leave behind her job in the fashion industry and pursue her passion for pet nutrition. In 2003, Marie founded Stella & Chewy's, and the company has steadily grown ever since. Stella & Chewy's headquarters is in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

Stella & Chewy's has been recalled twice in its history, both in 2015.

On 5 July 2015, Stella & Chewy's issued a voluntary recall for several lots of dog and cat foods, including its Freeze-Dried Chick, Chick, Chicken Dinner for Cats, due to the possible presence of Listeria. This recall was issued following a positive test for Listeria in Stella & Chewy's Chicken Freeze-Dried Dinner Patties for Dogs. Several lots didn't test positive but were recalled out of caution. 

On 11 December 2015, Stella & Chewy's issued a voluntary recall for several lots of dog and cat food, including Frozen Duck Duck Goose Dinner Morsels for Cats, due to the possible presence of Listeria. This recall followed positive tests of Stella & Chewy's Super Beef Dinner Morsels for Dogs. Stella & Chewy's recalled two additional lots of Frozen Chick Chick Chicken Dinner Morsels for Cats out of caution.