Other Cat Food Brands

The Honest Kitchen Logo

The Honest Kitchen Cat Food Ingredients

According to our research, The Honest Kitchen manufactures 22 cat food recipes using 93 unique ingredients. To evaluate the quality of ingredients used by The Honest Kitchen, we've studied all 93 ingredients. In this article, we'll share our findings on The Honest Kitchen ingredients.

Cat Food Recipes22
Unique Ingredients93
Artificial Colors0
Animal By-Products0
Anonymous Meats0
Controversial0
Harmful0

First 5 Ingredients

Cat food ingredients in the United States are listed in descending order of pre-cooked weight. The first 5 ingredients typically constitute a significant portion of the recipe.

For The Honest Kitchen, these are the most common ingredients found within the first 5 cat food ingredients.

  1. chicken
  2. chicken broth
  3. dehydrated potato
  4. pumpkin
  5. carrot

As you can see, the most common first ingredient in The Honest Kitchen is chicken. The most common 2nd ingredient is chicken broth, followed by dehydrated potato, pumpkin, and carrot.

Artificial Food Coloring Dyes

The Honest Kitchen does not use any artificial food coloring dyes. According to our records, none of the 22 The Honest Kitchen cat foods contain artificial food dyes.

Artificial food coloring dyes are unnecessary and potentially harmful ingredients. In general, we not not recommend feeding any pet foods that contain artificial dyes.

In 2010, the CSPI raised serious concerns regarding the safety of many artificial dyes. Most of the studies referenced by the CSPI involved prolonged or excessive consumption. Since most cats consume the same foods throughout their lives, concerns raised by the CSPI are alarming to say the least.

To read more about Artificial Food Dyes, click here.

Animal By-Products

According to our records, The Honest Kitchen does not contain any animal by-products.

Animal by-products are basically the leftover parts of the the carcass after its been processed for meat. AAFCO defines by-products as the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals.

Although by-products are still fairly nutritious ingredients, consumers have equated them with slaughterhouse waste. Therefore, most premium brands, including The Honest Kitchen have decided to remove by-products and instead use named organ meats (beef liver, chicken gizzards).

For further reading on the controversy over animal by-products, click here.

Anonymous Meat Ingredients

Anonymous meats are inexpensive low-quality ingredients that can come from practically any animal. These type of ingredients are often used to produce very inexpensive cat foods.

In general, we prefer ingredients which specify the animal source used to derive the ingredient. For example, ingredients such as duck fat are much better than animal fat or poultry fat.

In our analysis, we've looked through all 93 The Honest Kitchen ingredients. According to our data, The Honest Kitchen does not contain any anonymous animal-based ingredients.

Cereal Grains

Certain The Honest Kitchen cat food recipes contain one or more grains. The specific ingredients are listed below.

For cats, we typically recommend choosing a grain-free recipe. Cats are obligate carnivores and therefore grains are not species appropriate.

The kibble production requires a binding agent. Grains are commonly used for this purpose in cat food. When purchasing grain-free cat food, grains are often replaced with another starchy source. This is also not ideal.

To avoid grains and other starchy additions, consider feeding wet or frozen recipes.

Controversial Ingredients

Brands which do not use any controversial ingredients are typically top-of-the-line. Avoiding all controversial ingredients indicates that the brand has not sacrificed quality for cost savings.

Our research indicates that The Honest Kitchen is one of these top-notch brands. We've looked through all 93 The Honest Kitchen ingredients and none of these ingredients were classified as controversial in our system

Potentially Harmful Ingredients

Harmful ingredients are those which have been linked to adverse health effects. In general, we do not recommend feeding any product which contains any harmful ingredients.

During our review, none of the The Honest Kitchen ingredients analyzed were classified as harmful by our system. The absence of harmful ingredients is indicative of a relatively premium cat food brand.

The Honest Kitchen Cat Food Ingredient Lists

The Honest Kitchen

Dehydrated Cat Food
Grain Free Turkey Recipe
The Honest Kitchen
Dehydrated Cat Food Grain Free Turkey Recipe
First Five Ingredients
dehydrated turkey
dehydrated sweet potato
dehydrated potato
dehydrated turkey bone broth
organic flaxseed

The Honest Kitchen

Dehydrated Cat Food
Grain Free Chicken & Fish Recipe
The Honest Kitchen
Dehydrated Cat Food Grain Free Chicken & Fish Recipe
First Five Ingredients
dehydrated chicken
dehydrated sweet potato
dehydrated potato
organic flaxseed
dehydrated egg

The Honest Kitchen

Dehydrated Cat Food
Grain Free Chicken Recipe
The Honest Kitchen
Dehydrated Cat Food Grain Free Chicken Recipe
First Five Ingredients
dehydrated chicken
dehydrated sweet potato
dehydrated potato
organic flaxseed
dehydrated egg

The Honest Kitchen

Whole Food Clusters
Grain Free Chicken & Fish Recipe For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Whole Food Clusters Grain Free Chicken & Fish Recipe For Cats
First Five Ingredients
chicken
pea
lentil
egg
whitefish

The Honest Kitchen

Whole Food Clusters
Grain Free Chicken Recipe For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Whole Food Clusters Grain Free Chicken Recipe For Cats
First Five Ingredients
chicken
pea
egg
chicken liver
lentil

The Honest Kitchen

Whole Food Clusters
Grain Free Turkey & Chicken Recipe For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Whole Food Clusters Grain Free Turkey & Chicken Recipe For Cats
First Five Ingredients
turkey
chicken
pea
potato
egg

The Honest Kitchen

Minced Grain Free
Chicken Recipe In A Bone Broth Gravy For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Minced Grain Free Chicken Recipe In A Bone Broth Gravy For Cats
First Five Ingredients
chicken
chicken broth
pumpkin
carrot
blueberry

The Honest Kitchen

Minced Grain Free
Turkey Recipe In A Bone Broth Gravy For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Minced Grain Free Turkey Recipe In A Bone Broth Gravy For Cats
First Five Ingredients
turkey
turkey broth
pumpkin
carrot
blueberry

The Honest Kitchen

Câté Grain Free
Beef & Chicken Recipe For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Câté Grain Free Beef & Chicken Recipe For Cats
First Five Ingredients
beef
chicken
beef broth
pumpkin
carrot

The Honest Kitchen

Câté Grain Free
Chicken Recipe For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Câté Grain Free Chicken Recipe For Cats
First Five Ingredients
chicken
chicken broth
chicken liver
pumpkin
carrot

The Honest Kitchen

Câté Grain Free
Salmon & Cod Recipe For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Câté Grain Free Salmon & Cod Recipe For Cats
First Five Ingredients
salmon
fish broth
cod
pumpkin
carrot

The Honest Kitchen

Câté Grain Free
Salmon & Turkey Recipe For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Câté Grain Free Salmon & Turkey Recipe For Cats
First Five Ingredients
salmon
turkey
turkey broth
pumpkin
carrot

The Honest Kitchen

Câté Grain Free
Turkey Recipe For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Câté Grain Free Turkey Recipe For Cats
First Five Ingredients
turkey
turkey broth
turkey liver
pumpkin
carrot

The Honest Kitchen

Minced Grain Free
Chicken & Salmon Recipe In A Bone Broth Gravy For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Minced Grain Free Chicken & Salmon Recipe In A Bone Broth Gravy For Cats
First Five Ingredients
chicken
chicken broth
salmon
pumpkin
carrot

The Honest Kitchen

Minced Grain Free
Salmon & Cod Recipe In A Fish Broth Gravy For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Minced Grain Free Salmon & Cod Recipe In A Fish Broth Gravy For Cats
First Five Ingredients
salmon
fish broth
cod
pumpkin
carrot

The Honest Kitchen

Minced Grain Free
Turkey, Chicken & Duck Recipe In A Bone Broth Gravy For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Minced Grain Free Turkey, Chicken & Duck Recipe In A Bone Broth Gravy For Cats
First Five Ingredients
turkey broth
turkey
chicken
duck
pumpkin

The Honest Kitchen

Cat Blend
Goat's Milk
The Honest Kitchen
Cat Blend Goat's Milk
First Five Ingredients
dehydrated goat milk
dried bacillus coagulans fermentation product
dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product
dried lactobacillus rhamnosus fermentation product
dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product

The Honest Kitchen

Mmmixers
Chicken & Duck Meal Enhancer For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Mmmixers Chicken & Duck Meal Enhancer For Cats
First Five Ingredients
chicken
water sufficient for processing
duck
agar-agar

The Honest Kitchen

Mmmixers
Salmon & Pollock Meal Enhancer For Cats
The Honest Kitchen
Mmmixers Salmon & Pollock Meal Enhancer For Cats
First Five Ingredients
salmon
pollock
water sufficient for processing
agar-agar

The Honest Kitchen

Smittens Bites
Herring & Cranberry Recipe
The Honest Kitchen
Smittens Bites Herring & Cranberry Recipe
First Five Ingredients
dehydrated herring
cranberry
rosemary extract

The Honest Kitchen

Smittens Bites
Herring Recipe
The Honest Kitchen
Smittens Bites Herring Recipe
First Five Ingredients
dehydrated herring
rosemary extract

The Honest Kitchen

Smittens Bites
White Fish Recipe
The Honest Kitchen
Smittens Bites White Fish Recipe
First Five Ingredients
dehydrated whitefish
sea salt