cleanprotein Chicken Cat Kibble 2 lb. Bag

Do you ever struggle with feeling like you do not get enough "bang for your buck" when it comes to pet food or feel like pet food manufacturers are ripping you off as a whole? I've certainly felt this way time and again. I remember several years ago reading many articles warning of the dangers of various popular pet food brands and their secret and inadvertent poisoning of our feline friends. From that time, I decided to consciously make an effort to ensure that my cats had quality food. I scoured the Internet to find what products were the best for the animal, not just the pocketbook. I have taken a collegiate nutrition course and read many scholarly articles which helped me to find the information I desired, not being content at simply looking at a single source and I made sure that my sources were reliable via further research into them. Dr. Elsey's CleanProtein is a wonderful choice of cat food—the best (pure) "dry" cat food on the market currently that money can buy, it contains no "grain-filler" products as many other pet foods do, it provides our pets with additional needed vitamins and minerals while containing no [carcinogenic] food-dyes and maintaining a pet-approved flavor. It is one of the top-rated "dry" pet foods according to CatFoodDataBase, being marked at "9 out of 10 paws" for ingredients and nutrition, containing no "questionable" ingredients, only being beaten by freeze-dried cat foods "Primal", and "ZiwiPeak" as well as Wysong's Epigen Chicken. ("Dr Elsey's Cleanprotein Chicken Recipe Review", CatFoodDB.com, ¶1). "Overall, Dr. Elsey's is a significantly above average cat food …." ("Dr Elsey's Cleanprotein Chicken Recipe Review", CatFoodDB.com, ¶1). It contains more protein and fewer carbohydrates than most other cat food brands. According to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), it gets a whopping 53.8% of its Calories from protein and 39.8% of them from fat while only using carbohydrates for 6.4% of it's Caloric content. At Dr. Elsey's, they are careful not to pack typical "filler" into the food. Generally, fillers refer to things such as cornmeal, oats, and other grain products that are oftentimes used to provide additional quantity without additional notable substance to pet foods. Unlike dogs, cats specifically are not designed to eat starches and grains over a long period of time and doing so can lead to horrible problems later in the pet's life. ("Cats and Carbohydrates: The Carnivore Fantasy?", Verbruggheand, Hesta, & ed. Rand, Abstract). They take care to ensure that the nutrition going into their feed is exactly that: nutrition. ("The CleanProtein Diet", Dr. Elsey, ¶1). They do use dried egg product as a certain type of filler, but this is nutritious for cats, being an excellent source of [tasty] protein. They add no dyes to their product, noting that many of these dyes have shown cancerous properties in a lab setting. In fact, these dyes are added to products simply to attract human purchasers with little regard to a pet's health. Foods with these dyes and grain-fillers in them are equivalent to the "fast food" of the pet-world—tasty with little value and toxic traits. At Dr. Elsey's also makes sure that the flavor of the product really shines through, if my little feline friends' appetites (and contented "meows") for it have taught me anything! It has a very mild aroma and a firm, "crunchy" texture. Numerous other individuals on Dr. Elsey's website have also confirmed their delight with the product. Some of you may panic whenever you see "salmon" listed within the ingredients, which is understandable but in this case, a bit of further research shows that you have little to fear (unless your cat has a specific allergy to this fish). See, it is not the fish's protein that is used, simply the oil—and not in a massive quantity either, having "significantly less moisture than an equivalent wet food." ("Dr Elsey's Cleanprotein Chicken Recipe Review", CatfoodDB.com, ¶6). Others may have a fright whenever seeing that "oxalate" is used in the food but with some further research, we are delighted to find out that this helps prevent our feline friends from getting Chronic Kidney Disease, a leading feline cause-of-death! ("Chronic Kidney Disease is the #1 Cat Killer: What is Oxylate and Why Does It Matter?", Dr. Elsey, ¶2). This food is packed to the brim with great feline nutrition and carefully crafted to mimic a cat's most natural diet. It uses no toxic dyes or grains & starches in it and even it's filler is protein-based. Cats love its flavor and it even helps to ward off CKD in cats, a leading killer. Some people worry because of fish-based oil used in it, but after a bit of research, you find that the amount is minimal and is actually healthy for felines—improving brain development and cognitive function, reducing inflammation, slowing tumor growths, reducing abnormal heart rhythms, and seizure frequency. ("What Are the Benefits of Fish Oil for Dogs and Cats?", PetMD, Pendergrass, ¶5-11). Dr. Elsey's CleanProtein is one of the best dry cat foods that the market has to offer, fighting for our pets' health, giving them a healthy dose of vitamins and minerals that they need for peak bodily performance, and it is quite affordable. If you're like me and you want your cats to not just live but to really thrive, then give Dr. Elsey's a try, I am sure you won't regret it! Sources: CatfoodDB.com PetMD.com Petfood.AAFCO.com NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov Dr.Elseys.com

Dr Elsey's cat food is high quality nutrition without fillers and flavorings/MSG. My cat does not act weird on it. He has been on it for the last couple of years and still loves it. He has a nice coat and is well behaved/happy. He is a good weight. I give him one of the small tins in the AM and then have dry food out throughout the day. It IS more $ than other brands but totally worth it! There were other brands I tried, more popular ones, and he would just never be satisfied/full. One of the brands I think had so much MSG that he threw A FIT like a spoiled candy addict if it was out or I was late feeding him. Dr. Elsey's is solid nutrition that he really loves.

I have tried many different dry foods over the years and Dr. Elsey's Chicken formula is the one that they seem to do better on. I first tried the Salmon Formula they offer but there was some vomiting issues, I chalked it up to the chickpeas in the food. While cats can have them, they shouldn't have them often. I switched the to this Chicken formula and they seemed to do much better on it than the salmon formula. Unfortunately the chicken formula isn't always in stock, so I had to change them back to the salmon and the vomiting returned. I am thankful that at least now the chicken is in stock more regularly than it had been before because the local pet stores do not carry this brand for some reason. I saw some comments about the formula of this changing to add PORK PLASMA in the ingredients, and I did a lot of research on it and it seems like it is used because of it's binding nature and it also has health benefits as well as it is supposed to help support digestive health. My cats have been back on the chicken formula for several months now and I have not had any digestive issues in any of them. My largest, Muninn, he is the one that seems to be very sensitive to foods and he has done quite well on this new formula, which I am thankful for as I had them on the Ziwi dried food, and while it is great food it is VERY expensive. My suggestion to those who have issues with this brand maybe give Ziwi a try, but be warned it is not cheap by any means. Which is another great thing about the Dr. Elsey's, you get a great product at a reasonable price point, and while it also isn't a cheap food, it is more affordable than some and you still feel good about the quality of food you are getting.

Bought for my diabetic cat. Great quality food but sadly, I discovered that it works for some cats and not others. Even with the low carbs of this food, my cat’s BG readings went up. Back to wet food only for me.

This looked very good at first glance — high protein, no grains, low carbs — but I was a bit concerned about the use of egg and pork products (especially pork, as I had read that it was not good for cats which is why it is not used in most cat foods). I was willing to overlook that for a little while to see if my cat would eat it. Opening the bag I could immediately smell it — the odor was much stronger than my cat's usual food (Only Natural Pet Feline Powerfood). I mixed a few kibble in to my cat's bowl, and she sniffed it and walked away. I persisted, and she eventually got hungry enough to eat 1 tablespoon. But it's obvious she does not like it, even after a week to get used to it. I do notice a difference in her coat being softer, even with just 1 tablespoon a day. But the combination of the egg and pork products, and her reluctance to eat it, means that I am rethinking my plan to switch her over to it completely. Update - I have raised my rating from 2 stars to 5 stars. After several weeks of feeding 1 Tbsp, and then 2 Tbsp, my cat seems to have become more used to the taste. But it looks like she has also developed bladder stones. Upon research I found that foods that contain legumes (peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas) which high in oxalates can cause oxalate stones. Her old food (Only Natural Pet) has chickpeas in it. So I have switched her over completely to Dr. Elsey's. It has been about a week and her fur is even softer now. So far this is the closest food I've found to feeding raw, as it's made from all animal products. Cheers to Dr. Elsey's for manufacturing a true species-appropriate food! Update 2 - After several months she has grown to love it (it took a few weeks), and now gets excited at mealtime for it. I have switched her to almost all canned Weruva food, but still give her a tablespoon of Dr. Elsey's because she loves it so much and looks forward to it every day. Update 3 - She is now getting 2 Tbsp for lunch and 2 Tbsp for dinner, plus half a can of either BFF OMG or Fussie Cat. She is very happy and healthy, and especially loves the Dr. Elsey's.

I've been feeding this great catfood to my cats for their entire lives. It was great, all 5 cats were healthy and happy and loved the food. I've had the monthly subscription for years and years. Never a consistent problem until THIS SUMMER, starting about June or so. Now this catfood makes all my cats sick. It's awful. So sad. I have previous bags from past subscriptions, still perfect, different formula. I had to throw the new sickness inducing food away. Daily vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, itching. The OLD formula causes no issues. I've been slowly cancelling all subscriptions to all flavors as these formula changes and sickness seem to be trickling diwn to every flavor variety now. All the new formulas and flavors make the cats sick. It's really so sad, this was such a good company, such a great catfood. Now it makes my cats sick. I thought it was just a bad batch at first, but different packs, bags, expiration dates, flavors, quantities, all cause issues, even a few kibble bits mixed into other foods. Something is seriously off now. Even the smell is different in some flavors and bathches. I've tried Salmon, Turkey, Chicken, Duck. The Salmon was the first to make them sick. The Chicken must have been the last reformulation because that was the safest flavor and formula until about this June / July subscribe and save subscriptions came in, and then cats got sick from that too. Just so sad. I'm lucky to still have several bags of the old formulation which still is great, causes no issues, but soon I'll be out. I've been mixing in other brands now as the final Dr. Elsey's Chicken kibble is gradually used up. So far there's been no problem at all with the other brands, like Instict Ultimate Protein Cage Free Chicken (47% minimum protein), Purina Pro Plan LiveClear Chicken for Kittens (42% minimum protein level), etc. It's just so sad not to be able to rely on the Dr. Elsey's Chicken (59% minimum protein) dry food. Why on earth did they replace the dried eggs with hydrolyzed pork and pork plasma and whatever else is causing such distress to my cats? I don't get it? Egg is a great protein and cats like it (at least mine- they even steal scrambled eggs bits when they are sbeaky and find them on a plate) and I'm glad that other brands like Purina LiveClear still use the dried egg. In fact, research has found that as well as being a great protein source, egg also reduces cat allergens in their saliva. It's made a big difference to those in my family with cat allergies and it's a good easily digestible protein. I don't know why Dr. Elsey's changed a good formula, but I can't make my cats sick anymore by using it. I even tried just mixing small amounts to get the cats slowly used to the new formula, but that hasn't worked. They just can't adapt even after 3 months. A few cats were starting to do okay (minimal vomiting and diarrhea), but then started itching, pulling out fur, getting bald patches, like with food allergy reactions. Maybe my cat family (Momma Cat and her 4 kittens) just all have allergy to pork protein? Whatever it is, I can no longer use or recommend any of the Dr. Elsey cat food varieties. The litter is still great and they haven't reformulated that, but the cat food is bad now, at least for my particular family of cats. Just sad after so many many good years with this once trusted high quality brand that really seemed to care and want the best for cats, and avoid cheap fillers, by products, protein mixes, excesdive carbs, etc. I don't know why they would make such a huge change, say nothing, and just allow cats to get sick and have to suddenly change the food formula and add an entirely different protein in the mix? And no warning or anything? It makes no sense to me. BEWARE of all the excellent PAST reviews. All the PAST 5-Star ratings are completely correct and accurate, but they are all based on a different formula and a different time. I LOVED this cat food for YEARS AND YEARS! Always reliable, my cats have NEVER been sick ever, until this formula change started occurring, and whatever changes started creeping into all the flavors, starting months ago with the Salmon formula. But the Chicken was always safe until now. Maybe it takes awhile for the alkergy and sick reactions to build up? I don't realky know. If you want to see what has been happening lately just review the latest / most current ratings. Not just on Amazon but all over the internet with this formula change and the impact on so many cats. You can go to reviews and filter by most recent and it tells a different story. Or just research the Dr. Elsey's Formula Change. The reviews have dropped fast and are scary with the cats getting sick. I'm glad I got rid of it fast and it didn't lead to any lasting illness or anything severe, just vomiting and diarrhea and bald patches and itching, which immediately resolved upon switching to the old formula and other brands. This may not be your experience, and I hope your cats love the new formula, don't have reactions to pork protein or pork plasma, and stay healthy and happy. My cats have all reacted to it. Again, these 5 cats are all related (Mother and her children) so it may run in the family, but I just wanted to share. I didn't know what was going on at all until I started reading similar incidents occurring in the last few months with the formula change. I don't write many reviews, and my reviews tend to be mostly 5-star positive, but I wanted to share my specific experience with this new formula, in case it helps anyone else. If Dr. Elsey's wanted to save money by eliminating the dried egg as a protein boost to the chicken protein or as a filler, why not just choose more chicken or add in chicken fat, or something that keeps the formula clean without mixing an entirely different protein into the formula that's existed for a decade or more? I still can't understand it. I knew something was going on about a year ago, little by little different flavors were changing ingredients. I just thought my cats didn't like the different flavors and smells so I switched. I sure was lucky I had so many bags of the original formula saved up. But now I understand why the smell of the foods became different and the reactions by the cats became so different based on the formula and flavor changes. Anyway, sorry for rambling on!

This is the only dry food made in the world that I will feed to my fur babies,it is made from excellent ingredients and has no garbage fillers or poisonous vitamin substitutes in it and is free of crap that cats do not need and cant digest such as soy,potatoes,peas and beans,gums or other such garbage that may be good for you but is not at all good for your feline friend! Even though the formula has changed since I first started using this brand years ago it has changed for the better and maintained the high nutritional value and it is actually made of even better ingredients now than it is use to be.I love the addition of the ground flax seeds as they are very beneficial to healthy kidney function and because they are very finely ground the cats can indeed digest and absorb the nutrients from them.They also add an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids to the food which is another plus for all kitties.My cats love this food,will eat no other and they even prefer it over any wet food I can offer to them.My little dog also loves it and she is a very picky eater who eats very little but because of the extra high protein levels in this food,(the highest available and also 100% absorbable) she maintains a perfect weight and fitness without having to eat very much. The other foods out there with high protein levels obtain them thru use of garbage ingredients that a cat cannot absorb such as soy or corn.Sure it makes the protein levels high but the animals cannot absorb it so it is useless protein to make you think it is good for your babies when it is in fact garbage and unhealthy for them. Dr. Elsey's is made with 95% animal protein from chicken and pork and is 100% absorbed and used by your cats digestive system. My animals are happy and healthy and love their Dr.Elsey's dry food and I would highly recommend that if you truly love your cats you get this food for them. Also,yes it cost a lot,but the fact is that the animals eat less of it than other foods because the high protein level fills them up faster and leaves them feeling full and satisfied for longer. One 6.6 pound bag last my 6 cats and 1 little dog about 2 weeks so is well worth the cost.Besides,can you really put a price tag on your babies health?, I know I can't and don't even care if it cost twice as much a bag,it would still be the one and only dry food in this world I will ever feed to my fur babies! Your cats must also have wet food twice daily as well so never use dry food as a one and only food for them and be sure they always have fresh clean water as well.Your cats will love you for it!

The first thing you need to know about cat food, is that cats are "obligate" carnivores--that means their diet consists almost entirely of meat. Cats don't naturally eat corn, brown rice, beans, lentils, peas, blueberries, or potatos. At least I've never heard of one unless you're feeding them those things in your cat food. They eat small rodents, birds, and whatever then can catch, which consist of protein, water and fat. Here's what I like about this cat food: 1. If you look at the ingredients, you'll find that other than added nutritional supplements they are getting good, named animal protein. No carbs or fillers. Almost all of the protein is animal sourced. 2. My cat LOVES this food. I transitioned her over a year ago and she still thinks it's wonderful. I understand this food is a bit on the pricey side by just looking at the price/pound, however when you consider that it is so highly concentrated, it really isn't that expensive. She is about 12 lbs. (moderately big kitty). I feed her 3/8 cup per day, which means that 1 6.6 lb. bag lasts her over 8 weeks, which comes to about $.75 per day...I think I can afford that. I feed her just once/day in the morning. She is quite self-regulating and nibbles on it in the morning and then finishes it up before lights-out. I've monitored her water intake which is ample enough that she pees regularly big loads several times/day, so she must be flushing her kidneys. She is healthy, has a great coat, is bright-eyed and active. Her weight is perfect for her size--nice waist and a flat tummy. One caution: you need to transition a cat slowly if you're coming from a food that is high in carbs--or you create a stinky-stool nightmare. (It took me 3-4 weeks.) This food is almost 70% protein and almost no carbs. Most other cat foods are around 30-35% protein and about the same in carbs. My final recommendation: Go for it!

Product is as mentioned by others on the expensive side for a small bag. However you are getting what you pay for and I can’t find anything else of this quality and protein percentage on the market. Everything else is full of fillers, fruits, gains, vegetables legumes, inflammatory oils etc. If you want quality this is where it’s at no bs. My cats health is important to me, and so is her diet, cats being complete obligate carnivores this kibble fits that perfectly, Pure protein and vitamins that’s it! As close as possible to raw feeding but in safe easy to feed kibble form! Hydrate kibble with water or bone broth for best benefits to your kitty 😊 Happy customer.

My cat’s writing this review; he did not like it :(

My cats accept this. Will continue to feed this. Seems healthy. Price seems to be increasing and not always in stock.

But my cat has no problem eat it. And it is a high protein diet so my cat don't eat much. One bag can last quite long time.

This is a must have for Diabetic Cats.