I’m a wildlife biologist, so I spend a lot of time thinking about what animals eat—and that includes my cat. I’ve seen firsthand how poor nutrition affects long-term health and, unfortunately, a lot of cat foods contain fillers and/or artificial flavors (lookin’ at you, Fancy Feast).Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they must eat meat to survive. They rely on nutrients found only in animal tissue—like taurine, arachidonic acid, and preformed vitamin A—and can’t synthesize these on their own from plant sources.While they can digest small amounts of plant matter, it’s not nutritionally necessary and offers limited benefit. In the wild, any plant material they consume usually comes from the stomachs of their prey or as an incidental nibble (like grass).Their digestive systems are optimized for meat, not starch; because carbohydrates aren’t needed to meet their nutritional requirements, they have low levels of the enzyme that breaks down carbohydrates. Not all grains are evil, but they’re often used in cheaper pet foods as inexpensive fillers—to bulk up the food instead of using more meat.That can lead to weight gain, kidney trouble, blood sugar spikes, and food sensitivities. Fillers mean lower quality nutrition — grains don’t provide the amino acids cats need (like taurine), so foods that rely heavily on them are less nutritionally complete.I feed my kitty Blue Buffalo Tastefuls, which is a good balance of quality/nutrition and cost. It comes out to be about $1.44 per 5oz can, which isn’t bad if you take a look at what other brands cost for lower-quality food. It’s made with real meat products and doesn’t rely on cheap fillers like corn or soy.TL;DR:Blue Buffalo Tastefuls edges out brands like Friskies, 9Lives, Whiskas, Fancy Feast, Sheba, and Cat Chow because it’s made with real meat as the first ingredient—none of that mystery meat by-product business. It skips the artificial flavors and preservatives, and doesn’t bulk things out with cheap fillers like corn, wheat, or soy. Tastefuls is packed with protein and has a more natural ingredient list overall, which means better nutrition, healthier coats, and happier bellies. Plus, picky eaters tend to go nuts for it—without the upset stomach afterward.

My cats really like this food. The price isn't bad given that I mix it wirh dry food. I certainky will buy it again.

One of the only foods my picky cat will eat.Adding a little water makes a good gravy and gets the cat more water.

These are pate, no shreds or chunks. Kitty seemed to like them. Nice variety of flavors!

I have to give five stars because my 4 picky eaters enjoyed this wet cat food for a few years. Then all of a sudden they stopped cleaning their dishes and I knew it was time to start looking for something else.But if your cats haven’t had this yet, I’ll bet they’ll like it for awhile if not a year or two.It’s definitely worth the money. I always avoid shreds, my cats only like pate’.I’ve found another wet pate’, and it is quite pricey, but now my four girls are cleaning their dishes every time. Of course they love the more expensive brands. They are so spoiled but it’s worth it!! They keep us company and never fail to entertain. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to provide the best and most nutritious cat food. Our cats are rescues, so they’ve come to us from living rough and now live like royalty.Blue Buffalo is definitely a delicious and nutritious cat food. Your cats will love it!!

For a long time kitties enjoyed BB but I’m suspecting recipes may have changed because it didn’t seem as good as it was. Some noticeable changes like their energy and fur not as shiny. They didn’t run for it like before. Quality not the same. What happened, Blue Buffalo?! Years ago your company helped my dog who had cancer she lived far longer than vet expected and I attributed it to the food. Sad to see this happen in pet food industry. My cats now prefer Tikicat and 4Health. BB you lost and loyal customer.

Since I began feeding Blue Buffalo to my cats shortly after the company went into business (I was a store demonstrator for Blue Buffalo for a couple of years), my cats have lived into their mid-20s or later, one of them nearly making it to 29 years old.When I look for cat food, I look for something with no corn, soy, wheat, gluten, or unnamed by-products. Meat, fish, or fowl should be the first ingredient.I free-feed Blue Buffalo kibble, which is always there for them, but I also split a 5.5 oz can between the two of them in the morning, and, if they eat that, I'll split another can between them in the late afternoon. Since cats get most of their liquid requirement from their food, I consider it to be important to feed them canned food.My cats will eat Blue Buffalo kibble every day of their lives; although I rotate between the recipes and occasionally mix another brand of premium kibble in for a change of pace, they require more variety in canned foods.I rotate several premium canned foods into their diet, but the only ones that they seem never to turn down are Blue Buffalo, Earthborn, and Soulistic. However, if I fed them any one of these day after day, they'd get bored with it, so it's important to mix it up. Cats are finicky, and they are also individuals.Although Blue Buffalo insists that their Tastefuls recipes are the same as the earlier Healthy Gourmet recipes, it seems to me that my cats preferred the Healthy Gourmet, so I'm thinking there was a change beyond the label.Nevertheless, Blue Buffalo Tastefuls is still a recipe that my cats will almost never turn down, and I like the ingredient list.For example, the first five ingredients are as follows:Chicken Entree: Chicken, Chicken Broth, Chicken Liver, Natural Flavor, Brown Rice.Fish & Shrimp Entree: Fish, Fish Broth, Water, Chicken, Chicken Liver.Turkey & Chicken Entree: Turkey, Chicken Broth, Chicken Liver, Chicken, Natural Flavor.Ocean Fish & Tuna Entree: Whitefish, Fish Broth, Tuna, Chicken, Chicken Liver.My only question in these ingredients would be what the heck is Natural Flavor? The natural flavor of what?Blue Buffalo successfully markets its Wilderness brand (kibble and canned), which is available in several different recipes, which are higher in protein than its Tastfules recipes, which could be a good thing for a younger, active cat, but my cats don't care much for the Wilderness recipes. I'll buy some from time to time, and mix it with some of the other foods, but they will sometimes turn down the Wilderness recipes.I've gone on long enough, I suppose. In my experience, Blue Buffalo is a high quality food at a reasonable price, as compared to some other brands. Cats are fickle, and they are individuals, so tastes may vary, but I haven't had a cat turn down Blue Buffalo Tastefuls.

We tried this variety pack hoping to add some wet food into our older cat’s routine. I had seen mixed reviews but decided to give it a try anyway.Unfortunately, it didn’t agree with our cat. Over time, he became less interested in eating it and seemed off compared to his normal behavior. Eventually he stopped wanting it altogether.Once we switched back to his usual dry food, his appetite returned to normal. Of course, every pet is different, but this formula just didn’t seem to work well for ours. I did appreciate the size of the cans, and the price was reasonable. It was also easy for him to chew, which I liked. However, after he consistently refused it, we decided it just wasn’t a good fit for him.Based on our experience, we won’t be repurchasing.