Published Nov 23, 2019
Could this Chewy brand be the low-cost, high-quality food you’ve been waiting for? Find out in our comprehensive American Journey cat food review.
The Cats.com Standard—Rating American Journey on What Matters
We’ve analyzed American Journey and graded it according to the Cats.com standard, evaluating the brand on species-appropriateness, ingredient quality, product variety, price, customer experience, and recall history. Here’s how it rates in each of these six key areas.
Ratings
- Species-Appropriateness – 6/10
- Ingredient Quality – 7/10
- Product Variety – 7/10
- Price – 8/10
- Customer Experience – 9/10
- Recall History – 9/10
Overall Score: 7.6/10
We give American Journey cat food a 46 out of 60 rating or a B+ grade.
About American Journey
This Chewy-exclusive brand was launched in 2017. It’s marketed as top-notch pet food at an accessible price. It checks all the boxes of on-trend natural food, but good prices, pretty packaging, and fashionable formulations do not a great cat food make.
In this review, you’ll learn the facts about American Journey, finding out where it’s made, getting the details on the brand’s recall history, and getting the details on whether or not their recipes meet our standard of excellence.
Sourcing and Manufacturing
American Journey cat food is made by an unnamed manufacturer located in Kansas, with the exception of the Landmark line, which is produced in Thailand. Their ingredients are primarily sourced from the United States, along with a few countries around the world, including Mexico, China, Chile, Canada, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Has American Journey Cat Food Been Recalled?
No. American Journey pet food products have never been recalled.
What Kinds of Cat Food Does American Journey Offer?
American Journey cat food is available in grain-free wet and dry recipes. Their wet foods come in either a paté or minced in gravy consistency. The lineup includes both single and multiple-protein recipes. Protein sources include chicken, turkey, beef & chicken, and salmon.
American Journey Cat Food – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed
| Product Name | Food Type | Price | Our Grade |
| American Journey Grain Free Turkey & Chicken Recipe | Dry | $3.09 per lb | B- |
| American Journey Grain-Free Salmon Recipe | Dry | $2.83 per lb | B- |
| American Journey Paté Turkey & Salmon Recipe | Wet | $0.4 per oz | B+ |
#1 American Journey Grain Free Turkey & Chicken Recipe
Turkey appears to be the primary protein source in this dry cat food.
Like so many grain-free kibble products, this is a high-carbohydrate dry food that uses pea protein and peas instead of off-trend corn, soy, and wheat. Let’s take a closer look.
In addition to peas, the food contains a generous amount of turkey, chicken, menhaden fish meal, and eggs. In addition to protein sources, the food contains a sprinkling of on-trend fruits and veggies. These include blueberries, spinach, apples, carrots, and pumpkin.
In addition to the standard variety of synthetic vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, the food contains probiotics to support a healthy gut microbiome.
Overall, this food has high protein content, moderate fat, and moderate carbohydrate content.
Though it has some good qualities—presumably high-quality protein in comparison to oft-used animal by-products and slightly lower carbohydrate content when compared to other dry foods—it isn’t the best food you could give your cat. Dry food is, in general, not the most nourishing option and this food is a particularly mediocre one. Nothing here really stands out as particularly good or bad.
The food contains 395 calories per cup.
Ingredients
Deboned Turkey, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Tapioca Starch, Dried Egg Product, Pea Protein, Peas, Deboned Chicken, Natural Flavor, Menhaden Fish Meal, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Flaxseed, Pea Fiber, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Inulin, DL-Methionine, Taurine, Salt, Spinach, Apples, Blueberries, Carrots, Cranberries, Pumpkin, Mixed Tocopherols (Preservative), Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Copper Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, L-Carnitine, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Rosemary Extract, Yeast Culture, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Trichoderma Longibrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract.
Ingredients We Liked: Deboned Turkey, Deboned Chicken, Chicken Fat, Probiotics
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Tapioca Starch, Pea Protein,
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Features a diverse array of nourishing animal-sourced ingredients
- Contains probiotics to support healthy gut microbiota
- Relatively low carbohydrate content compared to other dry foods
- Free of potentially-harmful artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives
Cons
- High carbohydrate content
- Low moisture content may lead to chronic dehydration
#2 American Journey Salmon Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat Food
Salmon appears to be the primary protein source in this dry cat food.
This dry food is similar to the last one we reviewed. Instead of deboned turkey and chicken, it places salmon at the head of the ingredient list.
The food contains a mix of fresh salmon muscle meat, salmon meal, and menhaden fish meal. Dried egg product is added as a fourth source of animal protein.
It contains pea protein, peas, and tapioca starch as binding agents. These ingredients increase the food’s overall carbohydrate content and make it a relatively species-inappropriate product. Other plant ingredients include canola oil, flaxseed, pea fiber, and trace amounts of carrots, cranberries, apples, and other nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables.
The food is fortified with vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, plus probiotics for digestive and support and overall health.
Overall, this dry food has moderate protein content with moderate fat and high carbohydrate content.
Like the first product on the list, this is a middling food. There isn’t anything about it that is particularly special. It is a good upgrade from by-product laden, brightly colored foods on the grocery shelf, but it still isn’t the most carnivore-appropriate food you could buy.
The food has 410 calories per cup.
Ingredients
Deboned Salmon, Salmon Meal, Tapioca Starch, Menhaden Fish Meal, Dried Egg Product, Pea Protein, Peas, Natural Flavor, Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Flaxseed, Pea Fiber, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Inulin, Taurine, DL- Methionine, Salt, Spinach, Apples, Blueberries, Carrots, Cranberries, Pumpkin, Mixed Tocopherols (Preservative), Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Niacin Supplement, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, L-Carnitine, Manganese Sulfate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Proteinate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Calcium Iodate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Rosemary Extract, Yeast Culture, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus Niger Fermentation Extract, Dried Trichoderma Longibrachiatum Fermentation Extract, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Extract.
Ingredients We Liked: Deboned Salmon, Probiotics
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Tapioca Starch, Pea Protein, Peas, Canola Oil
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Slightly low carbohydrate content than other dry foods
- Appears to contain high-quality meat ingredients
- Free of artificial colors, flavors, and potentially-toxic preservatives
Cons
- High carbohydrate content
- High-moisture cat food is preferable to kibble
#3 American Journey Pate Turkey & Salmon Recipe Grain-Free Canned Cat Food
Turkey appears to be the primary protein source in this wet cat food.
Finally, let’s take a closer look at one of American Journey’s wet foods. This product is primarily made from turkey, turkey liver, and salmon. These nourishing animal ingredients are whipped into a paté and stabilized with a triad of thickeners that includes cassia gum, guar gum, and xanthan gum.
The food gets a boost of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil.This anti-inflammatory ingredient supports skin and coat health.
Overall, this food has high protein content with moderate fat and moderate carbohydrate content.
Overall, this food is comparable to products from Wellness Complete Health or other brands competing in the premium canned cat food arena.
It has both good and bad qualities—good points include apparently high quality protein sources and no artificial colors or flavors. On the negative side, it contains a few ingredients that cats don’t need or benefit from. Flaxseed and blueberries aren’t an essential part of the felne diet. Ingredients like this edge the carbohydrate content close to the 11% mark, which is a little bit higher than ideal.
The food has 407 calories in each 12.5 ounce can or about 33 calories per ounce.
Ingredients
Turkey, Turkey Broth, Turkey Liver, Salmon, Natural Flavor, Flaxseed, Guar Gum, Taurine, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Cassia Gum, Xanthan Gum, Cranberries, Blueberries, Choline Chloride, Inulin, Magnesium Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Fish Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Thiamine Mononitrate, Sunflower Oil, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Rosemary Extract.
Ingredients We Liked: Turkey, Turkey Liver, Salmon, Fish Oil
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Guar Gum, Cassia Gum, Xanthan Gum
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Rich in animal-sourced nutrients
- Relatively low carbohydrate content
- One of the most economical cat foods you can buy
- Doesn’t contain carrageenan, artificial colors, or artificial flavors
Cons
- Contains several thickening gums
- Carbohydrate content is a little bit higher than ideal
What Do Customers Think of American Journey Cat Food?
Based on forum comments and customer reviews, people like American Journey cat food—mostly because it is a fantastic value.
According to customer reviews, dry foods are more well-liked than their wet foods, which get lukewarm ratings. Even the popular Turkey & Salmon pate recipe gets middling reviews, with a whopping 20% of customers giving it just one star. Most unhappy reviewers say their cats didn’t like the way the food tasted or refused to eat it.
Positive Reviews
“My family of five cats have a choice of three high quality dry cat foods. All high protein, no grains. All three bowls are always kept full for them to eat when they chose to eat. Every kitty sniffs through the three choices and ALWAYS comes back to American Journey Turkey & Chicken. ALWAYS. They will eat the other two choices if one of their sibling kitties is eating with them. They do like the other two as well, but American Journey is their favorite. To me the cost to value ratio is excellent. My kitties are healthy and content. They have lots of energy and look wonderful. I recommend this brand to my friends.” – TJinUT, reviewing American Journey Turkey & Chicken Recipe Dry Cat Food
“At the time of writing this, this wet food cost $18.89 for 12 cans of 12.5 oz each, $17 if you chose to Autoship. This means that for the 150 ounces you get, the unit price per ounce is only $0.13, $0.11 if you Autoship. To compare, one of the cheapest and most accessible wet food brands you can find, Fancy Feast (I chose the cheapest 24 pack option Chewy offered at the time, Classic Salmon & Shrimp Feast), is about $0.16 per ounce and you get 72 ounces per each 24 pack of 3 ounce cans. American Journey’s Turkey & Salmon pate also contains no by-products and is grain-free with comparable protein, fat, and fiber contents plus more taurine. I have two adult ( two years old when writing this) cats and give them each a quarter of a can of this wet food daily, plus their dry food of course. They really seem to like the food, although they are not the pickiest when it comes to wet food. Other reviews are right, this pate has a very soft consistency as well as a slickness to it. I don’t find the smell offensive, it’s very standard compared to some wet foods containing salmon. The cats and I are big fans of this product.” – Marli, reviewing American Journey Turkey & Salmon Wet Cat Food
Negative Reviews
“I switched to this brand several months ago and noticed that the longer I fed it to my feral cats they were increasingly hungry until I had bumped the serving size up to almost 2-3 times more. They are now shedding and their fur is dull and dry. I will not be continuing to purchase this brand but will switch back to a previous one. The only reason I tried this brand was to give them some variety.” – MissPepper, reviewing American Journey Turkey & ChickenRecipe Dry Cat Food
“I have been trying many brands and flavors of wet foods recently to find one that both of my 7 month old kittens like. One of them was recently diagnosed with IBD and put on a grain and chicken free diet, which meant waving bye to their old favorite Science Diet. I have very mixed feelings about this American Journey food. On the one hand, both my boys love the taste and texture. And my IBD guy seems to do OK on it so far. I love the price point and large can size. However, we are about halfway through our case and have one can that is severely dented (definitely from the manufacturer, not Chewy, as the box was fine)It’s so deeply dented that I will just throw it away. I have also had two cans so far full of little bone fragments. So far, none that would pose a choking hazard, but still gross. So I don’t think I will purchase this food again because there seems to be some definite quality control issues.” – Megan, reviewing American Journey Turkey & Salmon Wet Cat Food
How Much Does American Journey Cat Food Cost?
American Journey cat food is one of the cheaper foods on the market. It costs about $0.30 to $0.38 per day to feed an average cat one of their dry recipes. If you opt for one of American Journey’s wet cat foods, that price will be a little higher, averaging around $1.63 per day.
Overall, Is American Journey a Good Choice?
If you want to get a pretty good food at a pretty good price, consider American Journey. Its competitive edge is spelled out in dollars and cents. American Journey wet food is nutritionally similar to brands like Wellness Complete Health at a slightly lower price and its dry food is a few cents per ounce cheaper than similar grain-free kibble.
Where To Buy American Journey Cat Food?
You can only buy American Journey cat food on Chewy.com. This pet product retailer ships to home addresses in the contiguous United States only.
I thought about trying this but its too many thickeners. I want to move away from kibble since grains and legumes are bad for them. Would you recommend anything that doesn’t have so many thickeners that is high quality and not extremely expensive ? I have a lot of cats lol
What do you consider to be too many thickeners? You can find a good variety of wet foods that contain some guar gum at a relatively low price, but I’m not aware of any good wet foods that are entirely thickener-free and not expensive. You might find something you like in our article on the best cheap cat food.
Hi. I thought that American Journey was supposed to be “economical.” The Landmark grain free minced chicken and turkey in broth looks like it has great ingredients but I almost passed out at the price!!! Is that a separate line???
Hi Margaret,
The Landmark grain free minced chicken and turkey in broth is a sub-brand under the American Journey brand. You can see full breakdown of the recipe on on PetFoodSherpa.com here:
https://petfoodsherpa.com/cat-food-reviews/american-journey/american-journey-landmark-chicken-turkey-recipe-in-broth-grain-free-canned-cat-food
Do you have thoughts on the Landmark version? It doesn’t seem to have any thickeners.
Hi Ashley! The Landmark recipes look pretty good to me—seems they are similar to a lot of our top-recommended shreds-in-broth-style foods, with no thickeners or excessive additives, seemingly low carbohydrate content, and a nice concentration of meat.
My 6 large cats like the pate’ They look good and are active. I tried the minced for a couple days and they all got diarrhea had to add probiotics to help them get better. We will stick with the pate’
the Turkey formula sat here for a whole day before I donated it to the possums. None of my 5 indoor cats would touch it. The 3 outdoor cats nibbled at it but did not finish it. The formula sounds good but the cats have voted.
The currently turkey pate formula contains bones and should not be fed to pets. It almost killed my youngest cat….we’ve been taking him to the vet for months, trying to figure out what’s making him ill. When we found bone fragments in the can, we had it confirmed with our veterinarian and immediately switched brands. Our cat no longer cries out in pain and vomits several times weekly. No animal should have to suffer the pain he felt. I’ve got several cases that are available for examination and have had ZERO response from the company, other than an offer to ship the cans back to them. I will NOT be returning the cans so they can continue to hide the problem. I paid for them and have asked for no money from them….just to take a bad product off the market. Clearly, they have a quality control issue for this to be going on for so long and apparently they don’t care because I’ve asked for no money, just a recall and they don’t want to take the first step.I will make them available to any testing facility who can help with the recall. I’ve called the FDA, an attorney and a recall group to do this on my own.
Please don’t feed this to your pets until they’ve corrected the problem
April, thank you so much for sharing this and for being so diligent in reporting and making the community aware of what happened. Much appreciated.
April, thank you for the comment. My cat has been throwing up to and I had been feeding him the Turkey pate as well. I would also add that the AJ Landmark Wet Cat food also has bones in it not just the fragmented kind. The Landmark cat food is made in Thailand, I wonder how much of the AJ Wet cat food is made in Thailand? I know they claim it’s made in the USA, but I’m having my doubts. I’m going back to Farmina grain free cat food both wet and dry. I know it’s more expensive, but my cat loved it, and was not throwing it up.
It’s a good question. I tried to get some answers on where American Journey is manufactured but was unable to get a compelling/clear response. The person to whom I spoke said that all lines were made in the United States, then conceded that the Landmark line was made in Thailand but wouldn’t give a clear answer as to if any other recipes were made outside of the States. We’ll see if we can get more information in the future!
Hi Mallory! Would you say that American Journey’s dry food is better than Blue Buffalo’s?
Hi Nat, yes! American Journey’s dry food is slightly nutritionally superior to Blue Buffalo’s, seemingly placing more of an emphasis on animal-derived, rather than plant-derived, protein. Hope this helps!
I noticed you didn’t review the Landmark Salmon small can. My 4 girls loved it but I don’t think it was Salmon. It looked and smelled like Tuna. To compare I opened a can of people tuna and it was almost identical. This food was not inexpensive and not Salmon. I now am concerned what else is not as it says it is. I am contacting Chewy. Where can I find a review of this?
Hi Roberta,
We recommend using this tool to generate a review on this or any other recipe:
https://petfoodsherpa.com/pet-food-analyser
The price of American Journey wet cat food has sky rocketed in Fall if 2023. A case of 3 oz cans of Chicken Pate jumped from $18 to $36. I ordered 3 cases t9 be delivered in my current autoship only because I had a 50% off promotion. I will NOT be buying it again. One reason I wanted it is because it is fairly low in Phosphorus compared to many wet foods. Will have to look elsewhere because I can’t afford that anymore.
Honestly, to get the same nutritional value as AMJO will be difficult at that price, even with their recent increase in price. More than likely, if they raised prices so have others. Especially, if birds are used or they use ingredients from afar as there is another bird flu outbreak and there have been some logistic issues with off seas shipping for a few months now. I have researched until my fingers bleed trying to find the healthiest food I could find within my limited price range and AMJO was the best. If you CAN find another food with this percentage of protein/fat/carbs, low in ash, has probiotics, and correct levels of phosphorous please let me know. I have 5 cats and have recently been let go from my job. Any recommendation would be great!
hello Mallory Gusta! I was wondering if there are any other cat foods (both wet and dry) that can compare to the protein/fat/carb ratio, with the probiotics, low levels of phosphorous, and ash? All 5 of my cats are rescued from a neighborhood feral colony and this brand has nursed them to health. They have done very well on it. Their fur is super soft and/or shiny, and they are all at a perfect weight. I also add The Honest Kitchen Daily Boosters Instant Goat’s Milk with Probiotics with 2 oz of water into their wet food to give an added boost of protein and liquids. All this being said, I got let go of my job and have dwindling funds. I really hate to buy less healthy food for them, but I am just so broke. Is there anything comparable at a lesser price point? ty!!
Hi there! I would consider Kirkland’s dry cat food if you have access to a Costco store near you. Their foods are very competitively priced with similar—or better—nutrition than that from American Journey. Wishing you all the best, and Merry Christmas!
American Journey is being sued in FL for lying about its grain free dog food that is actually full of wheat. If they lied about that ….
Hi Betsy, I looked into the lawsuit and only found a brief mention about the farmer who proposed it in 2021. It seems an “independent analysis” was conducted on the product, but no details are given about whether it was conducted at a professional lab or what. I couldn’t find any indication that the suit has gone forward but let us know if you hear anything!