Published Dec 8, 2019
They say Friskies feeds the senses, but what about your cat’s health? Read our unbiased Friskies review to find out if this brand is a safe, nutritious choice.
The Cats.com Standard—Rating Friskies on What Matters
We’ve analyzed Friskies 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 those six key areas.
Ratings
- Species-Appropriateness – 6/10
- Ingredient Quality – 4/10
- Product Variety – 8/10
- Price – 6/10
- Customer Experience – 5/10
- Recall History – 5/10
Overall Score: 5.6/10
We give Friskies cat food a 34 out of 60 rating or a C grade.
About Friskies
The Friskies brand dates back to 1934, just a few decades after the first dog biscuit was sold. The dog food industry was in its infancy and commercial cat food was virtually nonexistent. So when Carnation started the Friskies brand, they focused on dog food.
In the 1950s, the product developers at Carnation introduced a new line of specialty Friskies dog food. Instead of targeting adult dogs only, one of the new specialty recipes was intended for puppies. Not only was this food just right for growing pups, but it was also appropriate for the household cat.
The only problem was that cats didn’t like Friskies puppy food. Friskies sales manager Henry Arnest suggested that the company formulate a food made just for cats and convinced the team to start a market trial of a cat-specific food.
Little Friskies for Cats had a slow start, initially doing well only on the West Coast of the United States. The brand gained a foothold in the growing cat food market and, almost 60 years after its birth, Friskies was the United States’ leading wet cat food, generating almost 586 million dollars in sales.
In 1985, the brand was acquired by Nestlé, now the Nestlé-Purina company. Nestlé-Purina is one of the world’s leading pet food conglomerates. In addition to Friskies, Nestlé-Purina is behind Fancy Feast, Purina Cat Chow, Tidy Cats, and other household names.
Sourcing and Manufacturing
Friskies is made in multiple Purina-owned facilities in the United States. The company sources ingredients primarily from the United States. Ingredients including lamb, venison, duck, rabbit, and vitamin packs are sourced from countries outside of the United States.
Has Friskies Cat Food Been Recalled?
Friskies cat food has been recalled at least once. In 2011, the brand’s Grillers Blend dry cat food was recalled due to potential salmonella contamination.
What Kinds Of Cat Food Does Friskies Offer?
Friskies offers a huge variety of wet food, a small selection of dry food, and treats.
The Friskies wet food lineup includes over 60 varieties, with lines including Lil’ Soups™, Extra Gravy Paté, Extra Gravy Chunky, Classic Paté, Shreds, Prime Filets, Tasty Treasures®, Meaty Bits, Indoor, Cat Concoctions®, Gravy Sensations™, and Flaked cat food.
Alongside its world of wet food, the brand offers six varieties of kibble and four lines of treats.
Friskies Cat Food – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed
| Product Name | Food Type | Price | Our Grade |
| Friskies Classic Paté Turkey & Giblets Dinner | Wet | $0.14 per oz | C- |
| Friskies Surfin’ & Turfin’ Favorites Dry Cat Food | Dry | $1.09 per lb | D |
| Friskies Classic Paté Poultry Platter | Wet | $0.13 per oz | C |
#1 Friskies Classic Pate Turkey & Giblets Dinner Canned Cat Food Review
Meat by-products appear to be the primary protein source in this wet cat food.
Though this food is called “Turkey & Giblets Dinner”, it’s primarily made from meat by-products, a vague name for any combination of AAFCO-approved tissues from cattle, pigs, sheep, or goats.
If that seems odd, remember that the word “dinner” in this food’s title has an important job. It tells you, roughly, how much turkey and giblets are in the food. According to FDA labeling requirements, the word “dinner” after “turkey & giblets” indicates that turkey and giblets, combined, constitute no less than 25% of the food on a dry matter basis. To lose the “dinner” qualifier, turkey & giblets would have to comprise at least 95% of the food on a dry matter basis.
Turkey is the second meat ingredient, followed by poultry by-products, vaguely-specified fish, and poultry giblets. Aside from a small amount of rice, the food is virtually free of grains, fruits, and vegetables. Rice is followed by a series of additives, including artificial and natural flavors and added color. The food is thickened with both guar gum and carrageenan. While neither of these gums is species-appropriate or nutritious, carrageenan is particularly questionable due to its potentially carcinogenic properties.
Overall, this is a meat-based wet cat food with high protein, moderate fat, and moderate carbohydrate content.
There are 416 calories in each 13 oz can or 32 calories per ounce.
Ingredients
Meat By-Products, Water Sufficient for Processing, Turkey, Poultry By-Products, Fish, Poultry Giblets, Rice, Artificial and Natural Flavors, Salt, Guar Gum, Calcium Phosphate, Added Color, Potassium Chloride, Carrageenan, Magnesium Sulfate, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Vitamin A Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Potassium Iodide.
Ingredients We Liked: Turkey
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Meat By-Products, Poultry By-Products, Fish, Rice, Artificial Flavors, Added Color, Carrageenan
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Relatively low in carbohydrates
- Primarily made with animal-sourced protein
- Highly palatable
- Affordable
Cons
- Contains multiple artificial ingredients
- Contains carrageenan
- By-products constitute most of the food’s meat content
#2 Friskies Surfin’ & Turfin’ Favorites Dry Cat Food Review
Corn gluten meal and chicken by-product meal appear to be the primary protein sources in this dry cat food.
Friskies Surfin’ & Turfin’ appears to be the most popular of the brand’s six dry cat foods. The recipe is decidedly plant-heavy with ground yellow corn and corn gluten meal leading the ingredient list. Later on the ingredient list, soybean meal rounds out the food’s range of plant protein concentrates.
In addition to plant protein, the kibble contains a few sources of animal protein. Chicken by-product meal is the third ingredient, followed by meat and bone meal. Salmon meal is a final source of animal protein.
The food contains beef tallow as a fat source. Instead of liver from a named animal, it contains “animal liver flavor”. Dried cheese powder is also added as for an additional flavor boost.
At the bottom of the ingredient list, you’ll notice that the food contains several dyes, including Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, and Blue 2. All of these artificial colors are associated with negative health effects for both humans and animals.
Overall, this food has moderate protein content, low fat content, and is high in carbohydrates.
The food contains 393 calories per cup.
Ingredients
Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Beef Fat Preserved With Mixed-Tocopherols, Meat And Bone Meal, Liver Flavor, Ocean Fish Meal, Calcium Carbonate, Phosphoric Acid, Salmon Meal, Salt, Choline Chloride, Minerals [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Dl-Methionine, Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B-7), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K)], Natural Filet Mignon Flavor, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2.
Ingredients We Liked: Beef Tallow
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Meat and Bone Meal, Soybean Meal, Animal Liver Flavor, Soybean Hulls, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 2
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Affordable
- Cats seem to like the food’s flavor
Cons
- Primarily made from plant ingredients
- Almost all meat ingredients are vaguely-named by-products
- Contains artificial colors
#3 Friskies Classic Paté Poultry Platter Canned Cat Food Review
Poultry and poultry by-products appear to be the primary protein sources in this wet cat food.
The first ingredient in this food is poultry, followed by vaguely-named poultry by-products, liver, and fish.
In addition to animal protein sources, the food contains a trace amount of rice and is flavored with both artificial and natural flavors. It’s thickened with guar gum and carrageenan. Unlike many other Friskies foods, this recipe doesn’t contain any added colors.
Overall, this is a meat-based food with high protein content, moderate fat, and low carbohydrate content.
Friskies Poultry Platter contains 190 calories in each 5.5 oz can or 35 calories per ounce.
Ingredients
Poultry, Water, Meat By-products, Liver, Poultry By-products, Fish, Rice, Artificial And Natural Flavors, Minerals [Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide], Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Vitamins [Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Vitamin A Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B-7), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Vitamin D-3 Supplement], Salt.
Ingredients We Liked: Poultry
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Poultry By-Products, Meat By-Products, Liver, Fish, Rice, Artificial Flavors, Carrageenan
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- This Friskies formula is free of artificial colors
- The first ingredient is a named meat
- Cats like the food’s flavor
- Affordable
Cons
- Primarily made from meat and poultry by-products
- Contains artificial flavor
- Contains rice
- Made with carrageenan
What Do Customers Think of Friskies Cat Food?
Customers are, for the most part, happy with Friskies. People spend hundreds of millions of dollars on it every year. As one of the oldest cat food brands still on the market, Friskies has become a cat food staple. Many have been feeding it to their cats for decades—a tradition passed down from their parents and grandparents.
Not everyone is happy with Friskies cat food, however. On Consumer Affairs, for example, the brand has an overall satisfaction rating of just over 1 out of 5 stars. Complaints range from texture concerns to non-food objects found in cans to reports of illness.
Multiple customers have found pieces of plastic in cans of Friskies food. Between October and December of 2018, numerous reviewers said their cats started to refuse their Friskies food. Friskies says there were no reformulations around the time these reports started popping up. It’s unclear whether or not the incidents were connected.
Positive Reviews
“I have 13 indoor cats that all love this stuff. I just switched from Wellness Canned chicken cat food – which costs 3 times as much, and so far, the cats are all chowing down on it and don’t seem to know the difference. After trying many pricier brands that only come in small cans, I decided to give Friskies a try and it seems to me that the ingredients in the expensive stuff probably aren’t any better. Cats don’t care as long as it smells and tastes good to them.” – Fergusboy, reviewing Friskies Classic Paté Turkey & Giblets recipe
“Feeding a feral group of 12 cats and 8 kittens does get expensive. Even so we have been feeding them a much more costly dry food to help the kittens, especially to get healthy start. They ate it. It was suggested to try this food. My daughter told me that when she put the bowls down, they not only dove right into them, she said they all started purring. So how can I give any less than 5 stars since they are so happy with it and we hope for their continued good health too. Quite a help toward not breaking the bank also as we work toward getting all spayed and neutered. Just when we were more than halfway to that, 3 litters totaling 8 kittens arrived. That’s another story.” – Pato13, reviewing Friskies Surfin’ & Turfin’ Dry Cat Food
Negative Reviews
“Friskies in their “wisdom” have made all labels the same color – with a little splotch listing the variety. The reality of this stupidity is all cans in the closet now look identical. Making opening the “right can” (yes, we all have picky cats) a nightmare. I now hate Friskies for making my mornings miserable. Emailing Friskies was useless!! (oh but it is the same wonderful product). And will no longer be ordering Friskies. And I have used their products for over 40 years in 2 different countries. This has nothing much to do with Chewy but you may carry more weight than a ‘mere customer’” – Finnian, reviewing Friskies Classic Paté Poultry Platter Recipe
“The Friskies T&G pate is probably the most widely accepted flavor of all the Friskies foods. It does, however, contain fish, so make sure you read the ingredients if you have a cat with food sensitivities. There are other “hidden” flavors in the mix.” – RNforCats, reviewing Friskies Classic Paté Turkey & Giblets Recipe
How Much Does Friskies Cat Food Cost?
Friskies is one of the lowest-priced cat food brands you can buy. According to the brand’s feeding guidelines, it would cost roughly $0.95 per day to feed a 10-lb cat one of Friskies’ canned products. Like most brands, Friskies’ dry food is cheaper than their wet offerings. One of Friskies’ dry foods would cost closer to $0.18 per day.
Overall, Is Friskies a Good Choice?
Friskies isn’t a brand we’d recommend. Its selling points are not ingredient quality or nutritional integrity. It is, however, one of the most affordable brands available.
If you choose to buy Friskies, avoid their dry recipes. Friskies dry cat food is packed with low-value plant ingredients like corn gluten meal and soybean meal and rely on vaguely-named animal by-products instead of named meats.
Instead, opt for Friskies wet cat food. Their wet recipes contain some undesirable additives, including carrageenan, artificial colors, and artificial flavors, but are meat-rich with minimal carbohydrate content.
Stick to the patés to avoid starchy thickeners. Read the ingredient lists carefully to minimize harmful additives—some Friskies foods contain artificial colors and others don’t.
Where Is Friskies Cat Food Sold?
Friskies is available at discount stores, big box stores, and groceries. It’s similarly widespread online. You can buy it from Walmart, Target, Amazon, Chewy, and other stores where cat food is sold.
I am writing this review in response to an article regarding the recent issues with this food. I only wish I saw them sooner. It’s all over Facebook and consumer reports has numerous reviews that all go back to October. All stating cats have been sick with diarrhea and even have caused death. I feed my cats vet quality dry food, however for wet food I purchased this friskies recently. I feed them this alternating with fancy feast cans and whiskas and switch it up daily as a treat for something new tasting. For the last 2 months my cat had been getting intermittent diarrhea. I was worried so I took her to the vet. They did some tests and couldn’t find the issue, so they treated her for the active diarrhea she had. However weeks later she got it again. She has now had diarrhea on 4 different occasions lasting for a few days each time. I tried to monitor it based on what food I was giving her, however I couldn’t rule out what it was. Now I know. I only wish like I said that I could have found this out sooner, and avoided her issues. I have fed her friskies in the past, with no issues. I bought 2 different cases of multi pack at the end of October, including chefs dinner, salmon, turkey and giblets, chicken dinner and ocean whitefish and tuna. All had the expiry of sept 2021, which I read was the affected cans. I am ridden with guilt, for feeding this stuff to my beloved family member, and not knowing this. I believe the company should be held responsible and look into these products further. It can’t be sheer coincidence that all these cats in different regions and scenarios are all getting sick. The only commen denomination is this food. If this was a human getting sick the company would have already had to inquire further to this problem. Why after all these reviews has nothing been done yet. Please share this information with all your friends and family via social media, so that no other cats get sick (or die). Maybe if word gets out and enough people know, then their sales will plummet and we can get their attention so they will finally be held responsible for this product.
Hi Danielle,
First off, I hope your cat’s feeling better.
We have heard the complaints about Friskies cat food and will be following along as more information comes to light. For now, it appears that the company is aware of the allegations and maintains that nothing is wrong with Friskies cat food. As long as customers continue to report their experiences to Purina, the FDA, and the community, the company will be aware of what’s happening and will likely take action if any safety issues are confirmed.
I recommend reading Petful’s page on Friskies cat food’s recall history, which includes a note on the latest wave of reports. https://www.petful.com/brands/friskies/
Thank you again for sharing your experience!
Take care,
Mallory
Don’t feed Purina
Hi yes please don’t feed friskies I bought friskies cat food yesterday not knowing that it was bad, when I gave it to my cat who is 5 months old and now he is having diarrhea after eating it and vomiting… Please don’t sell these kind of bad stuff we are very worried of our cat now because he had never had this before.. Do not trust Purina products they are very bad.. 😠
My cat acts like she’s on death’s door and I had to do research on it, not eating all day and cringing in pain, lo and behold, like you say the cans are sept 2021. seriously. FUCK friskies. even acting like nothing is wrong. holy @#$%@#%
is your cat alive? now I’m worried sick for my cat. Thanks friskies!!!!!!
Take your at to the vet. If it is cringing in pain, cat she;d already be in veterinary care. Do NOT trust any Purina products, and especially dry food. But I have used Purina products in the past that truly sucked, coming out of the can it was horrible and stuff that was listed as pate was coming out watery, chunky bitts of fish, in short the fish-which had been my cats favorite-looked as it it had been scraped of the deck if the fish-factory and or canning plant floor. I had to switch, at a great cost in time, the stores where I bought it. Then I switched to Frisks-bpth are made by purina-and it got worse. To start with the cases I buy contain a lot of cans that are badly dented, and in most instances the top is popped up, another words you press the unopened can top and it pops downward. If it does this throw it out, it is not proprerly processed and the can is compromised. Any grocery store where you buy people food would return a can like that ( with huge dents and/or a top that is popped p like that.
So please get your cat to the vet, today. And don’t buy any cat food that is not properly canned. Frisks is very bad in that respect. Don’t ever buy their dry food. I have read lots of horror stories about products from Purina, Friskies et al, and in a lot of those cases people decided that the cats had o eat what they were given not matter what. B.S. If they refuse to eat it, there is a reason. If you got meat from a grocery store that smelled so ba you couldn’t eat it, you wouldn’t be picky, just smart. Same with a cat. If they are hungry0-and most cats eat when you feed them, and they refuse to eat the food it means there is something wrong. Throw it out and give your cat something else.!!
Hope your cat is ok and has recovered.
This product has made my cats suffer vomiting and diahrea for days and Diamond my female cat started vomiting blood soon after consuming seafood supreme from friskies. I had to end up surrendering three of my cats to a cat health/adoption service because I couldn’t afford the vet bills anymore. Heart breaking. I had just gotten them healed from other complications. They were in good health. I had already payed so much to vet bills. To then feed them friskies and totally messed everything up. Such regret.
Kibblee is the worst thing you can feed a cat is extremely high in carbohydrate and the process they use to make it creates mold. Cats have no need for carbohydrates and kibble is very high in carbohydrates such as corn wheat gluten rice Etc. Which leads to many illnesses in cats including diabetes
We have a feral colony of 20 spayed and neutered cats. They are refusing to eat the Friskies Poultry Platter and Ocean white fish. Some will eat it but for the last month they sniff the bowl and walk away. I have 5 cases from Chewy on hand so I need they to finish it . What could I switch to that’s affordable, nutritious and palatable.? Their dry cat food is Purina One Urinary Trac.
Thank you BAM
Hi BAM!
Thanks for your comment! A few recommendations include PetSmart’s Authority brand, which is almost identical to Friskies in terms of ingredients and price, WholeHearted if you want to try something in gravy, and Wellness Complete Health—a slightly more expensive option.
You might also like our article on the best cheap (but healthy) cat food: https://cats.com/best-cheap-cat-food
Hope this helps you find something that works for both you and the colony.
Best,
Mallory
Try First Mate canned free range chicken. It has no artifical colour,preservatives or flavors. No carageenan or anything harmful for your cat.
I have a Norwegian Forest Cat who had, up until a few days ago, never turned down offered food. My husband and son had been purchasing the box packages of Friskies canned cat food, because it was cheaper than other brands. A few days ago, when my husband brought home a new box, when I put it down, Finnigan sniffed it, and walked away. He refused the rest of the can that evening, and refused a different flavor when we offered it.
I asked my husband to stop at the PetSmart to purchase different brands of canned food. Halo is a good brand, And Wilderness brand as well, and I’ve never had a cat turn either of them down. I put down his plate this morning, Halo Turkey and Quail, and he literally wolfed it down as if he’d been starving. This evening, I put down the rest of the can, and again he wolfed it down. Licked that plate clean. He doesn’t even do that if we offer occasional tuna fish, or sardines.
I’m not going to be purchasing canned Friskies or dried Friskies again. My husband picked up a bag of dried cat food at PetSmart called Naked Essentials, that is grain free and holistic. Finnigan enjoys some of those kibbles once in a while.
We’ve been concerned about news indicating that pet food has been sickening and in some cases killing pets. As I understand it, officials in China executed the heads of pet food corporations due to including tainted meat into the pet food.
I hope this isn’t the case again. For now we’ll stick with Halo and Wilderness brands.
I have 3 Norwegian Forest Cats (Weegies) and they too are not picky, and a couple of days ago I had a very similar experience, with all of them. Luckily I had a different flavor that they did eat, but it has happened in the past. Also I have noted an unusually large percentage of the cans in a case are dented, and I mean badly dented, and the tops of the cans, when may easily be pushed downward when only a light pressure is applied. how those away, it indicates they have not been properly canned, perhaps not heated well enough, or there may be a infinitesimally tiny leak I the seal. I have a suspicion that the rejects that go to some of the non-big box store go instead to the internet based stores. Why else would they be getting 1 quarter of the cans in a case dented? (Keep in mind these cans do not need to be Han sorted, they are machine sorted, and a machine can detect and reject o send a can off to another boxing line. In other words I think manufacturers send the supermarket or mom and pop rejects to big box stores. Like Was-Mart and Target. Nothing against those stores! It is because the overnight logistics crew have to move quickly and they have no time to send the cans back-they just put them on the shelf. I figured this out years ago when I worked at a Big Box store restocking shelves as product was depleted during the day. I used to find cases of one particular brand of dog food that would have cans (the tall ones) bent at unbelievable angles, like 15or twenty degrees, and occasionally more. And I mean the entire case was like that. I sent any bent cans to the person responsible to ship them back to the manufacturer as reject. Eventually the manufacturer got the message and quit shipping them to us (it was a very popular brand at the time).
I am in the process of researching a different brand. Especially because cats need higher protein than that which is in Friskies. My vet feeds the cats at that practice (that need to stay overnight) a blend that, while it does include Friskies, also uses baby food (meat type) and I had one cat there three nights. And I gave him this mixture and he did well. I am going back to the recipe for all four of mine. The combo should work, because a mix of lower protein cat food with meat baby food should not be to high in any nutrient while giving the right amount of most everything else.
Give it a try. I do about 50/50. Baby food is expensive relative to the cost of the cat food, but purity is required by the Pure Food and Drug ct. You can also contact the FDA about bad pe food. They can, if there are enough complaints inspect processing facilities and the like.
My situation is a bit different, as I have many older cats as a result of my rescue days. The ‘low cost’ food recommended here looks great, but is twice the price of friskies ($1.50/pound), at approximately $3/pound! My solution (this may not work for everybody) is to make my own cat food and use a friskies 5oz can as a flavoring agent.
I can find fresh chicken thighs at a per-pound cost lower than friskies and I have a reliable recipe from catfoodinfo.org. I also have a freezer, so I can make 6-8 pounds of food at a time and freeze daily portion in reusable dishwasher safe deli containers I get at smart and final. Cheaper, MUCH better food comes with just a bit of work a couple of times a month. Every morning I get their container of homemade, pop a can of friskies, mix it all up and dish it out. They love it, and I feel much better about feeding them a quality wet food.
Catfoodinfo suggests raw food. Is that what you’re using? Do you cook it since you’re supplementing vitamins in the friskers?
Also why can’t we just cook cheap chicken add a vitamins packet and call it a day? I personally don’t have freezer space for 6lb of food at a time.
Most vets that suggest anything other than cat food recommend cooking it, especiallychicken which is almost inevitably contaminated at the chicken processing facilities. Just washing it doesn’t do much good. And supplementation is a good idea, since most cat foods have the proper supplementation cats require. I know some people who feed their cats chicke (not the cat food variety) but it is always cooked, at their vets recommendation.
And no dry food. ever. Bad for the kidneys (Kittens maybe dry food since they eat constantly, and for good reason. But not for adults).
One more recommendation! Do not use any of those cat /dog/fountains unless you are prepared to clean the at least every other day. The manufacturer of the fountains says every two weeks but that is not enough. My vet mentioned that to me once when I had a cat in for pancreatitis like symptoms. It is because algae builds up in the fountains or even the simple water bowl. Not the green gunk like fish tanks, but a gelatinous feline clear film at the sides and bottom of the fountains. The filters do not filter it out. I got rid of mine nd use plain bowls, or even stainless steel, change it no less the every other day (usually daily) and clean it. Then run through dishwasher every couple of days.
My cat is allergic to beef and it is really annoying when contents contain beef but it is not specifically named.
I got suspicious of Friskies turkey and giblets pate when she started to go crazy with her scratching of ears and head and jaws. I live in NZ and wish I could ……… sigh – never mind – thank you for your info.
I recently rescued a underweight barn kitten at 6 weeks old. I got a box of variety pack frisked pate food because it is cheap and one of the only options I had to get him for that first day he came home with me. I have been feeding him the friskies with a mix of different brand grain free kitten kibble and wet food along with a multivitamin and nutri cal to get some weight on him. The poor thing has had diarrhea off and on for the past two days and I thought perhaps it was his first round of dewormer that got his tummy upset, after reading all of this and other reviews I am more inclined to think it is the frisked food that is making my poor little guy sick. He already got a rough start I dont need greedy companies making his life rougher than it is already.
Friskies is a low quality food that I personally don’t recommend for any cat. Cats are like children. They depend on you and their diet is what will determine their overall health. I think friskies should not be sold anywhere and I wouldn’t dream of feeding my three boys ANY purina products. Literally not a single one
I have been feeding my cat friskies pate wet can food for 17 years.I had no problem. I now feed my 5 yrs old male cat extra gravy pate tuna. So far no problem. I also switched my dry food to clear live pro plan dry food because I am allergic to my cat.
Keep using it i don’t but used it on my first two cats lived well over 14 yes
Its fine trolls hate on all foods that’s not there’s I’ve seen the same comments from people about their cat dying from this food yet on Royal Canin same story from them but RC instead is what they are blaming, Keep using it it
Gotta say, for those of us caretaking feral families/colonies, Friskies is ideal: they like it, they eat it reliably, they get their nutrients, and it’s affordable. I vary it up with healthy treats and weekly special meals, but Friskies remains the staple. It far-and-away beats killing and eating doves, which they did before I came along and they adopted me.
I BEEN FEED MY CATS. FRISKIES WET AND DRY CAT FOOD. PLEASE READ THE MY POST.
MY STOP FEED YOUR CAT THIS BRAND IT KILLING YOUR CAT.
I DID NOT I WAS KILLING HER WITH CRAPPY FOOD.
November 23, 2020
My cat just die today and she was roughly about 14 years old and yes she was a little big. She was very happy today running around chasing the other cat and play frightening. I saw her laying there so cute I decided to take her picture . She did not move at all I thought that was odd so I called her name Snowflake and she did not answer me.
Hi!
I was wondering if you could do a review for the brand Brit Care? It seems like a quality brand, but I didn’t find any reviews for the cat food. I have bought some for my cat and will try it out.
E, we will consider reviewing Brit Care in the near future. Thank you!
My 2 cats and dog are vomiting the past 2 days. I think it’s from the friskies wet cat food. Should I contact the company?
Megan, yes, that would be a good idea. I would also recommend contacting a vet if you haven’t already—it’s important to have a vet’s insights on what seems to be the matter with your cats and dog. Hoping everything turns out alright for all of you.
I’m a real person and my cat died from eating friskies because my mom was stingy. Friskies hires ppl to write good reviews about them. THEY HAVE a lot OF BLOOD ON THEIR HANDS
My cats will only eat the Friskies wet food when the can is first opened. After that, they won’t touch it. Any idea why this is? I do warm the food for them in the microwave, freshly opened or not. But they’ll only eat it when it’s just opened. Wondering if others have this problem?
Hey Catherine! Cats are very sensitive to smells, especially when it comes to their food. It’s likely that the food smells the strongest and most appealing right after it’s been opened but the smell fades after a while and it becomes less appealing. You could try adding something smelly on top of it like a sprinkle of bonito flakes to see if it piques their interest! Here’s a link: https://cats.com/redirect/?href=https://prf.hn/click/camref:1101l4atA/pubref:best-cat-treatsATZojr5qPF3fVkzPpUVjEDKrJRUWgj37frrA/destination:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chewy.com%2Fcat-man-doo-extra-large-dried-bonito%2Fdp%2F35538
Great information on the site thank you.
I purchased several 32 can boxes of various Friskie cat foods to feed 3 feral cats over winter, who will eat almost anything at this timne of year..
When it came time to give them the products in the case labelled “Poultry’, 24 of the 32 units were ‘in gravy’ and the other 8 were ‘pate’.
Without exception, the cats would readily consume the gravy, but would not touch the so-called meat.
And after darkness neither the resident opposum, or racoon would have ith either.
Also, it turns out my sister, who lives in a city distant to me has / is having the same experience with her two indoor cats too.
So beware consumer, who knows what may be wrong with this ‘stuff’? .
Hi Ernest, I appreciate you sharing this! Thanks.
our cats have always enjoyed friskies but just lately the food has changed , there is no longer the gravy the cats used to love , in place of the gravy is this orange stuff that is supposed to be gravy but its not , the food also smells different and the introduction of the brown spot in the middle of the food just like the cheaper brands do . Before people start saying im imagining it tell it to the cats .they have been eating for years but suddenly non of the cats like it . Im changing brands . Do these people even test on real cats ?
Hi Julian, thank you for posting about this change in Friskies cat food—we’ve read a lot of similar reports over the years, and your comment helps everyone understand this brand a bit better. Take care, and I hope you can find something your cats agree with soon!
Lately the last year or so our cats are thinking there is something wrong with different batches or boxes we order of the Friskies Pate. We have 3 cats, 2 are 9 years old & the 3rd is a feral we have had for about 9 months. Even she is noticing differences. I notice differences too, when it smells good & smells bad!
Thanks for sharing your experience, Jon!
I like your reviews, however I believe that they could be improved. For brands like Friskies, I wish you’d review more of their variations. By saying “Top 3 Recipes”, I’m not sure if you mean the top 3 most popular, most bought or the top 3 in the grade you’ve given them or some other ‘top 3’ ranking. But the issue I see so far is that you often only review a brand’s Pate options unless there isn’t one available. These Pate options often include carrageenan and the company can get away with less quality ingredients since it’s all being ground into mush anyway. I’d love it if you could make some of these reviews more extensive by including a brand’s other wet food forms, such as Shredded, Morsels, Chunky, Minced, Flaked, etc. For example, something I commonly get for my cat is ‘Friskies Shreds With Turkey & Giblets in Gravy’ which doesn’t have any carrageenan, liver, fish, or rice listed in it’s ingredients. So I always wonder what you’d rate that recipe as. I just think it’s a bit unfair to judge an entire brand by a few select recipes they offer, rather than seeing if they have a wider range of good to bad products.
Hello Emily, that’s an excellent point. Breaking down the reviews by category rather than the three most popular products would make sense and make it easier to compare to other recipes in the same category. Great suggestion. Thanks!
I agree with the last comment. I’m guessing there are over 50 different canned Friskies. Several don’t contain rice or carrageenan. Some don’t have unnamed liver or by product. It would make me very happy if you listed the best two or 3 Friskies canned. Those that are lowest in carbs & with the fewest questionable ingredients. My income fluctuates due to my job so sometimes I feed high quality like Dr. Esleys & unfortunately I sometimes do have to Feed Friskies because I’m one hour away from nearest store & 2 hours away from a pet store. Amazon does not even deliver to my home because we are off the grid & UPS can’t make the driveway. My cats have a beautiful life & can even go outside supervised because I’m 25 mins from the nearest road. This would be very helpful with Fancy Feast too. I do sometimes feed the Fancy Feast Tuna the website recommended for diabetic cats. Thank you very much!
Joseph S.
PS. If you do as I asked please email me the results or just a notification. I appreciate this website so very much!
Hi Joseph, thanks for the message. Here are my recommendations for the best foods from each of these brands:
Friskies – I’d look for the patés that are named “protein + dinner”, not the ones that are “with protein”; this suggests higher meat content.
1. Turkey & Giblets Paté
2. Salmon Dinner Paté
3. Chicken & Tuna Dinner Paté
Fancy Feast
1. Classic Chicken Feast (Paté)
2. Fish & Shrimp Feast (Flaked)
3. Tender Beef Feast (Paté)
Hope this helps!
This is not unbiased please remove that from the title. How do you score species appropriation? Is its brick 0/10 and whole dead wild bird 10/10? Cuz you are not getting that ever. Customer satisfaction? Did you ask the cat how the food tasted or did you taste it yourself?
Hey, thanks for the comment. We’re working on making our rating system a bit more concrete, because it’s not as clearly defined as it could be at this time. However, you can see how we rate foods here.
I’ve been feeding my two cats Friskies Surf and Turf for 4 years. Never paid any attention to ingredients. Both cats ate regularly and are healthy but last week both cats stopped eating when I opened a new bag. On the 2nd day of not eating I decided maybe they know something I don’t. I figure there is something wrong with this new bag/batch. But this got me to look for the first time at my cats food ingredients. The 1st listed ingredient is corn. Then I read a bunch of stuff on various foods. No more Friskies in my home. I bough some IAMs($$) and also some Orejin ($$$). Put both down in separate bowls. Cats commenced eating. I really good loooong article is shown at the link below. The best part is the discussion near the end IMO. Also, I thing to remember: One Vet Bill > 1 year of expensive cat food.
Great article on dry cat food: https://cats.com/best-dry-cat-food
Thanks for the observations and appreciation!
I think Friskies has gotten rid of carrageenan in a lot of their recipes. With Beef In Gravy, Turkey & Cheese Dinner In Gravy, With Ocean Whitefish & Tuna In Sauce, Chicken & Salmon Dinner In Gravy, Meaty Bits Chicken Dinner In Gravy, Extra Gravy Chunky With Turkey In Savory Gravy, Shreds With Turkey & Giblets In Gravy, for example, don’t have carrageenan in their ingredient list anymore.
I currently have 5 cats, the youngest of which is 17 years old. Their primary food is Friskies canned food. They love it, and I can afford it. I’ve fed my cats Friskies for their entire life. My two previous cats lived happy lives until they passed away at ages 19, and 21 years.
I don’t think it has Carrageenan in the ingredients anymore or I’m wrong?
From what I can see, the ingredient lists shown here are accurate for the recipes we’ve reviewed.
My cats love Friskies more than an expensive meat based canned food that I bought for them. They love the dry which I have crushed in the blender and added water to make a pate. After all the canned food is 75% plus water. My cats are expensive pedigreed cats that go the vet only once a year for their check up, including blood tests. They are extremely healthy and their teeth are excellent as well at the age of 8 in March 2024.
Glad to hear your cats are doing so well! Making your own pate from dry food is a super cool trick, thanks for sharing!