Smalls Cat Food Review – Real Food For Your Cat

When it comes to choosing the right food for our feline friends, the options can be overwhelming! There are so many different cat food brands and varieties, making finding a high-quality cat food that meets both nutritional standards and our cats picky palate no small feat. 

Enter Smalls Cat Food—an emerging contender that’s been making waves with its focus on fresh, human-grade ingredients and tailored nutrition. I’ve been using Smalls wet food for about 4 months now and my picky cats love this food. In this Smalls cat food review, we’ll delve into the pros and cons and overall value to help you determine if it’s the right choice for your beloved kitty.

I know I typically write about food, but when you become aware of just how powerful food can be to overall health, it overflows into your pets lives too! I’m hoping this review will help those of you looking for real food alternatives for your cats too!

My Cats and Their Individual Struggles

I have two cats and both of them are over 10 years old and considered seniors. They both have unique issues. 

Cat #1 – She has been overweight since I adopted her 8 years ago but never had any health issues. We have tried all kinds of cat foods to help her lose weight but she seeks out the other cats food and scares the dog so she can eat his food. We have tried everything from feeding her alone in the bathroom until the other animals were done eating, to petting her while the other animals were eating. It just made her very angry and she would take it out on us! I feel like other cat owners would understand. This was one of the main reasons I thought it would be a good idea to start looking for new food. Up until now, the only food that helped was prescription Royal Canin SO with Saiety. 

Cat #2 – She is a great weight but has digestive issues with most foods. She will vomit or have blood in her stool so we had to try every food to find one that helps. The vet recommended giving Miralax but i’ve read about the side effects and would prefer not to give it to her, if we can help it. 

Smalls Cat Food: Freshness and Transparency

Smalls Cat Food distinguishes itself with its commitment to fresh, human-grade ingredients. The brand offers fresh cat food (delivered frozen) that contains at least 80% of high-quality proteins and minimal fillers. Their recipes are designed to mimic a cat’s natural diet (picky eaters), incorporating meats, organs, and essential vitamins and minerals in proportions that closely align with the nutritional needs for cats.

Key Features:

• Ingredients: Smalls uses real meat as the primary ingredient, supplemented with fresh vegetables (like green beans) and essential nutrients to meet your cat’s needs. Their transparency about ingredient sourcing and nutritional information is a significant plus.
• Variety: Offers a variety of different proteins, like smooth fish, smooth bird, and a turkey recipe, so your cat doesn’t get bored.
• Customization: Provides a subscription service where meals are tailored to your cat’s specific needs based on their age, weight, and health requirements. This is just a rough estimate and I ended up adjusting my subscription size to help cat #1 lose weight.
• Customer Service: The customer service has been great! They have a cat concierge service where you can send an email with any questions. I have emailed multiple times and they always respond.  
• Delivery: Like other fresh cat food delivery services, you can log into your account to pause or cancel at any time. It ships with dry ice and has arrived frozen each time I’ve received an order.

Cons: ​

• High in Calories: The first time I ordered, I didn’t know how many calories my cat needed per day to lose weight, so I was overfeeding her. Each packet is 200 calories but I was also adding in a little kibble in the afternoon. Once I adjusted their calories, they started to lose weight (slowly). Two Crazy Cat Ladies has a simple way of calculating how many calories your cat needs: How many calories does my cat need?
• Cost: This food is expensive when you buy it in bulk! I order 42 packets at a time and it comes out to $3.75 per packet, or $7.50 per day for two cats. However, I’ll compare it later to the Royal Canin food I was feeding them. 

• Freezer Real Estate: The packets must be stored in the freezer, so plan ahead when ordering in bulk
• Wet Food Only: They only sell wet food, which is the point of their company. But it does mean that if you are leaving them overnight or for a long period during the day, you may need to purchase a separate dry cat food for them.

My Experience with Smalls Food:

• Weight Loss​: Once I correctly calculated the amount of calories my cats needed, they did start to lose weight. My overweight cat is losing about a pound a month, which is what the vet recommended.
• Do a Slow Transition: If your cat is eating raw food, the transition may be easier. But if they are eating dry food, it may require a slower transition. My cats were mostly eating wet cat food, so I just did a 50/50 mix until they ran out. Only one of my cats had a hard time because she also wanted some dry food. 
• Shinier Coat: After just a few weeks, both cats have such soft and shiny coats! They have fewer hairballs and it seems like they are shedding less. 
• No vomiting or bloody stool: ​After the first month, Cat #2 no longer had digestive issues like bloody stool or vomiting, which was the goal!

Want to try Smalls Cat Food? Click HERE to get a free sampler box on your first order (just pay $10 shipping). 

Royal Canin: The Brand Our Vets Recommended

Royal Canin is known for its science-backed formulations and veterinary diet options. Their focus on specific breed and health condition diets has made them a popular choice among pet owners and veterinarians. We have tried many of their lines and the Multifunction Feline Urinary SO + Satiety + Calm Loaf in Sauce Canned Cat Food is the one that ultimately helped both cats. 

In the holistic cat world, there is debate as to whether these foods contain too much filler. That, along with cost, is why I started looking for alternatives. To be completely transparent, I do use their prescription dog food for my dog, so I do believe they help my pets.

Key Features:

• Ingredients: Uses high-quality proteins, though the focus is often on digestibility and specific health benefits rather than fresh, whole ingredients.
• Variety: Huge range of options, including breed-specific, age-specific, and health condition-specific formulas. My cat did lose weight on this food. 
• Customization: Less emphasis on personalized nutrition compared to Smalls.
• Easy To Find: ​Most Vets and pet stores will carry multiple versions of Royal Canin in case you run out at home.

Cons:

• Price: Their food is pricey! The Multifunction canned food I was purchasing for the cats was $77 for 24 cans. With two cats, that only lasted 12 days. If I purchased two cases in a month, for $154, it comes out to the same price as the Smalls, but with human-grade cat food.
• Difficult to Find: ​Some lines of food consistently sell out or are temporarily unavailable online. Your vet should have some in stock, but that means an extra trip to the vet. 
• Some Require a Prescription: Once you have a prescription, it isn’t difficult to order, but it does mean annual vet visits for your kitty (my 10+ year-olds need that anyway). 

Final Thoughts About Smalls Cat Food

At the time of writing this review, Smalls cat food is the only one I’ve tried that both cats enjoy and that address the different issues that both of my cats have. I do wish it was more affordable and maybe one day I will attempt to make homemade cat food to save money. At this point, I’m not knowledgeable enough to ensure they would be getting all the essential nutrients so I will stick with this cat food!