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Solid Gold Cat Food Review of 2024: Recalls, Pros & Cons

Written by: Christian Adams

Last Updated on January 9, 2024 by Catster Editorial Team

solid gold review

Solid Gold Cat Food Review of 2024: Recalls, Pros & Cons

Review Summary

Our Final Verdict

We give Solid Gold cat food a rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars:

Solid Gold pet food was launched in 1974 by Sissy Harrington McGill. As a Great Dane aficionado, she noticed that European Great Danes were healthier and living longer than those in America. She determined that European dogs were eating better diets and created a holistic pet food company that uses high-quality ingredients to provide superior nutrition.

Solid Gold now creates cat food using the same principles supporting digestive health. As one of the first natural pet foods launched in the U.S.A., Solid Gold continues to create a wide range of nutritionally robust recipes in various flavors.

It suits cat owners looking for a good-quality brand with a long track record of producing cat food where priority is placed on using a holistic blend of ingredients designed to promote your cat’s overall health. Solid Gold is also good value for money. If you’ve been considering switching your cat’s food, read on to find out everything you need about Solid Gold.cat face divider 2

At a Glance: The Best Solid Gold Cat Food Recipes

Image Product Details
Our Favorite Solid Gold Indigo Moon High Protein and Grain Free Holistic Dry Cat Fo Solid Gold Indigo Moon High Protein and Grain Free Holistic Dry Cat Fo
  • Free from fillers
  • Good for fussy cats
  • Made in the U.S.A.
  • Solid Gold Five Oceans Blended Tuna Holistic Grain-Free Wet Cat Food Solid Gold Five Oceans Blended Tuna Holistic Grain-Free Wet Cat Food
  • Grain-free
  • Real tuna as the first ingredient
  • Supplemented with vitamins and minerals
  • Solid Gold Let’s Stay In Indoor Formula Dry Cat Food Solid Gold Let’s Stay In Indoor Formula Dry Cat Food
  • Grain and gluten free
  • Real chicken as the first ingredient
  • Specifically formulated for indoor cats
  • Solid Gold Katz-N-Flocken Everyday Nutrition Dry Cat Food Solid Gold Katz-N-Flocken Everyday Nutrition Dry Cat Food
  • Real lamb 1st ingredient
  • Non-gmo whole grains
  • Allergen & sensitivity friendly
  • Solid Gold Holistic Delights Creamy Bisque Wet Cat Food Solid Gold Holistic Delights Creamy Bisque Wet Cat Food
  • Free From Fillers Like Corn, Wheat And Soy
  • Real Chicken In A Creamy Coconut Milk Bisque
  • Nutritionally Complete And Balanced Meal
  • 3 cat face divider

    Solid Gold Cat Food Reviewed

    3Solid Gold - Let’s Stay In - Grain-Free - Indoor Formula Dry Cat Food with Superfoods

    Who Makes Solid Gold and Where Is It Produced?

    VMG Partners own Solid Gold. Solid Gold dry cat food products are produced in the U.S.A., and its canned cat foods are made in Thailand.

    Which Types of Cats Is Solid Gold Best Suited For?

    Solid Gold is suitable for all cats and kittens, thanks to its high-quality ingredients, including real meat, superfoods, vitamins, and minerals. It’s especially well-suited to cats that may have sensitive digestive systems and suffer from poor gut health. Solid Gold includes prebiotics, which help encourage the growth of the bacteria found in a healthy gut. It also contains probiotics to keep the healthy bacteria thriving.

    Hepper 360 Cat Feeder, Stainless Steel, Anti-Chew...
    • NO MESS - The 360° tray on this cat food and water bowl set has a raised design to catch and...
    • WHISKER FRIENDLY - Shallow and wide metal containers with flat bottoms ensure your kitty can enjoy...
    • CHEW-SAFE MATERIALS - Kittens and cats love chewing on silicone and soft rubber - but it's a choking...

    Feeding your cat a high-quality diet is important for keeping them healthy and happy. But it goes beyond the food you choose; the dishes they use also matter. The Hepper NomNom Cat Bowl is our favorite for its unique, five-star design that protects from whisker fatigue and promotes good posture which also aids in better digestion. As an added bonus, it’s beautifully crafted and offers a modern take on the traditional cat bowl that fits seamlessly with all home stylings. Learn more about the NomNom by clicking here.

    At Catster, we’ve admired Hepper for many years and decided to take a controlling ownership interest so that we could benefit from the outstanding designs of this cool cat company!

     

     

    Which Types of Cats Might Do Better With a Different Brand?

    If your cat has an allergy to particular ingredients like chicken, pea protein, or egg, you’ll have to choose another brand since Solid Gold’s recipes can contain the ingredients. Your cat might be better off with a limited-ingredient diet, and we recommend the Natural Balance L.I.D High Protein Tuna Formula.

    What Does Solid Gold Cat Food Contain?

    Solid Gold offers such a wide range of wet and dry cat foods that it’s impossible to list all of the ingredients it uses! But we’ll take a look at a summary of the popular ingredients.

    Meat

    Most Solid Gold wet cat foods contain meat as the first ingredient. This can include tuna, mackerel, chicken, crab, salmon, turkey, beef, and shrimp. While their dry cat foods contain meat, they also include meat meal, which is usually the first ingredient as opposed to the real meat further down the list.

    Prebiotics and probiotics

    With a clear focus on supporting digestive health, Solid Gold cat foods contain prebiotics and probiotics. The latter are the healthy bacteria living within the digestive system, and the former are carbohydrates, which are fermented by healthy bacteria.

    Superfoods

    As a holistic cat food brand, it’s no surprise that Solid Gold foods contain whole superfoods. Depending on the product, they can include carrots, blueberries, cranberries, and pumpkin.

    Carrots are a source of beta-carotene, necessary for healthy eyes. Blueberries are full of antioxidants, providing fiber, Vitamins C and B6, and potassium. Cranberries help support urinary tract health and contain immune-boosting antioxidants. Pumpkin is an excellent source of dietary fiber to help support digestive health.

    Omega Fatty Acids

    Solid Gold cat foods contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which help provide energy, encourage correct gut function and a strong immune system, and help your cat’s coat and skin feel and look healthier.

    devon rex cat eating
    Image Credit: Veera, Shutterstock

    Things We Like About Solid Gold Cat Food

    It’s formulated with your cat’s digestive health in mind. You might expect this to be the case for all cat foods, but that’s not always true. Solid Gold cat food has a firm foundation of being formulated with the primary goal of improving your cat’s digestive health through high-quality ingredients.

    As obligate carnivores, cats don’t need grains in their diets. Despite this fact, many cat food brands use grains to bulk up their foods without adding expensive meat. Grains like soy, corn, and wheat can cause allergies in cats. Solid Gold cat food has plenty of grain-free options for your cat to enjoy

    Things We Don’t Like About Solid Gold

     

    One thing we don’t particularly like about the Solid Gold range of cat foods is that many contain pea fiber. It is a filler and contains little nutritional value. It can help provide insoluble fiber, but that can usually be gained through other ingredients as well. Peas can also trigger allergies in some cats, so if your cat reacts to a new cat food, it’s worth checking to see if peas are hidden in the ingredient list.

    Cat ball divider 1A Quick Look at Solid Gold Cat Food

    Pros
    • Use high-quality ingredients
    • Contain prebiotics and probiotics
    • Wide variety of flavors
    • Both wet and dry versions available
    • Good value for money
    • Grain-free
    • Suitable for all life stages
    Cons
    • Some recipes contain pea fiber
    • They’ve had one recall
    • Some recipes use meat meal

    Recall History

    For a pet food company that’s been operating for 45 years, Solid Gold has only ever had one recall. It was for a batch of its Wolf King and Wolf Cub dog foods in 2012. This was a time when there were many recalls in the pet food industry due to potential salmonella contamination.

    Neither of Solid Gold’s products that were recalled tested positive for salmonella, and its website states that it recalled the products voluntarily as a precautionary measure.

    Solid Gold states, “Pet safety is our number one priority, and we take necessary precautions to ensure our products are safe for pets.”

    cat + line dividerReviews of the 3 Best Solid Gold Cat Food Recipes

    Solid Gold has a wide range of wet and dry cat food. To help get you started, here are in-depth reviews for three of our favorite Solid Gold cat foods.

    1. Solid Gold Five Oceans Blended Tuna Holistic Grain-Free Wet Cat Food 2Solid Gold - Five Oceans Holistic Grain-Free Wet Cat Food for All Life Stages

    As well as containing real tuna as the first ingredient, this highly palatable wet food contains spinach, carrots, and pumpkins. It’s free from gluten, grain, fillers, added sugar, soy, and corn. It is a high-quality wet cat food with no by-products or artificial preservatives, flavorings, or colors. Five Oceans has shreds of real tuna blended into a delicious and palatable gravy. Wet foods are an excellent way to maintain your cat’s hydration levels, and this has a moisture content of 80%.

    The protein content is 13%, and Five Oceans is formulated to meet the nutritional requirements of all life stages. It also contains live probiotics to help keep your cat’s health and digestion in top shape.

    Calorie Breakdown:

    solid gold 5 oceans

    Pros
    • Grain-free
    • Real tuna as the first ingredient
    • Supplemented with vitamins and minerals
    Cons
    • Made in Thailand, not the U.S.A.
    • Some cans contain a large amount of gravy and not as much tuna
    • Not all cats like the flavor

    2. Solid Gold Indigo Moon High Protein & Grain-Free Holistic Dry Cat Food 1Solid Gold - Indigo Moon - High Protein & Grain-Free

    As one of Solid Gold’s bestselling products, this high-protein dry cat food uses nutrient-dense ingredients, including whole eggs, fiber-rich peas, and functional superfoods like cranberries, blueberries, and salmon oil. The first ingredient in Indigo Moon is chicken meal, but it also contains real chicken further down the ingredient list. It contains 42% protein, 20% fat, and 3% fiber. Like all Solid Gold foods, it’s enriched with probiotics to help support a healthy digestive system.

    Indigo Moon is formulated to meet the nutritional needs of all life stages, and if you have a multi-cat household, including mature cats and kittens, you can feed it to them all.

    Calorie Breakdown:

    Solid Gold Indigo Moon

    Pros
    • Made in the U.S.A.
    • Free from fillers
    • Good for fussy cats
    Cons
    • Contains peas, which can trigger allergies
    • Uses chicken and fish meal

    3. Solid Gold Let’s Stay In Indoor Formula Dry Cat Food 3Solid Gold - Let’s Stay In - Grain-Free - Indoor Formula Dry Cat Food with Superfoods

    Indoor cats can have slightly different nutritional needs than those who also spend time outdoors, and Let’s Stay In cat food from Solid Gold is specifically formulated for indoor cats. With 36% protein and 16% fat, it contains less protein and fat than blends designed for more active, outdoor cats.

    It’s also formulated with 8% fiber and helps prevent hairball formation. The fiber is provided from peas, apples, and lentils. This blend also contains superfoods like blueberries and pumpkins. This is formulated specifically for indoor adult cats, so if you have an indoor kitten, it’s best to find them an alternative dry food specifically formulated to meet their needs.

    Calorie Breakdown:

    Solid Gold Let’s Stay In Indoor

    Pros
    • Grain and gluten-free
    • Specifically formulated for indoor cats
    • Real chicken as the first ingredient
    Cons
    • Contains pea protein and pea fiber
    • Contains meat meal

    What Other Users Are Saying

    • Pet Food Reviewer — “The majority of Solid Gold’s canned or wet food products do offer suitable nutrition that is high in protein and fat.”
    • Best Cat Food Reviews — “Solid Gold is above average. The dry foods have much lower carbs in the kibble and feature more protein than similar products.”
    • Amazon — As pet owners, we always double-check with Amazon reviews from buyers before we buy something. You can read these by clicking here.

    3 cat dividerConclusion

    Solid Gold is a cat food brand with a solid reputation (excuse the pun) that’s been around for over 40 years. It has a wide range of both wet and dry foods, which are formulated with one primary goal in mind: to improve your cat’s digestive health.

    With that goal in mind, it uses high-quality ingredients, including real meat, superfoods, prebiotics, and probiotics. Most of Solid Gold’s cat foods are grain-free and contain good levels of protein and fat. It has had one recall, and some blends use ingredients that are not the best, including pea fiber, pea protein, and meat meal.

    In terms of reliability and pricing, it’s a great choice. With such a wide range of flavors and textures, you are bound to find an option to suit your cat.


    Featured Image Credit: Solid Gold, Chewy

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