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Simply Nourish Cat Food Review of 2024: Recalls, Pros & Cons

Written by: Christian Adams

Last Updated on February 15, 2024 by Catster Editorial Team

Simply Nourish Cat Food Review of 2024: Recalls, Pros & Cons

Review Summary

Our Final Verdict

We give Simply Nourish Cat food a rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.

Simply Nourish is a PetSmart brand, sold exclusively at PetSmart, at least officially. It’s a healthier alternative to commercial pet foods that are made with fillers and non-natural ingredients. Likewise, it’s marketed as the more affordable alternative to expensive health foods.

Recipes that Simply Nourish makes are created with natural ingredients, so you can feel good about feeding it to your cat. They have a great company history with no recalls of their cat foods and only a single voluntary recall on the books since they were founded in 1972.

Despite the quality ingredients used in Simply Nourish foods, they don’t occupy the same price range as other “premium” pet foods with similar ingredients. That is a big part of their mass appeal, offering healthy pet foods at affordable prices.

The company produces a wide range of cat foods that are perfect for felines of all life stages. From kittens to adults to seniors, Simply Nourish has a recipe that’s right for your cat. However, there aren’t as many specialty blends in their lineup as other brands. You won’t find urinary tract blends or glucose-control formulas for diabetic cats.

However, since their lineup focuses on recipes crafted from quality, natural ingredients, they have a variety of grain-free options, giving you a wide range of choices for keeping your cat in peak health.cat face divider 2

At a Glance: The Best Simply Nourish Cat Food Recipes:

Image Product Details
Our Favorite Simply Nourish Essentials Canned Simply Nourish Essentials Canned
  • Made with real chicken and chicken broth
  • Served in a delectable sauce
  • Boosted with vitamins, minerals and taurine
  • Simply Nourish Source High-Protein Grain-Free Adult Indoor Simply Nourish Source High-Protein Grain-Free Adult Indoor
  • High protein blend has 39% minimum
  • Loaded with high-quality protein sources
  • Contains additional health-boosting nutrients
  • Simply Nourish Grain-Free Adult Simply Nourish Grain-Free Adult
  • Minimum of 36% crude protein
  • Easy to digest
  • Deboned salmon is the first ingredient
  • Simply Nourish Essentials Adult Simply Nourish Essentials Adult
  • High in protein
  • Mostly made of chicken
  • Fortified with taurine
  • Simply Nourish Source High-Protein Grain-Free Simply Nourish Source High-Protein Grain-Free
  • With ingredients you can recognize
  • Complete and balanced nutrition
  • Formulated with DHA

  • Simply Nourish Cat Food Reviewed 4Simply Nourish Essentials Chicken Recipe Adult Shredded in Gravy Canned Cat Food

    Who Makes Simply Nourish Cat Food?

    Simply Nourish is owned and manufactured by American Nutrition, a US-based brand. Their dry pet foods are made at several plants spread throughout the United States in Washington, Utah, and Pennsylvania, using ingredients sourced in America. However, their canned foods are manufactured in Thailand, and most of the ingredients are sourced in Thailand.

    Which Types of Cats is Simply Nourish Best Suited For?

    Simply Nourish is known for making healthy recipes with natural ingredients and is a great fit for cats of any age. It also produces age-specific blends for kittens, adults, and seniors. The healthy ingredients and added nutrients are perfect for helping any cat live a healthy, long life.

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

    Though Simply Nourish produces several blends and recipes, they don’t have much in the way of specialty formulas or recipes designed for cats with health issues. You’ll likely need to look elsewhere if your cat has diet restrictions. For instance, cats that require urinary health recipes or blood-sugar control formulas for diabetic cats will need to look at other brands, such as Purina or Iams.

    Discussion of the Primary Ingredients (Good and bad)

    We’ll take a closer look at one of the main staples in the Simply Nourish lineup to get a better feel for the type of ingredients and nutrition you’ll find inside. In this case, we’re looking at the Simply Nourish Grain-Free Adult Dry Cat Food.

    One quick way to learn a lot about pet food is to look at the ingredients list.

    In this particular blend, the first five ingredients listed are:
    • Deboned Salmon
    • Salmon Meal
    • Dried Peas
    • Menhaden Fish Meal
    • Dried Potatoes

    Natural Ingredients

    The first thing we notice when looking at these ingredients is that they’re all-natural, just like Simply Nourish claims to use. All ingredients were either grown or born, so you’re not filling your pet with artificial ingredients and chemicals.

    Several Animal-Based Ingredients

    Cats are obligate carnivores who get all their nutrition from eating other animals. They don’t need carbohydrates, and in fact, they aren’t good at digesting carbohydrates. Because of that, we always hope to see the ingredients list of any cat food comprised of mainly animal-based ingredients.

    Looking at these five ingredients, we can see that three of them are animal-based. The first ingredient is deboned salmon, a high-quality protein source that sounds like it would be right at home on our dinner plates. Salmon meal and Menhaden fish meal might not sound as appetizing to us, but for our felines, they are nutritious.

    In the wild, cats eat the whole animal, including the bones, organs, tissue, and cartilage. Eating just deboned salmon only provides them with the nutrients in the meat, but they need the nutrients that the organs and other parts can provide. All of them are in the fish meals, so your cat won’t be deficient in these vital nutrients.

    Plenty of Protein

    We’ve already discussed all of the animal-based ingredients, but what’s most important about them is their protein content. As carnivores, cats need lots of protein. Luckily, with so many healthy animal-based ingredients, Simply Nourish is loaded with protein. With a minimum of 36% protein, it has more than many of the commercial foods we’ve reviewed in the past.

    Potatoes and Peas?

    To be honest, the peas and potatoes aren’t our favorite ingredients to see listed. However, every dry cat food needs a carbohydrate base as a binding agent to hold it all together. As far as filler ingredients go, potatoes and peas aren’t bad. They sure beat the cheap corn gluten meal or dried corn in other dry cat foods.

    This is a grain-free recipe. Some cat owners select grain-free cat foods because they think it’s easier for a cat to digest. But potatoes aren’t the easiest ingredient for a cat to digest, and they can occasionally cause an upset stomach in some cats.

    Want to see more cat food reviews? Check out our review page here!

    Cat ball divider 1A Quick Look at Simply Nourish Cat Food

    Pros
    • Several grain-free formulas
    • Wet and dry cat foods are available
    • High in protein with quality animal-based ingredients
    • Added supplements can boost your cat’s health
    • Made with natural ingredients
    Cons
    • Very few specialty recipes
    • There are cheaper options
    • There have been reports of worms or maggots in some bags of dry food

    Recall History

    Simply Nourish has a very clean history regarding recalls. It appears they’ve never had an official recall of their dog foods, cat foods, or even their treats. However, they issued a voluntary recall for potential mold growth on October 7, 2014. It was only on one flavor of the Beef and Biscotti Dog Treats and didn’t affect other products.

    cat + line dividerReviews of the 3 Best Simply Nourish Cat Food Recipes

    1. Simply Nourish Grain-Free Adult Dry Cat Food 3Simply Nourish Grain-Free Salmon & Pea Recipe Adult Dry Cat Food

    This grain-free recipe is easy to digest for most cats, though some cats might have an issue with the potatoes. You’ll notice loads of natural, whole-food ingredients on the ingredients list. For instance, the first ingredient is deboned salmon. Further down the list, you’ll notice several more animal-based protein sources, which give the formula a minimum of 36% crude protein.

    Simply Nourish also includes vitamins and minerals to help boost your cat’s health. You’ll find omega fatty acids, vitamins A and E, zinc, phosphorous, linoleic acid, and more. Despite that, it’s a reasonably priced food that provides top-notch nutrition.

    Calorie Breakdown:

    simply nourish salmon & pea

    Pros
    • Deboned salmon is the first ingredient
    • Minimum of 36% crude protein
    • The grain-free formula is easy to digest
    • Added essential vitamins and minerals
    Cons
    • Potatoes are difficult on some cats’ digestive systems

    2. Simply Nourish Essentials Canned Cat Food 4Simply Nourish Essentials Chicken Recipe Adult Shredded in Gravy Canned Cat Food

    If you prefer to feed your cat canned food, then the Simply Nourish Essentials Canned Cat Food is a great option. It’s made up mostly of chicken, including chicken liver, which is used for all the additional nutrients it supplies. Because of all these protein sources, it is almost entirely made of protein and moisture.

    Like other Simply Nourish foods, this one has added nutrients such as taurine. It features cuts of meat in gravy, but we noticed the pieces were too big for many of our cats. As a result, we had to cut them down a bit to make the size more manageable. Still, this recipe provides great nutrition at a reasonable price, which is what we always want to find.

    Calorie Breakdown:

    simply nourish essential canned

    Pros
    • Mostly made of chicken
    • Contains chicken liver for added nutrients
    • High in protein
    • Fortified with taurine
    Cons
    • Large chunks need to be cut up for some cats

    3. Simply Nourish High-Protein Grain-Free Adult Indoor Dry Cat Food 2Simply Nourish Source Fish & Chicken Recipe High-Protein Grain-Free Adult Indoor Dry Cat Food

    Cats need a lot of protein, which is why the Simply Nourish High-Protein Grain-Free Adult Indoor Dry Cat Food contains a minimum of 39% protein. It’s loaded with high-quality protein sources, including deboned whitefish, chicken meal, turkey meal, and deboned chicken.

    If that’s not enough for you, it also contains additional health-boosting nutrients that were added just to keep your cat healthy. For example, you’ll find taurine, omega fatty acids, zinc, calcium, and additional vitamins.

    This formula is completely grain-free, making it easier for some cats to digest. It’s also quite a bit more expensive than other Simply Nourish blends, though we think the diverse animal-based ingredients warrant the higher price.

    Calorie Breakdown:

    Simply Nourish Source High Protein

    Pros
    • High protein blend has 39% minimum
    • Loaded with high-quality protein sources
    • Contains additional health-boosting nutrients
    • The grain-free formula is easy for most cats to digest
    Cons
    • More expensive than other recipes

    What Other Users Are Saying

    You know what we think of Simply Nourish cat food, but our opinions aren’t the only ones that matter. To ensure we’re providing you with the complete picture, we read several reviews from other customers. We will share their thoughts with you here, but if you want to read some of these reviews yourself, you can click here to see them.

    Since Simply Nourish is only sold by PetSmart, we couldn’t source any Amazon reviews. But PetSmart happens to own Chewy.com, and we were able to find plenty of opinions there. Everyone knows that some cats are picky eaters. On Chewy, many parents of these cats seemed to gravitate towards Simply Nourish because their cats would actually eat it.

    One owner said, “We’ve tried a lot of grain-free products for our cats and always come back to Simply Nourish. It seems to be the one brand that they like and don’t throw up or get diarrhea.” Another user shared a similar sentiment and said, “My cat & my dad’s cat who winters with us love this food. It’s nice to find something my picky eater enjoys that isn’t junk.”

    Several reviewers were also happy that Simply Nourish has poultry-free recipes for their cats with allergies. “This is the only food I can find that is both poultry and grain free, AND that my cats enjoy!” is what one user said. Another had something similar to say: “He was losing weight rapidly, come to find out, due to a poultry allergy. However, I also have a cat with an extremely sensitive gut. This food has not only stopped Blicko from pulling out all his fur and losing weight, but my overly sensitive cat is doing great.”

    3 cat dividerConclusion

    There are plenty of cat foods on the market and they all claim to be the best. So, how does Simply Nourish stack up? In our eyes, it’s one of the better brands. We like their blend of quality, all-natural ingredients and affordable pricing, making it possible for all pet owners to offer their beloved companions premium nutrition. Their recipes feature several animal-based ingredients and diverse protein sources that are perfect for any cat’s diet. At the end of the day, Simply Nourish cat food gets the thumbs up from us.

    Looking for a few more reviews? Check out:


    Featured Image Credit: Simply Nourish, Chewy

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