Purina Friskies Prime Filets Wet Cat Food Review

Friskies Prime Filets wet food receives the Cat Food Advisor rating, 2-stars.

The majority of this product range contains named animal or fish meats in the first few ingredients. However, meat by-products still feature, along with ingredients made from plant-based protein and artificial flavors.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (kitten), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

The Friskies Prime Filets product line includes six wet cat foods.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Friskies Prime Filets with Chicken in Gravy was selected to represent the other products in the line for a detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most wet cat foods.

The second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”. ¹ Chicken is naturally rich in the 11 essential amino acids required by a cat to sustain life.

The third ingredient is liver. Normally, liver can be considered a quality component. However, in this case, the source of the liver is not identified. For this reason, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The fourth ingredient is wheat gluten. Gluten is the rubbery residue remaining once wheat has had most of its starchy carbohydrate washed out of it. Compared to meat, glutens are inferior plant-based proteins low in some of the essential amino acids dogs need for life.

This inexpensive plant-based ingredient can significantly boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this cat food.

The fifth ingredient is meat by-products, an item made from slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered animals after all the prime striated muscle cuts have been removed. With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this item can include almost any other part of the animal.²

What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. So, the meat itself can come from any combination of cattle, pigs, sheep or goats — which can make identifying specific food allergies impossible.

Although most meat by-products can be nutritious, we do not consider such vaguely described (generic) ingredients to be as high in quality as those derived from a named animal source.

The sixth ingredient is soy flour, a high-protein by-product of soybean processing. Although soy flour contains about 51% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this cat food.

The seventh ingredient is corn starch, a starchy powder extracted from the endosperm found at the heart of a kernel of corn. Corn starch is most likely used here to thicken the broth into a gravy. Corn starch isn’t a true red flag item. Yet we’ve highlighted here for those wishing to avoid corn-based ingredients.

The eighth ingredient is artificial and natural flavors. There are so many great quality palatants, gravies and flavors to use in cat food which are meat based, that it is disappointing to find artificial flavorings. 

We understand that flavorings are used to make the foods more appealing and tasty for our cats, but natural or meat based flavors are always our preference. The artificial and natural flavors description here doesn’t give us much information about the ingredients in this food.

From here the list goes on to include a number of other items. But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of the product.

However, there is one notable exception:

Taurine is an essential amino acid for cats associated with the healthy function of heart muscle and eye sight, and is crucial for maintaining good health in cats.

We view the presence of taurine in this recipe as a positive addition.

This recipe receives a  2-star rating.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Friskies Prime Filets with Chicken in Gravy  looks like a below average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 55.6%, a fat level of 11.1% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 25.3%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 55.6% and a mean fat level of 11.1%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 25.3% for the overall product line, alongside a fat to protein ratio of 20%.

This means the Friskies Prime Filets product line contains above-average protein, below-average carbs and near-average fat when compared to typical wet cat food.

Has Purina cat food been recalled in the past?

Yes, Purina has had a number of cat food recalls over the years.

The last one was in July 2021 when cans of Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials Tuna Entrée in Sauce Wet Cat Food were recalled as they may have contained plastic.

In March 2019, Purina issued a recall of one of its Muse cat foods.

In 2012, a single lot of Purina Veterinary Diets OM Overweight Management Feline Formula was recalled due to low levels of thiamine. Production Code #11721159.

In June 2011, Friskies issued a small recall due to the potential risk of salmonella contamination. This recall only affected a small range of Friskies products, – the Friskies Grillers Blend dry cat food recipe in 3.15lb and 16lb bags with best-by dates of August 2012.

In the same year, some other Purina dry cat foods were recalled due to suspected salmonella contamination. The products affected were: Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ dry cat food, 3.5 lb. and 7 lb. bags, with a “Best by” date of May 2012 and Production Code #03341084 or #03351084 and Purina Cat Chow Naturals, 6.3 lb., Production Code #10331083 13, with “Best by” date of August 2012.

You can view a complete list of all cat food recalls since 2021 here.

To stay on top of any cat food product recalls, sign up for our free email alerts, here.

About

Nestlé Purina PetCare is an American subsidiary of the Swiss corporation Nestlé, based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces and markets pet food, treats, cat and dog litter. 

The cat food brand owned by Purina are: Beyond, Breeze, DenaLife, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Kit & Kaboodle, Petivity, Purina Cat Chow, Purina ONE, Purina Pro Plan, Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets, Tidy Cats and Whisker Lickin’s.