Tender & True Dry Cat Food Review

Tender & True dry cat food receives the Cat Food Advisor rating, 5 stars.

Tender & True food pioneered the first ever certified USDA organic humanely raised and antibiotic-free pet food. 

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

The Tender & True product line has six dry cat foods.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Tender & True Organic Chicken & Liver Recipe 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 organic 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 second ingredient is organic chicken meal. Chicken meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.

The third ingredient is organic tapioca starch, a gluten-free, starchy carbohydrate extract made from the root of the cassava plant.

The fourth ingredient is organic pea flour, a powder made from roasted yellow peas. Pea flour contains as much as 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this cat food.

The fifth ingredient is organic dried peas. Dried peas are a good source of carbohydrates. Plus they’re naturally rich in dietary fiber.

However, dried peas contain about 27% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this cat food.

The sixth ingredient is organic flaxseed meal, one of the best plant-based sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Flax meal is particularly rich in soluble fiber. However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this cat food.

The seventh ingredient is organic chicken fat. Chicken fat is obtained from rendering chicken, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid. 

Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality ingredient.

The eighth ingredient is organic chicken liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

Since this recipe contains a number of organic ingredients, we feel compelled to grant this line a more favorable status as we consider its final rating. That’s because organic ingredients must comply with notably more stringent government standards — standards which significantly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.

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.

This recipe receives a 5–star rating.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Tender & True Organic Chicken & Liver Recipe looks like an above-average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 33.3%, a fat level of 20% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 38.7%, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 60%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 33.3% and a mean fat level of 20%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 38.7% for the overall product line, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 60%.

This means the Tender & True Dry product line contains below-average protein, above-average carbs and above-average fat when compared to typical dry cat food.

Has Tender & True cat food been recalled in the past?

No, there have been no recorded recalls for Tender & True.

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

Founded in 2014, Tender & True was the first company to produce certified humanely raised pet food that meets USDA organic standards. 

The company’s mission is to “make Tender & True better from the beginning, with no compromises and with the certifications to prove it.”

It believes in sourcing and supplying its own ingredients. The company has formed relationships with fisheries and growers, which means they have always pushed the possibilities of better ingredients and price.