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Abound Cat Food Review 2024: Pros, Cons & Verdict

Kristin Hitchcock

By Kristin Hitchcock

abound cat food review

Review Summary

Our Final Verdict

We give Abound cat food a rating of 4 out of 5 stars.

Abound cat food is owned by Kroger. It’s their in-store brand, though it is advertised as a premium food. Their recipes are often free from corn, wheat, and soy and full of more “natural” ingredients. The brand was launched in 2014 and has remained true to its roots since then. Both dry cat food and canned cat food are offered by this brand and they provide recipes that are suitable for cats of all life stages.

With that said, this brand isn’t necessarily as high-quality as Kroger makes it out to be. Keep reading for our complete review of this cat food.

At a Glance: The Best Abound Cat Food Recipes:

Image Product Details
Abound 3 Flavor Cat Food Abound 3 Flavor Cat Food
  • High in protein and fat
  • Broth added instead of water
  • Great for picky cats
  • Our Favorite Abound Chicken & Brown Rice Adult Cat Food Abound Chicken & Brown Rice Adult Cat Food
  • Chicken as the first ingredient
  • Full of antioxidants
  • Whole grains included
  • Abound Salmon & Brown Rice Cat Food Abound Salmon & Brown Rice Cat Food
  • High in omega fatty acids
  • High-quality ingredients
  • Deboned salmon is the first ingredient
  • Abound Cat Food Reviewed

    Who Makes Abound Cat Food, And Where Is It Produced?

    Abound Cat Food is owned by Kroger as their in-store brand. However, it isn’t produced by Kroger. Instead, they used an unnamed manufacturer. We also couldn’t find where exactly the food was produced, though it is made somewhere in the United States. There isn’t any information on where the ingredients are sourced from. Therefore, it is likely that they are sourced from locations across the globe.

    The lack of transparency on where the ingredients come from is a bit worrisome. After all, some countries don’t have very high safety standards.

    Which Types of Cats Is Abound Cat Food Best Suited For?

    Abound may be a decent mid-range cat food for those who already shop at Kroger. They offer a wide variety of recipes and lines, allowing you to choose what is best for your feline. For instance, they provide both grain-free and grain-inclusive formulas. This variety allows you to balance your cat’s nutritional needs with your budget a bit better. With that said, all their recipes are free from corn, wheat, and soy.

    This cat food brand typically adds important vitamins and nutrients to their cat food, such as omega fatty acids, taurine, and magnesium. High-quality ingredients like yucca schidigera are also included. Overall, this food brand does seem to include all of the extra nutrients you might be looking for in your cat’s food. For cats without specific health problems, Abound cat food may be a decent choice. However, it probably isn’t the best one on the market, nor is it the worst.

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

    If your cat has specific health problems, you may need to look at a different cat food brand. Abound does not make any recipes specified for specific health problems. Therefore, it isn’t suitable for cats with these health concerns. Furthermore, while they do include some grain-free recipes, many of their most popular (and cheapest) formulations are grain-inclusive.

    If your feline is sensitive to grains, then you may want to feed a different brand or be sure to purchase a grain-free recipe. While this food isn’t as wildly expensive as some other brands, it isn’t cheap either. Therefore, it may not be appropriate for those on a strict budget.

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    Discussion of Primary Ingredients (Good and Bad)

    Meats

    This brand’s formulas start with some sort of meat as the first ingredient. The exact type of animal ingredient varies from recipe to recipe. Usually, it matches whatever flavor the food is. For instance, their chicken and brown rice recipe starts with chicken. As you might expect, chicken, beef, turkey, and salmon are the most common meat ingredients. These are common throughout most of the cat food industry, as they are easy to find and decently inexpensive.

    The meats used are typically whole meats or meat meals. Both of these are high-quality ingredients. Meat meals are simply meats that have been dehydrated down into a powder form. They still contain the same amount of fats and proteins, but their moisture content is much lower (which is very useful when you’re making dry cat food).

    The company doesn’t specify where the meat comes from. We don’t know if it was raised in the United States or how it was raised.

    Grains

    In grain-inclusive recipes, brown rice is quite common. This ingredient is whole grain, so it is typically healthier than refined grains. While grains are not something that cats would eat naturally in the wild, there is nothing blatantly wrong with feeding cats a small number of carbohydrates in their diet. When choosing carbohydrates, it is important to choose whole grains.

    Whole grains include some nutritional components. However, refined grains have had much of their nutrition removed.

    Veggies and Fruits

    As you might expect, this cat food brand includes a variety of veggies and fruits in their recipes as well. Some of these added veggies are designed to “bulk up” the cat food, especially in grain-free formulas. For instance, starchy veggies like sweet potatoes are often used in place of grains. They’re cheap and carb-heavy. While they do include some nutrition, they are commonly added in too high of a concentration for them to be worth it.

    Various sorts of fruits are also included. Typically, these fruits include antioxidant-rich berries like cranberries and blueberries. These provide natural antioxidants to the food, which are important for combating a range of diseases.

    Macronutrients

    Cats are obligate carnivores. Therefore, they need to consume high levels of meat-based protein and fat to thrive. While they can also consume carbohydrates to some extent, the majority of their diet should be made up of proteins and fats. These macronutrient needs apply to all cats, including adults, kittens, and seniors. All breeds have similar macronutrient needs as well. For the most part, this brand seems to be relatively mediocre when it comes to protein content. Fat content is a bit higher than we would typically see in commercial dry cat food.

    However, the protein content is only average. For the price, this is to be expected. Luckily, this brand does not seem to be high in peas or other protein-rich veggies. Therefore, the protein included is largely meat-based. This fact makes it significantly higher quality than the protein provided by some other brands out there.

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    A Quick Look at Abound Cat Food

    Pros
    • Meat as the first ingredient
    • No corn, wheat, or soy
    • No by-product meals
    • High in added nutrients, like omega fatty acids
    • Plenty of quality ingredients included
    Cons
    • Only moderately high in protein
    • Somewhat expensive

    Recall History

    This brand had only been recalled once in 2018. This recall covered only some of the brand’s dry cat foods, as there was some concern that some recipes may have elevated vitamin D levels. There have been no further recalls since then. Since this brand has been around since 2014, we’d rate it as pretty safe.

    It has only had one recall—and that recall wasn’t a very serious one. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they won’t have more recalls in the future.

    Reviews of the 3 Best Abound Cat Food Recipes

    Below, you’ll find our reviews for the two best Abound cat food brands out there. These reviews should help you see the specifics of what this brand offers and may help you decide which option is best for your feline.

    Abound Grain Free Natural Adult Cat & Kitten Dry Food, Chicken & Brown Rice

    Abound Chicken & Brown Rice Cat Food

    As the name suggests, this recipe is suitable for both adults and kittens. You could also feed it to a senior feline without much of a problem. It provides complete, all-around nutrition for cats of all life stages. The first ingredients are deboned chicken and chicken meal. These provide plenty of lean protein for your feline. Most cats can eat chicken without much of a problem, though they can also produce an allergic reaction in some cats.

    After these meat ingredients, there is a series of grains included. As a grain-inclusive recipe, this is to be expected. Only whole grains are used, which are of higher quality than refined grains. These grains do provide some nutrition, though they are still obviously high in carbohydrates. Throughout the ingredient list, other high-quality ingredients are also included. For instance, yucca schidigera extract is added. This additive has been shown to reduce the smell of cat feces, which we’re sure practically every cat owner can appreciate.

    Blueberries, cranberries, and other antioxidant-rich nutrients are also included. Plus, there is a long list of added vitamins and minerals as well. Furthermore, this recipe does not include any corn, wheat, or soy. Animal by-products are also excluded, as well as artificial colors and flavors. This formula is moderately high in protein and fat. It isn’t as high in protein as some other brands out there, but it should be enough for most felines. The protein included is mostly animal-based, making it decently high-quality.

    Pros
    • Chicken as the first ingredient
    • Full of antioxidants
    • Whole grains included
    • No corn, wheat, soy, artificial flavors, or colors.
    Cons
    • Only moderately high in protein
    • High amounts of grains included

    Abound 3 Flavor Variety Pack Cat Food

    Abound Variety Pack

    This variety pack includes three different flavors of Abound’s wet food. Many people who feed wet food like to switch around the flavor their cat gets. This regular switching helps keep things fresh and ensures that your cat is getting a variety of foods in its diet. Each recipe includes some sort of shredded meat or seafood. Broths are included instead of water, which increases the protein and fat content of the food. Of course, the broth also makes it much tastier, which may be perfect for picky cats.

    These wet foods rely mostly on synthetic vitamins and minerals to ensure that they are complete. In actuality, each recipe actually includes very few ingredients. For the most part, just meat and a few veggies are included. The quality of the veggies depends on the exact recipe. While some do include quality veggies, others include extremely starchy options—like potatoes. While these aren’t necessarily a bad option, they aren’t exactly a good option for our felines either.

    These recipes are quite low in carbohydrates. Instead, they are especially high in protein and fat. As we previously discussed, this is exactly what your feline needs to thrive.

    Pros
    • High in protein and fat
    • Meat included as the first few ingredients
    • Broth added instead of water
    • Great for picky cats
    Cons
    • Some low-quality veggies included
    • Low in natural vitamins and minerals

    Abound Salmon & Brown Rice

    Abound Salmon & Brown Rice

    This recipe is quite similar to the other Abound dry cat foods on the market. However, it is made with salmon and brown rice. It does contain chicken meal as the second ingredient, likely because chicken is one of the cheapest animal proteins. Therefore, if your cat is sensitive to chicken, this isn’t a suitable option. For the most part, the ingredient list is pretty high-quality. However, it is grain-inclusive, so it does include a wide variety of grains. Luckily, most of the grains are whole, making them much higher quality than refined grains.

    This formula is high in omega fatty acids thanks to the high salmon content. These omega fatty acids may be helpful for felines that need to improve their coat or skin health. Omega fatty acids have also been shown to help with arthritis and similar ailments in older cats.

    Pros
    • High in omega fatty acids
    • Deboned salmon is the first ingredient
    Cons
    • Contains grains
    • Doesn’t work for cats with chicken allergies

    What Other Users Are Saying

    For the most part, the reviews of this pet food are positive. Several customers state that the food was very good for their sensitive stomach feline, especially those cats that throw up easily. Others found that food contained everything their cat needed without all the fillers and low-quality ingredients that other brands use Many users were relatively surprised that it came in a pouch, though they couldn’t agree on whether they liked the pouches or not.

    It seems to mostly be a matter of personal preference. Some users were a little disappointed in the price of the food, however, based on our research, the price does tend to vary based on product and seller. You can read more reviews on Amazon, where we always check the reviews.

    Conclusion

    Abound cat food is affordable, middle-range cat food. It includes high-quality ingredients, plenty of meat, and a range of additives that are hard to find elsewhere. For instance, most recipes include a range of berries, which are high in antioxidants. However, they also tend to use starchy veggies and high amounts of grains. As a grain-inclusive brand, this is to be expected. They do provide many different foods for your feline to try, which helps prevent things from getting boring.

    With that said, we didn’t find this food to be a truly stand-out option. For the most part, it’s exactly what you would expect for the price. You can find better value in other, similarly-priced brands.

    See also:


    Featured Image Credit: Abound Cat Food, Amazon

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