Kate Barrington / Cats.com
Dave’s Pet Food is a family-run business that offers premium products at a reasonable price. Though not as widely known as some of the big name brands, Dave’s Pet Food has earned a positive reputation in independent and specialty pet food retail circles.
We put several products from Dave’s cat food line to the test to find out whether this brand lives up to its promises. Read on to find out what we discovered.
The Cats.com Standard—Rating Dave’s Cat Food on What Matters
We’ve rated the brand on six key criteria for quality. Here’s how it rates in each of these six crucial areas.
Ratings
- Species-Appropriateness – 8/10
- Ingredient Quality – 9/10
- Product Variety – 7/10
- Price – 7/10
- Customer Experience – 8/10
- Recall History – 9/10
Overall Score: 8/10
In total, we give Dave’s cat food a 48 out of 60 rating or an A- grade.
About Dave’s Cat Food
The Dave’s Pet Food brand was created by Dave Ratner in 2001. While the pet food brand is only about twenty years old, Ratner opened his first retail store—a soda shop—in 1975. Over the years, Dave began to notice an increasing demand for pet food, so he expanded his shop and rebranded it to Dave’s Soda and Pet City.
Eventually, Dave decided to claim a piece of the pet food market for himself. With the help of a veterinary nutritionist, he developed what he stills calls “good food at a reasonable price.” Despite being a small, private-label brand, Dave’s Pet Food is now sold in over 2,000 independent retail stores across the United States and online.
Dave’s Pet Food also participates in an Astro Loyalty program, which offers benefits for new pet adopters and 501(c)(3) rescues and shelters. New pet adopters can receive a free full-sized can of pet food at participating locations each year while rescues/shelters that buy eight cases of canned food get one case free.
Sourcing and Manufacturing
Dave’s Pet Food is based in Agawam, MA. Most of the foods are manufactured in the United States but all tuna-based cat foods are produced in dolphin-free facilities in Thailand. All canned foods are packaged in BPA-free cans and Dave’s new dry cat food
This company sources as many ingredients from the US as possible, though some come from Canada, Thailand (tuna), New Zealand, and Australia (lamb). The vitamin blends used in Dave’s Pet Food are made in China but no other ingredients are sourced from China.
Recall History
Dave’s Pet Food has been in business for two decades and only appears to have had one product recall during that time. The recall occurred in June of 2018 and only affected a single batch of Dave’s 95% premium beef dog food.
The recall was initiated after Dave’s received a report from the FDA that one lot of the product was found to have elevated levels of thyroid hormone. The FDA conducted the analysis after receiving complaints about four dogs with low thyroid levels. Dave’s issued a voluntary recall in response to the report, and the company has not experienced any recalls since.
What Kinds of Cat Food Does Dave’s Pet Food Offer?
Dave’s offers a variety of canned cat foods but only one dry food recipe. The wet foods are sold in cans ranging from 3 ounces to 12.5 ounces.
Dave’s cat food products are divided into the following product lines:
- 95% Meat, Limited Ingredient
- Naturally Healthy—Grain-Free
- Naturally Healthy—Economy Size
- Functional Diets
Dave’s cat foods come in numerous flavors and textures within these product lines. Chicken and tuna appear to be the primary proteins featured in Dave’s formulas, though the brand offers turkey and salmon recipes along with a limited assortment of foods made with beef or lamb.
In addition to a collection of patés, shredded foods, and stews, Dave’s offers two Functional Diet recipes. One recipe is made with restricted phosphorus levels to help manage kidney disease in cats. The other has restricted magnesium levels to help manage urinary issues.
What Do Customers Think of Dave’s Cat Food?
Customer reviews for Dave’s Pet Food are limited on the brand’s website. To get a broader understanding of the Dave’s Pet Food customer experience, I scoured reviews on Facebook and product reviews on Amazon and Chewy.
Let’s take a look at a few reviews from some of the most popular recipes from Dave’s Pet Food.
Positive Reviews
Customers are generally pleased with the quality of the food and ingredients. Many reviews support the efficacy of Dave’s therapeutic diets, and there’s a running theme of owners of fussy cats enjoying Dave’s cat food more than other brands.
“My cats love it. Their diarrhea is gone. Even my oldest cat, who I thought might be going to kitty heaven soon, has put on weight and her coat has improved, now thicker and softer. I would definitely recommend this cat food.” —Karen, reviewing Dave’s Pet Food Naturally Healthy Chicken Formula, on December 18th, 2023
“My roommate’s cats and my boys love Dave’s Dry Cat Food. I have to hide the bag because one of my cats tries to claw the bag open so he can feed himself!” —Catherine, reviewing Dave’s Pet Food Naturally Healthy Adult Dry Cat Food, on April 6th, 2024
Negative Reviews
Many negative reviews for Dave’s Pet Food mention damaged cans—it’s difficult to tell whether this is a shipping issue or if the cans arrive damaged at the retailer. Dissatisfied customers also comment that some paté-style foods (especially the Functional Diets) are much drier in texture than expected.
“I decided to order these off Chewy versus my local pet store because I was having a hard time finding cans that weren’t damaged, it can cause bacteria to form in the can, and make your kitties sick. Maybe Chewy needs to start packing the boxes a bit better or Dave’s? I still really like Dave’s brand.” —Jessica, reviewing Dave’s Pet Food Naturally Healthy Turkey Formula, on March 19, 2024
“My cats do not like this food. One reason they like don’t like it is it’s really dry, there is basically no juice, and the description of the food says it’s in juice. This is the least juicy wet food I have ever seen.” —Catherine, reviewing Dave’s Pet Food Restricted Diet Phosphorus Chicken Liver & Chicken in Juice Pate, on January 10th, 2024
What Did Our Test Cats Think?
Kate Barrington / Cats.com
We’ve tested cat food from Dave’s Pet Food numerous times over the past few years, most recently after the brand added dry food to the product lineup. In the latest round of testing, I ordered one of Dave’s dry food recipes and three wet food products.
The four products I ordered and tested were:
- Naturally Healthy Adult Dry Cat Food
- Naturally Healthy Grain-Free Turkey Formula Canned Cat Food
- Restricted Phosphorus Chicken Liver and Chicken in Juice Pate
- Shredded Chicken & Tuna Dinner in Gravy Recipe Wet Food
My cats enjoyed all four recipes, though their favorite was the shredded wet food formula. They always prefer high-moisture foods and recipes in broth or gravy over traditional patés. Like other reviewers, I found the Restricted Phosphorus recipe incredibly dry but my cats accepted it when I added water.
Dave’s Cat Food—Top 5 Recipes Reviewed
Product Name | Food Type | Main Protein Source | Calories | Price | Our Grade |
Naturally Healthy Grain-Free Turkey Formula | Wet | Turkey | 33 kcal/oz. | $0.33/ounce | A |
Restricted Phosphorus Chicken Liver and Chicken in Juice Paté | Wet | Chicken | 27 kcal/oz. | $0.46/ounce | B |
Shredded Chicken & Tuna Dinner in Gravy | Wet | Chicken | 24 kcal/oz. | $0.45/ounce | A- |
Naturally Healthy Adult Dry Cat Food | Dry | Chicken | 107 kcal/oz. | $0.20/ounce | C |
Dave’s Semi-Moist Renal Cat Treats | Treat | Dried Egg | 14 kcal/oz. | $3.67/oz | B |
How Much Does Dave’s Cat Food Cost?
Dave’s Pet Food was built on the premise of “good food at a reasonable price.” Ranging from $0.25 to $0.50 per ounce for wet food and around $0.20 for the solitary dry food, Dave’s is similarly priced to brands like Taste of the Wild and American Journey. Dave’s sets itself apart from the pack by offering a higher level of quality than many similarly priced products.
The daily cost to feed a 10-pound cat Dave’s Pet Food wet cat food would range from about $2 to $4. Dave’s dry food is much cheaper, costing under $0.50 per day for the average cat.
Where Is Dave’s Cat Food Sold?
The founder of Dave’s Pet Food is an independent retailer himself, so his pet foods are only sold in independent pet retail stores. Dave’s is also carried by major online retailers like Amazon, Chewy, Pet Flow, Pet Life, and more. You can find a complete list of retailers on the company website.
Overall, Is Dave’s Cat Food a Good Choice?
Dave’s Pet Food appears to hold true to its motto, “good food at a reasonable price.” While the carbohydrate content of Dave’s cat food varies wildly, the objective quality of the products seems higher than formulas from other brands that are similarly priced. Dave’s pate-style canned foods appear to offer the best value.
If you have a picky eater, Dave’s offers a variety of flavors and textures, many of which seem to appeal to fussy felines. The Restricted Diets may also be worth considering if your cat is at risk for urinary or kidney problems. Just keep in mind these foods are for intermittent feeding only and it seems to be a toss-up whether your cat will like them or not.
According to this website (https://catinfo.org/chart/index.php) the carb content for the Naturally line is much lower. It’s there a reason for such a difference in your numbers vs theirs?
Thanks!
Hi Amanda, thanks for pointing that out. The numbers in our article are based on the guaranteed analysis, which only gives us minimum and maximum values for non-carbohydrate nutrients. This can lead to some discrepancies with actual nutrient values. Reviewing at scale and using automations, it is difficult for us to obtain typical nutrient values for every brand we review. To get more precise values, I would recommend contacting the company for more information on each recipe.
Hi, I was very interested in buy from Dave’s pet food but realized all of their Naturally Healthy line contains carrageenan, which is a known carcinogen. Did you come upon that during your research and what’s your opinion?
From what I can see, the evidence against food-grade carrageenan in food is not strong. I made a short video about it here.