Kate Barrington / Cats.com
We’ve rated Petite Cuisine cat food on ingredient quality, species-appropriateness, recalls, and more. Read our Petite Cuisine cat food review to learn how this brand stacks up.
The Cats.com Standard—Rating Petite Cuisine 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 – 6/10
- Recall History – 10/10
Overall Score: 7.8/10
In total, we give Petite Cuisine cat food a 47 out of 60 rating or a B+ grade.
About Petite Cuisine Cat Food
Petite Cuisine was founded in 2004 by Eric Weber and is based in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Their recipes are described on the brand’s website as “complete and balanced with real, healthy ingredients you recognize.” But does the food stand up to the brand’s claims? Let’s find out.
Sourcing and Manufacturing
The Petite Cuisine website doesn’t offer much besides general claims about the food and basic product information. The “Where to Buy” page allows you to search for Petite Cuisine in stores as well as online. Other than information and an email and phone number for contact, however, the website is pretty sparse.
What Petite Cuisine does say about their products is that they offer “homemade-like goodness” and are made with “high-quality meats & superfoods.”
Petite Cuisine points out that their formulas are high in protein and made with clean ingredients, but they don’t say where those ingredients come from. Because the food is manufactured in Thailand, however, it’s likely that the chicken and fish is sourced from there as well.
All Petite Cuisine products are free from corn, wheat, and soy ingredients and they are not thickened with carrageenan.
Recall History
To our knowledge, Petite Cuisine has never had a product recalled.
What Kinds of Cat Food Does Petite Cuisine Offer?
Petite Cuisine is a wet food-only brand. They offer half a dozen complete and balanced wet food recipes as well as two wet food toppers and two lickable cat treats.
Most of Petite Cuisine’s formulas are chicken- or tuna-based, though some include whitefish or tilapia as a secondary source of animal protein. All of the canned foods come in 2.8-ounce cans, the food toppers in 1.3-ounce pouches, and the lickable treats in small tubes.
What Do Customers Think of Petite Cuisine Cat Food?
Despite having been founded nearly two decades ago, Petite Cuisine remains a seemingly unknown brand. While the variety pack of Petite Cuisine canned food has a little over 100 ratings on Amazon, individual recipes have fewer than 30.
Based on ratings from customers on Amazon and Chewy, Petite Cuisine seems to be a little hit-or-miss with cats. Some customers report excellent responses from picky eaters but just as many (or more) say their cats wouldn’t even touch it.
Let’s take a look at a few reviews from some of the most popular recipes from Petite Cuisine.
Positive Reviews
“I have 4 cats and 1 is allergic to chicken so I’m try to buy food that they all can eat and this one is almost a win. 3 of my cats will eat this some of the time. That’s a win for my house.”- by Pleg Reviewing Petite Cuisine L’il Violet’s Tuna, Pumpkin & Tilapia Entree in Broth on 10 Feb 2021
“This cat food is perfect for my elderly cat who doesn’t like to drink water and tends to get borderline dehydrated. I pour a can of this in with a can of his regular food ( chicken in gravy). She slurps it all up and gets excited when I put the bowl out. Her coat looks so much better after 2 weeks The rest of my cats are indifferent and can take it or leave it. I’m happy that it’s perfect for my reluctant drinker!”- by Elle Reviewing Petite Cuisine Sweet Ivy’s Chicken Entree in Broth on 17 Jul 2021
Negative Reviews
“All of my cats love any can with lots of broth, but I couldn’t get any of them to eat this one, this one will be donated to the shelter I am sure some kitties might like this one but not mine.”- by Blkcatsrox Reviewing Petite Cuisine Variety Pack on 16 Jan 2021
“1/4 of the can is food. 3/4 broth. It goes everywhere when you open a can. My persian did not care for one of the varieties. He refuses to eat Sweet Ivy’s and potato. Seems like quality food however. Looked and smelled good but needs more meat. I use it as a topper for his dry and stir in.” – by Lenny Reviewing Petite Cuisine Variety Pack on 8 Mar 2020
What Did Our Test Cats Think?
Kate Barrington / Cats.com
To test Petite Cuisine, I ordered a 12-can variety pack and a box of the Consommé Tuna Recipe in Broth Grain-Free wet food topper. My cats are suckers for any cat food made with fish – especially wet food. They go crazy as soon as I open the can and they can’t eat it fast enough. Petite Cuisine was no different.
I liked that both the wet food and food topper had plenty of visible chunks of fish, though I agree with what several customers said – some cans seem to be mostly liquid. The same is true of the wet food topper, but that’s what I would expect.
I didn’t have any issues with the product itself, but I can see how the pricy might be an issue for cat owners on a budget. The food only comes in small 2.8-ounce cans and, because the food is chicken- or fish-based, it’s very low in calories. Even a small cat would be expensive to feed if you used Petite Cuisine exclusively.
Petite Cuisine Cat Food – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed
Product Name | Food Type | Main Protein Source | Calories | Price Per Ounce | Our Grade |
Petite Cuisine Sweet Ivy’s Chicken & Sweet Potato Entrée in Broth Grain-Free Wet Cat Food | Wet | Chicken | 22.5 kcal/oz | $0.53 per oz | B |
Petite Cuisine L’il Violet’s Tuna, Pumpkin & Tilapia Entrée in Broth Grain-Free Wet Cat Food | Wet | Tuna | 23 kcal/oz | $0.53 per oz | B |
Petite Cuisine Consomme Tuna Recipe in Broth Grain-Free Wet Food Topper | Topper | Tuna | 10 kcal/pouch | $0.92 per oz | B |
How Much Does Petite Cuisine Cat Food Cost?
Petite Cuisine canned foods are only sold in 2.8-ounce cans, available in 24-packs of individual flavors or a 12-can variety pack. A 24-pack of a single flavor costs $35.76, or about $1.49 per can and $0.53 per ounce. If you purchase the variety pack, you’ll pay about $1.34 per can or about $0.48 per ounce.
The two lickable cat treats/food toppers Petite Cuisine has to offer are sold in 12-packs of 1.3-ounce pouches for around $15.
Because all Petite Cuisine canned foods are priced the same and have similar calorie content, it’s easy to estimate the daily feeding cost. For a 10-pound cat, you’d pay about $4.60 per day. This makes Petite Cuisine a pretty pricey brand, on par with some canned cat foods from Tiki Cat and Most of Caru’s wet food recipes.
Overall, Is Petite Cuisine Cat Food a Good Choice?
Though Petite Cuisine’s product lineup is very limited, there are cases in which this brand might be an excellent choice. The high-protein, low-fat formulas are ideal for cats who need to lose weight and the low carbohydrate content is another benefit. The recipes are also pretty simple, featuring either chicken or fish protein.
While a low-fat, low-calorie diet might be right for some cats, it could be problematic for others. Though Petite Cuisine recipes are formulated for all life stages, they don’t provide the kind of calorie-dense nutrition that growing kittens need. You could certainly raise a kitten on this food, but he’d need to eat a lot of it to meet his calorie needs and that’s going to be expensive.
I’d personally recommend Petite Cuisine as a food to supplement your cat’s protein and moisture intake. It’s expensive to feed exclusively but if, you have the budget for it, it could make for a quality addition to your cat’s staple diet.
Where Is Petite Cuisine Cat Food Sold?
Petite Cuisine seems to be primarily sold in large chain supermarkets like Meijer and Wegmans. It’s also sold online by Walmart, Chewy, and Amazon.
I had to change my kitten foods ( hill science) bought an adult for urinary and hairballs. Would not eat it had tried numerous can foods . Sometime he would eat a little the leave it. I started giving him delectable ( he loved them) for 7 days he would not eat the dry . Reintroduce cane food only one he would eat is petite Cuisine.
I like the ingredients and the broth ( that way I know he is getting some liquid..
I