Is this brand the right choice for the cat you love? Find out in our unbiased I and Love and You cat food review.
The Cats.com Standard—Rating I and Love and You on What Matters
We’ve analyzed I and Love and You and graded it according to the Cats.com standard, evaluating the brand on species-appropriateness, ingredient quality, product variety, price, customer experience, and recall history. Here’s how it rates in each of these six key areas.
Ratings
- Species-Appropriateness – 8/10
- Ingredient Quality – 7/10
- Product Variety – 8/10
- Price – 8/10
- Customer Experience – 9/10
- Recall History – 8/10
Overall Score: 7.5/10
We give I and Love and You cat food a 45 out of 60 rating or a B+ grade.
About I and Love and You
Only Natural Pet launched I and Love and You in 2011. The Colorado-based pet specialty retailer wanted to expand their business and assembled a team to create a new brand of pet food.
Co-creator Brendan Synnott says I and Love and You follows some of the same marketing strategies employed by his other brands, Bear Naked and EVOL. In 2011, he told the Denver Post that “For a lot of the same reasons someone would buy Bear Naked or Evol, they will buy I and Love and You.”
Sourcing and Manufacturing
I and Love and You cat food is manufactured in the United States. The company sources most of their ingredients from the United States and Canada, with some ingredients coming from around the world.
Has I and Love and You Cat Food Been Recalled?
Though I and Love and You cat food has never been recalled, their dog treats have. In July of 2015, I and Love and You issued a recall of their beef gullet dog treats due to potential salmonella contamination.
What Kinds of Cat Food Does I and Love and You Offer?
I and Love and You offers both dry and wet cat food. Their dry selection is broken into three lines.
- Naked Essentials is a line of grain-free dry food.
- Nude Food is formulated for digestive health, featuring prebiotics, probiotics, and digestive enzymes.
- Lovingly Simple is a limited-ingredient product made without the most common cat food allergens.
I and Love and You wet food is available in a wide variety of recipes, including limited-ingredient products, novel proteins, and a range of recipes to suit almost all tastes.
I and Love and You Cat Food – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed
Product Name | Food Type | Price | Our Grade |
I and Love and You Whascally Wabbit Pate Grain-Free Canned Cat Food | Wet | $0.46 per oz | A |
I and Love and You Oh My Cod! Pate Grain-Free Canned Cat Food | Wet | $0.41 per oz | A |
I and Love and You Naked Essentials Chicken & Duck Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat Food | Dry | $3.51 per lb | C |
What Do Customers Think of I and Love and You Cat Food?
It’s rare that you’ll find a negative comment about I and Love and You. Almost everyone who buys it likes it. Cats like it. People like it. Negative reviews are rare and not extremely critical. Here’s what a few reviewers have to say:
Positive Reviews
“These are very good quality and have reordered .. Since the product is very rich, I only give them a half a can each.” – Coast2Coast, reviewing I and Love and You Wascally Wabbit Canned Cat Food Jun 28, 2025
“Two cats went on strike for the food they had been eating. Tried I And Love You Oh My Cod! pate. You would have thought they hadn’t eaten in days the way they dug in and ate every bite. When the cats are happy with their food I am happy,” – Lois, reviewing I and Love and You Oh My Cod! Pate Grain-Free Canned Cat Food Jun 29, 2025
Negative Reviews
“I have two cats neither one of them cared for it. The kibbles are too small for adult cats and there was something weird mixed in with the kibble. I haven’t ever seen my cats.Turned down food , but this was when they would not touch.” – Erica, reviewing I and Love and You Naked Essentials Chicken & Duck Recipe Dry Cat Food Apr 27, 2025
“My cats wouldn’t touch this. I got a trial size to be sure, and glad I did. It’s nice that Chewy has trial sizes because you just don’t know what cats are going to eat.” – Maureen, reviewing I and Love and You Oh My Cod! Canned Cat Food Jul 4, 2025
How Much Does I and Love and You Cat Food Cost?
I and Love and You cat food is a little bit more expensive than its neighbors at the grocery store, but it’s not among the priciest cat food you can buy.
You’ll pay around $2.24 and up to $3.08 per day to feed a 10-lb cat their wet recipes and closer to $0.30 per day if you’re buying their dry foods. This puts I and Love and You in the same price league as Rachael Ray Nutrish and Merrick.
Overall, Is I and Love and You a Good Choice?
With meat-rich recipes featuring a mix of muscle meat and organs, splashes of salmon oil, and some of the lowest carbohydrate percentages in the industry, I and Love and You canned cat food is an outstanding option.
Their canned foods are a few heads above most of the other products sold in grocery stores and better than many other products at the same price point.
I and Love and You’s dry cat food isn’t quite as impressive, with ingredient lists similar to those of other grain-free cat food brands.
Where To Buy I and Love and You Cat Food?
You can buy I and Love and You in grocery stores, independent pet specialty retailers, and some big box stores. Click here to search for a retailer near you. You can buy it online through Amazon, Chewy, Target, Jet, Walmart, and Thrive Market.
I thought I was giving her an upgrade by buying this “I and love and you” canned food. She almost immediately began wretching and vomiting, and then she had horrible diarrhea. As far as I’m concerned, it is poison. I should’ve read all the similar reviews on Amazon before I ordered it. I believe that your positive comments were bought and paid for. I want my sixteen bucks back. Now that I know that this horrible cat killing company is just up the road in Boulder, I’m going to pack up this nasty stuff and take it back to them. I should ship it to the CSU Extension in Ft. Collins and have it analyzed. Like I said, it’s poisonous to cats and many Amazon shoppers agree.
Sadly I trusted your comment “low in carbs”. Low carb cat food is 10% or below (on dry matter basis). All these foods are 32% or more. DO NOT USE THE TERM LOW CARB!
Hi Michelle,
We apologize for the mistake and have updated the article’s languages.
I recently purchased the Shine recipe in gravy for my three cats which is salmon and tuna shreds. My cats wouldn’t eat it I think it has mackerel in it, or smells that way. They are refusing to eat it and have loved it. It doesn’t smell very good at all.
Since my cat has been eating this dry food, (she likes it) but she is ALOT, is this something someone else has experienced? Is the food too dry? Should we add oils to the kibble? She is 13 years old, no allergies, no parasites, no medical issues. She has now in the last 3 weeks scratched all of her hair off of her back towards her tail.
Check current prices. I pay about $2.27 per 3 oz. can. But I do live in Waimea, HI and prices are higher than average here.
Thanks for the info, Joy!
Hi Mallory I need your advice choosing between a few options as I’m on a budget of about 40 dollars for 10-11 pounds of dry food.
the options are Earthborn Holistic Wild Sea Catch,
I and Love and You Nude Super Food Surf ‘n Chick Grain-Free Dry Cat Food, Fussie Cat Market Fresh Chicken & Turkey Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat Food & By Nature Pet Foods Chicken & Turkey Meal Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat Food I’m hesitant of the earthborn & Aussie cat because of the peas and chickpeas and even though the By nature has those similar ingredients it has coconut oil and antioxidant ingredients. The I & love & you seems to be the best bet of the options but I’m still unsure. I really value ingredients like fruits and extracts that seem helpful but is it less important than the high protein in the I&L&Y option? Please let me know my 5 kitties depend on you!!
First you said the dry is moderate carbs and then in cons you say it’s high !
What really is it ! I need to know !
Thank you
Compared to other dry foods, the carbohydrate content would be considered moderate, but according to the All About Cats standard, we would view this as a high-carb food and not a particularly species-appropriate choice for your cat.
unfortunately they changed all their recipes and my cats will no longer eat it. looks and smells bad too. so disappointed. cat has cancer and eats very few things.
I’m very sorry to hear that, Carrie. Your cat might like some of the foods on this list—I find that fresh/homemade style foods tend to be very palatable.
So sad to hear that you changed your ingredients and no longer have a fruit and veggie formula for purky turkey. My cat has bad food allergies and has high protein and elevated liver enzymes from high protein grain free wet food that he has eaten prior. He has been feeling so much better that I switched to this food, now I have to shop around again to find a single protein turkey and veggie ingredient food with out peas. It breaks my heart to know he might be sick again till I find another food.
Thank you for the comment. I’d recommend contacting I and love and you directly as well—this could give you a better chance of being heard by the company.
I’m looking for a fairly good quality chicken free, grain free and low carb dry food. Any suggestions? I have 1 kitty with a chicken allergy and 1 kitty with leukemia so she needs a low carb formula. They are extremely picky and I’ve spent hours and hundreds of dollars trying to find something they will eat and meet their needs. Please help and email me some suggestions.
Hey there! You might find some suggestions that work for you and your two kitties in our article on the best cat food for sensitive digestion.
Was there a typo in the % of carbs on a dry matter basis for the wet foods? It says they’re low carb, and the “oh my cod” product is described as having “virtually zero” carb content, but I scroll and see in the pie charts that their carb percentages are in the 30s. I’m not sure if it was here on the site I saw it but wasn’t it under 12% carbs in wet food more like what we like to see? For example, in the Fancy Feast review, the first product reviewed is described as low carb and is 10.45% carb on a dry matter basis. I ask because I’m considering this brand and want to be sure first. Thanks!
Hi Erika, thanks for bringing this to our attention. I did some poking around in my email history and found that the carbohydrate values in the written part of the article were based on information provided by I and Love and You. They sent a typical nutrient analysis, which gave me information not provided by the guaranteed analysis. In contrast, the pie charts were based solely on the GA values, and they’re not as exact. This is an issue we’re still working to resolve, but I hope this answer helps to give you some clarity! I’ll send you an email with the nutrient charts I referred to when writing the article. Thanks!
Hi Mallory,
You rated the I and Love and You wet foods an A, so like the comment above this one, I’m concerned about the dry matter basis carbohydrate values considering they add a lot of unnecessary veggies and “gums” to their foods. What is the difference between a typical “nutrient anaylsis,” and the guaranteed analysis, and which do you prefer we trust as our go to numbers? I can’t afford expensive canned foods and I was looking to add some healthy ones into my cats’ rotation. They got tired about Weruva, and did not like anything Wellness except their Signature Shreddred.
Do you have any of suggestions for a gravy based canned food that’s economical for three young males? (They eat pate all the time.)
Thank you.
What do you think about their treats, are they also a good chose like the wet cat food?
Hi Geneva,
Much like their cat food, their cat food treats are made from real animal protein, with minimal plant protein. Overall it seems like a good choice for most cats. For example if we look at MEOW AND ZEN HEARTIES ingredient list:
Chicken, chicken liver, glycerin, ground flaxseed, natural flavor, guar gum, pea fiber, salt, inulin, pumpkin, dandelion greesn, cranberry powder, broccoli, sweet potatoes, mixed tocopherols (a preservative), chamomille, lavender, passion flower.
This participial treat might contain a good amount of salt so it would be best not to overdue it.
Hope this helps!
Let us know if you have any additional questions
My cat loves this food, but I was concerned and found your article after reading some of the wet food reviews on Amazon showed pictures of the wet food turning red and they claimed there was “red dye” in it. But it doesn’t say that on the ingredients. What is your stance on this? Do you think it contains “red dye” which is known to be harmful or is this just heresay?
Hi there. This is very interesting—I would like to contact the company and ask about this color change. If they are including dyes without proclaiming that on the ingredient list, it would be illegal and a serious problem. That said, I think that reviewers, especially of cat products, tend to be a little bit hasty to assume that the company is deceiving them, and I do wish that there had been more of a rigorous investigation before making this claim. I have heard about other foods oxidizing and turning red, but I’ve yet to find anything definitive on why this happens. In case you’re interested in checking out a few other examples, the picture posted by the Amazon reviewer looks very similar to the one in this image of Friskies food (warning—it’s gross) , which was posted in this thread. A few other people said they had a similar experience.
So overall, I wouldn’t discontinue use of the food based on this report, but I am curious about what is going on. Thanks for stopping by.
I just recently purchased I and Love and you Naked Essentials Grain Free with Salmon and Trout dry food for my teenage cattens (they will be a year old the end of April) and was wondering if you had any opinion/feedback on that line.
Hi Pam, thank you for commenting! As mentioned in the review of the Naked Essentials Chicken & Duck Recipe on this page, I can’t find that much to say about the Naked Essentials line that would be different from my take on most grain-free dry foods. The food does seem to do a nice job of offering high-value protein sources and doesn’t seem to take too many “shortcuts”, i.e. including potentially lower-value sources of protein like plant protein concentrates or animal by-products. The inclusion of prebiotics and probiotics is nice, though you always have to bear in mind that viability is not guaranteed. But in spite of its good qualities, it’s still just a pretty good grain-free dry food. It’s high-carb, low-moisture, and generally not the most species-appropriate choice on the market. So while I do think it could be a relatively good choice for your cattens (love this term, by the way), it’s not the absolute best choice. I hope that this helps! All the best. – Mallory
Needed to mix some medicine in with wet food to hide it. Settled on this brand and I created a monster. My two year old female screams demanding this stuff at meal time. I only give her one 3 oz can a day and free feed her Hills dry. She can be finicky but absolutely loves this stuff… especially the Cod.
She’s well over her sniffles but now I’m stuck with a spoiled kitty that loves her wet food.
Came across the reviews and was relieved to see its relatively nutritious.
I put some of the Naked Essentials chicken in a paper coffee filter while cleaning my cat’s bowl and noticed an excessive amount of grease absorbed by the filter. Is it normal for dry cat food to be so greasy?
Hello Luka, that’s a great question. Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer for you. I’d recommend taking a photo of the greasy coffee filter and sending it to I and Love and You. They may be able to tell you whether or not this amount of grease is typical for their foods. Other than that, I can’t tell you whether or not the amount of grease you saw is normal. I and Love and You is not a particularly high-fat food, but something in their processing methods could potentially lead to increased greasiness. Again, this is an intriguing question and I hope you get some more insights soon.
Best,
Mallory
Do you have phosphorus and magnesium levels of the whascally wabbit 3oz the reason I ask is my cat was recently diagnosed having stage 4 CKD and I’ve tried just about every K/D brand canned food and it all looks like clay and he will not eat it so I’m looking for something he WILL eat that is still somewhat palatable and not as bad as feeding him some fancy feast garbage or equivalent. I want to have possibly a few more months with him before I know it’s too far along where he’s miserable and I have to say goodbye humanely, but I don’t want his food to totally suck cause that’s inhumane as well.. what good is living if your food tastes like garbage yanno?
Hey Brian, unfortunately, I don’t have that information on hand. You may be able to get it by contacting the company and asking for a detailed nutritional analysis. You can reach the customer support department here: [email protected].
Just fed cats (2) a tablespoon of grain free beef right meow. Within 5 minutes both cat simultaneously began vomiting. I was trying this for first time
But hesitant to give again.
Hi Judith, thank you for sharing your experience with I and Love and You cat food. I’d recommend contacting the company and letting them know what happened.
I bought a bag of the dry stuff for my cats a couple years ago thinking I was doing them a favor after seeing good reviews. I’m surprised it has such a good rating, because both of my cats had adverse reactions. One of them ended up with itchy skin and was gnawing on themselves (which I’d never seen her do) and spontaneously vomiting and the other one ended up with explosive sticky diarrhea. It took me a week or two to consider the food because they’d never had reactions like this to any other brand (expensive or cheap) and I changed it immediately and they never had the problem again with the variations of food I fed them. I’d rather feed them Whiskers brand before this. Both cats have passed on now, but we have 2 new cats and I’ve upped their quality of food and keep hard food to a minimum, but I’d never feed them this brand, I won’t even try the wet food, I’d never seen any of my cats react so poorly to a food before. I’ve posted a number of reviews about this in various places.
Lately the cod wet food has had an inordinate amount of larger (about 1/2″ & sharp) bones in it. Cod had always been the favorite but now won’t eat it. Tried to eat around the sharper bones, but now just cries for different food. The cod remains in the food dish.
My cats are used to Purina One dry food. I feed 3 cats from a common bowl Usually I fill the bowl w/P1 in the morning, and often must top if off at bedtime. They free feed and it has worked fine. This iandlovenandyou has not worked out at all. I first noticed that they were not emptying the bowl.
Then Christmas eve, I was cooking, and noticed that my ginger tabby was tearing open a bag of treats! I scolded him and went back to cooking. He got another bag! I took that away from him, went back to cooking. Darned if he didn’t get a bag of DOGGIE treats that I keep to give the neighbor dogs! He was NOT eating any more of that food! I gave in and filled the bowl w/Purina One.
I hate to indulge finicky cats! But he was desperate! Trying to tear into those treat bags!
How about the cans themselves? Is the liner safe for cats? Or does it contain BPA or some other harmful chemical?
Thanks.
Hi Jane! I and Love and You claims that their cat food cans are BPA-free. Hope this helps!
– Mallory