Unbiased Addiction Cat Food Review

Kate Barrington / Cats.com

With a focus on pure, fresh ingredients sourced from New Zealand, Addiction promises to give your cat the nutritional edge they need to live their best life. But is this brand the perfect fit for your feline friend? Find out in our in-depth Addiction cat food review.

The Cats.com Standard—Rating Addiction on What Matters

We’ve analyzed Addiction 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.

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Ratings

Species-Appropriateness – 8/10
Ingredient Quality – 9/10
Product Variety – 8/10
Price – 6/10
Customer Experience – 9/10
Recall History – 8/10

Overall Score: 8/10

We give Addiction cat food a 48 out of 60 rating or a A- grade.

Why Trust Cats.com

Each one of our cat food brand reviews represents hours of market research and in-house testing. Before we even order a product, we spend time delving into the brand’s details to learn about its ingredient sourcing, manufacturing practices, and recall history. We also read hundreds of reviews to get a feel for the company’s customer satisfaction reputation.

When we test cat food, we rely on a combination of our own observations and our test cats’ opinions set against objective analysis of the formulas. All products are purchased at full retail price and tested at home with our own cats.

About Addiction Cat Food

Addiction was founded in 2002 by Jerel Kwek in partnership with a veterinary surgeon and clinical nutritionist. Kwek’s golden retriever, Zack, is the inspiration behind the brand. Upon discovering a dietary link to his dog’s chronic allergies and gastrointestinal issues, Kwek headed to New Zealand to develop a more nutritious option for pets across the globe.

Originally, all Addiction foods were formulated around novel proteins from wild game, including kangaroo and brushtail (a type of possum native to Australia). Now a major manufacturer selling to an international market, the company continues to utilize unusual protein sources in addition to a variety of more traditional meats.

Drawing on the country’s generous selection of free-range and cage-free meat sources, Addiction’s current recipes are protein-forward and formulated for easy digestibility. The brand is also committed to environmental sustainability, harvesting animals considered agricultural pests to reduce the reliance on mass-produced livestock animals.

Sourcing and Manufacturing

Addiction foods are made in New Zealand, which boasts an international reputation for stringent import and export regulations. In addition to strict manufacturing standards, New Zealand’s clean agricultural environment provides a unique pantry for Addiction products.

The company uses only wild-caught or free-range meat and strives to source animals raised in a stress-free environment. Addiction’s fish-based food is made from salmon rated “Best Choice” by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch, an organization promoting ocean sustainability and safety.

While the company emphasizes New Zealand and Australia-sourced ingredients, they may obtain some ingredients from other countries. The company refuses to source any raw materials from China.

Has Addiction Cat Food Been Recalled?

In September of 2016, 355 cases of two varieties of Addiction dog food were recalled due to excessive vitamin A and variance in calcium and phosphorus ratios. There were no reports of illness associated with the recall.

What Kinds of Cat Food Does Addiction Offer?

When Addiction was first launched, the brand offered a limited assortment of dry food and treats. Today, Addiction offers a variety of dry and wet food products for cats, though its air-dried raw alternative products are only available for dogs.

Addiction products are divided between classic dry food recipes and the newer Wild Islands line of wet and dry cat foods. Here’s a list of Addiction’s current products:

Salmon Bleu Dry Cat Food
Duck Royale Dry Cat Food
Wild Kangaroo Feast Dry Cat Food
Viva La Venison Dry Cat Food
Wild Islands Highland Meats Grass-Fed Beef & Lamb Recipe Dry Food
Wild Islands Pacific Catch Premium King Salmon, Mackerel, & Hoki Dry Food
Wild Islands Forest Meat Premium Venison Recipe Dry Food
Wild Islands Island Bird Premium Duck, Turkey, & Chicken Dry Food
Wild Islands Forest Meat Premium Venison & Beef Grain-Free Wet Food
Wild Islands Highland Meats Premium Lamb & Beef Grain-Free Wet Food
Wild Islands Island Birds Premium Chicken & Turkey Grain-Free Wet Food
Wild Islands Pacific Catch Premium Ocean Fish & Salmon Grain-Free Wet Food

The Wild Islands line features premium New Zealand-sourced ingredients in grain-free, high-protein formulas inspired by whole prey ratios of muscle meat and organs. Addiction’s classic recipes primarily feature novel proteins like wild kangaroo, duck, and salmon in formulas enriched with omega-3 fatty acids to promote healthy skin and shiny coat.

What Did Our Test Cats Think?

To test Addiction cat food, I ordered an assortment of products from both the classic and Wild Islands lines. Addiction offers several trial packs on the company’s website, so I was able to purchase samples of the whole Wild Islands line.

What I found most surprising about Addiction cat food was its appearance. The dry foods came in very uniformly round kibbles much flatter than the typical US-made dry cat food, and the wet food had a very moist, soft texture my cats seemed to appreciate. Both the wet and dry food recipes we tested were a hit with my cats.

Addiction Cat Food—Top 4 Recipes Reviewed

Product Name	Food Type	Primary Protein	Calories Per Ounce	Price	Our Grade
Addiction Wild Kangaroo Feast Grain-Free Dry Cat Food	Dry	Kangaroo	103	$0.38 per ounce	C
Addiction Wild Islands Pacific Catch Salmon, Mackerel & Hoki Grain-Free Dry Cat Food	Dry	Salmon	116	$0.49 per ounce	C
Addiction Wild Islands Highland Meats Premium Lamb & Beef Grain-Free Canned Cat Food	Wet	Beef	34	$1.00 per ounce	B
Addiction Wild Islands Island Birds Premium Chicken & Turkey Grain-Free Canned Cat Food	Wet	Chicken	31	$0.92 per ounce	B

#1 Addiction Wild Kangaroo Feast Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

$23.99 At Chewy $25.99 At Amazon

Featuring wild kangaroo as the primary protein, this Addiction dry cat food is marketed as a chicken-free formula suited to cats with poultry allergies. It’s worth noting, however, that kangaroo isn’t the only source of protein. The recipe also contains fish meal (with peas as a plant-based source of supplemental protein).

Addiction Wild Kangaroo Feast Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

Kate Barrington / Cats.com

Measured as dry matter, this recipe contains about 33% protein and 13% fat, both of which are fairly low for a so-called “premium” cat food. This recipe is only moderately calorie dense at about 103 calories per ounce, and very high in carbohydrates. Most of the carbohydrate content comes from peas, which can be hard for some cats to digest fully, and tapioca, which offers limited nutritional value (it’s mostly starch).

If you’re having trouble finding a chicken-free formula a finicky, allergy-prone cat will eat, this kangaroo-based recipe could be a hit. For cats without allergies, however, other Addiction recipes offer higher protein and energy values for a similar price.

Ingredients

Kangaroo, Fish Meal, Peas, Tapioca, Flaxseed, Coconut Oil, Natural Flavor, Vegetable Fiber, Sea Salt, Buffered Vinegar, Taurine, DL-Methionine, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Copper Amino Acid Complex, D-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Sodium Selenite, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Vitamin A Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Cobalt Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Chicory Inulin, Mixed Tocopherols (For Added Freshness), Rosemary Extract, Tea Extract, Spearmint Extract.

Ingredients We Liked: Kangaroo, Fish Meal

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Peas, Tapioca

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 30%

Crude Fat: 12%

Crude Fiber: 6%

Moisture: 10%

Ash: 10%

Phosphorus: 1.41%

Magnesium: 0.14%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 33.33%

Fat: 13.33%

Fiber: 6.67%

Carbs: 35.56%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 32.92%

Fat: 31.97%

Carbs: 35.11%

What We Liked:

Features a novel protein as the main ingredient
Chicken-free formula suited to cats with poultry allergies
Enriched with omega-3s for healthy skin and coat

What We Didn’t Like:

Not a single-protein recipe
High in carbohydrates
Contains peas (which can be hard for cats to digest)

#2 Addiction Wild Islands Pacific Catch Salmon, Mackerel & Hoki Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

$36.99 At Chewy $36.99 At Amazon

Formulated with salmon, mackerel, hoki, ocean fish meal, and chicken meal as the top five ingredients, this Addiction dry cat food is much higher in protein than the previous recipe. Measured as dry matter, the minimum protein content is 50% and the minimum fat is 16.7%.

Addiction Wild Islands Pacific Catch Salmon, Mackerel & Hoki Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

Kate Barrington / Cats.com

Like other Addiction dry foods, this recipe contains peas and tapioca which adds to the carbohydrate content a bit, but the total carb value is still lower with this formula. It’s worth noting that this recipe contains pea protein, however, which calls into question how much of that 50% protein value is animal-sourced. The good thing is that pea protein appears after six animal-based protein sources.

Part of the Wild Islands product line, this dry food features ingredients New Zealand has become known for, including green-lipped mussels. These provide a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids for skin and coat health while manuka honey offers a boost for your cat’s immunity.