Last updated Oct 25, 2023
Smalls’ human-grade fresh cat food delivers carnivore-appropriate levels of protein in an assortment of flavors and multiple moisture-rich textures. This homemade-style cat food brand has changed a lot over the course of its relatively short history, but is it a good brand?
In this review, we’ll provide an objective assessment of the Smalls cat food brand along with details from our own experiences to help you decide if Smalls is the right choice for your cat.
The Cats.com Standard – Rating Smalls on What Matters
We’ve analyzed Smalls 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 – 10/10
- Ingredient Quality – 10/10
- Product Variety – 7/10
- Price – 7/10
- Customer Experience – 6/10
- Recall History – 8/10
Overall Score: 8.0/10
We give Smalls fresh cat food a 48 out of 60 rating or an A- grade.
Want to try Smalls? Enter coupon code CATS35 at checkout to get a flat 35% off!
Why Trust Cats.com
Mallory Crusta / Cats.com
Before testing cat food, we thoroughly research the brand to get a feel for its nutritional philosophy, manufacturing and sourcing practices, and recall history. We also read customer reviews to get a feel for the company’s track record with customer satisfaction.
In addition to performing an in-depth evaluation of Smalls cat food products, our team has tried Smalls numerous times since the brand’s launch in 2017, with multiple reviewers and multiple cats giving their impressions of the product. During testing, we make observations about the products’ appearance, texture, smell, and consistency while relying on our cats to gauge its palatability and general appeal.
We also sent samples of Smalls cat food to an ISO 17025 certified food testing and analysis lab. Analytical testing tells us more than just the exact macronutrient and micronutrient content of the food. These tests also reveal microbial content and the presence of mold, yeast, and heavy metals.
Also Read: Why We Lab Test Cat Food and How to Interpret the Reports
About Smalls
Founded by two New York entrepreneurs in 2017, Smalls offers human-grade cat food in fresh (homemade-style) and freeze-dried varieties shipped to your door according to custom meal plans.
Instead of shopping in their store for the recipe you like, you’ll fill out a questionnaire about your cat to receive custom meal plan suggestions and start your subscription. Each month, the recipes in your meal plan are shipped ice-cold to your doorstep.
While there’s a lot to like about the idea of custom cat food meal plans, top-notch ingredients, and food that honors your cat’s needs as a carnivore, Smalls’ subscription model isn’t going to be for everyone.
In this review, we’ll go over the details to help you decide if this brand is the right choice for you and your cat.
Sourcing and Manufacturing
Smalls cat food is developed with the guidance of pet nutrition consultant Dr. Susan Lauten, Ph.D. Whether you choose fresh or freeze-dried raw recipes, all of them are nutritionally complete and balanced according to AAFCO guidelines.
All of Smalls’ recipes are human-grade, which means they are made in a human food facility from USDA-certified ingredients fit for human consumption. These ingredients are sustainably sourced from the United States and Canada.
Their wet food formulas are prepared in Chicago, Illinois, while their freeze-dried foods are prepared in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Smalls’ kibble is produced in Brainerd, Minnesota. Every batch is thoroughly tested for foodborne pathogens. The company also performs regular spot checks to make sure the nutritional content of their recipes is up to snuff.
Has Smalls Ever Been Recalled?
Yes. Smalls cat food products have been voluntarily recalled twice in the brand’s short lifetime.
The first recall was announced in 2019 and affected Smalls’ chicken liver powder—a product the company called Diamond Dust. According to a statement from the company, the recall was prompted by a customer complaint that the powder smelled like cocoa powder.
Following testing, Smalls found that the product had, indeed, been adulterated and was not 100% chicken liver powder. We’ve not yet seen a statement confirming whether or not the adulterant was cocoa powder.
Concerningly, the recall applied to batches of Diamond Dust sent out to customers between October 9th, 2018, and March 25th, 2019. That means that for over 5 months, customers were potentially exposing their cats to an adulterated product, and Smalls seemed to have no knowledge of it. Furthermore, Smalls’ statement indicated that they weren’t changing to a new supplier. Instead, they would “require that our supplier upgrade safety measures for the manufacturing of all our enticements.”
In June 2021, the founder of Smalls posted a statement on the company’s website explaining that several recipes had been voluntarily recalled. This recall affected select Fresh Chicken and Fresh Turkey products labeled as:
- Ground Bird, Chicken Recipe
- Smooth Bird, Chicken Recipe
- Ground Other Bird, Turkey Recipe
- Smooth Other Bird, Turkey Recipe
The recall was issued after Smalls received feedback from several customers who received products that looked spoiled and had an unusual odor.
The company has thoroughly investigated its inventory and sent out samples to an independent lab for testing. As of June 2021, we don’t have specific details on what happened or why—Smalls is still investigating.
As of yet, Smalls hasn’t received any reports of illness related to the products affected by this recall.
What Kind of Food Does Smalls Offer?
Though Smalls started less than a decade ago, the company has gone through a number of significant changes in terms of its product lineup. In the beginning, Smalls was primarily a fresh cat food company (and still is).
For a few years, until mid-2023, Smalls also offered freeze-dried cat food and kibble. Currently, however, they only sell fresh cat food which is available in four proteins and multiple textures.
The following Smalls cat food recipes are currently available:
- Smooth Bird – Chicken pâté
- Ground Bird – Minced chicken
- Smooth Other Bird – Turkey pâté
- Ground Other Bird – Diced turkey
- Smooth Cow – Beef pâté
- Smooth Fish – Fish pâté
Smalls cat food is sold in 5-ounce packages, frozen immediately after cooking. The food is only available for purchase via subscription through the Smalls website. All subscriptions come with free treats for life. That is, Smalls includes a bag of Shameless Pets cat treats with each box.
What Did Our Test Cats Think?
At Cats.com, our experience with Smalls dates back to 2017, when the brand had just launched. Over the years, as they’ve added and removed recipes, changed their branding, and updated the customer portal, our team has kept up with the changes in the Smalls customer experience, ordering and reordering for multiple cats in multiple households.
We haven’t been able to find many other foods on the market that offer the same level of species-appropriate nutrition combined with outstanding ingredient quality and manufacturing standards as Smalls.
Based on both our experience with multiple cats trying this food and reading hundreds of customer reviews, we know that cats like the food, too. The soft, succulent texture of their human-grade fresh foods will appeal to most cats—including picky eaters.
Smalls Cat Food Reviews
| Product Name | Food Type | Main Protein Source | Calories | Price Per Ounce | Our Grade |
| Fresh Ground Bird | Fresh | Chicken | 40 kcal/oz. | $0.80 per oz | A- |
| Fresh Ground Other Bird | Fresh | Turkey | 40 kcal/oz. | $0.80 per oz | A- |
| Fresh Smooth Fish | Fresh | Fish | 36 kcal/oz. | $0.80 per oz | A- |
#1 Smalls Fresh Ground Bird Recipe
This fresh cat food features chicken muscle meat as the primary ingredient followed by nutrient-rich chicken liver. These ingredients combined make up most of the food’s 48% protein content (measured as dry matter). With over 31% fat (measured as dry matter) and about 40 calories per ounce, this is a fairly energy-dense recipe.
Though previous formulations of Smalls Fresh Ground Bird contained peas, this recipe (and all of Smalls’ other foods) does not. Green beans and kale provide energy and essential nutrients in a form that should be digestible for most cats. The dry matter carbohydrate content of the food is very low.
In addition to being a digestible source of species-appropriate protein and healthy fat, this ground chicken recipe is rich in hydrating moisture. The texture of this food is described as a “minced mouthfeel.” If your cat prefers pâté, try Smalls Smooth Bird instead.
Ingredients
Chicken, Chicken Liver, Green Beans, Water Sufficient for Processing, Dried Yeast, Tricalcium Phosphate, Kale, Magnesium Proteinate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Dandelion Greens, Dried Kelp, Taurine, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Cod Liver Oil, Salt, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Biotin.
Ingredients We Liked: Chicken, Chicken Liver, Cod Liver Oil
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: None
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Single-protein formula
- Contains over 48% dry matter protein
- Easily digestible for most cats
- Rich in hydrating moisture
Cons
- Only available by subscription
#2 Smalls Fresh Ground Other Bird
Like the previous recipe, Smalls Fresh Ground Other Bird is a single-protein formula. Turkey muscle meat is the main ingredient, followed by turkey liver. As is true for all of Smalls’ fresh cat foods, the recipe also contains cod liver oil as a source of healthy fat (particularly omega-3 fatty acids).
Because turkey is a novel protein for many cats, it may be a good choice for cats who are allergic or sensitive to common proteins like chicken, beef, or fish. It’s still protein-rich and energy dense. Though the texture isn’t as smooth as a pâté (like Smooth Other Bird), it’s finely diced, so it should be easy for most cats to chew.
Ingredients
Turkey, Turkey Liver, Green Beans, Water Sufficient for Processing, Dried Yeast, Kale, Tricalcium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Salt, Magnesium Proteinate, Dandelion Greens, Taurine, Dried Kelp, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Cod Liver Oil, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Biotin.
Ingredients We Liked: Turkey, Turkey Liver, Cod Liver Oil
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: None
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Made with a single source of animal protein
- Finely diced texture is easy to chew
- Rich in hydrating moisture
- Very low in carbohydrates
Cons
- Only available via subscription
#3 Smalls Fresh Smooth Fish
Featuring salmon and cod as the main ingredients, this fish-based fresh cat food has a smooth, pate texture. Measured as dry matter, the food contains over 62% protein and around 20% fat. Combined with the recipe’s low carbohydrate content, it’s another carnivore-appropriate formula.
Not only is this recipe easily digestible for most cats, but the salmon, cod, and cod liver oil all provide animal-sourced omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids may help keep your cat’s coat shiny and soft.
Though packed with animal-sourced protein, this recipe is much less calorie-dense than the previous two formulas. As such, it may be an appropriate choice for overweight cats who need to shed a few pounds. To maintain or gain weight, however, your cat may need larger portions of this food which could increase your monthly subscription cost.
Ingredients
Salmon, Cod, Green Beans, Pumpkin, Dried Yeast, Canola Oil, Tricalcium Phosphate, Cod Liver Oil, Choline Chloride, Dried Parsley, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Magnesium Proteinate, Taurine, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Vitamin A Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Thiamine Mononitrate, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin.
Ingredients We Liked: Salmon, Cod, Cod Liver Oil
Ingredients We Didn’t Like: None
Guaranteed Analysis
Dry Matter Basis
Caloric Weight Basis
Pros
- Rich in animal-sourced protein
- Low carbohydrate content
- Short list of easily digestible main ingredients
- Good source of hydrating moisture
- Rich in animal-sourced omega-3 fatty acids
Cons
- Low calorie content may necessitate larger portions
- Only available via subscription
What Do Customers Think of Smalls Cat Food?
Our team’s cats have consistently loved Smalls cat food. Every time we’ve tried Smalls food, we’ve been impressed by how our cats scarf it down. The food has a soft, meaty consistency similar to the fresh chicken or beef you might serve in your own meals.
While all of our test cats have loved Smalls cat food, the human experience is not as consistently positive.
Positive Reviews
“Best food ever. My cats are addicted to this healthy food. Even my Siamese cat, who’s very picky. They are active again, play around the most of the time. I use to cook for my cats. But lately I had no time, and I was feeding them dry food, with guilty conscious. The result of feeding them dry food was, they were sleeping all the time. My Bengal cat started gaining weight. Now everything is normal. I’m glad to choose Smalls.” – Kaiser Richter, Trustpilot, on September 28th, 2023
“I have been using Smalls for a couple of months now on my 5-month-old kitten (Milo). He absolutely loves their food! I began with the trial box to find out what he likes/dislikes. He seems to love the Bird and Other-Bird, however leans a little away from the Cow and Fish. I love how Smalls gives you the option to choose the quantity of each type of meal and the flexibility without maxing out one type.” – Maren B, Trustpilot, on July 20th, 2023
Satisfied Smalls customers frequently mention the quality of the ingredients and how much their cats love the food. Many customers enjoy having more control over their cat’s diet and trust that Smalls is a healthy and species-appropriate choice.
There are also a significant number of positive reviews that mention improvements in a cat’s digestion. These customers frequently mention that, while Smalls is pricier than many commercial diets, it’s worth the cost to them.
Negative Reviews
“We subscribed to Smalls last year and while our cats initially liked this food, I believe they recently changed formulas and our cats are no longer fans. On top of that, the customer service and shipping/packing issues are horrendous. If we order a combination of the different flavors/textures, we never get what we ordered. And then, when reporting that to customer service, we get a unsatisfactory response that just makes excuses for the issue.” – Kristie Kreiser, Trustpilot, on September 17th, 2023
“A few critiques would be the consistent changing of the recipes of the wet food. With almost every order we receive it seems to change and our cats have to readjust to new food, which seems contrary to what they discuss on their website about transitioning your cat to new food.
Another dislike is that the company is not very responsive when I reach out. You cannot call the company, you can only contact them via email or text message and then it does not feel like the person responding is an actual person.” – Melissa Tines, Trustpilot, on November 27th, 2022
Most negative reviews talk about the company’s customer service and recurring payment system. Remember that Smalls automatically starts a subscription when you buy a sample pack, so unless you cancel the subscription before your renewal date, you will be automatically charged.
Many customers are frustrated with this, saying that they were surprised by a recurring shipment, unable to cancel their subscription, or had difficulty contacting the support team. Note that until May 2022, you could only contact Smalls by email or text, and there was no phone support or live chat option.
Some complaints have started to roll in following Smalls’ reformulation. While we applaud the removal of peas as a primary ingredient, it’s inevitable a change in flavor may cause some cats to reject the food.
How Much Does Smalls Cat Food Cost?
Every customer gets a sample pack containing 10 packages of fresh food at signup. The recipes in your sample pack will be determined based on the information you provide about your cat during signup.
Smalls cat food costs $4 per 5-ounce package. The 10-pack sampler is discounted by 20%, bringing your first box down to $32. Free shipping is included.
After you receive your sample pack, you can log into your Smalls account and adjust your cat’s plan by swapping flavors or changing the number of packs you receive. Your subscription will automatically continue unless you cancel it, billed at $4 per pack and shipped every 4 weeks.
Depending on your cat’s size and calorie requirements, Smalls fresh food will cost between $1.00 and $3.50 per day. If you find your cat needs more or less food down the line, you can always log into your account and adjust the plan.
Where is Smalls Cat Food Sold?
Smalls cat food is only available for purchase as a subscription through the Smalls website. All first-time customers start with a 10-pack sampler which automatically rolls into a monthly subscription unless you cancel.
When you sign up for Smalls, you’ll provide information about your cat’s age and health status which Smalls uses to determine their approximate calorie requirements. Your cat’s plan will be developed automatically according to their calorie needs and flavor preferences.
Want to try Smalls? Enter coupon code CATS35 at checkout to get a flat 35% off!
Hi Amy,
I was wondering if you would give me your opinion on choosing the best cat food for my cat Maruscha.
Maruscha is between 10-13 years old. Adopted Russian Blue. She has been eating Natural Balance Salmon and Green Pea Limited Diet for about 2-2.5 years now. Recently in the last 6 months we have started giving her Fish oil and Canna Campanion in addition to her dry food.
She was eating Wellness for the 4 years before Natural Balance. Before that my husband was feeding her Bodega brands, as he didn’t know better and we hadn’t met yet.
Maruscha has in the last 2.5 years developed an illness that reoccurs that no vet or ER vet has been able to tell us exactly why or what is causing her “episodes”. The first occurrence had me change from Wellness to a limited Diet brand, hence the Natural Balance.
After more of my own research, I am concerned even the limited diet isn’t the best for her.
I read that no carbs or starches to 2-3% in cat food is even better for their digestion.
I am concerned with any ingredients that could lead to inflammation. I don’t actually see any inflammation but I read that sometimes inflammation can cause Epileptic seizures or “Twitchy Cat Syndrome”.
This last info may be too much info for you since you don’t know all the details of her health issues. So don’t worry about that.
If you had to recommend a dry food and or a delivery service of fresh food, what is best for an aging sensitive cat that is prone to “Vasel Vagal episodes” that could be anything from GI Track sensitivity, to an inflammation in her spine where there aren’t any (to very thin) disks between her bones by her tail, or something good for heart health or brain function?
I was looking at Wysong Epigen 90 for dry and at Smalls for Smalls?
I saw the protein content in Smalls wasn’t as high as the Wysong.
I also want to stay away from inflammation in carbs or starches if possible.
Please help?
Thanks,
Sarah
Want to let you know as , I had a older cat a few years ago that was sensitive and would sometimes vomit after eating , we came to find out it was our water because we were on a well , it had some kind of enzyme in the water , this same enzyme also messed with my wife’s digestive track. Both the cat and my wife for almost 2-3 years had problems. We had switch completely to bottled water for drinking and cooking. It took about 2 weeks we started notice the issues were less frequent and about 3 months were gone. Only trying to say that sometimes it might be the water depending on you area , whether you well or city, have water check.
All my cats showed allergic reactions and vomited their food about 30 seconds to few minutes after feeding Smalls Beef Pate dinner tonight. Smalls cat food isn’t a safe choice based on my own experience.
It could just be the change of food. That’s why they recommend a slow switch if they’ve only ever been on one food. Also if they loved it and Ralphws it down immediately that’ll make them puke. Source: vet professional
Our cats had the exact same response to the ground cow. One vomited about 5 minutes after eating; the other several hours later, but we could see remnants of the beef food (the small minced green vegetables were quite obvious). I was quite sad as I hoped Smalls would be a good answer for our cats.
Also to note: our one cat had no interest in the fish and turkey; the other ate a few bites of the fish and then gave up (she did really like the freeze dried raw duck nuggets, but I can’t trust that she won’t get sick on those as well). 🙁 🙁
My cat had similar reactions. The first shipment had a little bit of all their products. Most of them didn’t interest my cat but she did like the Ground Bird. I asked them to just send that in the next shipment… no can do. So I gave away all the things my cat didn’t like, and cancelled my subscription. Now she’s quite happy with Sheba.
Hey Carl,
Sorry to hear about your experience here. We can definitely do better when informing our customers about any food substitutions we have to make. We’re actively making more investments in our technology to make this more transparent along with plenty of other account portal improvements.
Here’s my issue. The portion sizes keep getting smaller and smaller but the price doesn’t. What gives with that?
Also. My cats used to love the chicken and then we got a new shipment and they wouldn’t touch it. I had to give it away to the alley cats-waste if money. I stopped ordering. They loved the turkey recipe so I came back. I opened the box and it’s about a fourth of what it used to be per package. Right now it’s thawing- I hope to god they still love it as much as they did or it’s more money wasted.
What happened to the portion sizes?!?!
The thing to do is refund people’s money no questions asked if itd done before subscription is due.. ive known three people so far that have had cats that didn’t like it or became ill .. Not one received their money back!! People that had a hard time paying for it to begin with but wanted to do what was best!! This food didnt turn out for them so you refund the money abd never ever charge them for the extremely expensive monthly bill of about 200.00 after they’ve complained Never!! .. i had to buy a friend her cat some new food cause she had bern charged two hundred even after she cancelled on time .. i know it was on time because i was there when she got it .. They ought to sue your company for their money plus hardship and emotion stress. Good day !!
I have not gotten my shipment on the cast food
It’s probably because of the change of food and eating too fast when they do get something new and fresh like this food, they get overly excited and scarf it down without taking proper breath.
This happened to me too! she like the smooth bird , LOVEs the smooth other bird but literally less than a minute after eating the beef she violently vomited.
It’s a little pricey initially but look into just for dogs/cats they do veterinary formulated custom meals using the information provided from your vet. Good luck
We use Just Food for Dogs for our dog…we’ve had great success with her. We tried our cats on the Just Food for Cats, but they didn’t seem interested in that formula. Hopefully JFFD will come out with new formulas for cats soon!
Sarah:
Natural Balance cat food has been
recalled for a dangerous ingredient
causing serious illness in pets.
You shouldn’t feed your cat
this food.
For those interested in learning more about this recent recall: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/07/06/JM-Smucker-recalls-Natural-Balance-cat-food/4291594056574/
Before Natural Balance was sold to Smuckers (red flag) I used the cat food for years and never had any issues with any of my cats, they really loved it. When it first came out on the market it did have all natural ingredients and no fillers. As soon as new brands become bigger and the original seller sells to commercial company or brands they always change the ingredients and not for the better. They start adding fillers and other cheap alternatives to cut costs and make bigger profit while our pets suffer the affects of that immediately or later on. A pet store I used for many years told me Natural Balance was sold to Smuckers and I stopped buying it immediately after checking the ingredients and indeed they were changed and had fillers now still charging the high prices for not all natural ingredients. Always check the ingredients. If the first four are chicken/meat meal, by-products, wheat, soy, barley, steer clear…those ingredients are potential inflammation, allergy and disease creators. Our pets deserve better. Check out Nom Nom for cats and dogs. Darwin’s raw cat and dog food. Felne Natural wet and freeze-dried from New Zealand. Always gradually switch out their food and always check with your vet to make sure its the right choice for your pets. Another create supplement to add to pets food to prevent future illness or get rid of present issues is checking out Dr. Gary Ritcher supplements (he’s a western and holistic vet) has many You Tube videos check him out, highly recommend and Dr. Mercola human and pet products too!!
I just lost my cat right before covid.
He had stomach issues for years.
I had ultrasound and other tests, but all inconclusive.
I ran out of money for more tests and a few years later found out he had a grapefruit size rumor in his belly.
I will never get over any of it, but I adopted a rescue in March, and I’m still trying food.
He’s having stomach problems now. He was super skinny when I got him. He put weight on right away, but I am now wondering if it’s our water also?
It’s a condo and we all have to have softeners and I have filter’s before and after the softener, and I have an alkaline pitcher that I use for both our drinking water.
He’s just finishing up cat person food. He’s not into the wet food, and he’s not that excited about the dry, but he eats it.
I don’t know what to feed him. I’m so afraid… I can’t deal with another sick cat
He’s all the family I have.
Should I buy bottled water, or switch the food, or both?
Please help, Jbug
Hello June, I’m sorry about the loss of your cat and understand your desire to do the best for your new cat. Can you take your new kitty in to see a veterinarian? I think their diagnosis will help to put your mind at ease and give you a better idea of what you can do to help. Otherwise, I see nothing wrong with giving your new cat bottled water and perhaps upgrading to a fresh diet like Smalls or Nom Nom—knowing that you’re giving them high-quality ingredients and well-balanced water may also give you some peace of mind.
Wishing you all the best!
I need to cancel any further orders from you smalls. My story is sad. You say this is easy to do. Smalls does not take from calls from 503-487-4303 I need help from Smalls to cancel. Please reply
Thanks for such an in depth review. They must have raised their prices pretty dramatically because nowhere do I see a $1/ day. option. Lowest is $2.46.
This company have gave to me so much headach.
I purchased a sample and my cats didn’t like the food, so I cancelled my subscription with them. Three days later Small charged my bank account over $200. I texted the asking for a refund and for a subscription cancellation. They refunded me my money. Five days later they charged me again….. I texted asking for a refund again and I asked if at this time he did his job right. They confirmed that everything was cancelled. For my surprise today Small charged my account again. I don’t know what is wrong with this company but they are behaving as a scam company. I did all the steps necessary to cancel my subscription with them and also talked to the cat concieurge Ross. Don’t you know how to run a company? After all this headach I wouldn’t never buy from this company again, even if my cats had like their food. Worse experience even.
Having problems with the reorder process. Can’t be reached by phone and correspondence is yes and then no. At this point, I’m not sure this is an actual bona Fidel company and will pass on it.
I tried the trial. It was unsuccessful for our cats. I texted to cancel and received a short text reply confirming that I would not receive more charges. I thought I was all set.
A week later, I was surprised to receive another package. I reached out to Smalls, and they said it could not be returned or refunded. While the package shipped after I had cancelled, I looked on my charge card to learn that, $331 had been charged 10 days earlier.
Regarding the food, my cats did not like the food even when introduced gradually. It was not just one cat who got sick, but all, each time I tried it. That was why I canceled.
My experience with Smalls was unfortunate and costly.
I have had success with Dr. Marty and Stella & Chewy and several brands available at Boulder Natural Pet and Chewy. I’ve found their practices transparent and reliable.
Hi Julie, thank you for sharing your experience. That sounds incredibly frustrating and you’re not alone in having these types of issues with Smalls; we’ll keep your experience and those of others in mind when updating our reviews.
Just found an ad for this on FB. Been trying with zero success for my six month old new kitten to switch over to something that isn’t junk Friskies, which she loves. The only cat I ever met that doesn’t like fish flavor! Tried chicken, salmon flavor (Whole Earth Farms), then tuna and crab (Avoderm). She barely liked the chicken, but not love it. Didn’t gobble it down like with the Friskies. I’d hate to (almost) waste more money on something the little spoiled brat isn’t going to eat. Our older cat ate everything, but he loves fish flavors and has gotten a bit less picky over the years, so at least one of them ate it.
Jetta (kitten) hasn’t been too well trained, so if she doesn’t like what’s “on offer” she continuously jumps on me, asking for something different. No matter how long I leave the food out, she refuses, but I know she needs better nutrition than filler. I have never been horribly concerned with my pets food as I’m only 35 (still live at home) and haven’t always been the one picking it out, but one reddit post just got me thinking and here I am, realizing Friskies is the equivalent of letting a human child eat potato chips and chocolate for every meal. Might taste good, but it has no nutritional value for the poor cat. Haven’t really mixed the two yet (just too little to make a difference once), but might give it a shot today and see if it works. Lastly, I was originally thinking of doing a raw diet with Jetta when she’s old enough, but if this is her reaction to new food, then I know it’s going to go over like a fart in church! (Raw does seem to make the coat super soft. I had a friend with a beautiful cat who was on raw and the coat was as feather down soft as the rabbit I had at the time!)
Poor customer service without refunds should your cat not like it. Also this diet dried out my cats skin so be warned as noted by the doctor above.
I just ordered Smalls and, similar to the overview, a week went by with no communication. Last Friday, I finally received an email saying my “shipment was being prepared” (not even that it had shipped yet!). That was fine, because I was traveling! 36 minutes later, I got another email that the food had arrived! Well, I was already traveling and was unable to get to the food until Monday, by which time the food had already thawed and spoiled. This wouldn’t be horrible, except they REFUSE to refund or replace the order after spending hours texting with them today. (They also REFUSE to call.) Don’t waste your time or money. There are other/better companies out there who stand by their service and product and are more transparent with what’s in the food.
Hi Jaime, thank you for sharing your experience. I’m sorry to hear that you went through this with Smalls.
Ordered the sampler and my cat would not eat the food. I’m hoping they will cancel my account without any hassles. If I had known they do not have anyway to get in contact with an actual person I would not have even tried the product. Only contact is via email or text and if you text them you get a “canned” response that they are experiencing a high volume of inquiries and response may be delayed.
Thanks for sharing your experience with Smalls, Mariann.
I would actually put a disclosure on this cat food brand, Smalls — they are a startup company and they have a lot of fine print regarding their practices. On site banners they will advertise money back guarantees, but what they won’t say unless you search in their FAQ’s and terms of policy (who does that?) is that refunds are only for samples.
They also will lie about shipments and while their customer service is excellent when you PURCHASE food, they are very opposite that when trying to cancel or get refunded for orders. The ONLY way to cancel the subscription is to call them. You cannot do it on your own. You cannot change quantities to zero or they will automatically return the quantity to the original quantities after you save it as 0. So while this review lowballs the cost as something like $1 — in total, you are actually paying $125 per month.
And actually, I’ve yet to receive a refund on even the samples that my cat wouldn’t eat.
Jen, thank you so much for sharing these insights.
I’ve also been unable to reduce Smalls shipment quantities. I reduce the ground bird from 9 to 6 packages and the website wants me to add 3 more packages to the order. I reduce the ground turkey from 9 to 6 packages and the website wants me to add 3 more packages. It will not save a smaller quantity. It’s tied into the meal plan somehow — very annoying.
Cat toy code doesn’t work anymore.
I just ordered the trial… My cats hate the food but the company hasn’t responded to me cancelling my account… I have no desire to give this to my cats… They don’t like the food yet… I can even log in to cancel my subscription before I get charged $240
I subscribed to Smalls for about 6 months for my 2 5 month old kittens, who are now a year old. I found that texting them was the best way to delay or change your order. They always responded in 24 hours. I had to text for every order because I could only fit 8 packets in my freezer. I had to special request this every time. 2 weeks ago when I texted, they told my they could no longer give me my “special” order. I had to get at least 12. So I quit. They haven’t bothered me since. The website is a maze, but texting worked well.
They were so helpful when I was trying out feeding my cat the samples, but the actual boxes are so heavy and UPS REFUSES to deliver it to my door, and instead takes it to the parcel locker in our complex (which is NOT MADE for large packages, it has no car access and I’m disabled!!!). After repeated fighting with UPS and no progress, I have to cancel the service. If it can’t be delivered to my door, it’s useless to me. They were extremely responsive when I needed questions answered by text, but the moment they reached out to say my next order is being prepared, I asked her to cancel it instead and explained my situation. NO RESPONSE. I log on and find I’m about to be charged for the next order. Can’t cancel. No one answers the phone. I’m at the point I will have to cancel my entire debit card in order to cancel the subscription. It’s lunacy! My cat enjoyed the food a lot, but the customer service for cancelation is ATROCIOUS AND UNPROFESSIONAL!!!!
Thank you for sharing your experience with Smalls, Bobby.
Tried the trial got two more months worth of shipments and then all of a sudden I couldn’t use the website anymore. I received and was charged for two boxes which I had originally postponed. When I contacted them they wouldn’t refund me because I didnt reach out sooner. In the most recent batch of ground or smooth cow, all three of my cats got sick an hour after eating, all over the house. They may not have recalls yet but from the sounds of it, they will soon.
Hi Ace, this is very concerning. Please report your experience to the FDA: https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/report-problem/how-report-pet-food-complaint
Can you please do an updated review with analysis of Smalls to take into account the issues they appear to be having per these comments? I have had several shipments of Smalls over the past 7 months and my cats do like the food and I do believe its a very high quality product. However, I have reservations regarding their product and service consistency as they have “changed kitchens” and the packaging has also changed a few times over the past 7 months. I know they raised $9 million in venture capital last October, so perhaps there are changes being made at the company that should be investigated in light of such a glowing review it has received on this website. Thanks!
Hi Mike, yes. This review is definitely in need of an update given all of the new information we’ve gotten on Smalls, both coming from commenters and our own reviewers’ experiences. Thank you.
These guys are thieves. They have completely shady practices and falsify information JUST so they can charge the $125+ subscription charges. You’ll see you have zero option to cancel a subscription unless you contact them and they automatically reboot your order to fulfill $125 even though that’s not even the minimum order and then they refuse to provide refunds and lie about why. There are countless (and I mean I have save hundreds of reviews off three sites alone) where people have gone through the same issue with their auto-subscription services, their cats have had severe diarrhea, have been throwing up, and they lie about their policies on all the MAIN pages, and you have to read the disclaimers and fine print to see what their actual policies were. My cat wouldn’t even eat their trial box and they said they sent out a subscription box to me before my 2-week trial ended, and when I tried to cancel it, they said it could not be canceled because they’ve already sent out the shipment and the warehouse does not do recalls. I contacted the warehouse who confirmed that they did not even receive the shipment from Smalls until the next day and that there is no such policy to cancel a shipment request prior to pickup. These guys are thieves and are just trying to keep the millions they received from investors.
Hi Jennifer, we’re very aware of the issues, and yours is just the latest in a series of serious complaints about the Smalls customer experience. We are currently in a conversation with multiple people from Smalls and trying to get this sorted out. I’m sorry that you went through this with Smalls. Hopefully, they can sort out these issues soon. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Hey Jennifer,
I’m so very sorry to hear that this was your experience with us. That’s not okay whatsoever. We’ve had a tough time getting our technology right and are actively making investments to remedy situations as you experienced. I’ll check in with my CS team about what you experienced as you should have ample time to adjust your order before your first subscription is shipped. Definitely let me know if you never got your refund and I can follow up to make sure this is remedied.
My cats appeared to enjoy the smalls ground turkey and ground chicken which is a shame as the company still has supply/packaging issues that are frustrating as a consumer.
I tried Smalls for approx. 4 shipments and only one of those shipments arrived as Ordered, it was the introductory box.
One box wasn’t packaged properly only to find out after it arrived that the company was experiencing packaging issues. The entire order arrived thawed, warm and leaking. It ended up in the garbage. I had to order canned food as a backup.
On one order, they ran out of one of my preferences. Shipped only a partial box. I had to order canned food as a backup.
One box arrived later than reported. The ship date was reported incorrectly to me via the smalls team and thus it arrived late and thawed.
This is human grade food so if its thawed and warm when it arrives its recommended that you throw it away.
Hi Tonia, thank you for sharing your disappointing experience with Smalls cat food. I’m sorry you went through this and am glad you’re making others aware of what may happen when they order from this company.
Tonia,
I’m so sorry this happened to you. It’s not okay whatsoever that your food arrived thawed that consistently. Appreciate your feedback here and I’ll flag this with my team to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
I got my subscription and so far my concierge has been very helpful. Answers me quickly. Im able to modify my order, reschedule it and cancel it. I will update you guys when i recieve my order.
Be Prepared for garbage customer service! They delayed my orders after signing up for a subscription so I stopped ordering their food completely because they left me with no food supply for 4 days and I had to figure out a new diet for my cat. I only order their giblets and just recently they sent me the COMPLETELY WRONG item and have not provided a solution to resolve the situation and its been 48 hours. Their customer service is absolute garbage and they seem to care if your cat runs out of food. What good is good quality food if the company is absolute garbage about sending it to you.
Hi Francis, sorry to hear that you had a difficult experience with Smalls—sounds frustrating. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Hey Francis,
Thanks for the note and so sorry that you had this experience with us. We’ll typically send a heads-up email to our customers before the order is placed. This heads-up email also includes any substitutions we need to make because of inventory so you have enough time to adjust your order.
Definitely reach out to our CS team if these issues persist and I can ping them to keep an eye out on your request.
– Jibran
My cat likes Smalls wet food very much, and I think I have noticed her fur getting softer.
My main issue is it is much more calorie dense than all the other wet food I have tried (including a wide range of brands of mid to high end canned cat food – I went a little crazy there for a while). She usually eats 200 calories of food a day, and is content with that. But if I only give her 200 calories of Smalls food in a day, she is hungry. She already has behavioral issues, and being hungry doesn’t help.
I have been combining it with other food instead, which has worked okay.
Looking for the best cat food is a priority for most people within their budget. Smalls offers a sample pack which you have no option to modify, 2 – 4oz kibble and 4 bags of freeze dried food. Freeze dried, my cat hates that stuff. It wasn’t cheap either. Worst part, I was not aware when you sign on their site, you sign on for auto order. I found out the hard way when they shipped me $183.00 frozen cat food for one small cat. I asked for refund and they refused. I would never order that much cat food and especially not at that price. Customer service was anything but genuine.
Hey Russell,
Thanks for your note here and deeply appreciate the feedback.
Our sampler order is specifically curated to ensure that your cat has a proper “tasting” of all of our flavors before you commit to a subscription where you can order the flavors your furry friend most enjoys!
With regards to the subscription: we make sure that customers know they’re signing up for a subscription upon purchase of our trial. This is in our terms of service as well as under the checkout button on the sampler. However, I totally understand the frustration here and we’re working on making this a lot more clear as we make updates to our checkout flow.
Best,
– Jibran
Good insights, Brittany. Thanks for sharing.
If I order on a trial basis, I do not automatically want to be sent more food in a few weeks. I do not want to be put on a list that I need to cancel.
Can I order on a trial basis without being automatically put on a list where you will send me more food?
Hi Barbara, this is not possible. You’ll have to cancel before your next shipment is sent out.
Is there a phone number besides the “text” number to cancel? I texted that and it onlyresponds to “cancel” (as in cancel the texts you get, not the service itself) and start (as in start texting me) I have been traveling, and sick and haven’t been able to start my cat and I’ve run out of freezer room!
Hi Tish, you cannot call Smalls by phone, but I have mentioned this to their team and they requested that you reach out to them at [email protected].
The same thing happened to me yesterday, June 8th, so they have not fixed this problem. I tried to cancel and they still charged me $150 for a lot of unwanted food and have yet to answer my e-mail. Sure, I was aware it was a subscription service, but they claimed I would be able to cancel at any time. As it turns out, I couldn’t. There are no clear directions on how to cancel on the website, no customer service phone number, and when you try to decrease your order down to just a few items they automatically charge you $150 minimum. From the comments here, it seems this problem has been happening for over a year now and they keep claiming they will fix it and don’t. This is no longer a small, new company without a lot of money, so why has it taken over a month, much less an entire year (!), to address very serious customer concerns? That’s something that should be fixed within days. Where is all of their money going if not to website design (with a clearly marked cancellation button!) and a customer service phone line? Those are the absolute basics. Charging people this much money for unwanted, huge, shipments this many times, for this long, is outright fraud. Just as someone else said in these comments, Smalls should be reported to the Better Business Bureau. And I’m a bit disappointed that All About Cats STILL has not made a firm warning in their review to their readers about this company’s repeated issues. I made the decision to try Smalls mostly because of this site, and very much regret it. Please save future readers for making the same mistake. It really hurts the credibility of All About Cats to pretend as if this isn’t happening, and to still highly recommend this company without warning readers of these very serious concerns.
Today I received an email from Smalls about a voluntary recall for some of its poultry-based wet food.
I have been a subscriber since December 2020 and have been happy with the quality of food and the convenience. That is until a few months ago when I started having issues with orders that I placed through the website not matching the order that showed up on my doorstep. I have also had shipments show up on weeks I didn’t want a shipment.
I have been grateful for the prompt customer service replies but I’m also tired of the excuses for why this is an ongoing issue. Their most recent explanation for the discrepancy was that they were upgrading their website and having some technical difficulties with orders. The solution was for me to email them my order.
I want this to work with Smalls but it has turned into more work than I was expecting, especially for the price. I hope they figure this out soon.
Kat, yes—the ongoing complications and problems are very troubling. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Hey Kat,
I’m so sorry that this has been your Smalls experience as of late. We definitely don’t want us to be extra work for you.
When we’re out of stock on certain products, we’ll send a heads-up email detailing what we’ll be replacing that product with.
Beyond that, we’ve been actively making investments in staffing and customer service to mitigate and eliminate these issues
If these difficulties persist, don’t hesitate to send me a note at jibran [at] smalls.com
That’s really frustrating, Deborah! I’m glad you were able to get a refund. Did you also talk to Smalls about the problem? They’ve been working through some issues over the last year, so I’m sure they’d appreciate the feedback. Hope you find a better option for your cat!
why do they get a 9/10 for product variety ?
both my furry roomies have an allergy to poultry and beef seems to be too rich for the tiny one.
is this a sponsored review ?
Hi Hera, thanks for the question. No, it’s not sponsored, although we are in the Smalls affiliate program. When we gave the brand that rating a few months ago, the brand was offering fish in addition to the turkey and chicken recipes, so there was enough diversity to satisfy a wider variety of cats. Additionally, it does offer a great variety in terms of texture and manufacturing method. Few other brands offer dry food, fresh wet food, and freeze-dried products in a variety of flavors and textures. However, I agree that the 9/10 may be a little bit overly-generous given that the company doesn’t offer any typically novel or exotic proteins that may work for cats with food sensitivities—especially since the fish food is no longer available. I’m currently trying out a new batch of Smalls and will be doing a complete update of this review, including a reduction in the variety rating. Thank you for sharing your perspective.
Hi Hera! It’s not a sponsored review in the sense that we received free product from Smalls, but we are supported by affiliate programs. We do our best to remain objective in our reviews but sometimes it can be difficult to decide how to rank things. For example, the 9/10 ranking for product variety might be a little high but we considered the entire Smalls product line. Not only do they have fresh food, but they have dry food, freeze-dried food, and treats all in multiple flavors.
They’re not just disorganized. I attended an entrepreneurial funding seminar put on by venture capitalists in the Bay Area and literally this follows a common template. (1) Create your brand so it is as fun, cutsey, playful, nonthreatening, playful, adorable, and trustworthy — using children’s book colors and sweet enthusiastic positive language (“Hello hello meow meow!” — proclaiming your nonthreatening playfulness and LOVE for whatever the product or demographic, so the consumer sees you more as a trusted agent or friend than an aggressive, profiteering VC-backed start-up. (2) offer a “sample” or trial. (3) Once the individual has filled out all the preferences for the “sample” spring it on them that it is not free–and in fact charge quite a bit for that sample/trial, which they will likely move forward with anyway because they have invested that much time and thought in engaging with the brand and website. (4) Use that credit card and preference data–supplied for the sample/trial–to enroll the individual in a “subscription,” without their consent–forcing them to opt OUT rather than ALLOWING them to opt in–without ever providing informing them (or only in teeny tiny small print) that’s what will happen, with zero transparency. (5) Following the trial, ensure the first payment and shipment for the “ongoing subscription” takes place rapidly, before most people discover what’s happening and attempt to cancel. (6) Do not allow cancelation of the unwitting nonconsensual “subscription” via the website — instead, force the individual to attempt to initiate cancellation via email or text. (7) Immediately send incentive discounts to retain them. (8) Have stringent rules about the lead time required to cancel. (9) Do not allow the individual to take actions like removing all products from their “subscription” profile–if they do, add the products back into their profile. This is literally the opposite of sloppy or disorganized. This is a template. Since that presentation in San Jose I have seen this model pop up over and over. Unfortunately, I just fell for it with Smalls. Too late, I looked at the fine print and saw that immediately after the trial (i.e., before anyone actually WOULD have the opportunity to evaluate the product) they would be barraging me with an onslaught of product every 3 weeks. I’ve initiated cancelation and on Monday will start wheels in motion for my bank to stop payment on any subsequent attempt for Smalls to auto-bill me. Loathesome creeps.
Hi Leslie, thanks for the comment. As someone who’s reviewed a lot of cat products and brands, I, too, am familiar with this increasingly popular business model, and I agree with your assessment of what Smalls is doing. However, compared to others that do something similar, we do know that Smalls has had some distinct website issues that fall outside of the customer frustrations you may see with this kind of subscription model. I think the customer complaints are really coming from a combination of the two—disorganization and a business model with inherent flaws.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS COMPANY!
This is a scam business. They made 4 charges to my CC and would only discuss the issue via text or email (no telephone). I spent nearly a day going back and forth with the person because I had to explain the problem over and over and over until I was blue in the face. They assured my they would refund the money but it might take 5-7 business days. They finally refunded me for 1 of the charges! When I sent a text today all I get was an automatic message from their Cat Concierge! I intend to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
Hi Gary, thank you for sharing your experience with us. That’s really concerning—we’ve emailed the company to ask about this and will keep this experience in mind. I hope you get everything sorted out soon. – Mallory
I do NOT Recommend this company. I have tried everything to communicate with them and there is simply no way. Texting, calling, emailing – no one responds. AND There is no way to cancel your subscription online. I will not work with company’s like this as they are designed to railroad you. There is no excuse for not responding. None.
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for letting us know, We’ve sent an email to Smalls about it, hopefully this get sorted our soon. – Doron
I was looking up the guaranteed analysis numbers on Smalls website directly, and it seems like the numbers for the wet food is incorrect…perhaps Smalls has made some adjustments to the recipes since this article, but none of their wet foods have a higher protein content of 18.5% as of now in 2022.
Thanks for flagging that, Michelle. I can see the issue as well—will get this corrected ASAP.
It is May 1 2022 and Smalls is still your Top-Rated cat food despite all the complaints, ridiculous charges ($146/3 weeks + shipping or over $200/mo for (2) 7-8 lb cats) and a history of sending random foods when they are out of the ordered food, which means it may be a flavor a subscriber can not use. It makes your website lack any credibility when it comes to food reviews.
I thought the Trial shipment was $45+tax for 3 weeks with free shipping (minus $ discount codes for 1st shipment), but in the Checkout Process it states that it is only for 7 days from the ship date, then the expensive non-refundable autoship order is billed & sent.
My little 9 yr old rescue kitty came to the shelter almost bald and almost no teeth left (many were reabsorbed, and 5 were pullled) due to ‘starvation’ by her previous owner, which the Foster Mom found out was most likely from a severe Chicken allergy. Due to how the kitty likes human foods so much more than (bland) cat food, I also think he was feeding her a lot off his dinner plate. Chicken gave the petite cat severe diarrhea and malnutrition, and the owner couldn’t figure it out during the COVID shutdown nor afford all the vet & dentistry bills, so surrendered his naked green-eyed cat with a fuzzy brown head to the local (high kill) City shelter. The shelter staff did not even know it was a spotted Bengal. It took 6 months of Rx diet in Foster Care to get enough fuzz regrown to hide the bare skin, and a year to get the beautiful rosetted top coat back. This story shows how important it is to feed a cat their natural food (ideally a dozen organically-fed fresh raw well-fed ‘mice in a blender’ every day? ) and not human omnivore foods, GMO foods, baked high-carb kibble, or ‘ junk’ foods full of preservatives and fillers (like many RX foods!)
I have found almost every Cat Food (including seafood flavors) contains chicken-something in the first 3 ingredients. My feisty little Bengal also gets bored of a food quickly (she seems to like it until I order a case, then furgit it!), which is why I am trying Smalls.
50/50 chance the Bengal will react to the chicken liver in the food (hopefully it is hydrolyzed). The Smalls Trial is for only 7 days after the ship date, and it may days 3-6 days to arrive, so it seems people HAVE to suspend the next shipment as soon as Smalls ships the Trial Order in order to first ‘try’ it for a week and see if 1) the cat will eat it, 2) the extra food fits in the freezer and 3) the cat doesn’t have an adverse reaction to it. Trial needs to be longer than just 2-3 days.
Suspension/Cancellation process needs to be easier, else too many complaints to the Credit Card companies will ‘Blacklist’ the Smalls company as fraudulent. This often results in immediate reversal of any charges when a complaint is filed. That is not good for a start-up.
They also need to figure out a natural way to keep it from spoiling so quickly if shipping is delayed or the freezer is full.
Thanks for the comment, Suki. I’ve forwarded this message to Smalls. We’ve bumped this brand down the list in our updated video review of the best wet cat food for all of the reasons you’ve described, and we’re very conscious of these issues in general. I’ll see if there’s anything else we can do. Thank you so much for commenting.
Hoping my very recent cancelation and confirmation of, goes through as smoothly as it seemed.
Our Abyssinian kitten developed a URI before we picked her up and developed into a bit of an issue, as it wasn’t picked up right away…just started as some sneezing, and after noticing a cough and more sneezing into the vet she went. PCR test and a round of antibiotics slowed it down, but she’s back on it as I type this because her lungs didn’t heal enough as the prescription ran out, to fight it off…so here we are with a little furry that the breeder fed a raw diet, which was a transition as it was, and couple in the illness, she wasn’t up for the change [we weened her off the raw with Caru which is also human grade]. As her stools started to show her digestive tract was slowing starting to transition, her appetite wasn’t as great as it could’ve been so just wanted to try this Smalls subscription out and did so with so-so results. So we figured we’d ride out the mix of Caru/Smooth Bird and the Cow. Got an email just yesterday, that my new box was set to deliver on 5/10…I’m barely through 2 packets out of 5 or 6 and they showed an invoice billing over 160.00 worth of food would be dumped on me. I tried editing to see smaller amount and jumping out 4 weeks, and it kept prompting me to add more fresh or it wouldn’t let me change? I did just to see what would happen bumped date out and it went to 170.00? For a 5 month old 5 pound kitten? This is when I reached for the cancel subscription option, confirmed by a text confirmation.
Was the food a problem? Probably not, the cats appetite was compromised a bit due to meds for the URI, and switching between extremes [raw to cooked high quality food]
Customer service seemed to be able to function okay…but the logistics of guessing how much a cat will eat and piling on with excessive shipment and outrageous pricing with little options to back down the order—had me, not only mildly annoyed—but at the same time, glad I got away while under the trial box. I still have a bone broth [don’t buy it, Caru is a larger amount at what amounts to almost half the cost] +4 small sample chubs,, and they seriously wanted to drop 5 large chubs of 4-5 different flavors, triple up the bone broth for 160-170 bucks? Crazy…and would be hard pressed to recommend. They charge me, and it turns into another story, and not a good one. We shall see.
For what it’s worth, I didn’t do as much research as I usually do and have into the company…I usually pick up Susan Thixton’s [Truth about Pet Food blogger] annual pet food quality rating and narrowed it down to 3, Caru being the choice. I should’ve just stayed with what I started her on in hindsight as that is where we are, back with it.
I see the “unbiased” title of this blog seems a bit of a misnomer. Site seems to have a direct link/communication with Smalls? Or am I misinterpreting “I will contact them with your concerns” type of responses I’ve seen a few times throughout this comment section, specifically the negative reviews. Food for thought.
The Smalls cancelation went through [as a followup comment], but not without pause with their outrageous pricing, hidden costs and communication within.
Recommendation? Hard pass.
Joel, you’re right that we do have an affiliate partnership with Smalls, and that’s how we came to have this direct line of communication with them, which does potentially introduce some potential bias. We do try to remain detached in the assessment of the brand, though I do see that some bias may be inevitable. Thank you for commenting.
Have you looked at the old packaging vs the new packaging? The words Human Grade have been replaced with Fresh Food. Also, the words chicken hearts have been removed from the front also. Nutritional yeast has been added to the recipes. The food is not the same consistency and smells like green beans now. I’m sure this is all due to General Mills and Mars investing 19 million dollars in Smalls earlier this year, and like all good companies who align with big business, this food will eventually be junk food for cats. I cancelled our subscription recently because I don’t trust Smalls any longer.
Fwiw they do allow you to cancel online now and see everything about your plan once you do the trial shipment including cost with an option to skip
Thanks for sharing!
I have a love hate relationship with Smalls. I put my cat on it in November of 2020 so she has been on it nearly 2 years. She is so much healthier now. She used to have allergies where she would sneeze quite regularly. Vet did many tests and could not officially diagnose reason for congestion. She was, however, confident my cat was allergic to something.
My cat barely sneezes now. She is full of pep and energy. Her coat shines. Clearly Smalls agrees with her and that is what makes me love Smalls.
Where does the hate come in? Well their customer service is ridiculously inefficient. You can email them for a basic delivery update and their confirmation will actually have an inaccurate date. Their portal is useless. On multiple occasions it has reset quantity and flavors when i made a nominal change. They have shipped wrong food during wrong dates. I really wish they would get it together. Such a great product bit that’s where the greatness stops.
Hi StrangeMagic! Your experience lines up with a lot of comments we’ve received from other readers. Smalls’ products themselves have always been great but the customer experience has been a little less consistent. They seem to be aware of these shortcomings, however and are actively working to make improvements. I’m glad to hear the food is working so well for your cat and hope that continues to be the case!
I’m kinda wary of this brand since it makes it to the top of every cat food list with a promo code. This company seems to spend a ton of money on marketing and not sure why some other brands have higher scores than this brand, but don’t seem to make the list. Why is Smalls so much better than other companies, with a lower score?
Great question, Jamie! It’s difficult to make direct comparisons between cat food companies based on score alone since there is so much variety (even within brands that offer similar types of products). While Smalls may not have as high an overall score as some other brands, their food ranks higher in terms of species appropriateness and ingredient quality than many we’ve tested. We prioritize these categories over things like product variety and price.
We also consider the high moisture content, meal plan customizability, and convenience of monthly deliveries to be favorable factors for Smalls as a brand. Smalls products are also entirely human-grade which means that they’re made in a human food facility from high-quality ingredients that are USDA-certified as fit for human consumption.
Regarding the promo code, we’re very open at AAC about the fact that we are, in part, supported by affiliate programs. The same is true for many publications but we at AAC do not accept free products in exchange for reviews in order to ensure we stay objective. All of our reviews are written after in-depth analysis and hands-on testing. Product recommendations may also vary, to some degree, depending on the personal experience of our content creators.
Our goal at AAC is to help cat owners make informed and responsible decisions for their pets. Most of our reviews include a section about how we researched and tested the products so readers like you know that we’re not making selections solely for financial reasons. Hope that helps!
We adopted kittens in April and I got Smalls to try with them. At first, they would not try it, but it might have been too close to when they first arrived and were settling. Later, I re-introduced it and both really do love it. Generally, the kittens/cats are picky and want a variety, so I have to actively switch up textures. They only eat the chicken and turkey, and won’t touch beef. However, this is not unique to smalls. No beef or lamb for mine. They don’t like beef or lamb in any form. I feed them smalls daily but also mix it with a variety of other kitten foods. One cat would inhale the freeze dried raw kibble if I allowed her.
I know folks have had trouble with customer service. I have used their texting customer service and that has been very effective. Quick and helpful. I have recently had trouble with boxes arriving beaten up. They have helped make up for that, we’ll see if they fix the larger problem.
Hi Katherine, thanks for sharing your experience with Smalls. It’s good to know that your cats seem to like the food and that customer service has worked out well for you so far, though the series of damaged boxes is troubling.
Horrible costumer service,i bought a trial for my cat witch didn’t like it , i was contacted by phone by a representative witch i told it wasn’t working with my cat and now after 2 weeks i woke up with 120$ order wich surprisingly can’t be canceled ! So now what ? The whole point of trial on food at least if to check if your pet likes it. The costumer service is useless you speak woth a bot and is no way of contacting them. Even if the food was ok , the way that they treat you makes hard for you to keep ordering for them.
Hi Vlad, thanks for mentioning this. I’ve encountered the same types of problems with Smalls orders staying active after you’d think they would have been canceled, and you’re right that Smalls has a customer service problem. I hope you were able to get a refund and cancel your subscription.
I decided to try Smalls for the first time. I found it easy to arrange for a sample box and pay for it but did not find out the future cost of shipments until AFTER I paid. The overall cost is well over what I can afford to pay for this food. I cannot get in touch other than by text. The email never gets answered, there is no one to actually call and when I text I get an automated response to go and login to cancel, but when I do they tell me they are sending me a link (that I never get). Very frustrating!
That is quite frustrating, indeed, Chrystal. Thank you for sharing, and I hope you can get things sorted out soon.
Smalls is $10 per can of cat food! A normal can of cat food is 5.5 oz. Freeze dried Smalls is $1.83 per oz. So $1.83 times 5.5 is 10 bucks a can?!?!?
Well, the issue is that Smalls freeze-dried food is not a canned product. Because it’s so calorically dense, your cat needs less of it. So while a can a day might make sense if you were looking at a regular canned food, you’d only need to feed about 2 ounces of the freeze-dried food per day. Your cost per day would be closer to $3.60.
For my 9-pound cat, a packet lasts 3 days. So it’s more like $3, not counting tax. And because I get it shipped every 8 weeks, shipping is free
Here’s my issue. The portion sizes keep getting smaller and smaller
but the price doesn’t. What gives with that?
Also. My cats used to love the chicken and then we got a new shipment
and they wouldn’t touch it. I had to give it away to the alley
cats-waste if money. I stopped ordering. They loved the turkey recipe
so I came back. I opened the box and it’s about a fourth of what it
used to be per package. Right now it’s thawing- I hope to god they still love it as much as they did or it’s more money wasted.
Update- they still do
BUT…
What happened to the portion sizes?!?!
Hi Tracey, that’s a good question. I’ll see if I can get some more information and get back to you on that.
I got the trial, cats love Smalls food but are still crazy hungry after a meal (as if they haven’t eaten yet).
I had the opposite experience of customer service and someone actually called me to make sure I was happy with the trial before the automatic orders began.
I haven’t tried to cancel, hope I won’t need to…
I am concerned now after reading how many cats have gotten sick when eating their food. Hope that never happens!
Hey Nicole, really appreciate you sharing your experience. I’m delighted to hear that you received a call before the automatic subscription kicked in—that’s awesome! I’m not sure why your cats seem unsatisfied after the meals; perhaps they just want more because it’s so enjoyable. Anyway, I hope you continue to have a good experience with this brand and food.
signed up and ordered the smalls trial package. was mis-delivered and did not find it, until 3 days later. Still frozen/cold, so thawed one out to try. My cat wouldn’t touch it. Smelled “Off/Weird” to me. Customer support was very slow and mostly non-existant. This is why I chose to cancel my subscription. Don’t like to do business with ANYONE that is not responsive to their customers, with valid concerns/needs. At the end of the day here, ended up with a $50.00 bag of silica cat litter.
Hi Cameron, thanks for sharing that experience. Sounds very disappointing. I hope you were able to successfully and quickly cancel the subscription.
I just wanted to leave my two cents because so many people seem to have had bad experiences with this company.
I have been feeding my cat smalls for the last year, on the recommendation of my veterinarian, without any problems. My cat has IBD and was suffering from diarrhea on store bought cat foods. Smalls has cleared that up. She now has consistent and well formed stools. Her bloodwork numbers are all in the acceptable range now, where she had low phosphorus and high carbohydrates before switching. It took a few months to figure out what flavors she likes and doesn’t (not a fan of the turkey here) but now she’s quite happy with it. I have contacted customer service multiple times via email and text and always gotten a response in a timely manner. They have an automated reply that goes out to everyone when they submit a response, and then you are added to a queue. They have office hours, so yes sometimes you have to wait. I have been offered refunds for missing a damaged goods. I see that they have added a cancel button on their account page as well, so the problems with cancellations shouldn’t be as bad as they once were.
Yes it is pricey, and waiting for a shipment can be inconvenient compared to just running to the store, but the food does seem to have improved my cats quality of life so I’m a satisfied customer. I think it just depend son your lifestyle, budget, and the health needs of your cat.
Thanks for sharing your experience with Smalls!
Is your IBD kitty still doing well with the new recipes? The addition of nutritional yeast is frustrating because it aggravates IBD in a lot of kitties.
My cat who has never had intestinal issues became constipated after eating this food for a few weeks. Once we eliminated Smalls from his diet, the constipation cleared up. I will NEVER purchase or recommend this brand to anyone. It was so horrible to see him in pain and he is still recovering. Smalls is NOT a SAFE.
Just tried the smalls sample box for my senior cat. She has vomited up every meal. I’ve cleaned up so much vomit. Put her back on her old food and she is fine.
It might very well be the FACT that they are ADDING SYNTHETIC VITAMINS into their so-called nutritional, slow cooked, human-grade foods!!! The SYNTHETIC VITAMINS will cause harm because they are FOREIGN to the body!!! 🙁
I have just recently got tricked into trying their food, but quickly realized that they WERE doing DOUBLE TALK with the food!! I seen a video of someone letting everyone know that this company adds SYNTHETIC VITAMINS, and i sent them a message asking them if it were true. They gave me this fluffy reply about how they are working with their scientist and vet and are adding the right ingredients etc………., totally sidestepping my question!!! I promptly cancelled any/all foods from them!!! Now i need to warn people and yet it seems like it is hard to write a review on their company where people will be able to SEE it and not have it covered up! 🙁
Well, first, they had freeze dried food, then they “ran out” at their warehouse. Then, they were “running short”. After that, it was “we are searching for a new manufacturer, hold tight”. Then it was, “oops, sorry we are just deciding now to discontinue the freeze dried food.” This after they insisted that I ADD this in to my 15 year old cars diet. Begrudgingly, I caved. Awesome, I have finally managed to squeeze it in. This was no easy task, mind you. But, I obliged. And was strung out over multiple billing cycles and hanging on dearly to those first two bags of freeze dried food so I wouldn’t have to disrupt her diet AGAIN. Don’t be a victim like I was. My poor car will have to go into yet another diet change as we run out now. Because this shady Company will now be “no longer carrying the kibble.” Canon. They knew this months ago. Companies don’t just make these flippant decisions over night. This was planned and executed….and manipulated; Leaving those of is gullible folks as the victims in the wake. Namaste, my friends.
*CATS diet…” not cars, oops.
I have 3 formerly feral cats; their food preferences & needs are all very different. Just looking at Smalls website, and then reading user comments here, I wouldn’t even try it .. WAY too complicated! I would have been fine getting a sample pack that had maybe 6 portions of 4 types of fresh food, for $15 .. but such big sample packages of so many varieties for $30+, would be an absolute waste of $$ for us! And they deliberately want you to enter all that information about your cats first, so you’re more invested in going thru with it! I’ve also read that unlike people, animals are happier eating the same thing all the time, and that the variety that people crave, only upsets cats & dogs. So any meal plans that force you to take a variety, are appealing to people, not their pets.
This is a scam company. The only way to contact them is via email or text. They supply no phone number. I purchased a sample box containing 10 portions. One of my 3 cats didn’t like the food. On September 14th, I contacted them via the provided email, added in the order number as a reference, and didn’t hear anything back. On September 22, I was charged $181 and shipped an order. When I finally got ahold of someone, via the text option, I was told they have a zero return policy.
Hi Robin, thank you for letting us know what happened.
Super DISAPPOINTED! I ordered Smalls for my daughters cat visiting us. My order has been sitting in a warehouse since Thursday. I have no other food. Hate to change his diet so abruptly. Get another shipping partner SMALLS! I’ll find another good source of cat food I can depend on.
On-Trac shipping was miserable to deal with and will no longer give me any updates. They said to contact SMALLS, but it’s Sunday. My cat has no food!
Hi! If you’re able to, would you do a new review of the brand? I noticed that their recipe has changed and no longer use canola oil. Thanks!
We just finished a draft of the updated review! Will publish it shortly!
When starting your service over a year ago, I frequently recommended your high quality food to friends. I would like to say that I have become incredibly disappointed in the lack of consistency. Cats are notoriously picky eaters. It can be extremely difficult to find a food that they will eat. Add in a pet who has a sensitive stomach and this doubles the challenge.
I was very satisfied when I discovered their pulled chicken food. It was cat-appropriate, kept my cat from having stomach issues and provided enough chewing to keep his teeth clean. That food was discontinued. He barely ate the other recipes. Then about two order cycles ago, there was another recipe change. This one he seemed to like, but then it was changed again and he has stopped eating the food.
Coupling this with the calculator based ordering system that makes me go through hoops to change orders, rather than just plugging in how much I want to buy (like every other ecommerce company), has forced me to begin my search for another cat food supplier. I will be canceling my membership, Smalls is NOT a quality cat food supplier.
Thanks for reporting this, Billy.
This is a SCAM company. Please check Reddit and BBB. They play around with how/when/whether you can cancel your order or account. Even after canceling, people are reporting continued charges to the credit card, up to a year later!
Buyer Beware! Check reddit, YT comments section and BBB. There is something fishy with this company and trying to cancel one’s account. Though some report good experiences with the quality of the food, it is extremely difficult to cancel and people have reported–even very recently– still receiving food and having credit card charged even after they canceled. I just had to cancel my credit card out of fear of being a victim of fraud. Even those pleased with the food complain the company randomly adds more food/changes the frequency of deliveries, and changes the recipes/flavors without consulting the customer.
People have been complaining about the fraudulent practices of this company for two years. You say you’re going to do an update about this, but it seems you have not. Now it’s late Oct. of 2023 and people are still signing up with this company based upon your reviews, both here and on your YT page.
Please update your review and include customer service, transparency, and fraud in your discussion.
In addition to difficulties with canceling one’s account, based upon comments here and elsewhere it appears the company changes recipes/flavors with consulting customer, increases monthly amounts with consulting customer, and makes serving sizes smaller–all while charging exorbitant prices.
Glad to see other people pointing this out. I almost ordered but after getting to checkout I got this weird feeling and looked into the company more deeply. At first I only looked into the quality of the food so I almost didn’t notice the issues with fraudulent practices. Definitely agree that they need to at least warn people that it may be an issue.
This is a TOTAL SCAM company (Smalls) and they are advertising nothing but a bunch of LIES!!! They are pretending to CARE about cats with their lies of minimal cooked foods and that they are human grade, when on the other hand………they are putting SYNTHETIC VITAMINS in their foods and those two DO NOT GO TOGETHER!!! You don’t make a good quality food and then add SYNTHETIC VITAMINS!!!! The synthetic vitamins cause health issues in the animals and then the pet parents won’t have a clue as to WHY!!! This food needs taken off the market until the take the SYNTHETIC VITAMINS out of their foods and/or STOP LYING to the public and charging an arm and a leg for their food!!! They also make it VERY DIFFICULT to deal with anyone in the company!!! 🙁 I RATE this company an “F” for fraud and lying to the public!!!