Tiny Tiger Cat Food Review

Could this be the affordable cat food brand you’ve been waiting for? Read our unbiased review to get the facts on Tiny Tiger cat food.

The Cats.com Standard—Rating Tiny Tiger on What Matters

We’ve analyzed Tiny Tiger 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.

We give Tiny Tiger cat food a 38 out of 60 rating or a B- grade.

About Tiny Tiger

Tiny Tiger is one of several Chewy-exclusive brands.

Chewy is an online pet product retailer created in 2011 by Ryan Cohen and Michael Day. The site is now owned by PetSmart and, while some Chewy brands overlap with those sold in PetSmart stores, Tiny Tiger is only available online.

The brand’s lineup emphasizes moisture-rich recipes that, according to the company, feature animal protein sources as their first ingredients and are free of wheat, corn, soy, and carrageenan.

Sourcing and Manufacturing

Chewy doesn’t name the company that manufactures Tiny Tiger cat food but does say that it’s made in the United States and Canada.

The recipes include ingredients sourced from around the world. The chicken, beef, and turkey in Tiny Tiger cat food are sourced from the United States and Canada, while vitamins and minerals are imported from nations spanning the globe. Tiny Tiger has vitamin suppliers in the United States, Switzerland, Japan, China, France, and the UK.

Has Tiny Tiger Cat Food Been Recalled?

Tiny Tiger cat food has never been recalled.

What Kinds of Cat Food Does Tiny Tiger Offer?

There are a few types of Tiny Tiger cat food in the lineup—chunks in gravy, chunks in extra gravy, and paté. Aside from their line of crunchy treats, all of their foods are high-moisture products packed into cans. If you’re looking for kibble cat food, you won’t find it from Tiny Tiger.

While Tiny Tiger foods are meat-centric, don’t contain a lot of plant matter, and avoid a few hot-button ingredients, they’re nutritionally similar to a lot of other budget-tier canned foods, with animal by-products, a few vaguely-named inclusions, and added flavors appearing on their ingredient lists.

Tiny Tiger Cat Food – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed

#1 Tiny Tiger Pate Salmon Recipe Grain-Free Canned Cat Food

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Salmon appears to be the primary protein source in this canned cat food.

This popular Tiny Tiger recipe is a salmon-based paté.

While the food contains salmon as its primary ingredient, it also relies on a few other protein sources. You’ll notice that the recipe includes liver, meat by-products, and fish—all vaguely-named items that may not have the nutritional integrity of clearly-labeled meats.

While these ingredients aren’t necessarily bad, they bring a few question marks to the situation. Meat by-products, for example, might include a wide range of animal parts, including some that aren’t easily digested by your cat’s body. Ideally, your cat should be eating highly-digestible proteins that nourish without weighing your cat down.

After these protein sources, the food contains natural flavor—an additive typically made from hydrolyzed animal tissue—and guar gum, a plant-derived gum that helps to bind and stabilize the paté. While guar gum is controversial and may irritate some cats, it appears to be a safe, albeit nutritionally unnecessary, inclusion in your cat’s food.

The food contains added color, a term that refers to materials—like iron oxides and titanium dioxide—that are added to improve the food’s color. These aren’t artificial dyes and appear to be safe for cats to consume.

Finally, the food contains an array of synthetic vitamins, minerals, and amino acids—including essential taurine—that make each meal nutritionally complete.

Overall, this food has high protein, moderate fat, and low carbohydrate content.

While this food contains a few ingredients that are less than ideal, it’s overall a relatively species-appropriate choice with something close to an optimal macronutrient distribution.

It’s rich in animal-derived protein with moderate levels of fat and, according to the guaranteed analysis, is just a little over 10% carbohydrates on a dry matter basis.

Ingredients

Salmon, Liver, Meat By-Products, Fish Broth, Fish, Turkey, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Added Color (Red 3 And Other Artificial Color), Salt, Choline Chloride, Vitamins (Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Taurine, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), Magnesium Sulfate, Sodium Nitrite (To Promote Color Retention).

Ingredients We Liked: Salmon

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Liver, Meat By-Products, Fish, Guar Gum, Added Color

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 11%

Crude Fat: 4%

Crude Fiber: 1.5%

Moisture: 78%

Ash: 3.5%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 50%

Fat: 18.18%

Fiber: 6.82%

Carbs: 9.09%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 48.43%

Fat: 42.77%

Carbs: 8.81%

Pros

• Primarily made from animal-derived ingredients
• Relatively low carbohydrate content
• One of the most affordable wet foods you can buy

Cons

• A notable percentage of cats seem to dislike the food’s taste and texture
• Contains several vaguely-named meat ingredients

#2 Tiny Tiger Pate Turkey and Giblets Recipe Grain-Free Canned Cat Food

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Turkey appears to be the primary protein source in this canned cat food.

The second recipe we’re looking at is another paté-style product, this time featuring turkey instead of chicken. Like the first paté we reviewed, there’s a lot more to this food than what’s on the label. In addition to turkey and poultry giblets, the food contains liver and meat by-products. Everything besides turkey is a vaguely-named ingredient and raises questions about digestibility and protein quality.

Natural flavor promises to intensify the food’s palatability while guar gum gives it structure. The food is fortified with synthetic vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.

Menhaden fish oil appears near the end of the ingredient list. While this oil is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, the fact that it’s the second-to-last ingredient suggests that it’s a minor player here and probably doesn’t add much value.

Overall, this food has high protein content, moderate fat, and is low in carbohydrates.

This food contains a few vaguely-named, potentially low-quality animal ingredients, but that’s its only significant flaw. It’s a species-appropriate paté rich in the animal-derived protein your cat requires. It’s low in carbohydrates. And it has just the right amount of fat—all of it derived from species-appropriate animal sources.

If you want to buy carnivore-worthy food on a budget, this Tiny Tiger food might be a good option.

Ingredients

Turkey, Liver, Meat By-Products, Turkey Broth, Poultry Giblets, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), Taurine, Salt, Tricalcium Phosphate, Menhaden Fish Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols) Magnesium Sulfate.

Ingredients We Liked: Turkey, Menhaden Fish Oil

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Liver, Meat By-Products, Poultry Giblets, Guar Gum

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 11%

Crude Fat: 5%

Crude Fiber: 1.5%

Moisture: 78%

Ash: 3%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 50%

Fat: 22.73%

Fiber: 6.82%

Carbs: 6.82%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 44.64%

Fat: 49.28%

Carbs: 6.09%

Pros

• Primarily made from species-appropriate sources of protein
• Contains menhaden fish oil as a source of omega-3 fatty acids
• Low carbohydrate content

Cons

• Contains several vaguely-labeled, potentially low-quality ingredients

#3 Tiny Tiger Chunks in Gravy Chicken Recipe Grain-Free Canned Cat Food

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Chicken appears to be the primary protein source in this canned cat food.

Unlike the two previous recipes—paté-style foods featuring finely-ground meat stabilized with guar gum—this food has a chunky, gravy-based format. Chicken broth is its first ingredient, with chicken, liver, and turkey its primary protein sources. Along with meat by-products and dried egg product, these ingredients are mixed and formed into nondescript chunks—a formed meat product.

Potato starch appears after the food’s protein sources, presumably serving as a gravy thickener. The food also contains guar gum, which is commonly used as a binder and stabilizer. These plant-derived ingredients are not an essential part of the feline diet and increase the food’s carbohydrate and fiber content.

Finally, the food contains the standard variety of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that make each meal nutritionally complete. The final ingredient is fish oil, a source of omega-3 fatty acids. Like the menhaden fish oil in the last recipe, this ingredient’s position on the list suggests that it appears in a trace amount and doesn’t pack a big nutritional punch.

Overall, this food has high protein content with low fat and moderate carbohydrate content.

Nutritionally, this food isn’t the strongest in the Tiny Tiger lineup. Thanks to the inclusion of potato starch, it’s more plant-heavy than the paté-style options.

At about 17% carbohydrates on a dry matter basis, this food has significantly more starch than your cat needs and may raise his cat’s blood sugar and contribute to diabetes. And though it contains plenty of protein from animal sources, several of those sources are vaguely-named and might not be the most digestible choice for your cat.

Ingredients

Chicken Broth, Chicken, Liver, Turkey, Meat By-Products, Dried Egg Product, Potato Starch, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Niacin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dl-Methionine, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), Taurine, Magnesium Sulfate, Fish Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols).

Ingredients We Liked: Chicken, Turkey, Fish Oil

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Liver, Meat By-Products, Potato Starch

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 11%

Crude Fat: 2%

Crude Fiber: 1.5%

Moisture: 80%

Ash: 2.7%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 55%

Fat: 10%

Fiber: 7.5%

Carbs: 14%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 58.96%

Fat: 26.03%

Carbs: 15.01%

Pros

• Primarily made from animal protein sources
• Contains fish oil as a source of omega-3 fatty acids

Cons

• Contains vaguely-named, potentially low-value ingredients
• Relatively high in carbohydrates

What Do Customers Think of Tiny Tiger Cat Food?

Tiny Tiger receives primarily positive reviews, but it’s not the strongest crowd-pleaser on the market. Their popular Beef & Poultry variety pack, for example, has a 3.9 out of 5-star rating on Chewy, with 81% of reviewers saying they’d recommend the food to a friend. With many of the most popular foods boasting recommendation rates of 95% or more, this isn’t particularly impressive.

While happy reviewers praise the food’s affordability and palatability, most unhappy customers say their cats didn’t like the food. A few say that it gave their cats soft stool or other digestive issues.

Let’s see what a few happy—and unhappy—customers have to say about their experience with Tiny Tiger cat food.

Positive Reviews

“My chicken loving kitty adores this food. My other kitty will eat half of his food and hold out for something better for the next meal. This is good for him as most chicken he just smells and walks away from. He is my beef eater. The pate breaks into small crumbles, which are easy to eat. If you have a gravy lover, just add a little water and stir in, it produces a nice gravy.” – macriley, reviewing Tiny Tiger Pate Salmon Recipe

“Yoda, my Siamese kitty, loves the gravy. I’m noticing he doesn’t throw up any more. THAT is a testimony that I won’t be going back to the old brand of food.” – newkittypotty, reviewing Tiny Tiger Chunks in Gravy Chicken Recipe

Negative Reviews

“First started buying this in a multi pack months back. The cats all loved it and I thought “it smells good too”. The last shipments have changed up dramatically. The cats won’t touch the beef, chicken or especially the Turkey flavors and there is a really bad odor coming from them. Not bad like “gone bad”, just nasty.” – Fluffenutters, reviewing Tiny Tiger Turkey and Giblets Recipe

“My two cats are absolute opposites. If one likes one flavor, the other hates it and vice versa. I was thrilled to find BOTH my boys loved this pate and finished it at every meal. Then came the poos. My one kitty who never had smelly litter issues would wake me in the middle of the night because his poops smelled so awful. And it happens consistently after every feeding of this food (I interchange 2-3 types of canned food for a variety to their diet), and then it started causing weird poops for my other boy. I’m now noticing very mushy poops for both. In conclusion, it tastes delicious to my kittos, but then stinks to high heaven when it comes out. You might try it, but dont have high hopes.” – Megg, reviewing Tiny Tiger Pate Salmon Recipe

How Much Does Tiny Tiger Cat Food Cost?

Tiny Tiger is one of the most affordable wet cat food brands on the market.

If you have a typical 10-lb cat and feed him about 200 calories per day, you’ll spend just over a dollar per day on Tiny Tiger cat food. That puts it in the same price bracket as Friskies, Fancy Feast, and other budget-tier canned products.

Overall, Is Tiny Tiger a Good Choice?

If you stick with their paté-style foods, Tiny Tiger offers species-appropriate nutrition at an accessible price. Their foods aren’t perfect—you’ll notice plenty of vaguely-named meats and potentially low-value by-products—but they’re also a few exclusions ahead of the budget competition.

By skipping artificial colors and flavors, avoiding carrageenan, keeping carbohydrate content minimal in many of their recipes, and emphasizing meat over plants, Tiny Tiger has created some of the best budget-friendly cat foods on the market.

If you’re looking for an economical option that doesn’t contain additives that might harm your cat over time, Tiny Tiger is worth a try.

Where To Buy Tiny Tiger Cat Food?

Tiny Tiger cat food is exclusively available on Chewy and shipped within the contiguous United States. It’s not available in Hawaii, Alaska, or other U.S. territories.

Also Read: The 6 Best Cheap Cat Foods That Are Affordable and Healthy!