Unbiased Victor Cat Food Review

Kate Barrington / Cats.com

Marketed as a super-premium product but sold at store-brand prices, Victor is a brand you’re most likely to find at feed stores. It may not be the most widely known cat food company on the market but it may be worth considering for pet parents on a budget. Find out more about Victor cat food in our detailed review below.

The Cats.com Standard—Rating Victor on What Matters

We’ve analyzed Victor and graded it according to the Cats.com standard, evaluating the brand on species-appropriateness, ingredient quality, product variety, price, customer experience, and recall history. Here’s how it rates in each of these six key areas.

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Ratings

Species-Appropriateness – 6/10
Ingredient Quality – 6/10
Product Variety – 5/10
Price – 9/10
Customer Experience – 7/10
Recall History – 6/10

Overall Score: 6.5/10

We give Victor a 39 out of 60 or a B- grade.

About Victor Cat Food

Founded in 2007, Victor pet food is a brand manufactured by Mid America Pet Food. The company is based in East Texas, where it was originally launched by Frank and Lavonne Glover. Victor is currently owned by private equity firm TA Associates.

In its early years, Victor was sold primarily to feed stores and other local distributors. When the brand partnered with Tractor Supply Co. in 2020, its national outreach expanded greatly. Though more widely available now, Victor is still largely a feed-store brand.

Victor was originally launched as a dog-focused pet food brand and didn’t start making cat food until after its 2020 expansion. The current Victor cat food lineup is fairly limited, split between a handful of kibble and canned food options.

Sourcing and Manufacturing

As a brand in the Mid America Pet Food family, Victor cat food is manufactured in the company’s East Texas facilities located outside of Dallas, TX. The brand’s FAQ section states that “the majority of ingredients are locally sourced in the state of Texas,” but things don’t get much more specific than that.

Victor products are manufactured in company-owned facilities and formulated by a combination of in-house and third-party nutritionists. Mid America Pet Foods also formulates and manufactures Eagle Mountain Pet Food, Nature’s Logic, and Wayne Feeds products.

Has Victor Cat Food Been Recalled?

In its near 20-year history, Victor has had a single recall. It was a voluntary recall issued by the company in November of 2023 due to potential salmonella contamination. The recall affected multiple Victor cat foods as well as other brands made by the same manufacturer.

Though Victor issued the recall voluntarily, they did so after the FDA initiated an investigation into reports of salmonella infections in seven people feeding their pets food manufactured by Mid America Pet Food.

What Kinds of Cat Food Does Victor Offer?

Victor offers four dry cat food recipes and two canned foods. All of Victor’s cat food products are built around a proprietary mix of supplements called VPRO^Ⓡ Blend. This blend features L-Carnitine, mineral complexes, prebiotics, and probiotics.

Here’s a list of Victor’s current cat food lineup:

Mers Feline Multi-Cat Dry Cat Food
Hi-Pro Plus Active Cat & Kitten Dry Cat Food
Grain-Free Fit Feline Indoor Cat Dry Cat Food
Grain-Free Healthy Skin & Coat Indoor Cat Dry Cat Food
Turkey & Salmon Dinner Pâté Wet Cat Food
Grain-Free Formula Shredded Chicken Dinner Cuts in Gravy Wet Cat Food

All four of Victor’s dry food recipes are formulated for both adult cats and kittens. These recipes feature high-quality sources of animal protein in both grain-free and grain-inclusive recipes. Victor’s two canned food recipes are made with animal-based protein as primary ingredients with the VPRO^Ⓡ Blend of supplements.

What Did Our Test Cats Think?

To test Victor cat food, I ordered two dry food formulas and both canned food recipes. The cans I received were pretty dented (something multiple customer reviews have mentioned), but it’s hard to tell whether that’s an issue with the manufacturer or the retailer.

As is typical for my cats (Biscuit and Munchkin), they were more interested in the wet foods than the kibble. In fact, the Mers Feline formula didn’t seem to interest either of them at all, though Biscuit really liked the Fit Feline formula. The pate-style wet food was a hit with both cats but Munchkin would only lick the gravy from the shredded formula.

Something worth noting about Victor dry food is that the kibbles are very small. It makes sense, since the formulas are designed for kittens as well as adult cats. This feature may make the food a good choice for cats who prefer dry food but have trouble chewing it (such as senior cats or cats who have had multiple extractions).

Victor Cat Food—Top 4 Recipes Reviewed

Product Name	Food Type	Primary Protein	Calories Per Ounce	Price	Our Grade
Victor Turkey & Salmon Dinner Pâté Wet Cat Food	Wet	Turkey	33	$0.29 per oz	B-
Victor Grain-Free Formula Shredded Chicken Dinner Cuts in Gravy Wet Cat Food	Wet	Chicken	26	$0.2 per oz	B
Victor Mers Feline Multi-Cat Chicken Meal and Beef Meal Recipe Dry Cat Food	Dry	Chicken	104	$2.47 per lb	B-
Victor Grain-Free Fit Feline Indoor Cat Chicken Meal and Duck Meal Dry Cat Food	Dry	Chicken	103	$2.8 per lb	C

#1 Victor Turkey & Salmon Dinner Pâté Wet Cat Food

$39.99 At Chewy $39.99 At Amazon

There’s a lot going on in this canned paté. It contains turkey, turkey broth, liver, potatoes, and salmon as the first five ingredients. We like that most of them are animal-sourced proteins. But while many wet foods keep the ingredient list relatively simple, this food goes on to contain a salad of legumes, processed grains, fruits and veggies.

Victor Turkey & Salmon Dinner Pâté Wet Cat Food

Kate Barrington / Cats.com

Measured as dry matter, the food is relatively high in protein and fat, and surprisingly low in carbohydrates. Though the carb content is under 20%, we’d prefer to see more animal ingredients and fewer plants (especially ones with limited nutritional value like potatoes and brewer’s rice).

This food also contains guar gum, often used as a binder and thickener, which sometimes causes loose stools in cats with sensitive stomachs. Peas can also be hard for some cats to digest. Some reviews even mention cats picking around the peas, since they’re left largely whole in the food.

Ingredients

Turkey, Turkey Broth, Liver, Potatoes, Salmon, Peas, Carrots, Dried Egg Product, Brewer’s Rice, Barley, Guar Gum, Flaxseed Meal, Potassium Chloride, Carrageenan, Dried Cranberries, Dried Blueberries, Apples, Taurine, Dried Chicory Root, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Kelp, Salt, Dried Parsley, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Choline Chloride, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid.

Ingredients We Liked: Turkey, Liver, Salmon, Dried Egg Product

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Potatoes, Peas, Brewer’s Rice, Barley, Guar Gum

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 9%

Crude Fat: 6%

Crude Fiber: 1.5%

Moisture: 78%

Taurine: 0.05%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 40.91%

Fat: 27.27%

Fiber: 6.82%

Carbs: 25%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 30.96%

Fat: 50.12%

Carbs: 18.92%

What We Liked:

Four of the top five ingredients are animal-based
Moderately high in protein and fat
Good source of hydrating moisture for cats
Smooth paté texture is easy for cats to eat

What We Didn’t Like:

Contains a lot of plant ingredients
Guar gum may cause loose stools in some cats

#2 Victor Grain-Free Formula Shredded Chicken Dinner Cuts in Gravy Wet Cat Food

$42.26 At Chewy $42.26 At Amazon

Presented as log-shaped shreds in gravy, this wet cat food features chicken and chicken liver as the primary ingredients with supplemental protein from eggs. It’s marketed as a grain-free product, but surprisingly doesn’t contain peas or other legumes like many of these recipes do. It does contain some starchy add-ons and gum thickeners, but the dry matter carbohydrate content is similar to the previous formula.

Victor Grain-Free Formula Shredded Chicken Dinner Cuts in Gravy Wet Cat Food

Kate Barrington / Cats.com

This recipe may appeal to cats who like gravy, though reviews suggest that some cats lick up the gravy and skip the food. On Chewy, this product has a lower average rating than the turkey and salmon formula but customers generally seem to like the ingredients list.

Overall, this is a moderately high-protein and high-fat recipe with a dry matter carbohydrate content under 20%. It’s rich in hydrating moisture for your cat and contains minimal plant-based add-ons.