At KatKin we put science first. And that research tells us fresh, gently-cooked 100% human-quality meat is the only suitable diet for carnivore cats. It’s what they’re built for.
Let’s break down what that means and how it compares to other cat food on the market.
Science
Our fresh recipes are all formulated by a Board-Certified Vet Nutritionist and our science team are at the forefront of animal nutrition research and development. They eat, sleep and breathe cats, and that’s why we’re confident that 100% human-quality meat is what’s best for them.
Gently cooked
There were two extremes in the cat food world when it came to cooking methods.
1. Heat blasted & shelf stable
To make kibble or dry-food, the various animal derivatives, vegetable derivatives, grains, fillers and additives that go into dry cat food are dried and powdered, for the most part. That mix of different powders is fed together into a mixing chamber, where water and steam are added to form a dough.
The dough then needs to be cooked at extremely high temperatures, between 120-160°C. At this point, the extreme heat is taking its toll on the kibble, destroying nutrients and nutritional value. Sometimes, we call this heat-blasting, but you could just call it what it is: overcooking.
The conveyor belt transports the kibble onwards – straight through an industrial drier. It means that any remaining moisture is blasted away, because that lengthens the shelf life of the cat food.
For canned food, the mixture is often first cooked to gelatinise the starch and then filled into cans. The cans are then cooked again at high temperature, this time to sterilise and kill off pathogenic bacteria.
Jelly and Gravies are often a way to add flavourings and additives to cat food too. It means wet food is often super high in moisture, which is great, but not if it comes with added sugars that cats don’t need.
👉 Read more about KatKin vs Kibble here
2. Raw
Cats need 100% real meat, but science also educates us on the risks of feeding raw meat at home. Cats can easily spread bacteria from raw food around the house and maintaining a bacteria-free feeding environment can be tricky for some households, especially with young children. Raw cat food naturally contains bacteria that KatKin doesn’t such as salmonella and E. coli.
👉 Read more about switching from raw food to KatKin here
So why Fresh cat food
Cooking food has a lot of benefits compared to eating it raw. It kills off harmful bacteria, makes the food safer, improves nutrient digestibility, and improves flavour and texture.
But too much cooking can cancel these benefits out. When we overcook food under extreme conditions certain nutrients can be destroyed
At KatKin, we weren’t happy with these options. That’s why we made the UK's first fresh cat food brand, delivered directly to your door.
What is fresh cat food? Here's how we define it.
Fresh cat food is 100% gently-steamed fresh meat, with no grains or fillers.
Fresh means it's kept in the fridge and freezer, not the cupboard. Just like meat you buy at the supermarket.
None of the preservatives or heat-blasting methods that mean kibble and wet food last years in the cupboard.
👩🔬 You can read more about the science behind fresh food here
100% human-quality meat
Cats are carnivores and they need fresh, real meat to thrive. While humans can be vegan or vegetarian, cats can’t. Their bodies aren’t built to digest plants so cereal-based kibbles and wet foods containing 4% chicken don’t meet their needs.
That’s why our recipes are formulated with human-quality meat and offal. We use meat that’s good enough for humans, like the chicken thighs that go into Cluck.
We also use less in-demand and often unused organ meat – like livers and hearts. They’re rich in vitamins and minerals, delicious to cats, and great for reducing waste.
📖 You can read more about why our co-founders Brett and Nikki started KatKin here.