Authority Cat Food Review

authority cat food brand my review
(Last Updated On: August 14, 2020)

Petsmart’s brand of pet food, Authority, has been around since 1995 and has delivered both dog and cat food at a slightly lower price than other name brands. They make wet foods as well as dry foods and foods for all stages of pet life.

Specifically for cat food, Authority makes multiple different formulas for a number of different needs. Some formulas, for example, are hairball control, weight control, stomach sensitivity and grain-free cat food.

wet cat food brands

Who Manufactures Authority?

Authority pet food may actually be manufactured by multiple providers. It’s commonly believed that the company Simmons, a company that manufactures food for name-brands, makes all of the canned food, but it isn’t clear who exactly manufactures the dry food.

Eukanuba is thought to be a possible contender based on food ingredients. However, this is not known for sure and the true manufacturer of Authority’s pet food could be one of a number of companies. 

Authority Cat Food Recalls 2019

  • The only recall information available on Authority is from a 2007 problem with melamine. Other than that, there is no other recall information online or in the FDA database.

My Authority Cat Food Review

The ingredients in Authority cat food are overall pretty average. This means that while they do provide decent nutrients, they are not necessarily the best ingredients that could be used. For example, brewers rice is used in a lot of Authority’s foods. But it really does not provide a lot of nutrients. Ultimately, it is really a filler ingredient.

The first ingredients usually listed on Authority labels are chicken and chicken meal. Next, you’ll find various corns, including corn protein, and peas. 

Authority cat food also sometimes includes sweeteners as additives. One example is Fructooligosaccharides. These sweeteners are pretty low in calories and primarily stand as taste-enhancers instead of nutrients. This means that Authority relies on additives to provide good taste to the cat food instead of high quality ingredients.

Another odd ingredient that is present in Authority foods is Sodium Hexametaphosphate. This is an ingredient used to whiten teeth and provide texture to foods such as chicken. It is actually pretty rare that this ingredient is used in pet foods, and it’s unclear exactly what its function is in Authority pet food.

You may notice that Authority cat food contains minerals, such as copper sulfate. While it may seem odd, cats, like humans, need a lot of minerals in their food. It is actually not uncommon for pet foods to contain copper sulfate and other minerals. 

As far as diet components, authority cat food is known to have quite a bit of protein. It is higher in protein compared to other brands of cat food and it has pretty moderate fat levels. 

Unfortunately, there have been quite a few complaints about Authority pet food online. One frequent complaint is of pets getting sick, even when they had previously been fed authority cat food. 

Read about freeze dried cat food

Authority Grain Free Adult Cat Food Review

Authority Grain Free Adult Cat Food is listed as the leader in bestselling dry Authority food for your cat. In most reviews, it gets about five stars which is absolutely incredible! It is a front runner on the market and one you should consider using. 

The ingredients of this food are what set it apart from the rest. The first five ingredients are as follows: chicken, chicken meal, dried peas, dried potatoes, and pea protein. The first ingredient, chicken, refer to a whole chicken. Meaning it contains a lot of moisture and juice. If for some reason the moisture was removed, this ingredient would have a position lower on the ingredient list. That is why chicken meal is the second ingredient on this list.

Most of the moisture in chicken meal has been removed so it is mostly a source of protein and nutrients. Chicken has about 60-80 percent protein and 20-40 percent fat. It’s a good source of Niacin and Selenium as well as Vitamin B6 and Phosphorus. These two ingredients (chicken and chicken meal) are a great source of protein for your cat. 

The next ingredient on the list is dried peas. Some people aren’t huge fans of dried peas in pet food. This isn’t because they hate peas; peas do, in fact, provide good vitamins and minerals for pets. If they are non-dried, they provide about 22-24 percent protein. The reason some people don’t necessarily like to see dried peas in pet food is because nowadays they are seen all the time.

When people began to complain about corn, wheat, and soy in pet food; pet food companies began to replace them with peas, lentils, and other legumes. Your cat is a meat eater; he doesn’t have to receive the necessary protein from plants and veggies.

Sure, they cost a lot less than meat so companies include them, but your cat deserves more. Depending on the part of the pea that is used (whole pea, pea protein, pea fiber, starch, etc.), your cat can have some trouble digesting it.

Some pea fiber is helpful and can be beneficial, but you don’t want a food that is loaded up with peas. If you look at the ingredients and you see there are a ton of peas in the food, you should consider trying a different food for your cat. Although it might be impossible to avoid peas entirely, you can limit them. 

It should be noted that the peas we are pointing out here are field peas or split peas, not garden peas. If your cat enjoys some peas off your plate that’s no trouble, but large vats of peas in your pet’s food is an issue. 

The fourth ingredient in this cat food is dried potatoes. Dried potatoes definitely fall in the carbohydrates category. They are about 92 percent carbs, 7 percent protein, and 1 percent fat. They are also a good source of Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Manganese, and Potassium. Potatoes also have a dietary fiber that is helpful for your cat.

This fiber turns into a gel in your cat’s gastrointestinal system. It helps to slow down the absorption of sugars from other foods. So even though you won’t be feeding your cat whole potatoes when they are added into their food, they can definitely provide benefits; just make sure to keep them lower. 

The fifth ingredient that you see is pea protein. Normally, pea protein is added into pet food in order to increase protein percentage in the food. Although it is protein, it not a protein that is as good as meat protein; there are definitely a lot of questions when it comes to adding pea protein to your pet food. 

Other ingredients you should take notice of in this food are chicken fat, which is a great form of fat containing omega-3 and 6 fatty acids; beet pulp, which is a type of insoluble fiber, and salmon oil which is another great fat source that contains high traces of omega-3 fatty acids. 

This pet food also contains “natural flavor.” Normally that “natural flavor” is a code term for monosodium glutamate (MSG). There are some pet foods out there that add this ingredient but it is not necessary when there are other natural preservatives that can be used. You would hope that because your cat is a cat, they wouldn’t need this added enhancement in their food.

All in all, we enjoy that there is meat protein and fat included in this food. We aren’t a big fan of the peas, but the rest of the ingredients look good. If peas don’t mess with your cat’s digestion then this is a good grain free food to choose. If your cat is bothered by peas, look for a different grain free food or consider switching back to a food with some grains in it. 

Dry Matter Basis: This cat food is estimated to have about 35.6 percent protein, 17.8 percent fat, 3.33 percent fiber, and 35.6 percent carbohydrates.

My Verdict

Authority Grain Free Adult Cat Food is a good food to consider for your pet. The other Authority dry foods do contain grains like oatmeal and corn so you will definitely have to look at individual ingredient lists to see if you would like to purchase those as well. Some grains in pet food are okay as long as the meat protein holds out the higher percentage. 

It is important to keep in mind that Authority cat foods contain Sodium Hexametaphosphate. If this is an ingredient that you have an issue with, take a look at our other favourite food for cats. It’s not a widely used ingredient in pet food, but some people are still concerned about it. It really all depends on your personal preference and what you choose to feed your cat. 

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