Frontier Pets Cat Food Review

To say Frontier Pets cat food is evolutionary may sound a bit far-fetched, but I wholeheartedly think it is.

Many years ago, before I knew better, I fed my cat what I was told was “the best cat food”. I was given the recommendation by my vet, and I trusted the recommendation. In hindsight it seemed crazy I fed hard kibble made of corn and rice to my carnivorous cat to treat his diagnosed renal failure.

Two decades on and that vet-recommended cat food hasn’t changed very much, neither have most cat foods.

What that means is we’re still nutritionally abusing our cats with commercial products which factually aren’t appropriate. It’s debated with dogs, but it’s undisputed in the science world that cats are carnivorous. The diet of carnivorous animals is also factually undisputed. So why are most cat foods made mostly of grain, potatoes, or other starches?

For these reasons I consider cats more abused than dogs in terms of inappropriate pet foods. We have many better options for dogs these days, and better awareness, but cats are mostly overlooked.

That’s why I consider Frontier Pets cat food evolutionary, because it’s made from ingredients your cat really needs, and I’m sure the benefits to their health will be unmeasured.

What’s the real lifespan of a cat when fed a nutritious, true-to-form, carnivorous diet?

Frontier Pets cat food review

What the marketing says

You probably know already I like to pick holes in marketing spiel, but I can’t do that with Frontier Pets – it’s all honest, and all good.

What I love most about this Aussie company is they’re completely against factory farming. One of their key goals is to support Australian free-range farmers, and they’ve done just that with the dog food to date, contributing over $6 million to sustainably farmed produce.

That’s what I call supporting real Australian farming.

I’m sure you can imagine the conditions in factory farms, and I don’t want to paint a picture, so buying free-range produce is so much more ethical, don’t you think?

The Frontier Pets cat food is designed by a practicing Holistic Veterinarian, Dr. Kathy Cornack, using 100% human-quality natural ingredients. 100% of the free-range, fresh ingredients used in Frontier Pets foods are Australian.

Being freeze-dried means nutrients in the food will be unharmed, which is far better than cooked foods/kibble, and adding clean water is a wonderful benefit to your cat. Did you know many cats suffer from lack of moisture intake? As desert animals they depend on moisture from prey, and you don’t find much moisture in regular kibble.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients so you can decide if this is something you want to feed your cat, and why. Even if you decide not to buy this food, I’m sure you’ll pick out some key facts which will benefit the health of your cat!

What the ingredients really say

When you realise how much grain (and other substitutes) is pumped into our cats on a daily basis in the form of what Aussie Vet Dr. Tom Lonsdale refers to as “junk pet food”, you’ll really appreciate the main ingredients in Frontier Pets cat food:

• Grass-fed beef meat from free-range beef – an excellent source of proteins and fats for your cat.
• Grass-fed beef tripe from free-range beef – very nutritious and very natural for an ancestral cat’s diet, being rich in all manner of nutrients, omega fatty acids, digestive enzymes and probiotics. Tripe will benefit your cat’s health and wellbeing in many ways.
• Grass-fed beef liver from free-range beef – one of the most nutritious organs a cat will naturally digest, being packed with vitamins and minerals, protein, and fatty acids. Sadly lacking in almost all cat foods, liver will work wonders for your cat’s health.

This is from the Free-Range Beef formula, and you’ll find the Whole Fish & Lamb formula being very similar but obviously different animal sources.

The above ingredients are true to your pet carnivore’s dietary requirements. Very much so.

The benefits to your cat from eating a food they are biologically designed to digest should pay dividends. I often wonder what the true lifespan of a cat may be, with current cited averages based on a cat population fed inappropriate food.

How long may your cat live on a better, more natural diet?

We’ve covered the main ingredients, so what about the rest?

I’ll forgive you if you skip this next part and go off and buy a bag. For completeness I want to cover the less prominent ingredients as well.

When I first mentioned the release of Frontier Pets cat food on the Facebook page, somebody made a bizarre comment on how terrible this food is because it contains vegetables and fruits.

I have to say I rolled my eyes a little, but you have to expect this stuff on social media. I’d be more against cat foods containing 50% carbs from wheat and cereal by-products, with protein from corn rather than meat. The same would be true for cat foods using fruits and vegetables in excess, which is not the case here.

The carbs in the Frontier Pets cat food recipes sit around 3.5% (freeze-dried), and 0.7% when reconstituted with water. That alone tells you fruits and vegetables have been kept to a beneficial amount.

Fruits and vegetables are mostly carbohydrates and fibre, and there has been numerous research articles which suggest fibre in a cat’s diet can support nutrient utilisation, stool quality (and digestion), and possibly aid hairball management.

A study funded by Purina, had unexpected results that vegetables in a feline diet could aid weight loss.

Let’s skirt over the fruit and vegetables in this food so you can see the benefits:

• Apple – high in calcium, vitamins C and K, pectin, and high in phytonutrients if you included the skin.
• Carrot – as well as being a source of fibre to firm up your cat’s stools, carrot is rich in vitamins A, K, B6, and potassium as well.
• Broccoli – can support digestive function and a healthy bowel in cats.

I see these beneficial in small moderation, so to me Dr. Kathy Cornack has included these with complete consideration for your cat.

The next ingredient, free-range eggs, is excellent for cats – a natural complete protein source. When you think about the purpose of eggs, it’s easy to understand why they’re so nutritious.

The only remaining ingredient is an inclusion of vitamins and minerals, although it’s very likely the main ingredients have covered these completely.

A quick summary

Frontier Pets is an excellent choice for your cat.

Add some chicken necks or carcass to their diet to help keep their teeth clean (and keep them happy) and I’m pretty sure you’re onto an absolute winner.

If only cat foods like this, with your cat in mind, were the norm rather than the rare exception. I’m sure we’d have a far healthier cat population, and lots of vets twiddling their thumbs with little to do.

Trying to decide on the Beef or Whole Fish formulas? Why not rotate between the two? Consider variety a good thing!

If you can’t justify the cost of Frontier Pets (it seems expensive compared to cat foods made of wheat and corn!), then feed it as part of the diet or a “topper” – your cat will still benefit from this!

Where to buy?

Frontier Pets is available to buy direct from their website. Here’s a link:

Ingredients

Ingredients of Frontier Pets cat food (Free-range Beef formula):

Grass-fed beef meat from free-range beef, Grass-fed beef tripe from free-range beef, Grass-fed beef liver from free-range beef, Certified organic seasonal fruit and vegetables (including apple, carrot and broccoli), Free-range eggs, Added vitamins and minerals

Analysis

Typical composition of Frontier Pets cat food (Free-range Beef formula):