Paw & Spoon Cat Food Review

Did you know Dine is one of the most popular wet cat foods sold in Australia? Let’s use that as a benchmark to see how Paw & Spoon from Pet Circle compares.

It’s made in Thailand which seems common with wet cat foods these days, and generally seem to be a decent standard.

As Paw & Spoon is relatively new to Australia there’s little feedback on it – I found a couple of complaints from people saying their cats didn’t eat it, but generally cats are fussy like that with a different food. Usually because they’re addicted to something they’ve been fed long term, which isn’t good.

You’re probably reading this review because you’re looking for a fairly decent wet cat food which isn’t ridiculously expensive. Paw And Spoon fits that bill being an “affordable” wet cat food. It’s a similar cost to Dine, under $1 per tin.

Let’s take a look at the Paw & Spoon Chicken formula for this review. There’s a range of different meat and fish varieties for you to choose, and it’s worth rotating between them to add variety.

Paw & Spoon cat food review

What the marketing says

Under the big letters “Paw & Spoon” we find a slogan “Gourmet Selections”. Sounds posh doesn’t it, but keep in mind that’s marketing.

The cat on the packaging’s beautiful, and I say that because he looks like my boy Bernard (even though Bernard’s not a pure Maine Coone, he’s a Ex-Street Tabby-Coone).

Paw & Spoon Cat Food Review
One cute cat!

Onto the important stuff, Paw & Spoon meets AAFCO regulations which means it’s inclusive of all required vitamins, minerals, protein, and fat for an adult cat. This makes it “complete and balanced”.

This differs from other wet cat foods in Australia which don’t bother with the basics for your cat’s nutritional needs – something they don’t tend to tell you!

It seems all Paw & Spoon formulas are Adult only, so keep in mind they’re not suitable for kittens.

What the ingredients say

The first thing I noticed when opening a can of Paw & Spoon was the meat actually looks like real meat, and this is the same for each formula.

The first ingredients in the Chicken formula are chicken broth and chicken, which differs from other brands which list ambiguous meat or meat by-products which could be anything.

I also noticed Paw & Spoon cans are quite wet, which will be from the chicken broth as the main ingredient. It’s a better liquid nutritionally to water, but one of the benefits of wet cat food is it wards off UTIs and kidney issues which are common with cats only fed dry food.

There’s some tapioca starch which will be used as a “binder” to solidify the food somewhat. Although not necessary for a cat, when you compare it to stuff used in other brands it’s better.

I said I’d compare to Dine as a popular wet cat food, and that uses ambiguous “cereal protein” and “gelling agents”. What sounds better to you?

Paw & Spoon does have artificial and natural flavours which isn’t great, and the vitamins and minerals aren’t specified, but that’s expected with a cat food in this price range.

It’s nice to see a few beneficial inclusions, such as chicken oil as a third chicken ingredient. We also find tuna oil, something which should make your cat’s coat a little glossier and their heart, hopefully, a little healthier.

There’s a small amount of sunflower oil in there too, which in moderation is beneficial and non-toxic to cats.

If you’re looking for a wet cat food on a budget, adding a few tins of various flavours to your cat’s diet should help add nutrition and keep the cost of feeding your cat down.

After all, it’s under $1 per can.

Where to buy

Ingredients

Ingredients of Paw & Spoon cat food (wet chicken formula):

Chicken broth, Chicken, Tapioca starch, Vitamins and Minerals, Artificial and Natural flavours, Sunflower seed oil, Chicken oil, Guar gum, Tuna oil, Taurine.

Guaranteed analysis

Guaranteed analysis of of Paw And Spoon cat food (wet chicken formula):

Protein(min) 9%
Fat(min) 1.2%
Crude Fibre(max) 0.5%

I hope this Paw & Spoon cat food review has helped! 🐾

Calling Aussie pet lovers – join the mailing list!

6.5 Total Score
Paw And Spoon cat food review

David D'Angelo

David D'Angelo has worked as a scientist since graduating with a BSc (Hons) in 2000. In addition, David holds a CPD accredited Diploma in Pet Nutrition as well as being CPD accredited VSA (Veterinary Support Assistant). However, his experience and involvement in the pet food industry for 15+ years has given true insight into pet food, formulations, science, research, and pet food marketing. Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram | Pinterest

6 Comments
  1. My cats used to love paw and spoon. First they went off the kitten food after loving it for several months when they were kittens, then the adult fish flavours and now they have gone off the adult chicken flavours. Not sure what’s happened very frustrating.

  2. Reply
    Picobello Cornish Rex February 5, 2023 at 10:49 pm

    I included Paw and Spoon in my rotational feeding for a while now and find overall my cats really like it! I like the fact it has a lot of gravy as I have mostly gravy lovers here! The shredded chicken looks like chicken and the chicken flavours ( I don’t feed fish) smell somewhat pleasant!? Well priced and well liked by my cats and kittens!

  3. Paw and Spoon has been a life-changer. I bought the Chicken/Cheese and Salmon/Chicken ones after reading this review last year and my cat loved it to the point where he was cleaning his bowl. This is one of the healthiest “cheap” cat foods I have ever encountered and I loathe to think I had been settling on Fancy Feast and Felix for so long before ordering off PetCircle.

    I went to my home country to visit my parents over the holidays, and brought 2 cans of it along in my suitcase so their 2 cats could try it, and they loved it too. My dad even said “if they both like something that’s a huge win”. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a way to ship Paw and Spoon to Singapore, which is strange considering it’s made in Thailand!

  4. Hi there,
    Thanks for all of your work on this website, it’s been a real help as I’ve transitioned from foster caring (and feeding Royal Canin as per shelter’s instructions) to adopting to of my foster fail kittens.
    I’ve begun to transition them to Paw and Spoon kitten as it’s affordable and seems better than RC in terms of ingredients. I wondered if you could explain the presence of “milk powder” in the kitten wet food ingredient list (https://www.petcircle.com.au/product/paw-and-spoon-kitten-chicken-wet-cat-food)?
    Thanks!
    And also PS I would love a kitten food overview!! I’m sure it would help plenty of new cat parents.
    Thanks again,
    Kate

    • Reply
      Pet Food Reviews (Australia) February 2, 2023 at 6:03 pm

      Hi Kate, to offer a quick answer it’s probably so the food meets complete and balanced requirements for calcium.

      The benefits of milk for cats are largely debated. Cats drink milk because they’re drawn to the protein and fat, and because they were raised on milk, but cats as a species can develop an intolerance to milk and can find it hard to digest. I confess my own cat has milk on occasion, and at the age of 12 has never had any digestive issues from drinking it.

  5. Thank you for your review. I bought this for my cats to try and they loved it. I have just ordered a box of each of the other flavours after reading your review

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