Last Updated on June 17, 2024 by Indy the Cat
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History
Royal Canin is one of the biggest names in the pet food business. Originating from France, the brand was founded by Jean Cathary in 1968. As the name suggests, the brand began with dog food but quickly expanded to cat food. Similar to Hill’s Pet Food, Royal Canin focuses on science based pet nutrition. Working with veterinarians and nutritionists, Royal Canin continues to expand their products to cater to specific breeds’ nutritional needs, life stages and condition specific formulas such as urinary health, weight loss and more.
One of their most notable historical events is when Mars Incorporated acquired Royal Canin into their pet food business in 2002. The acquisition was regarded as game changing for Mars considering the brand power behind Royal Canin along with their popularity among pet owners. At the time of publishing, Mars Incorporated now owns a number of pet food brands including popular brands such as Whiskas, Pedigree and Temptations making them a formidable presence in the pet food industry. Some people may not see this as a positive chapter for Royal Canin as Mars Inc is not without its share of controversies.
Nonetheless, Royal Canin continues to be grow as a brand and continually introduce new products for dog and cat owners around the world. They now have over 90 different dry and wet cat food product lines across their retail and veterinary lineups. An impressive track record by any standard!
Recalls
Regrettably, Royal Canin cat food has been recalled numerous times including a recent one in 2023. This recall was due to a labelling error rather than quality issues with the food itself.
In Australia, pet food recalls are only mandatory for brands that have decided to work within the Australian Standard for Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (Standard AS5812:2017). All members of the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia comply with these standards and at the time of publishing and Royal Canin is a marketing member of the Association while Mars Petcare is a manufacturing member.
Product Line Commentary
With over 30 different wet food options from Royal Canin, selecting our first product was quite challenging! We decided to delve into the details of Royal Canin Indoor Sterilised wet cat food in gravy. This choice seemed fitting, considering that approximately 75% of Australian cats live indoors. Now, let’s uncover the selling points of this product.
What is Unique?
The suggested selling point of this product is that it is catered towards indoor cats, particularly neutered ones. But what exactly makes a cat food better suited for indoor living?
According to their website, this product has a moderate fat content (and thus reduced caloric count) which is more aligned for indoor cats. Indoor cats tend to be less active, so a food that helps maintain a healthy weight is crucial. Furthermore, they conducted an internal satisfaction study with indoor cats and their owners who were satisifed with this particular product line. While we were hoping for more unique nutritional benefits, let’s look explore a littler further before making up our mind.
Short and Vague Ingredient List
If you’ve followed our reviews from day one, you know we value wholesome named ingredients centered around meat and seafood. Regrettably, this product falls short in meeting our expectations.
Meat as the first ingredient is promising, but what exactly are ‘meat and animal derivatives’? In the pet food industry, these terms generally encompass ingredients sourced from animals, including muscle meat, organs, and other parts not fit for human consumption. Our concern lies in the vagueness of this labeling. If the meat components were of high quality, they are likely to be clearly highlighted. However, the use of ambiguous terms suggests a mix of varying ingredient quality.
Turning our attention to the subsequent ingredient, we encounter another concern: cereals. Cereals encompass wheat, corn, rice, and other fillers — ingredients of low value that cats don’t require. Unfortunately, many conventional dry cat foods include grains, which can result in larger and less pleasant-smelling stools. Ironically, the product’s website claims it is ‘formulated with highly digestible proteins for healthy stools.
Unfortunately as we round out the first three ingredients, the picture fails to improve. The inclusion of ‘derivatives of vegetable origin’ as the third ingredient mirrors the concerns we had with animal derivatives. These vegetable derivatives also carry a negative connotation, especially considering that cats are obligate carnivores. Digesting certain vegetable ingredients may pose challenges for them.
Why sugar?
We have closely examined the initial ingredients, yet the most perplexing one remains — the inclusion of sugar. Once more, we pose the question: Why? While naturally occurring sugars might result from beneficial ingredients, this product fails to provide any clarity on potential advantages. Considering that cats don’t require added sugars, their specific inclusion only adds more questions and concerns from our end.
Guaranteed analysis
Note: Royal Canin reports these values as g/kg which I have converted to percentages.
Crude Protein (min) – 7.7%
Crude Fat (min) – 1.3%
Crude Ash (max) – 2%
Crude Fibre (max) – 1.9%
Moisture (max) – 83.8%
Crude Matter Basis
Dry matter analysis is not available from Royal Canin, but they provide crude matter basis numbers. At 68kcal, it would be considered a lower calorie food with moderate protein and low fat levels. It contains an undisclosed amount of carbohydrates.
Protein – 9.7%
Fat – 3.3%
Ash – 1.8%
Fibre – 0.9%
Moisture – 80.8%
Where to Buy and Cost
Royal Canin is one of the most popular cat food brands and you will be hard pressed not to find it at every online pet store. Some of our favourites include Pet barn, Pet Circle and Budget Pet Products.
Each packet is 85g and they can be purchased in packs of 12. You will usually find the product priced at around $2.25-$2.50 a packet or under $30/12 pack. Given the single serving nature of the item, the price point would be considered moderately expensive.
Ingredient List
Meat and animal derivatives, Cereals, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin, Oils and Fats, Minerals, Various sugars
Nutritional Information
Meat and animal derivatives – source of meat protein
Cereals – grains – offers little to no nutritional value
Derivatives of Vegetable Origin – plant based ingredients – difficult to assess the benefits without specific named ingredients
Oils and Fats – source of fats and likely omega 3 and 6
Minerals – source of essential minerals
Various sugars – offers no nutritional value
Indy’s Review
So does Indy the cat like it?
Indy seems to gravitate towards a few brands that do not necessarily have the highest quality ingredients. Royal Canin would definitely be one of them.
In fact, he is more excitable when presented with Royal Canin Indoor cat food than some of the more premium brands we have reviewed. For those looking for a palatable food, this may score points for you.
While Indy may like it, for the reasons below, we prefer not to include it in our rotation diet.
The good
- Moderately priced and easy to find in pet stores
- Moderate in caloric intake which is ideal for cats watching their waistline
The bad
- Vague ingredient list
- Unknown sources of proteins with unknown quality
- Unknown vegetable ingredients and their benefits
- Sugar is an explicit added ingredient
Rating
- Species appropriate (weight 0.3) – 6 / 10
- Ingredients (weight 0.3) – 4 / 10
- Recall Track record (weight 0.2) – 6 / 10
- Price (weight 0.2) – 8 / 10
Average Score – 6 / 10
Weighted Score – 5.8 / 10
The Bottom Line: Although Indy gives this Royal Canin wet food a more favourable review than we do, we are hopeful a large company such as Royal Canin can continue to improve this product line to offer more transparent quality ingredients.
If you spot an error in this article, please do not hesitate to let us know!
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