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Canidae make some great foods across the board for both cats and dogs. Their grain free foods are among the best.
This review is for Pure Elements, but consider Pure Sea on the same level.
With any decent food we expect to see a meat “meal” as one of the top ingredients, especially for cats. This food boasts Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Lamb Meal, and Menhaden Fish Meal in the top nine ingredients. That’s fantastic!
In fact, the only two ingredients in the top 7 that aren’t meats are potato and peas, and we can’t really complain at those inclusions either for carbs and fibre.
As with all Canidae products, we have a well considered range of vitamins and minerals, with required oils and omega fats being catered for by the dense meat, fish, and chicken fat content. We even find lactobacillus fermentation products to support gut health. You don’t get stuff like that in many dry cat foods.
This is how a cat’s diet should be – lots of meat, and no cheap grains, fillers, or waste products. Highly recommended.
Ingredients
Chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, potatoes, peas, chicken fat, lamb meal, natural flavor, menhaden fish meal, minerals (zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, manganous oxide, sodium selenite), vitamins (vitamin E supplement, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid), choline chloride, DL-methionine, taurine, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, mixed tocopherols (a source of vitamin E)
Can someone tell me where this is manufactured/ sourced? Is it made in Australia or imported? 🙂
Hi Kittles, Canidae is imported from the US.
Hi, I bought Canidae Grain Free Pure Elements for Cat after I read your review about Canidae cat food. But I realized the ingredients were bit slightly different. The recipe might change, could you please re-review this brand’s product again? Does this still worth to buy it?
Many thanks.
Hi Jamie, yes I still consider Canidae Pure a good option. I find ingredients change often for most brands so it can be hard to keep some reviews up to date!
Can’t seem to be able to purchase this at the moment in Aus. Is there stock issues or something just as good as a similar price point?
I have looked at the other brands you recommended but either they are more expensive or also hard to source. Aww
Hi Ashlee, Canidae does seem to go out of stock at times. More so in recent years, perhaps due to shipping issues and the world economy right now. This list of “affordable” dog foods has suggestions in a similar price bracket if that helps?
My cats hated the Canidae dry food. Even my piggies would not eat it so it must taste bad. Even if it’s one of the “best” dry foods out there it’s no use buying it if they’re not going to eat it.
I need some help. I recently switched my cat from Royal Canin Indoor food to Canidae grain free indoor food after reading your reviews. Now the size of the Royal Canin kibble is quite a good size, the type she loves as she enjoys chewing on her food but in the past when I have got her food where the kibble turned out to be very small in size she didn’t enjoy it because she couldn’t chew properly on it. Unfortunately the Canidae kibble is really tiny and she is not going for her food as keenly as she usually does because she hates it small. She is actually really good with changing food brands because she loves any dry food. My question is, do you know of a good dry cat food that has around the same size kibble as Royal Canin and that doesn’t only come in small sized bags? After reading your review on Royal Canin I don’t really want to go back to that if I can avoid it. Thank you
Hi Jess, cats are slightly autistic and it’s commonplace for them to get confused by new foods. It’s not always that they don’t like it, they simply don’t recognise it as food. This may or may not be the issue, but if it is you may be able to entice her by adding a bit of chicken broth, gravy, or tuna in springwater (i.e. the cans from Coles or Woolies). Failing that, I think Ivory Coat could be worth a try as a similar food and price range. The kibble is slightly larger and in my experience with my own fussy cat he never has an issue eating it.
I used to feed my cat Advance but found this website and after reading all the reviews decided I was paying a premium for an inferior product. Did my research and decided to go with Candiae( as it was rated so highly here). My cat hates it! Both of them! One will eat it if she has to! I find it has little scent and we all know that’s what attracts animals to food. My main cat used to be a feral and eats everything including all those things cats are supposed to hate like citrus. He started losing weight and I thought it was a good thing considering he was overweight but honestly after two weeks and noticeable weight loss I took him to the vet to find he is basically malnourished because of his hatred for this food. It might be high grade ingredients but it’s pointless if they won’t eat it. I will be taking my bag back to Petstock for a full refund and trying something else. So Thankyou for the great review, I feel like maybe I should send you my $400 vet bill!
A $400 bill to find out the cat was malnourished holy f’ing s**t what has the world of vets come to?
Should of been easy enough to tell just from looking and examining and if not certainly not a $400 bill.
All it was, was a blood test which of course I had to do just in case he had a serious issue. They said it was all good and now want $500 to do an X-Ray in case something is lodged. You get torn because you want to do the best for your animal and don’t want to think that trying to protect your hip pocket may end up causing your animal to suffer 🙁
Jeebus the prices you have, we have a vet here don’t really like them they had this b**chy attitude after I told them that their steroid shot caused Angel to be different for a week and they blamed me for her problems … including telling me to stop giving her food after she got the over eating side effect and I was like what?!? this is a dog who doesn’t like to eat and suddenly she’s eating like a horse and your going to blame me for that … messed up.
Anyways on topic their prices are really good, teeth cleaning for Rusty was only $150 I was surprised to say the least and Angels X-ray was only $200.
Vets taking advantage of the emotional attachment to a pet and gouging their clients seem to be all the rage these days, but is it possible that this one is particularly bad? I’m guessing they have a full anaesthetic in mind, but still… $500?
With Mars taking over so many vets in the US and who knows maybe even here someday, we will soon have vets so expensive and so untrustworthy it’ll be awesome to have been born in this time lol
Lots of unnecessary shots, drugs, costs and carelessness as if their isn’t enough of that as it is.
Yep, I’m having a terrible time locating a trustworthy vet since the old guy I used to use decided to retire. One that was tried recently had a particular habit of applying crappy dressings that were never going to last long, and so you have to go back to have the dressing changed before it’s due to come off. Kaching! another bill.
Hi Hero, I’m sorry to hear that and it’s unusual. Cats do get confused by new foods which is why a transitional period is recommended, gradually mixing the new food with the old. It’s also possible to entice a cat by adding chicken broth or something to the new food. A cats confusion with a new food is often interpreted as not liking it, which isn’t necessarily the case.
To be honest I have changed food often. Sometimes I change back to Whiskas or Friskies when I can’t afford the good stuff. My cats have never been fussy ( although they get a little annoyed if the stuff in the bowl isn’t as fresh as the stuff in the bag. I have had him 8 years after rescuing him from the car park at work where he lived for months so he is happy just to have a feed. I honestly think it’s the fact the food does smell very bland and he just isn’t enticed. I’m gonna look for something with a bit stronger scent and flavour. I’m just dissapointed that by trying to do the best for him I have ended up with him starving himself.
Could you suggest a premium food that might have a stronger flavour?
Blackhawk for dogs seems to be quiet delicious smelling and with an oily texture but I have no idea what the cat version is like.
Ivory Coat was good smell wise again dog, don’t have a cat so sorry.
I think taste of the wild was not bad, the one Susan sent me I smelt it and maybe it was a tad delicate.
The vet diets she sent me have very strong soy sauce like smells they cover the kibble in a oily tasty substance as otherwise ingredients wise they’d be rather boring flavoured.
Hello, I just purchased this for my cat. Thinking that paying a premium (Hills, Royal Canin) would provide the best for my beautiful cat, I was really dissapointed (and angry) they are just as bad as what you will find on the discount shelf. I feel these companies are cheating us. Anyway, he LOVES this new food (which I rotate with ZiwiPeak wet). I wanted to ask: any thoughts on the peas and potatoes in this product? I have read comments its not especially good. Thanks!
You’ll always find some kind of carbohydrate ingredient used as a binder to hold the kibble together. In grain free foods this is most commonly potato or sweet potato (arguably the better choice as it’s lower GI). High carbohydrate foods are bad for cats, with most kibbles being around 50% carbs. This food is low at around 30%, which shows the bulk of the food will be meat. I don’t see peas as being a bad ingredient. In some foods they are used to inflate the protein in the absence of meat, which isn’t the case with this food.
Also, any thoughts on the “natural flavours”?
Also known as MSG, it’s really not necessary it has no real place in real foods as real foods should based on what I eat have natural flavours from its various ingredients, which begs the question is this food that bland that it needs MSG to have any chance with dogs or cats?
However Canidae is a good food I see a lot of success with it, same as Wellness Core, I personally prefer Totw or Ivory Coat I feel the ingredients in those are little more luxurious and exotic at least for Totw.
Your adding Ziwipeak that’s always nice to see I’ve had a lot of success with that for Rusty, he gets quiet a variety of foods though on top of his homemade, he’s extremely alive lately which is making me very happy, he used to be very lazy clearly his body was missing vital nutrients.
Hi Nathan, it is most likely animal digest. It’s often listed as “natural flavours” or “palatants” if not listed as animal digest directly. It’s not a pleasant ingredient. Actually it’s pretty gross if you see it being made. It’s a broth from meat rendering.
Hi Guys I thought I would share some comments (so everyone can make well-educated choices for their pets). I wrote to Canidae and their response for natural flavours came back very quickly. I was very impressed.
Thank you for contacting CANIDAE. The potatoes are white potatoes. We have other formulas such as our PURE Sea which contains white and sweet potatoes. Natural flavour is an AAFCO ingredient term. Most high quality pet foods use some flavouring to increase the palatability of their products. CANIDAE® only uses natural food ingredients to develop its flavours and only uses them at very small amounts. These natural enzymes are lightly misted on every kibble to elevate your pets eating experience. There are no artificial sweeteners, flavours, preservatives or colours in any CANIDAE® foods. For example, we do not use any sugars, corn syrup, MSG, ethoxyquin, BHT, BHA, or artificial colours to enhance the look, smell, or taste of any of our foods.
Allergies are initiated by intact proteins (ie, chicken protein, milk protein, beef protein). The protein sources in our flavouring have been “pre-digested” so that they are not large enough to stimulate an immune response.
i have just started mine on the pure sea (Trout) as she loves seafood but its so hard to find grain free which aren’t chicken based.
She loves it and i was so surprised i had not bowl issues when transitioning, it really is gentle on her stomach.
I am transitioning from royal canin kitten dry food and have found a vast improvement in some smelly gas she sometimes used to get.
highly recommend this!
Hi guys,
I thought about buying this for my girl but she is 14 years old now and I am not sure if this is right for a senior cat. Any chances you could point me in the right direction to find a review of some senior foods? Or throw some suggestions if you really know all about the different ones on offer. I dont want to give her the wrong balances for her age group. We have had cats for 20 years feeding them only meat but she cant handle it with her stomach any more.
Hi Dylan, you find with senior recipes that they cut down on meat in favour of substitutes. It’s a misconception as cats in later years depend even more so on meat proteins to maintain muscle mass and health. It’s still worth feeding a decent quality kibble as well as fresh meats and fish for additional omega fats and oils to help with joints and heart health
Firstly thank you for your reviews they are an extremely valuable source of information and have helped me picking better food for all of my pets. Unfortunately my cat HATES this food. I have a rotation of food I feed him. Including Wellness Core grain free, Ziwipeak and I bought Canidae Pure elements to give it a try. He isn’t usually a fussy cat in fact he can be a little obsessed with food, but he turned his nose up to this. I kept giving it to him thinking he may just need to get used to it but he refuses to eat it and then whinges all day because he is starving. He now flips the bowl over in protest if I put this food in it. He’s very dramatic. Not sure if he may prefer one of the fish varieties more but the Pure elements was a flop. I’m going to donate the bag to the local pet rescue at least it will get used that way.
Hello, I am interested to hear of anyone else who had some issues with canidae cat dry food (chicken). My Bengal cat has been on Royal Canin since he was a kitten. But I decided to switch him over to Ziwipeak wet food and Canidae dry. He never liked the smell and texture of Ziwipeak so I kept him on Royal Canin wet. He however loved Canidae dry. A month later he started throwing up undigested food in he morning once a week and after he had his dry. I now stopped Canidae and went back to Royal Canin and he seems fine. Could it be that Canidae is too rich for him?!
Hi Kirstie, sorry to hear your cat wouldn’t eat it. It could be worth adding a bit of stock to it to entice him? Sometimes cats don’t seem to recognise a food as food 😐
I’ve started feeding this to my 10 cats, one has a sensitive stomach and he’s been fine on this food, everyone likes it so I’m very happy : )
I’ve been feeding this to my cat for the last few months, and she has been enjoying it. She hasn’t been over consuming it as Brent has said above, but grazing on 40gms approx over a day.
I’d like to know what the original reviewers take is on ‘MSG’ being added? I did a quick search and could not find anything about Canola/MSG etc which Brent has mentioned.
Brent, would you have any proof of this? I know you say its not mentioned, but what is your source of information?
This company failed to disclose the chemical make up of the ingredient
((Natural Flavors))AKA – Monosodium Glutamate
Canola Oil is a genetically modified ingredient and is found in this companies products.
MSG is a common hidden ingredient in pet foods, even in so-called “premium” and “natural foods.” Monosodium glutamate is used to enhance the flavor of many processed cat food.
MSG (the monosodium salt of glutamic acid) is used to intensify meat and spice flavor. Believed responsible for the so-called Chinese restaurant syndrome, in which diners suffer from chest pain, headache and numbness after eating a Chinese meal.
MSG causes brain damage in young rodents and brain damage effects in rats, rabbits, chicks, and monkeys. Baby food processors removed MSG from baby foods.
Depression, irritability, and other mood changes have been reported.
On the FDA list of additives needing further study for mutagenic, teratogenic, subacute, and reproductive effects.
Another reason why its in there because it causes eating frenzies so your cat or dog will over consume thus doing more damage.
Go through more food making you buy more than you should.
Brent can you please provide proof of the MSG found in this food source?
My cats love this range. I finally found a product all my cats can enjoy and no more fussier felines in my household.
Also as a foster carer for rescue cats and kittens. its great knowing they are getting the best (NEW) start in life.
Well done Canidae and thank you