Has Anyone Tried Smalls, "gently Cooked Cat Food?"

laura mae

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Smalls cat food is a mail order company with 3 basic choices for food. Showed up on the blog "Conscious Cat." It looks good. Expensive but probably not any more than some premiums. My cats do not like the powder with supplements that you should add to home cooked foods. Even the trial pack is pricy and something tells me that it would go over like Honest Kitchen---which is like a lead balloon.

Smalls: Real Food for Cats
 

LTS3

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I've never heard of it. I took a look at the web site and the food seems veggie-heavy. I couldn't find out how much the food is or how much it costs for delivery.
 
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laura mae

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Yeah, I thought the same. I suppose the % of veggies could be similar to the freeze dried stuff like Primal, but again Why? The claim is that the veggies are there for trace minerals, but we know that cats really can't absorb nutrients from veggies. You have to click on a plan and put in stuff like how much your cat weighs, age, health issues to get how many calories a day you need to feed them, and then they give you the price. It's the same three choices of meat (chicken, beef, turkey) regardless of the cat's weight or age and so I wonder if the formula is the same.
 

Willowy

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They have the recipes on the page. The beef and turkey ones have 3 veggies each, the chicken one has all the veggies, but also has as much protein as the turkey recipe so maybe the total amount of veggies is the same, just a different variety of veggie mix. Doesn't look too bad. For the theoretical 200-calorie per day cat I entered, they gave me a price of approximately $20 a week, down to $17.85 if I don't get the beef variety (a lot of cats don't like beef, and it's obviously more expensive). That's if I have it shipped once every 7 weeks, because the less often they have to ship, the cheaper it is, of course.

So that's $2.55 a day. Too expensive for me but is comparable to a lot of higher-end canned foods. It would be nice if they offered a veggie-free recipe.
 

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I just saw Smalls Food advertised on Facebook, clicked the link, and was brought to a page that looked like it was under construction...when I went to the "your cat's plan" page, it was all shaky and looked fake. So naturally I called the phone number that was listed at the bottom of the page, and there was no one there, and I got a weird voicemail message that said nothing related to the company at all, didn't list the company name, or even the name of the either of the owners (it's a small company so I thought maybe it was one of their personal lines). It's all very odd to me. So I looked up to see if there were any reviews of it. There are a few, but several have links to the company page with 50% off coupons attached, so I figure the reviewers were bought out. You can't trust anyone! Arg!

I agreed with what the owners said in the interview though, and feel like I learned something new about prescription kibble, which, along with Soulistic canned cat food, is what I feed my cat. Apparently Rx Kibble is really stupid stuff. There's been a class action lawsuit about it, since there are no controlled substances in prescription kibble, so there's no need for a prescription, so they are charging you extra for basically the exact same food that you could get without the prescription and extra cost. Basically, what they said is whole food is best, and that cats shouldn't be eating kibble at all, because it dehydrates them. And this is my little bit, if you think about it, cat's in the wild don't eat anything like kibble. So yeah, I'd like to get my cat some better, more whole, human like food. But I'm vegetarian, and don't want to cook meat for my cat, so this company seems like a really good choice, I just wish I knew if it was legit! And I wish I knew what it cost....Does anyone on here use other human-food type cat food to feed their cat?
 

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I'm okay with Primal's vegetables because the food is still very low-carb, though I won't feed their recipes that contain carrots. I also won't feed any foods with peas, which Smalls uses. The bone meal doesn't thrill me, either.

Like AshesAnne AshesAnne , I don't like the Smalls site, which feels like they're trying to sell a cute cat lifestyle more than a cat-appropriate food. And, really, it shouldn't be so complicated to get key information -- like how much it costs -- about the food!
 

Neo_23

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I'm okay with Primal's vegetables because the food is still very low-carb, though I won't feed their recipes that contain carrots. I also won't feed any foods with peas, which Smalls uses. The bone meal doesn't thrill me, either.

Like AshesAnne AshesAnne , I don't like the Smalls site, which feels like they're trying to sell a cute cat lifestyle more than a cat-appropriate food. And, really, it shouldn't be so complicated to get key information -- like how much it costs -- about the food!
I know Primal uses vegetables as sources of vitamins and other nutrients instead of supplements but I always wondered whether cats could actually absorb those nutrients from veggies. What do you think?
 

lisamarie12

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I know Primal uses vegetables as sources of vitamins and other nutrients instead of supplements but I always wondered whether cats could actually absorb those nutrients from veggies. What do you think?
I feed Primal pretty much exclusively for a while now, both the venison and duck. Despite the carrots in the duck and other veggies, my cats produce minimal stool waste / odor.

As LisaHe mentioned, as long as it's on the low carb end, I'm okay with it. Primal uses those veggies primarily to satisfy AAFCO nutrient requirements, AAFCO doesn't care if it's done either with food or synthetic vitamins, as long as those requirements are met.

I'd much prefer the cat's receive those nutrients via food versus synthetic, lab based vitamins/ minerals.

But to answer your question, no, they likey don't need the quantity included but I haven't seen adverse effects. My one cat, when he ate only HT food, no veggies, had slightly smaller waste but there isn't that much of a difference on Primal.
 

Neo_23

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I feed Primal pretty much exclusively for a while now, both the venison and duck. Despite the carrots in the duck and other veggies, my cats produce minimal stool waste / odor.

As LisaHe mentioned, as long as it's on the low carb end, I'm okay with it. Primal uses those veggies primarily to satisfy AAFCO nutrient requirements, AAFCO doesn't care if it's done either with food or synthetic vitamins, as long as those requirements are met.

I'd much prefer the cat's receive those nutrients via food versus synthetic, lab based vitamins/ minerals.
I get that but I had read in multiple places that cats can't fully absorb nutrients from vegetables. So I was just wondering if they can actually absorb all of the nutrients from the vegetables in Primal.
 

lisamarie12

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Oh, gotcha, I see what you're saying.

Well, I guess they must be absorbing what they need, esp after feeding Primal long term, those deficiencies may have shown up via blood work maybe? Both my cats, other than a couple health issues we are dealing with, are fine.
 

Neo_23

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Oh, gotcha, I see what you're saying.

Well, I guess they must be absorbing what they need, esp after feeding Primal long term, those deficiencies may have shown up via blood work maybe? Both my cats, other than a couple health issues we are dealing with, are fine.
Good to know, thanks.
 

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AshesAnne AshesAnne , other than brands such as orijen, ziwipeak, primal pronto, freshpet and rawz (I admittedly don't know a whole lot about rawz but some members are happy with it) I'm wondering if you'd also consider purebites brand of single source protein treats, only natural pet freeze dried treats like minnows and salmon et al, sardines, mackerel, bonito flakes - those kinds of things and depending on how veg you are, a little bit of raw egg (no raw egg white but cooked egg white is ok) as treats?
 
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lisahe

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I know Primal uses vegetables as sources of vitamins and other nutrients instead of supplements but I always wondered whether cats could actually absorb those nutrients from veggies. What do you think?
I think this is a very complex question: I'm not a feline nutrition specialist and wouldn't be surprised if answers vary, depending on the nutrient in question and the food in question. Plant-based protein is one thing but a vitamin from a vegetable may be completely different. For all I know, there may also be combinations of foods that inhibit or support absorption of a certain nutrient. I simply don't know. If there's specific clinical research that shows that cats can't absorb vegetable sources of nutrients (not protein) in studies that recreate or mimic real-life feeding situations, of course I'd be interested.

Like L lisamarie12 , our cats do very well on their combination of foods and our vet's always very happy with how they look: I don't think Primal is even quite half of their daily intake so theyr'e getting their nutrients from other sources, too. (And they eat a lot for their size so their nutrient intake is probably higher than expected for cats of their size!) I also agree with lisamarie12 about preferring the vegetable sources of nutrients to synthesized sources. And, to repeat, the main criterion for me is that the vegetables in Primal aren't carby.
 

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We've recently switched our cats' soft food to Smalls for Smalls. Our cats basically started walking away from their canned cat food, which was unusual especially for our one food-motivated cat. Perhaps the cat food company changed their "formula" or the quality of pet-grade cat food (meat) has recently changed.

Also, one of our cats started to get bald belly syndrome, so we thought perhaps a change in diet might help weed out a possible allergy? I decided to try NomNomNow and SmallsForSmalls to see if human-grade cat food would be better. For $16.00, Smalls sent me 3 frozen trial packets for 2 cats. Each packet lasted about 3 days since I mentioned they would only be eating 1/2 smalls and 1/2 hard food daily. So 1/4 cup of soft food each. One of our cats loved both NomNom and Smalls, the other pickier cat took maybe 1.5 to 2 weeks of gradually adding Smalls to her diet. It's been 3 months now and both cats love Smalls. They get it in the morning with hard food and again in the evening.

I was concerned at first too that there are vegetables in the food. But Smalls "Cat Concierge" responds quickly to emails and texts. They add "a teeny tiny bit of vegetables, to mimic what cats would naturally be eating if they were in the wild. Turns out, they get some veggies in their diet by consuming the contents of their prey's stomach! We just add in a few (less than 10%) to deliver important vitamins and minerals that would otherwise be added via supplements."

So far so good...We get a box of frozen food every 6 weeks. And because we also feed kibble, it's not too expensive. Our vet looked at the ingredient list and said it looked good.
 

maffy118

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Smalls cat food is a mail order company with 3 basic choices for food. Showed up on the blog "Conscious Cat." It looks good. Expensive but probably not any more than some premiums. My cats do not like the powder with supplements that you should add to home cooked foods. Even the trial pack is pricy and something tells me that it would go over like Honest Kitchen---which is like a lead balloon.

Smalls: Real Food for Cats
So far, so good with Smalls in this house. The company includes three supplements separately, for free, to entice your kitty to try the new food...chicken broth, bonito flakes and chicken liver powder. My Olive pretty much inhaled it on first try, and she's extremely fussy due to appetite problems from her hypercalcemia. I bought the beef and turkey preparations as she's not a fan of chicken. The beef smells and looks like cooked chopped beef. They say there is kale in there, but I don't see a whole lot of it. It all arrived frozen in incredible packaging that lasted well over a day, and I have a personal assistant who I text with regarding questions. Right now, my Olive eats Pride wet food and Orijen dry. Both are very expensive. From what I can tell so far, I think Smalls will end up being cheaper. I read a lot of suspicion in this thread, but Smalls honestly doesn't deserve it. I'm extremely impressed with my experience with them so far. And I'm not a company shill. I've been posting here for years...check out my profile.
 

mbs

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My 2 cats have been on Smalls for 4 months now and they love it. They also eat Dr. Elsey's Clen Protein dry food.

Recently, Smalls has changed their recipe or formula and packaging. They also got a new distributor. One of my cats will not eat the new turkey formula. So I switched to all chicken. I also ordered a small amount of food from NomNomNow to give them some variety and see if they might like that brand of "gently cooked human grade cat food" as well.

Wondering if anyone else knows where on the website you can log in and change your credit card info? Waiting to hear back from the cat concierge, but it's not apparent and I do not want to give my credit card info out via email or text.
 

Jimpro3

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My 3 boys love Smalls! I have been researching cat food for quite a while since one of my babies had crystals in his urinary track that completely blocked him from being able to urinate. I didn't realize that it could be associated with the food I was feeding them. I always fed them both dry and wet food at every meal, and left dry food out for "grazing" throughout the day. I was afraid my babies would starve. :) After researching I found Smalls and decided to give it a try. At first, Daniel and Boone (brothers) turned their nose up to it. Spencer loved it immediately. I began slowly mixing some portions of Smalls in with their other wet food. It took about 3 full weeks for Daniel and Boone to fall in love with Smalls, and now they all three get only Smalls for their meals; once in the morning and once in the evening. I completely stopped their other dry and wet foods.

I have noticed a couple of interesting things since they've been on the Smalls food. First, they appear to be pooping less and peeing more. I assume it's because there is a lot of moisture in the food, and also because the gently cooked real meat and vegetables is much more digestible than their other food. Second, I have noticed a big difference in their weight. Daniel and Boone were getting a little overweight; most likely because I would leave the dry food out during the day, which allowed them to graze all day. Apparently cats are not designed to graze. They would all three eat throughout the day, which probably meant that I was overfeeding them. Daniel and Boone have both thinned down quite nicely. Spencer never had a weight problem because he has always been a lot more active. Third, their coats are beautiful and soft. It's incredible to see and feel the difference in their coats since they have been on the Smalls diet. They also seem to be more playful and happy.

Overall, I am very happy with the Smalls food and my cats are very happy with it too. I think it's a little expensive and probably costs as much or a little more than the over-the-counter super premium canned foods. I'm okay with paying more after seeing such a difference in their weight, coats, and litter boxes. As for the added vegetables, I'm on the fence about it. I'm not a professional, and really am not schooled in cat diets, but I can't visibly see a lot of vegetables in the food. The majority looks like cooked meat. I hope this helps.

Jim
 
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