Meowing Heads are manufactured in the UK by Pet Food UK Ltd. Food is divided into dry and wet and is positioned as a super premium class. The composition can be studied on the official website. The company claims that not a single line contains corn, soy, wheat, chemical preservatives, dyes, flavor enhancers and GMOs. Meowing Heads has been developing exclusively high-quality food for your beloved pets for more than forty years and supplies food to 8 countries.
Meowing Heads food
Meowing Heads Cat Food Review
Meowing Heads dry and wet cat food is manufactured by Pet Food UK Ltd in the UK.
Official website - (in English) and (in Russian). Both contain information about the composition and feeding standards for the entire line of food. Meowing Heads is positioned as a super premium class. The British company Pet Food UK Ltd also produces Barking Heads dog food and AATU cat food (holistic, which recently appeared in Russian pet stores).
Composition of Meowing Heads food
Let's get acquainted with the composition of Meowing Heads food using the example of the “hey good looking” chicken adult cat option (“Hey handsome” for adult cats with chicken). You can see it in the image below, we recommend clicking on it to enlarge:
Above is a screenshot of the composition from the official website, below is a translation into Russian.
In first place, the manufacturer combined several components into one ingredient “72% Chicken, Fish and Egg”. It is specified that this is 22% chicken, 20% dehydrated chicken, 12% dehydrated fish, 10% dried egg product, 4% chicken fat, 3% chicken broth, 1% fish broth.
The first 4 components are sources of proteins. Since “chicken” and “dehydrated chicken” are separate components, the former is probably in a fresh state. That is, after cooking, 22% will turn into 5-7% in the finished food. In total, we get at least 20+12+5=37% of meat ingredients.
Chicken fat is a source of fatty acids, and chicken and fish broth are natural flavoring additives.
By the way, “chicken” is not “chicken meat,” as many stores translate it. In addition to meat, such a component may include other parts of the chicken.
Rice and oats are used as sources of carbohydrates. Tomatoes are a source of fiber, as are “vegetable fiber” carrots. These ingredients are also rich in various beneficial substances. Seaweed is rich in iodine, vitamins and minerals. Cranberries are a source of vitamin C and have antioxidant properties.
Advantages and disadvantages
The benefits of the food include:
- source of protein - meat ingredients and eggs;
- good content of vitamins and minerals;
- wide range, there is dry food, canned food, spiders.
The disadvantages include:
- not “chicken meat” is used, but “chicken” (importers and online stores of “chicken” translate as “chicken meat”);
- relatively high price, Meowing Heads is more expensive than many analogues.
Compound
Animal ingredients
Comparing compositions in Russian and English, I discovered that Russian translators actively embellish reality. Therefore, we will evaluate the food through the composition in English, which I translated verbatim.
- Kitten Delight – 70% chicken, fish and eggs (including 21.5% chicken, 20% dehydrated chicken, 12% dehydrated fish, 11% dried egg, 2.5% chicken fat, 2% chicken broth, 1% salmon oil) .
- Purr-Nickety – 75% salmon, chicken and eggs (including 27% salmon, 18% dehydrated fish, 17.5% dehydrated chicken, 5% dried egg, 4% chicken fat, 2% chicken broth, 2% salmon oil).
- Hey Good Looking! – 72% chicken, fish and eggs (including 22% chicken, 20% dehydrated chicken, 12% dehydrated fish, 10% dried egg, 4% chicken fat, 3% chicken broth, 1% salmon oil).
- Gone fishing – 75% salmon, fish, chicken and eggs (including 26% salmon, 18% dehydrated fish, 17.5% dehydrated chicken, 5% dried egg, 4% chicken fat, 2.5% chicken broth, 2% oil salmon).
- Drumstix - 56% chicken and eggs (including 20% chicken, 20% dehydrated chicken, 11% dried egg, 2.5% chicken broth, 2.5% chicken fat), 11% dehydrated fish, 1% salmon oil.
- Fat Cat Slim - 40% chicken and salmon (including 17% dehydrated chicken, 16% salmon, 2.5% chicken fat, 2.5% chicken broth, 2% salmon oil), dehydrated fish, dried egg.
- Senior Moments - 50% salmon, fish, eggs (including 27% salmon, 18% dehydrated fish, 2% salmon oil, 3% dried egg), dehydrated chicken, chicken fat, chicken broth.
The word “meat” has never appeared, and there is no mention of fillet either. Let's be honest - mostly raw carcasses are used in the feed, along with skin and possibly bones.
However, I would like to note the really high content of animal products. At the same time, in some feeds the ingredients are combined, putting their total quantity in first place, and in some they are indicated as expected, in descending order of their mass fraction. In any case, almost all animal components have a percentage indication of their share in the feed, and this is a definite plus.
Next, let's go through some of the components in more detail:
- Dehydrated fish is a product whose raw materials are unknown to us and may vary from case to case. However, this ingredient is better than fishmeal, as it is subject to less heat treatment.
- Dried egg is actually called “dried egg product”, which is made from waste from the egg industry. It is not possible to assess the quality of its raw materials and nutritional value, since the composition may change.
- The fats in the food are represented by chicken fat and salmon oil - quite high-quality products, although the method of preservation is unknown. It is possible that a mixture of tocopherols was used (vitamin E is present in the feed).
Carbohydrates
It is impossible to make dry food without adding carbohydrate components at all - they help stabilize the dough for baking future croquettes. But the fewer there are, the better, because we are talking about the nutrition of an obligate predator. First, I will list what food contains what, then I will tell you in more detail about each component.
- Kitten Delight – rice, oats.
- Purr-Nickety – rice, potato starch, pea starch, oats.
- Hey Good Looking! – rice, oats.
- Gone fishing – white rice, potato starch, pea starch, oats.
- Drumstix – brown rice, oats.
- Fat Cat Slim – sweet potatoes, pea starch.
- Senior Moments – sweet potatoes, pea starch.
Rice (white rice, brown rice) contains less gluten than corn or wheat (but there is still more gluten in white rice than in legumes), and is suitable for animals with sensitive digestion or allergies. But from the name “rice, white rice” it is not clear either the degree of processing of the grains or its quality - it is possible that this is grain production waste that was scraped off along the bottom. Brown rice is preferred in cat food as it is a higher quality and more expensive source of complex carbohydrates.
Oats – Oatmeal has the lowest gluten content among cereals and contains more plant protein and essential amino acids.
Potato and pea starch are used primarily as stabilizers and thickeners and do not provide any benefit to cat health.
Sweet potatoes, or yams, are a preferred source of carbohydrates over grains, potatoes and potato starch. Sweet potatoes regulate blood sugar levels and contain calcium and vitamins.
As we can see, only two foods can be called grain-free – Fat Cat Slim and Senior. However, they contain the least amount of declared ingredients of animal origin, which means a high mass fraction of carbohydrate products - sweet potatoes and pea starch.
Supplements
The additives are not particularly diverse and are identical in all types of Meowing Heads.
- Tomato, dried tomato - in whole form is rarely found in feed, as it is very expensive, but in dried form it is a high-quality source of soluble fiber and vitamins.
- Seaweed - it is not clear what kind of algae and in what form they were added; it is also impossible to determine the exact mass fraction.
- Plant fiber - it is not known what vegetables and fruits these dietary fibers come from.
- Carrots, dried carrots, are an excellent source of fiber.
- Dried cranberries - the processing method is not known, since after drying some of the vitamins may be destroyed.
Guaranteed Analysis
- Protein: 34-40%.
- Fats: 13-18%.
- Fiber: 1.5-4.5%.
- Ash: 9-10%.
The calcium-phosphorus ratio is not indicated on the official website, but it may be written on the packaging, since some online shopping sites have such information.
Meowing Heads cat food reviews
In Russia, Meowing Heads cat food has been sold for quite some time, but it is not particularly popular (possibly due to the relatively high price). However, there are several reviews about it on pet owner forums. Below you can read some of them.
Reviews from veterinarians
We did not find direct opinions from veterinarians regarding this food. If we find such reviews in the future, we will definitely add them to this review.
Customer Reviews
Julia writes:
Good day! I have a Scottish Fold cat who is extremely picky about food. Accordingly, I had to try several different foods before I found one that suited both him and me. I warn you right away that you won’t be able to save money, because Meowing Heads food is far from the cheapest. But he's worth it.
And so, I offered the cat Royal Canin, Brit Care, Acana, Go! Natural holistic, Applaws, Meowing Heads. I ate everything except the first two and the last with no particular pleasure, but I didn’t like the composition of Royal Canin, and Brit is difficult to buy in my city (it’s not always available).
The cat has been eating Meowing Heads for over a year now. I’ve tried different flavors, but mostly I give him “hey good looking.” The composition consists of 70% chicken, fish and eggs. They are all sources of animal protein, which is great. Many foods use plant proteins, which are less digestible. The food itself is made in medium-sized granules, the smell is not strong. The cat is healthy, active and at the same time lazy, like all cats =)
Katya writes:
Hi all. Today I’m sharing my experience of purchasing super-premium Meowing Heads canned food, which I started feeding my cat. The first thing I want to note is the creative approach to the names of the formulas - “Hey, handsome!”, “Good fishing”, “Losing fat man”. The jar with a beautiful design in pleasant colors also attracts attention. The advantage is that it contains all the information necessary for the consumer.
The composition of canned food is excellent, many pates are much worse for people! My cat accepted the food very happily, she loves such yummy food)) There were no problems with digestion. So far I have found only two drawbacks - inaccessibility (except for Petshop, I haven’t seen it anywhere else) and not a cheap price - 120-130 rubles for a 100g jar.
Considering the latter, feeding a cat only such canned food will cost a pretty penny. Therefore, dry food should be used as the main food, and canned food only as a treat. If you see such canned food, I recommend trying it!
Tatyana writes:
We are on Barking Heads dry food for adult cats “Hey Handsome” with chicken and rice. The cat likes it, he ate it very tasty, although he is picky with us. We also indulge in canned food from the same brand from time to time; he loves them just as much as meat.
Overall we are happy with everything, so we recommend it.
Our verdict
Let's move on to the pros and cons of Meowing Heads food.
Pros:
- The content of animal ingredients is quite high, in some feeds up to 75%.
- No corn, wheat, soy, dyes, preservatives, etc.
- Cute packaging and funny names.
Minuses:
- The manufacturer gives preference to carcasses rather than whole meat.
- Some meat ingredients have an unstable source of raw materials (dried fish, egg product).
- Certain foods are expected to contain large amounts of carbohydrates.
- Not all foods are grain-free.
In general, we can say that Meowing Heads is a decent super-premium product, but is inferior in quality to the same AATU. What do you think about Meowing Heads food?
