Unbiased Open Farm Cat Food Review

Known for their commitment to transparency, sustainability, and ethical ingredient sourcing, Open Farm is one of the most well-respected brands on the market. But are Open Farm products a good choice for your cat? Find out in our unbiased review.

The Cats.com Standard—Rating Open Farm on What Matters

We’ve analyzed Open Farm and graded it according to the Cats.com standard, evaluating the brand on species-appropriateness, ingredient quality, product variety, price, customer experience, and recall history. Here’s how it rates in each of these six key areas.

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Ratings

Species-Appropriateness – 8/10
Ingredient Quality – 9/10
Product Variety – 8/10
Price – 6/10
Customer Experience – 8/10
Recall History – 9/10

Overall Score: 8.1/10

In total, we give Open Farm cat food a 50 out of 60 rating or an A- grade.

Why Trust Cats.com

To review Open Farm, we spent hours researching the brand, learning about its history and product lineup. We studied the company’s sourcing and manufacturing practices and scoured recall databases for reports related to safety issues. To understand how other customers feel about the brand, we read dozens of customer reviews, identifying any common patterns or trends.

Finally, our reviewer independently purchased several packages of Open Farm cat food and tried it out with their cats, taking notes on palatability, texture, smell, and more.

In addition to performing our own qualitative analysis of the brands reviewed here, we submitted samples for analysis at an ISO 17025 certified food testing and analysis lab.

Also Read: Why We Lab Test Cat Food and How to Interpret the Reports

Analytical testing in a food chemistry lab gives us the exact macronutrient and micronutrient content of each recipe. The tests also look at microbial content, yeast, mold, and heavy metals, helping you ensure that you’re only putting the best in your cat’s bowl.

To access the lab reports for each food reviewed here, click the “view lab report” link in the product review.

Open Farm Cat Food Explained

While we’ve updated our written review to include Open Farm’s latest products, there’s still some great information in this video.

About Open Farm

Open Farm was founded in 2014 by Jacqueline Prehogan, Isaac Langleben, and Derek Beigleman. Though headquartered in Toronto, Ontario in Canada, Open Farm’s manufacturing facilities are located in Minnesota in the United States.

The story of Open Farm began with a rescue dog named Bella. Immediately upon adopting Bella, Jacqueline Prehogan set out to find a natural, nutritious pet food that would help her grow up strong, happy, and healthy. Appalled by the number of pet food on the market that were filled with ingredients that compromised her standards for transparency, sustainability, and animal welfare, Prehogan decided to create her ideal pet food herself.

Prehogan partnered with her husband Isaac and brother-in-law Derek to engage in years of research before starting Open Farm. Not only did they change the ingredients in their pet food, but they completely re-envisioned the way it was made. Focusing on high-quality ingredients and supporting farmers who treat their animals right, Open Farm also provides full transparency to their customers.

Sourcing and Manufacturing

Open Farm’s core values are transparency, premium nutrition, and ethical sourcing. These values guide every decision the brand makes from ingredient procurement to product packaging.

Open Farm uses only the highest quality, ethically sourced ingredients including humanely raised meat that is free from antibiotics and growth hormones, exclusively wild-caught fish, and non-GMO fruits and veggies. In fact, nearly 40% of Open Farm’s vegetables are grown in local partner farms near the manufacturing facility.

Because Open Farm is a Canadian company, all recipe formulation and research and development is done in Canada. The products, however, are manufactured in US-based facilities to facilitate the company’s local ingredient sourcing program.

Recall History

Though Open Farm is a Canadian company, their products are manufactured in the USA and therefore subject to FDA regulations. To the best of our knowledge, Open Farm has never had a product recalled.

What Kinds of Cat Food Does Open Farm Offer?

Open Farm currently offers a wide selection of dry cat food, wet cat food, freeze-dried cat food and meal toppers like fish fillets and bone broths. When Open Farm first launched, only a handful of dry cat food and wet cat food options were available. Now, however, there are dozens of different products to choose from.

All Open Farm products are formulated around animal-based protein, including nutrient-rich organ meats. Open Farm uses only 100% Animal Welfare certified meats and wild-caught, sustainably sourced fish. The most commonly used proteins in Open Farm recipes are chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, and salmon. Other proteins used less frequently include pork, venison, whitefish, and herring.

Open Farm offers three lines of dry cat food products in the following flavors:

Grain-Free Wild-Caught Salmon
Grain-Free Homestead Turkey & Chicken
Grain-Free Pasture-Raised Lamb
Grain-Free Catch-of-the-Season Whitefish
Kitten Grain-Free Chicken & Turkey Recipe
Goodbowl Wild-Caught Salmon & Brown Rice Recipe
Goodbowl Harvest Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe
Kitten Grain-Free Rawmix Recipe
Open Prairie Grain-Free RawMix Recipe
Wild Ocean Grain-Free RawMix Recipe

Wet cat foods from Open Farm were originally only available in 5.5-ounce cartons as part of the Rustic Blend product line. More recently, however, Open Farm has expanded to offer five canned wet food recipes sold in both 2.3-ounce and 5.3-ounce cans.

Finally, Open Farm offers four flavores of freeze-dried raw cat food. Harvest Chicken is the only single-protein formula. The others are Wild-Caught Salmon & Cod, Chicken & Salmon, and Surf & Turf (salmon and beef).

Open Farm Cat Food – Top 5 Recipes Reviewed

Product Name	Food Type	Main Protein Source	Calories Per Ounce	Price Per Ounce	Our Grade
Wild-Caught Salmon Recipe Dry Cat Food	Dry	Salmon	110	$0.41	B+
Open Prairie Grain-Free RawMix for Cats	Dry	Chicken	106	$0.47	A-
Herring and Mackerel Rustic Blend Wet Cat Food	Wet	Herring	27	$0.57	A-
Harvest Chicken Freeze-Dried Raw Cat Food	Freeze-Dried	Chicken	149	$2.81	A
	Wet	Chicken	33	$0.64	A-

#1 Open Farm Wild-Caught Salmon Recipe Dry Cat Food

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View Lab Report

This dry food formula features three high-quality sources of animal-based protein as the top three ingredients: wild Pacific salmon, ocean whitefish meal, and ocean herring meal. We also love that this recipe includes two animal-based sources of added fat (herring and salmon oils), though the primary source is plant-based (coconut oil).

Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com

What we don’t like about this recipe is that it includes a significant number of plant ingredients, some which are high in plant-based proteins (garbanzo beans and lentils). These ingredients contribute to a fairly high carbohydrate content estimated around 25%.

Overall, this is a protein-packed dry food rich in essential fatty acids, but it has an above-average carbohydrate content and is low in moisture.

Ingredients

Wild Pacific Salmon, Ocean Whitefish Meal, Ocean Herring Meal, Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas), Red Lentils, Coconut Oil, Herring Oil, Pumpkin, Natural Flavor, Green Lentils, Salmon Oil, Cranberries, Apples, Dandelion Greens, Sunflower Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Dried Chicory Root, Choline Chloride, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, D-calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Taurine, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Mixed Tocopherols (a Preservative), Turmeric, Dried Yucca Schidigera, Rosemary Extract.

Ingredients We Liked: Wild Pacific Salmon, Ocean Whitefish Meal, Ocean Herring Meal, Herring Oil, Salmon OIl

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas), Red Lentils, Green Lentils

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 37%

Crude Fat: 18%

Crude Fiber: 3%

Moisture: 10%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 41.11%

Fat: 20%

Fiber: 3.33%

Carbs: 35.56%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 32.83%

Fat: 38.78%

Carbs: 28.39%

What We Liked:

Top 3 ingredients are animal-sourced proteins
Contains two healthy animal-based fats
Made with ethically and sustainably sourced ingredients

What We Didn’t Like:

Dry matter carbohydrate content over 20%
No dry food provides the moisture your cat needs

#2 Open Farm Open Prairie Grain-Free RawMix for Cats

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Like the previous recipe, this dry cat food is a multi-protein formula. It’s worth noting that while chicken and turkey are the top two ingredients (and the proteins listed on the front of the package), this recipe also contains fish protein from menhaden fish meal and ocean whitefish meal. It may not be appropriate for cats with fish allergies.

Kirsten McCarthy / Cats.com

What sets the Rawmix line apart from Open Farm’s other dry cat foods is that the kibbles are coated in a mixture of bone broth and freeze-dried raw chicken. There are also freeze-dried chunks of chicken mixed into the kibble.

Measured as dry matter, the protein content of this formula is about 42% (about 1% higher than the previous recipe). This food has the same shortcomings, however, including a significant amount of carbohydrate and numerous hard-to-digest legumes. The dry matter carb content of this product is estimated around 30%.