Where is Special Kitty Cat Food Made?

Take a trip to discover the gastronomic beginnings of Special Kitty cat chow and solve the puzzles surrounding its production. As a cat lover, knowing where your pet gets their food from adds a level of concern to your experience of being a pet parent.

The Birthplace of Feline Delight

Exploring the Special Kitty Cat Food Production

Discover the source of Special Kitty’s production to make sure your cat is getting the best. Modern technology and a commitment to feline nutrition are combined in the production process to create a healthy option for your companion.

The Specialized Facilities

Learn about the cutting-edge facilities that give life to Special Kitty cat food. Rigid quality requirements are followed in these facilities, guaranteeing that your cat will receive a portion of nutritious and well-balanced food.

Locally-Sourced Ingredients

Learn the importance of using ingredients that are obtained locally in Special Kitty cat food. The focus on high-quality sourcing enhances your cat friend’s general health and results in a delicious but healthy dinner.

Quality Control Measures

Examine the strict quality control procedures that are in place throughout the production process. Special Kitty cat food is put through a thorough testing process to ensure that it meets the highest standards and provides your cat with a healthy and safe meal.

Where is Special Kitty Cat Food Made: Unveiling the Feline Feast Origins

Wal-Mart is the exclusive retailer of the private-label pet food brand Special Kitty.

Wal-Mart sold Ol’ Roy, a premium low-cost dog food brand, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Due to its rapid rise in fame among Wal-Mart customers, the store began offering identical cat food in 1983 under the Special Kitty brand.

About Special Kitty Cat Food

Doane Pet Care Company was the company that first produced and distributed Special Kitty cat food.

The business was based in Brentwood, Tennessee, at the time.

It was listed as America’s largest producer of specialty pet food and the country’s second-largest producer of dry pet food.

Apart from producing pet foods for Special Kitty and Ol’ Roy, Doane Pet Care also catered to 170 other store brands; nonetheless, Wal-Mart was the company’s main client, making up over 66% of the manufacturer’s total sales.

Overall, Wal-Mart’s private label Special Kitty brand was quite successful in the market because it offered customers high-quality cat food at a price that was less than usual.

In 2006, Doane Pet Care sold their company to Mars Incorporated despite its success.

Whiskas, Sheba, and Temptations were just a few of the well-known cat food brands that Mars Inc. specialized in.

The business assumed control of Special Kitty cat food and contracted with Del Monte’s Pet Food division to handle the majority of the processing.

After eight years, Del Monte renamed its pet food division as Big Heart Pet Brands and sold the equipment used to make people’s food.

Big Hearts Pet Brands was purchased by J. M. Smucker Company in 2015 in an astounding $5.8 billion sale agreement.

All of Special Kitty’s cat food production as well as distribution procedures are currently led by the American food and beverage company, Smucker.

Where is Special Kitty Cat Food Made?

The lengthy history of the brand attests to the fact that Special Kitty’s manufacturing facilities have changed numerous times over time.

But as of right now, J. M. Smucker is the only corporation producing the product in facilities that it owns.

J. M. Smucker claims to have a vast network of manufacturing sites serving both the North American continent and the global market.

Orrville, Ohio is home to the company’s main manufacturing facility and headquarters.

Additional noteworthy plant sites where Special Kitty cat chow is now produced are as follows:

• Wisconsin’s Ripon
  Grandview, Washington
• Longmont, Colorado
• Oxnard, California
• New Bethlehem, Philadelphia
• Scottsville, Virginia.

Packages of Special Kitty Cat Food typically if not always, have a label that reads “Guaranteed Analysis.”

When a symbol like this appears, it means that the pet food fulfills the nutritional requirements listed in the AAFCO (Association of US Feed Control Officers) Nutrient Profile.

Customers are informed that Special Kitty cat feeds are made specifically to include necessary nutrients in the necessary net amounts to guarantee optimal growth for cats throughout their lives.

Special Kitty cat foods are adequate in terms of nutrition and also include comprehensive feeding guidelines.

This guide helps ensure owners of cats follow the proper diet for the cat’s individual needs, which is also a requirement for AAFCO approval.

Regretfully, there have already been many Special Kitty recalls.

These include the Great Melamine Recall in 2007, the 2017 recall owing to inadequate thiamine levels, the 2008 recall owing to a possible salmonella illness, and the 2019 Special Kitty Mixed Grill Dinner Pate recall.

While a brand’s recall history alone shouldn’t be used to evaluate it, a sizable number of recalls indicate that a brand’s food manufacturing standards aren’t as stringent as they may appear to be.

The best-wet cat foods of 2024, according to veterinarians

Even while they may not understand the concept of a love language, cats certainly like being fed wholesome food that satisfies their hunger. But the sheer amount of alternatives available when looking for the finest wet cat food might be overwhelming. The optimal food for your cat will ultimately depend on their life stage and any underlying medical conditions, but it should also be balanced and nutritionally adequate.

To find out what constitutes a decent cat chow that has been canned, we interviewed vets and animal nutritionists. Our top choices are the Wellness Core Paté Kitten Turkey and Chicken Liver Recipe, Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Savory Chicken Entree, and Purina Pro Plan White Meat Chicken and Vegetables Entree. Even though our specialists didn’t advise Our choices are based on their knowledge of the dietary requirements of kittens, adult cats, and senior citizens, rather than on particular brands or formulae. We also adhered to the World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s (WSAVA) Global Nutrition Guidelines and the guidelines set out by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). For other tips on where to get premium wet food, go to the bottom of this page.

Best overall

According to Dr. Bruce Kornreich, director of the Cornell Feline Health Program at the Cornell University School of Veterinary Medicine and a board-certified veterinary cardiologist, both wet food and the best dry cat diets are healthy choices for your cat. However, there can be circumstances in which wet food is advised in addition to or instead of dry food. Wet food, according to Kornreich, is beneficial for cats that require extra water, especially elderly cats with renal illness. According to the USA’s Food and Drug Administration, it contains 75% to 78% moisture, while dry foods only contain 10% to 12%.

Meat should be the initial component in cat food because cats require animal proteins to meet their necessary amino acid requirements, which support regular bodily activities. Additionally, a nutritional adequacy declaration from AAFCO should be visible on the food label. This shows that the food satisfies the cat’s life stage-appropriate necessary intake of fats and proteins, as well as important vitamins and minerals, as suggested by the AAFCO.

Cat food for adults should have at least 26% protein and 9% fat. To compare wet food nutrient profiles to AAFCO standards, you must first convert the percentages of fat and protein in wet food to a “dry matter basis.” You can accomplish this by contacting the food manufacturer, asking your veterinarian for assistance, or adhering to the guidelines provided by the Tufts University Cummings Veterinary Medical Center.

Even while some of our top choices for wet cat food are more expensive than other options, they are still full of essential and delicious animal proteins for cats, like deboned chicken, salmon, and turkey.

Best budget

Choosing the best cat food requires careful consideration of costs. Fortunately, a wide range of reasonably priced choices satisfy a cat’s nutritional needs.

Byproducts are a concentrated means of protein that is biologically acceptable for cats and are frequently found in inexpensive cat diets. Dr. Korinn Saker, the assistant professor of clinical management at the North Carolina State College of Veterinary Medicine and a board-certified veterinarian, claims that byproducts are reused components that help keep the cost of cat food low.

They contain organs and other non-skeletal flesh sections of the animal that are still nourishing to cats. Although a lot of cat food claims to be free of grains, byproducts, or preservatives that are synthetic, there is no evidence to support the claims made for these diets when compared to other cat meals that adhere to AAFCO guidelines.

The low-cost foods we suggest have far more protein than the minimal AAFCO standard of 26% and include both byproduct-free and byproduct-containing options.

Best for indoor cats

Cats kept indoors may not have to worry about predators or a lack of food. Nonetheless, an increasing epidemic of feline obesity affects them.

Dr. Deb Zoran, certified by a board small animal internist, nutritionist, and student at Texas A&M University, believes pet caregivers are crucial in controlling a cat’s access to food and making sure it meets their needs. In general, indoor cats don’t exercise as much as outside cats because they can’t catch their food. While regular play and environmental enrichment cannot be substituted for an indoor cat’s diet, including food designed specifically for their needs is a positive start.

Low calorie and fat content is what makes our top picks for indoor cat food beneficial for maintaining a healthy weight and shape. Probiotics from beet pulp and added insoluble fibers such as powdered cellulose aid with digestion, while fish oil-derived omega fatty acids keep fur glossy and silky while lowering shedding and hairballs.

Best for older cats

Simple adjustments can enhance your cat’s quality of life as they age, with signs of age-related changes starting as early as 7 years old and reaching their senior years at 12 years old. Rather than just one wellness visit per year, they’ll probably have two, which is a great opportunity to talk about your cat’s evolving activity level and calorie requirements.

Dr. Jennifer Larsen, a certified by-the-board veterinarian and clinical nutrition professor at the UC Davis University of Veterinary Medicine, claims that the majority of elderly cats can consume kibble. But compared to canned foods, dry foods typically have three to four times as many calories. Additionally, wet food has more moisture, which supports kidney function and helps control chronic kidney disease symptoms.

There are no criteria set by the AAFCO for senior cat food. Rather, the food’s composition varies concerning calories, fiber, & protein to fulfill the adult AAFCO nutritional guidelines. Verify the nutrition and calorie content of food before deciding if it is suitable for your cat by speaking with your veterinarian.

Seek for components such as fish oil and glucosamine, both of which are found in our selections. They can aid in the reduction of stiffness, discomfort, and inflammation brought on by age-related illnesses like arthritis. Furthermore, compared to our adult food selections, our choices for the best senior cat foods are lower in calories.

Best for sensitive stomachs

Cats with sensitive stomachs and food intolerances can benefit from limited-ingredient diets. Because they have fewer components, there is less chance of stomach discomfort like gas, vomiting, or diarrhea. Additionally, compared to other options, they are usually made with whole food ingredients, making them easier to digest.

However, unless your cat has dietary sensitivities, limited-ingredient diets aren’t always required. Saker claims that while food intolerances are usually restricted to the gastrointestinal tract rather than evoking a systemic immune response, they can resemble certain symptoms of food allergies. Consult your veterinarian to rule out any other underlying issues before switching your cat to a limited ingredient menu for digestive problems.

Dietary fiber components like cellulose and pumpkin are among our top suggestions for the finest cat food for sensitive stomachs since they can help control your cat’s digestion.

Best for kittens

With so many options, selecting the best diet for your kitten might be difficult. Thus, begin with the initial step: Choose a diet that meets the nutritional requirements of a developing kitten. To support a kitten’s high energy needs and rapid growth, it should be designed by the AAFCO criteria for growth at all life phases. This guarantees that the food your carnivorous kitty eats contains at least 30% protein and 9% fat.

Important minerals like calcium, which supports bones and teeth, and the omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which promotes brain growth and mental development, are also included in the food that is designed for growth. All of the necessary nutritional components for growth are present in our selection of the best cat food. Additionally, they include beneficial components including prebiotics and antioxidants.

Best for hairball control

Although recurrent hairballs in cats are typical, you should discuss them with your veterinarian. Hairballs can develop into medical problems, such as clumping together and obstructing the digestive system. According to Larsen, a high-fiber diet can assist your cat in securely passing hairballs.

The majority of complete and balanced cat feeds contain fiber sources in a combination of digestible (starches), soluble (oats), and insoluble (cellulose) fibers, even though the AAFCO does not prescribe a particular amount of dietary fiber for cats. Rice hulls, pea fiber, and cellulose are examples of insoluble fiber components found in the majority of hairball control diets. All forms of fiber aid in digestion, however, insoluble fiber gives feces more volume and aids in moving food down the digestive tract.

Although dry cat meals usually have more fiber, our top options for the best cat food for hair follicles have additional insoluble fiber in their mix. Additionally, they include omega fatty acids, which lessen shedding and enhance skin health.

Best fresh

Some cats insist on tasting every meal that we prepare, but not all of us have the time or means to prepare healthy meals for our pets that include complete meats and vegetables. A solution is offered by fresh cat food, which offers balanced, nutritionally full meals produced with premium human-grade ingredients. Heat, as opposed to high pressure, is used to prepare the food, allowing cats to digest it more easily and lose fewer nutrients. While certain fresh goods are accessible for single purchases, others are available through subscriptions.

Our top choice for the finest cat food delivery services is Just Cats, which offers fresh meal options. In one of nine privately owned kitchens located throughout the United States, it is prepared in conjunction with veterinary nutritionists who are on staff. They don’t collaborate with other businesses on processing facilities or packaging lines. This entails tighter quality control over the components and the prepared dish, according to Kornreich.

The only two fresh cat food companies that have full-time veterinary nutritionists on staff are Freshpet and Just Food For Dogs. However, because of two recalls in 2021 and 2022, we are not currently endorsing Freshpet.

Special Kitty Cat Food Made

FAQs

Conclusion

Finally, knowing the location of Special Kitty’s manufacturing reveals a dedication to excellence, wholesome ingredients, and your cat’s health. You can be confident that your cat is receiving a product of commitment and care when you feed them this delicious treat.