A tiny ginger and white cat, Purl left a trash bin behind Walgreens to walk into my kennel with food. It wasn’t easy to get her, she had evaded me for weeks. She could not be captured three times that night, in freezing cold weather. She left in time to have her babies in a house. February 3, 2011, Purl had six beautiful kittens that continue to amaze me to this day.

Purl found herself in my home the week my last cat died in my arms. That cat was poisoned by pet food during the 2007 pet food recall, What I would feed purl, if I couldn’t get her adopted, was high in my priority. It takes time, energy and money to give palliative care to a cat.

Never prepared, after her kittens births I bought Purl a can of cat stew. I wasn’t prepared for this big a crew of kittens. In the next few months the boys started to eat like a pride, ripping into any piece of meat they could find. A pride is how they were labeled by their vet.

Food was on my mind, that led me to starting nutritional research. In 2011 pet food startups were pressed to publish where their ingredients were sourced. Honest Kitchen had come up on some websites, they had samples. The first sample we used as a topper. The kittens loved it.

As years went by we travelled and had a very rough life but we stayed together. Whenever a cat didn’t feel well or we were moving too much, I ordered Honest Kitchen. Flash forward, it is now 2023.

They have finally expanded their line of products. In the beginning my cats loved the Wishes for cats and dehydrated food. We tried their digestive supplement once for Prince, RIP. He didn’t like it but I have a handsome picture of him with it, I’ll look around.

As of June 2023 the Ginger Cat Family has tried all three of the new dehydrated cat food recipes. This formula is easy to prepare. I can stretch the budget by mixing it with chicken bone broth and chicken pieces cooked from scratch.

Initial worries I had about some ingredients now have shifted from where are they sourced, to how were they grown. I read EWG.org both blueberries and cranberries have made the Dirty Dozen list. I can supplement this with organic blueberries when I am concerned about urinary tract infections..

Purl has four cats left. I worry about hydration in a hot climate and getting water can be a problem. After more than a decade when one of them is sick I fall back on their dehydrated cat recipe along with homemade recipes so get them healthy. As a topping or a full meal they love it.

I read many of the reviews. I think cats raised on very stinky canned cat food might have a hard time changing their cat to this wholesome mix. My cats started eating it as kittens. Both because of convenience and good health/hydration serving it soupy is good, I would give this a try on aging cats.

REVIEWED by The Ginger Cat Family by Pamela J Curry

Basset, 12 years old