Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food for adult cats with chicken

Everyone’s heard of Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food, but find out if there’s more to Whiskas than good marketing

Whiskas 1+ dry cat food
(Image: © Amazon)

PetsRadar Verdict

Reasonably priced and sufficiently healthy, we’re happy to report that Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food has a good amount going for it. Promising to offer your cat a healthy and balanced diet at a more than reasonable price, it shouldn’t give you paws for thought.

Pros

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    Nutritionally complete and balanced

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    Good for those on a budget

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    Can be combined with wet cat food

Cons

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    Some customers report their cats getting bored of it

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Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food is an instantly recognizable product: If you haven’t heard of Whiskas you must have been living in a cave (at least if you’re from the UK). It’s among the best dry cat foods available. However, popularity doesn’t necessarily denote quality, so it’s okay to be suspicious of such brands. If you’re someone who is attempting to keep your cat healthy while on a budget, you may gravitate towards cheaper brands, which is where Whiskas comes in. Although there’s nothing wrong with looking at brands that cost less, you want to be sure that this doesn’t come at the expense of your cat’s health. Here, we examine whether Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food for adult cats with chicken offers the best of both worlds.

Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food for adult cats with chicken: Features

Looking at the components of Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food, the primary ingredients are listed as cereals. Alongside this, there are meat and animal derivatives, oils and fats, derivatives of vegetable origin, minerals, vegetable protein extracts, vegetables (either peas or carrots, depending on the type), antioxidants and colourants.

When you break this down, it’s noticeable that there are fewer nutrients like protein (which comprised about 32% of its analytical constituents) in Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food, so inevitably it’s perhaps less nutritious than other, more expensive brands of cat food. Even so, among its included additives are vitamins D3 and E, so all in all, there’s enough here to keep your cat happy and healthy.

Not everyone that can afford the most expensive brands. But as long as Whiskas is healthy enough for your cat, then that should be okay. And we think that unless your cat has some very specific dietary needs, it most likely is.

The ingredients breakdown shows a variety of different ingredients, combining to hopefully produce something that will keep your cat happy. While the chicken flavor is the one we’ve reviewed here, we recommend combining different types – tuna and salmon are also offered by Whiskas, so why not pick up a few of each?

Moreover, in case you were in any doubt as to Whiskas’ credentials, the recipe contained within their food is endorsed by the Waltham Petcare Science Institute, in the process giving it a satisfying seal of quality.

Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food for adult cats with chicken: User reviews

Overall, the customer reviews for Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food for adult cats with chicken seem generally positive, with (at the time of writing) 87% of its over 3,000 reviews on Amazon being 5 stars, and another 9% giving 4 stars.

The most common positive traits appeared to be the flavor and value for money – and we can see why this proved to be appealing for many customers

But Whiskas’ appeal isn’t solely due to it being cheap. One review reported that their cat preferred Whiskas even to treats, and numerous others said only positive things about the flavors.

Additionally, a lot of people like the convenience factor. The 7kg bags can be purchased in bulk from Amazon, making it a much easier process than carrying around huge bags of the stuff from the pet shop. If you like, you can even subscribe to a regular delivery, making this even more of a goer.

Whiskas seems particularly popular among households that have multiple cats. Again, this relates back to the affordability factor, but with no adverse effects recorded among this reviewer’s pets, it is no bad thing.

Inevitably, some cats will react in different ways, and not everyone found Whiskas to their liking. One well-informed customer pointed out the high level of carbs present in the food, at the expense of nutrients like protein. A select few recorded their cats turning their noses up at it, and even experiencing symptoms like diarrhea, although this could be put down to a quick switch in diet.

Should you buy Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food for adult cats with chicken?

Ultimately, whether or not you should buy Whiskas 1+ Dry Cat Food will depend on your circumstances and what you can afford. There are undoubtedly more nutritious types of cat food out there, but ultimately this comes at a price. While Whiskas’ food is less ‘healthy’, this isn’t to the point where it would pose any kind of danger to your cat. There are enough positive reviews to testify to its effectiveness, both in keeping cats happy and making the care of pets more affordable for numerous households. While there may be healthier brands around, having Whiskas as your cat’s primary food source is no bad thing.

Steve Wright

Steve writes and proofreads buying guides, news stories and advice for Pets Radar, drawing on his lifelong experience as a pet owner. Currently sharing his house with two cats and a dog, he draws on the many highs and occasional lows of pet ownership he has borne witness to in his writing. He has worked in publishing for 15 years as an editor, sub editor and writer on a range of titles, such as SciFiNow, How It Works, All About History, Real Crime and Horrorville. You can follow him on Twitter @stevewright22