Blue Buffalo Basics Turkey and Potato Recipe Dry Cat Food

Kitty's Healthy and Happy with her Blue Buffalo Basics Turkey and Potato Recipe

Little kitty's life now is worlds different from when she came to live with us almost a decade ago. That house is 1,000 miles away; and although she still lives with two dogs, they’re not the same ones (sniff). She always got along beautifully with our previous pooches, but Winki and her new brother just don't get along. Consequently, she's now a nocturnal beast, sleeping in her attic room during the day and prowling the downstairs at night when that evil dog is sleeping behind closed doors.

Given her level of stress, we worry that her health might suffer. So she stays healthy we try to give her quality food; mostly dry kibble juiced up with a couple of ounces of premium canned food each day. For the dry portion, we've upgraded from IAMS to Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Formula. She seems to appreciate the change, especially her Limited Ingredient Turkey & Potato recipe.

Ingredients and Analysis¹

When the Blue people call this food “limited ingredient,” it means there's no

• Chicken, poultry by-products, egg
• Corn, wheat, soy 
• Artificial preservatives, artificial flavors

What they do include looks a lot like the menu of a typical Thanksgiving dinner: there's Turkey, potatoes, peas, cranberries, oatmeal and brown rice. There are also some alfalfa, blueberries, carrots, barley and kelp, too; and all those polysyllabic whatsits that we eventually recognize as vitamins (like pyroxidine is vitamin B6 and folic acid is B9) and compounds containing  minerals like selenium or copper. For kitty's gut health, they add in probiotics like Lactobacillus and Saccharomyces (better known as yeast). The food looks good (at least to me); small, barrel-shaped tan kibbles, BB-sized. About 5% of them are smaller and a deep brown. These are what Blue terms “LifeSource Bits,” pellets full of antioxidants and essential nutrients. Kitty doesn't notice the color; she chows down on everything in her dish. We, on the other hand, appreciate Blue's grain-free formula (at least corn, wheat and soy, though I'm pretty sure those small amounts of oats and barley are technically grain). We're also impressed that the first ingredient listed is turkey, with turkey meal and potato coming next.

Blue's analysis: crude protein minimum 30%, crude fat minimum 12%, crude fiber maximum 3.5%, moisture maximum 10%, Magnesium minimum 0.08%, taurine minimum 0.15%, Omega 6 fatty acids minimum 2.5%, Omega 3 fatty acids minimum 6%.

Kitty's Reaction

Although she's pushing thirteen, little Winki remains healthy. She has strong teeth (and claws), her coat is clean and shiny and unmatted, she's slender but not bony, and remains playful. She gets daily exercise by running up and down her staircase to taunt those dogs, and attacks her collection of cardboard scratchers with gusto. She hacks up maybe one hairball every couple of weeks and the deposits in her litter box are well-formed and solid. Transitioning Kitty off IAMS to Blue Basics Limited Ingredient Formula went without a hitch. We're looking forward to her ripe old age; and we fervently hope that some day soon she and dog number two will call a truce. One can only hope

Summary: 

PLUS: no grains, no byproducts, no weird ingredients
MINUS: somewhat expensive
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Turkey and Potato Recipe keeps our kitty healthy and fit.


¹ I don't copy and past lists of ingredients because they change through time. Check the manufcturer's website or the label on the bag for specifics.

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