Instinct Ultimate Protein Grain-Free Cage-Free Chicken Recipe Freeze-Dried Raw Coated Dry Cat Food

By Instinct
Rated 4.417 out of 5 stars
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$34.99Chewy Price
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Customer Rating
Rated 4.417 out of 5 stars
235
Rated 4.3417 out of 5 stars
199
Rated 4.5303 out of 5 stars
66
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164
Rated 4.4167 out of 5 stars
12
Price
$34.99Chewy Price
$27.99Chewy Price
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$27.99Chewy Price
$35.59Chewy Price
Autoship—
$26.59Chewy Price
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Top IngredientsChicken, Tapioca, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid)...Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal...Duck, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal...Chicken, Turkey Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal...Deboned Chicken, Egg, Sweet Potato...
Health FeatureDigestive Health, Skin & Coat Health, Vitamins & Minerals...Digestive Health, Skin & Coat Health, Vitamins & MineralsDigestive Health, Skin & Coat Health, Vitamins & MineralsDigestive Health, Skin & Coat Health, Vitamins & Minerals...N/A
Special DietHigh-Protein, Grain-Free, Gluten Free...Grain-Free, No Corn No Wheat No Soy, Raw...Grain-Free, No Corn No Wheat No Soy, Raw...No Corn No Wheat No Soy, Grain-Free, Gluten Free...High-Protein, Limited Ingredient Diet, Grain-Free...
Food FlavorChicken, PoultryChicken, PoultryTurkey, Duck, PoultryChicken, PoultryChicken, Poultry
LifestageAdultAdultAdultKittenAdult
Food FormDry FoodDry Food, Freeze-DriedDry Food, Freeze-DriedDry FoodDry Food

About This Item

  • 95% protein from real chicken and completely free of animal meal!
  • Unmatched digestibility* for optimal nutrient absorption.
  • Guaranteed levels of live, natural probiotics, natural omegas and antioxidants support digestive health, healthy skin and coat, and immune health.
  • Made in the USA using premium ingredients from around the world, with the pure nutrition of raw in every piece.
  • It’s the only kibble with the pure, real nutrition of raw in every piece. Made in the USA with the finest ingredients from around the world.
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Learn More About Instinct From Our Team of Experts

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About Instinct Ultimate Protein Kibble for Cats

Ultimate Protein Kibble

Instinct’s Ultimate Protein recipes are high in protein and completely free from animal meal for optimal nutrient absorption. And with freeze-dried raw coating on every piece of kibble, adding the nutrition and taste of raw into your pet’s diet is easy!

Real Animal Protein

These recipes are crafted with real animal protein versus vegetables or meals. They also deliver unmatched digestibility to support a happy tummy, so your feline friend can feel her absolute best.

Pure, Real Nutrition of Raw on Every Piece

PACKED WITH PROTEIN

At least 90% of protein comes from real chicken or duck.

MORE MEAT

Up to 3x more chicken or duck is included compared to some other premium natural cat food brands.

PROBIOTICS

Live, natural probiotics are included to support your cat’s digestive health.

OMEGAS

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids support skin and coat health.

ANTIOXIDANTS

Antioxidants help support immune health.

MADE WITHOUT FILLERS

These recipes are made without grain, potato, corn, wheat, soy, animal meal, by-product meal or artificial colors or preservatives.

RAW COATING

Instinct crushes and tumbles their freeze-dried raw with their kibble, ensuring raw is on every piece!

The Benefits of Raw

Instinct believes that eating a diet rich in raw, unprocessed foods is just as good for our pets as it is for us. They make every meal with the understanding that real, less-processed, whole raw foods can have the power to transform lives.

Better Digestion

More Energy & Vitality

Weight Improvement

Improved Skin And Coat

Excitement At Mealtime

About Instinct

Instinct has been crafting and perfecting raw recipes for over 15 years. From 100% raw frozen meals to freeze-dried, raw-coated kibble, Instinct gives you a variety of ways to incorporate raw into your pet’s diet. Their raw recipes are crafted in their own kitchens in Lincoln, Nebraska, to ensure the highest standards in quality and food safety according to SQF standards.
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Questions & Answers

43 Customer Questions

what is the carbohydrate percentage of this dry food?
Answer by Chewy • Mar 10, 2021
This recipe contains approximately 12.0% Carbohydrates on an As-Fed basis.
How is this food considered raw? Is it entirely freeze dried, partially, slow cooked under temperature. What exactly do you mean by the word raw? Cat dry
Answer by Chewy • Nov 09, 2017
Instinct uses a "High Pressurization Process". HPP preserves food products using high pressure. This particular process uses water pressures 5x greater than pressure found at the bottom of the ocean. HPP is also recognized by the USDA as an anti-pathogen treatment since harmful bacteria (i,e: Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria) are not able to survive in high pressure environments. Also, this has no effect of taste, nutritional value, vitamins, minerals or enzymes. Afterwards, the food is then freeze-dried.
Hi! How many cups of food per bag?
Answer by Chewy • Jan 17, 2019
The 1.8 pound bag contains approximately 7.2 cups, the 4 pound bag contains approximately 16 cups and the 10 pound bag contains approximately 40 cups.
Can I handle this dry food with bare hands or do I need to take extra precautions the same way I would when handling raw chicken?
Answer by Chewy • Aug 22, 2019
This item can be handled with bare hands.

ReviewsWrite a Review

4.4
Rated 4.417 out of 5 stars
235 Reviews
89%
Would recommend to a friend
1
8.9362
9%
2
3.4043
3%
3
1.7021
2%
4
8.9362
9%
5
77.0213
77%

235 Customer Reviews

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
By GraysonAndSpica on Jan 2, 2022

Great for older cats!

Having found this brand at the local pet store, we wanted a bigger bag since our cats LOVE it. Not only do they eat the pieces but the lick their bowls because they enjoy the flavor. It keeps them lean and healthy, it’s not filled with grains that can make them fat. But they are still spry despite almost both being 10. Our kitties love it and prefer it above all others! (A very satisfying crunch!)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
By CatMom on Dec 24, 2021

Kitty gourmet food

My cats love this food and have been eating it for some years now. They think it's the yummiest thing to eat besides a fresh tuna treat. Their coats are so soft and everyone comments on how wonderful they are to pet. The only downside is the calorie content per cup which is really only a problem if you have multiple kitties where one's a grazer and one's a gobbler.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
By Kittygirl on Oct 20, 2021

My cat loved this food!

My cat, Kitty Girl, who passed away at almost 17, earlier this month, until kidney disease got her, would eat nothing but this food, including treats! It contains great ingredients, so I didn’t mind that she was eating dry food. It had to be fresh every day, though. I kept it sealed and fed them (I had gone through a few cats who passed away throughout Kitty Girl’s life.) twice a day after she had eaten it from an automatic feeder for a while. It must have been good! It’s hard now, because her kitty friend, whom I adopted in 2014, has insecurities and inappropriate elimination that has been attributed to behavioral problems since I got her in 2014 at age 6 or so, but she throws up every day at least twice. My point is that it is good food, and I wanted to let you know that it was the only thing Kitty would eat!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
By DanaT on Oct 18, 2021

Cats love this

First I want to say thank you to Chewy customer service. I understand the pandemic has caused them some headaches, especially in the area of 3rd party delivery. We had a terrible experience with an expensive lost order that was delayed several times and then refused because it was so mangled we could see moisture from the busted wet food on the outside of the box. The dry food was also falling out of the box. Chewy ended up refunding the wet food and resending the rest of the order that was available. Fast forward to our recent order- it arrived in perfect condition and they even used spacers to keep it from shifting! They accidentally forgot to put the bag of dry food in but one quick call and they sent it. I received the dry the very next morning! Chewy is trying to do their best and I appreciate it. This food isn’t available in any pet stores around us. We would prefer to only feed wet food; however, our Maine coon is picky and flat refuses to eat if he doesn’t have ‘crunch’ and even lost weight when we attempted to push him. This food doesn’t have pea protein, which I’ve been told can cause issues for cats. I wasn’t happy to have to order so soon again but we were completely out of wet food. I worried it would arrive as the previous order but I am pleased with the quality of packaging for both the wet and dry food.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
By MicO on Dec 17, 2021

Ingredient change

Second ingredient was changed. Tapioca was added as to this once good high protein food. Bought this to rotate between Orijen for a variety for my cat. Orijen remains the only food to use.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
By ferretmom on Nov 29, 2021

cat food for ferrets

This is a good choice of food for ferrets. I mix it 50/50 with Wysong Digestive Support ferret food. So much better ingredients then all the "regular" ferret foods.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
By blakiee242 on Sep 28, 2021

Recipe changed pets hate it now

I was feeding this food to my three cats and three ferrets and a few months back they started to refuse it. Why add tapioca???? I hate that companies keep changing their recipe

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
By MeiMei on Oct 8, 2021

Cat pleaser

Both of my cats love this food. My dog sometimes sneaks in and eats it too. Would definitely recommend this.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars
By John on May 30, 2021

Recipe Changed

I am so sick of these scummy pet food companies getting customers hooked on a good product only to eventually change their ingredients to save money but charge the same for an now-inferior product. This food used to have animal proteins listed as the first couple ingredients. Now my newest bag has tapioca listed as the second ingredient and the pebbles are noticeably smaller and less fragrant smelling. The cats don’t like it as much and it certainly isn’t as healthy for them. How hard is it for a company to realize that pet owners want a healthy grain-free high-protein kibble with quality animal protein ingredients as the MAIN ingredients, and that we are willing to pay good money for it?! Not this food with some trash filler. Will be switching brands and have lost all respect for Instinct and any other brand that uses this same tactic.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
By Molly on Jun 11, 2021

Tapioca ???

I have purchased this for my cat for YEARS. I don’t know when it changed but I do remember when I first bought it and I looked at the ingredients, there wasn’t any tapioca. It’s the second ingredient in this food. I understand the meat content is high but I don’t understand why the formula changed and why it’s the second ingredient. The only reason I repurchased this food is because my cat was out of food and I didn’t want to disrupt her feeding by switching abruptly. I have tried Orijen, which she liked, but it’s almost twice the price. I have ordered samples of Essence which is more cost comparable to this food so hopefully I can find a replacement that she likes.