Instinct Original Pate Kitten Wet Cat Food, Grain Free - Real Chicken, 5.5 oz. Cans (Pack of 12)

I feed this to my 7 month old kitten who is very active, he gets the zoomies. I like that Instinct kitten is a high protein wet food and that it’s made without grain, corn, soy, carrageenan or artificial flavors or preservatives. My cat likes it and will usually eat it all. It seems to be made with some quality ingredients, it actually smells good. I’ve been buying the 5.5 ounce cans and give my little dude a quarter of it 4 times a day.There are only two things that I don’t like about this Instinct product.It would be nice to have a little bit more variety. I’ve been alternating between this Instinct chicken flavored wet kitten food and the regular varieties of Instinct wet food with duck, rabbit or lamb. I think he likes that.Other thing that I don’t like about the Instinct chicken flavored wet kitten food is that it’s made in Thailand. Only the Instinct rabbit and venison flavors are made in the USA.

My kitten loved it and, most importantly, it helped clear up his stomatitis!As a new cat mom I was blissfully unaware of the high percentage of cats that have some kind of mouth problem. Apparently, it's like 80% or something, yikes! During a vet visit my vet told me that my kitten had stomatitis (severe inflammation of the gums) and would likely need tooth extractions in the future. I certainly can't afford the thousands of dollars it would cost to do that, so I started researching and learned that some cats showed improvement after a diet change. I was currently feeding dry store-brand kibble, so I figured I'd give diet change a try. A bit of research on high quality cat foods led me to the Instinct brand which I purchased. Initially, I mixed the dry food with the canned food to see if I could stretch the food supply, but my kitten's gums remained inflamed even with daily tooth brushing. Eventually, I started feeding only canned and that combined with daily tooth brushing completely cleared the inflammation. I'd also like to add that I tried a store brand canned food for a few days when I ran out of Instinct and didn't order more ahead of time and the inflammation came back, so it's not just a canned vs dry food issue. It's my belief that my kitten was either allergic to the ingredients in the store-brand cat food or was experiencing a micro-nutrient deficiency leading to his inflammation. Whatever the issue was, it certainly wasn't a matter of simply brushing his teeth as that alone didn't help. I definitely recommend switching to a quality cat food if anyone's cat is experiencing gum inflammation to see if it helps before turning to more drastic measures like tooth extractions.I've now switched over to the Instinct brand freeze-dried nuggets because a month's supply of it costs me a bit less than a month's supply of the canned stuff. Whether freeze-dried nuggets or canned food, this brand has helped me keep my kitten's gum inflammation at bay. However, my kitten certainly misses the canned food and I may end up switching back because he likes it better.

**Update: I really should wait longer before posting a review where cats are concerned. They tend to adjust to new food and toys over a longer period of time than humans do. The more my 8-month-old cat eats this food, the better she appreciates it and now wakes me up early in the morning for her breakfast! Also, I am much impressed with customer service who reached out to me after my initial review. Both my cat and I have grown very happy with this cat food :)*** Oh my. I have to share my utter amazement at the quality of my shelter kitty's coat since eating this food. It turned out I had adopted, unaware, a Bengal mix kitten. I've since learned how special and unique her traits are. Especially the "glitter" of her coat which is now absolutely shining. She was lovely before, but now she's dazzling.Original: My cans arrived in good time and with fresh food. I will only serve grain free wet food now and gave this pack of 12 a chance. My young cat is down to can 8 now. She isn't much of a fan. I don't give her other choices, so she eats it eventually, but I'm going to try a different brand after can #12. (She doesn't like my homemade chicken catfood either... and boy, did I put a lot of effort into that. Discouraging. She wasn't so picky as a wee kitten.) The strongest recommendation I give this brand is that my cat appears healthy, happy, and her coat shines!

The product itself is fine, no complaints. Only complaint is my cats (3) will not eat this. It's pretty expensive to buy for your cats to not eat it. I donated mine to the local animal shelter.

One of my kittens adopted from the rescue had been having diarrhea for three days and the fecal tests from the vet all came out negative. We were feeding them "royal canin" kitten food and decided to switch to "instinct" kitten food and also added probiotics into the canned food. I changed their diet for a dinner and also a breakfast, and this afternoon she is having the most perfect kitten poop! I'm not sure if it's the probiotics that worked or the "instinct" kitten food (or maybe both?), but I'm glad she is not having diarrhea anymore so I'm sticking with this diet. Also, they LOVED this so much more than royal canin... they used to only eat half the royal canin at a time, then would be distracted and leave the food. With the instinct canned food, they just stay and eat up the entire can (two kittens~10wks old) per meal and also lick the bowls clean!