Comments on: Open Farm Cat Food Review

By: Kate B

Kate B — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 21:25:34 +0000

Hi Gigi, we’re so sorry to hear about your cat but glad to hear he’s doing well on his new diet! Your concerns about the carbohydrate content of Open Prairie Raw Mix are valid, and most dry cat food has similar issues in terms of high carb and low moisture levels.
Our nutritional philosophy prioritizes animal-sourced ingredients and moisture, so dry food isn’t usually our top recommendation. We mention some of these concerns in the Open Prairie Raw Mix review and our summary of Open Farm. We sometimes rate this brand higher than similar products because they use humanely raised, sustainably sourced ingredients and maintain a level of transparency with customers that many brands don’t.
Regarding your question about the food potentially contributing to your cat’s diabetes, I can certainly understand your concern. I’m not a vet, so I can only summarize some of the research I did on the subject. The Merck Veterinary Manual says that diet can be a risk factor for diabetes in cats if it causes obesity (suggesting caloric density is the issue, not necessarily carbs). Sedentary lifestyle is the other lifestyle risk factor the manual mentions.
In many cases, Merck seems to suggest, diabetes in cats is caused by damage to the pancreas that results in insufficient insulin production or underlying conditions that lead to insulin resistance. Once a cat develops diabetes, a low-carb diet is crucial for managing the condition but there doesn’t seem to be evidence suggesting carbs themselves play a significant role in causing the disease. Your vet might be able to help you determine what factors contributed to your cat’s diabetes specifically.
Wishing you and your cat well! Hope this helps.

By: Gigi van der Noot

Gigi van der Noot — Fri, 03 Oct 2025 16:26:58 +0000

After exclusively eating Open Prairie Raw Mix cat food for close to one year my cat was diagnosed with diabetes. His diabetes test was 500. I started feeding him this food based on your review of dry cat food and thought I was giving him the best possible diet short of very expensive fresh or canned food. My cat showed many diabetic signs including obsessive water consumption and flooding the litter box.
I researched and read about cat diabetes and discovered that since they are obligate carnivores the high legume carbohydrates in Open Farm dry foods are not the best diet for cats and very possibly contributed to if not caused my cat to become diabetic. I discovered Mature Zero dry food by Young Again and have been feeding it to my cat for about 3 weeks. His water consumption and peeing is now normal. I am hoping he is going into remission thanks to dramatically changing his diet from plant protein and carbs to meat protein and near zero carbs.
I valued your high regard for Open Farm without knowledge of my own regarding cat nutrition. Since I have become better self educated I seriously question your high rating of this food.

By: Gigi Curtiss

Gigi Curtiss — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 19:02:35 +0000

I began feeding my 14 year old cat Open Prairie Raw Mix about a year ago. At that time he was newly diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, had lost a lot of weight and had become very picky about food. That was the first dry food he would eat that I thought was high quality.
One year later and he was recently diagnosed with diabetes and a glucose reading of 500. He was drinking and peeing quarts of water. The vet recommended insulin. I love my cat but honestly can’t afford the medicine and vet bills that would go along with that journey. So I researched and read. I discovered that the carbohydrate content in Open Farm Raw Mix is very, very high. Peas, lentils and chickpeas as ingredients fooled me into thinking I was feeding my cat a high quality food free of grains. It was not. It was a horrible food for my cat and I believe, the cause of diabetes.
As a result of my research I learned that cats are obligate carnivores and came across the brand Young Again. I have been feeding the Mature Zero variety for about 3 weeks and have high hopes that my cat is going into remission. His water needs have diminished to near normal. He appears to be reverting to a normal, healthy 14 year old cat.
On another note, though he has been taking prescribed medicine for his hyperthyroidism for 1 year, recent testing showed he was still slightly above normal range. Open Farm brand has approximately 5 times the iodine content and 3 times the phosphorous content of Young Again Mature Zero.
I am convinced that the majority of dry cat food is not optimum nutrition for cats, Open Farm included.

By: Cats.com Editorial Team

Cats.com Editorial Team — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 18:26:08 +0000

In reply to V G. True to date Open Farm has never been recalled

By: V G

V G — Sun, 20 Jul 2025 06:26:42 +0000

Concerned, Open Farm freeze dried cat food, very high in crude fat, 40%,
Protein 47 % compared to Primal 20% crude fat, 60% Protein, Which is the most species appropriate. Unfortunately Primal recalled a few times, whereas Open Farm never recalled ?

By: Betty Crispen

Betty Crispen — Sat, 20 Jan 2024 21:45:35 +0000

In reply to Mallory Crusta. My cat has Hyperthyroidism and early-stage CKD so I am following this also to see any comments regarding the phosphorus. Please keep us posted.

By: Filip

Filip — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 09:02:19 +0000

In reply to Mallory Crusta. Thank you for your reply. Perhaps it would be useful to have a separate category for best cat food per region or continent, or simply overall best food regardless of current availability? That would in turn create demand, and demand could potentially lead to the recommended food being made available to a broader market, no?

By: Mallory Crusta

Mallory Crusta — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 18:58:43 +0000

In reply to Filip. Hello Filip! Apologies for the late reply. We select our top recommendations based on a variety of factors, including regional availability and accessibility. Monge, for example, is not available to the majority of our readers, who generally live in the United States.

By: Filip

Filip — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 02:48:09 +0000

Why was this brand declared the best of 2023, when it has lower grades than some others, for example Monge?

By: Monica Tasha Lachman

Monica Tasha Lachman — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 09:29:34 +0000

Crazy that some of the plant based ingredients that people are complaining about are the ingredients in actually looking for as pumpkin is something I will add at times unless I find foods w/it already included.-(pumpkin for digestion issues)
And I JUST wrote a comment in a different section(instinct/nature valley)-s pet smart no longer carries the brand I was feeding my two Persian kittens -& as they needed to transition to adult formula -solid gold wet/can food-which has coconut oil -I’ve noticed that my cats fur has become completely unmanageable -losing clumps of fur-shedding an insane amount& getting terribly matted -& thier coats just look a mess!!
I’ve since been feeding Applaws 1-2 ingredient grain free limited ingredient & I also fed kibble so I chose instinct kibble+raw limited ingredient grain free chicken formula and I’m having an issue with the inconsistent of the raw bits-i just bought a bag that had ZERO raw bits and had to return to Pet Smart-which they allowed me to trade for a new bag of the same& the new bag did have ‘some’ raw bits-my cats just pick out the raw bits leaving the kibble behind -Soo I don’t think it’s worth the high price. The issue I’m having with the wet food u choose is that I noticed on the label it says it’s ONLY a complimentary & not considered a whole meal-that it must be added along with other wet formula or dry kibble meals. SOO how do I find a wet food that is limited ingredient & grain free is in chicken w/broth or chicken w/pumpkin& broth as a whole meal?
But after reading your article about BEST cat foods for Persian & seeing this brand has both pumpkin-coconut oils plus I see those’plant-based’ ingredients as SUPER foods that have added benefits that our country does not regulate so it is NOT in these FDA guidelines etc
Things like turmeric are good for animals as it is in humans& helps w/inflammation, muscle health, etc-cranberries help w/UTI -which cats are famous/prone to getting SERIOUS UTI issues!!-I was a certified massage therapist which means I had to do 600hrs of school therefore I have a degree in natural nutrition therefore I look outside the box because big pharma does not want us to use preventative measures to maintain homeostasis -they want us to go to the DR ti year the symptoms & get THOSE prescriptions!-i was also a registered hot yoga teacher! Yes, cats can eat certain fruits and veggies and they do& will benefit from them just like humans!! Ok, rant OVER!!-i just had to say something about all the negativity around plant based ingredients and all the comments saying cats don’t NEED fruits, plants, vegetables –YES they do!!-they do eat these things in the wild-ie; grass!!-carnip, sunflowers, silver vine, cantaloupe (has protein in it so they are naturally attracted to it-mine act like it’s crack whenever I’m eating it& they INSIST I share with them!!) of course they NEED to have MOSTLY animal protein as#1 important(& organs ) don’t get me wrong there!!
But it’s clear to ME the DIFFERENCE since I switched& they are no longer getting coconut oil -as that is the ONLY ingredient that’s missing since the switch-and much thier poor coats of super long& very fluffy fur looks horrible, sheds like crazy& is terribly matted!!
Unless, anyone CAN tell me what’s going on otherwise?
I think I’ll try this for wet food& look for a BETTER fit for kibble (I might JUST buy the RAW bits& add to suitable dry food-when I find a good one-any suggestions would be greatly appreciated)-as always furever Grateful for all the hard work & efforts you, your staff& the customers put into these reviews& articles and all the prompt responses to comments!!ฅ⁠^⁠•⁠ﻌ⁠•⁠^⁠ฅMAHOLA 🤙 ALOHA 🌺 NAMASTE 🪷 STAY STOKED ❤️ MoSurfs73 ❤️