Nearly every dry cat food on the shelf contains meat meal. It is rendered, concentrated, and perfectly nutritious, and it is also the ingredient owners most often want to avoid.
Now Fresh contains none of it. Deboned turkey leads the recipe and no meat meals appear anywhere in the range.
That is genuinely uncommon. There is one number worth checking before you decide it settles the question.
One practical number before the ingredients: the 16-pound bag of the adult recipe costs $5.56 a pound, against $6.62 for the 8-pound bag. That is a real saving of about $1.06 a pound, and it comes with a catch covered further down.
No meat meal: what that is worth
This is the brand’s central claim, and it deserves an honest accounting rather than an echo.
Meat meal is rendered meat: cooked down and dried, with water and most fat removed. It is concentrated protein, it is not a by-product, and there is nothing wrong with it nutritionally. Because the water is already gone, meal is more protein-dense by weight at the point it enters the recipe.
Fresh deboned meat is weighed with its water in. Here is the labelling catch most brands rely on: ingredients are listed by pre-cooking weight, so fresh chicken can top a list while contributing less finished protein than a meal further down. Seeing deboned turkey first does not by itself tell you much.
Why Now Fresh’s version still counts. The range contains no meat meals at all, rather than using fresh meat as a headline with meal doing the real work lower down. That is a more expensive way to build a recipe and the price reflects it.
The honest limit: this is a sourcing and transparency choice, not automatically better nutrition. A well-formulated food using quality meal can be nutritionally excellent. What you buy here is knowing exactly what went in.
The carbohydrate number
This is the part the marketing does not lead with, and it applies to grain-free dry food generally rather than to this brand specifically.
The adult grain-free recipe runs roughly 34 percent protein, 19 percent fat and 38 percent carbohydrate on a dry matter basis. That carbohydrate figure is typical for premium grain-free kibble and it is worth understanding why.
Grain free does not mean carbohydrate free. Removing grain means replacing it with something, usually potato, peas, lentils or chickpeas. Extruded kibble physically needs starch to hold its shape, so a dry food with very low carbohydrate is close to a contradiction in terms.
Why it matters for cats. Cats are obligate carnivores with no dietary requirement for carbohydrate at all, and they metabolise protein and fat far more efficiently. Carbohydrate load is particularly relevant for overweight cats and for diabetic cats, where it directly affects blood glucose.
What to do with that. None of this makes Now Fresh a bad food; it is a good food with the limitation every kibble shares. If low carbohydrate is genuinely your priority, wet food or freeze-dried is the format that delivers it, not a different bag of kibble. Compare in our best wet cat food guide, and the Cornell Feline Health Center covers feline diabetes and diet.
Is the big bag a better deal?
On price, yes. On freshness, it depends on how many cats you feed. At roughly 55 grams a day, a typical amount for an average indoor cat eating only dry food, one cat takes about four months to finish 16 pounds.
Dry food fats slowly oxidise once the bag is open, and cats notice stale kibble before people do. With one cat, the 8-pound bag finishes in about two months, which is the better trade. Two or more cats get through the big bag fast enough to bank the saving. Either way, keep the food in its original bag inside a sealed tub, away from heat.
The Good Gravy idea
Petcurean’s newer Good Gravy line is a kibble that forms a gravy when you add water, and it is a more thoughtful product than it first appears.
- It targets the cats who refuse wet food. Plenty of cats simply will not eat a pate, and telling their owner to switch to wet food is useless advice.
- It adds moisture to a familiar format, which is the practical compromise. More water than plain kibble, less than a can.
- It is not equivalent to wet food. A can is roughly 75 percent water and rehydrated kibble is not close to that.
- Prepare it fresh and do not leave a rehydrated bowl out for hours, particularly in a warm room.
- Useful for cats with urinary history who reject cans, where any increase in water intake is worth having.
Cats have a weak thirst drive inherited from desert-dwelling ancestors and take most of their water from prey rather than a bowl, so anything that raises intake matters more than the ingredient tier of the food itself.
Now Fresh bags, priced per pound
| Recipe | Bag | Price | Per lb | Pick it if |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grain-Free Adult, 8 lb | 8 lb | $52.99 | $6.62 | You have one cat, or you are trying the brand. |
| Grain-Free Adult, 16 lb | 16 lb | $88.99 | $5.56 | You feed two or more cats and finish a bag in about two months. |
| Good Gravy Chicken | 8 lb | $46.99 | $5.87 | Your cat refuses wet food. Add warm water to make the gravy. |
| Good Gravy Salmon | 8 lb | $47.99 | $6.00 | Same idea, for a cat that prefers fish. |
| Grain-Free Senior | 8 lb | $54.99 | $6.87 | Your cat is a senior. Any change in thirst or weight is a vet visit. |
| Grain-Free Kitten | 3 lb | $25.99 | $8.66 | You have a kitten. The small bag stays fresh. |
Who Now Fresh is for
Buy it if you want kibble made from fresh deboned meat with no rendered meal, from a family-owned company with no recall history. The Good Gravy line is worth knowing about for a cat who refuses wet food entirely.
Look elsewhere if low carbohydrate is your actual priority, since no kibble solves that. Compare in our best dry cat food guide, and see Canidae for a limited-ingredient alternative.
Final verdict
Fresh deboned meat, no meat meals anywhere, family-owned Canadian company, and a clean recall record. As dry food goes this is a genuinely well-made product.
Just know that grain-free kibble still carries a substantial carbohydrate load, because extrusion requires starch. If that matters for your cat, the answer is a different format rather than a different bag. Start with Now Fresh Grain-Free Adult Formula Dry Cat Food, 8-lb bag. This article is educational rather than veterinary advice.
Now Fresh FAQ
Q: Has Now Fresh ever been recalled?
No. Now Fresh has never been recalled. Petcurean’s separate Go! Natural brand was recalled in 2003, but that is a different product line.
Q: Who makes Now Fresh cat food?
Petcurean, a family-owned Canadian pet food company founded in 1999 in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. Now Fresh launched in 2007.
Q: Is grain-free cat food low in carbohydrate?
No. Removing grain means replacing it with potato, peas, lentils or chickpeas. Extruded kibble needs starch to hold its shape, so grain-free dry food still carries a substantial carbohydrate load.
Q: How much carbohydrate is in Now Fresh?
The adult grain-free recipe runs roughly 38 percent carbohydrate on a dry matter basis, alongside about 34 percent protein and 19 percent fat. That is typical for premium grain-free kibble.
Q: What is Now Fresh Good Gravy?
Good Gravy is a kibble formulated to create a gravy when water is added, aimed at cats that refuse wet food. It adds moisture to a familiar dry format, though it is not equivalent to canned food, which is around 75 percent water.
Hello and welcome to The Ideal Cat!
We are some passionate cat owners from different professions. We love our cats and have a lot of experience in how to care for our pets. We are incredibly excited to share our knowledge, experience, and research with you. So you can take good care of your loving cat. We will answer most of the common questions about owning cats, taking care of them, etc. If you have any question contact with us. Thanks for visiting! Enjoy the content.
