You open the can and it looks like something off a restaurant plate. Actual shreds of chicken breast, clear broth, no brown mush. Your cat loses her mind.
So Reveal passes the two tests most wet foods fail: it looks like real food and cats actually eat it. There is a third test though, and this is where it gets complicated.
Most Reveal cans are not a complete diet. That is not a scandal or a secret, it is printed on the label. But it is easy to miss, and feeding a cat nothing but complementary food for months causes real harm.
Here is the pricing fact that changes how you use Reveal. The broth cans are toppers, yet they cost as much as complete food: about 52 cents an ounce for the Chicken Breast in Broth cans and about 80 cents for the Tuna with Shrimp pots. A complete wet food like Wellness Complete Health costs about 51 cents an ounce on Chewy.
And on Chewy, every Reveal product labelled complete and balanced is dry food. If you want Reveal as the whole meal, it comes in a bag, and the cans are what goes on top.
Is Reveal cat food complete and balanced?
Reveal’s dry food is complete and balanced. Most of Reveal’s wet food in broth is not. This single distinction matters more than anything else in this review, so it is worth being precise about.
A complete and balanced food meets the AAFCO nutrient profiles and can be fed as an animal’s only diet. A complementary food is designed to sit alongside a complete diet. It is real food, it is not defective, but it is missing the vitamin and mineral package a cat needs long term.
Reveal’s broth cans are deliberately minimal. Chicken breast, water, maybe a little rice. That simplicity is exactly why cats like them and exactly why they cannot stand alone.
Check the label on any can you buy. The wording appears in small print, usually near the feeding guidelines, and it is the difference between a treat and a meal.
Here is the range sorted by that one question.
| Product | Type | Price | Unit cost | Complete meal? | Pick it if |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complete & Balanced Chicken | Dry, 7 lb | $31.99 | $4.57/lb | Yes | You want Reveal as your cat’s main food. |
| Complete & Balanced Whitefish | Dry, 7 lb | $31.99 | $4.57/lb | Yes | Your cat turns away from poultry. |
| Chicken Kitten Recipe | Dry, 2 x 2.5 lb | $28.48 | $5.70/lb | Yes, for kittens | You have a kitten. No margin for an incomplete diet. |
| Chicken Breast in Broth | Wet, 24 x 2.47 oz | $30.96 | $0.52/oz | No, a topper | You want to add water and interest to a complete diet. |
| Tuna with Shrimp in Broth | Wet, 18 x 2.12 oz | $30.42 | $0.80/oz | No, a topper | Your cat has gone off food and needs a strong smell. |
Why feeding only complementary food is a real problem
Cats cannot make enough taurine on their own, so they must get it from their diet. Complete foods add it deliberately. Minimal complementary recipes often do not.
Sustained taurine deficiency causes dilated cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle, and retinal degeneration that can end in blindness. Both are well documented and both are largely preventable through diet. The Cornell Feline Health Center is a reliable place to read more about feline nutritional requirements.
None of this means Reveal is dangerous. Fed as intended, as a topper on a complete diet, it is a genuinely good product. The risk comes from a well meaning owner who buys a case, feeds nothing else for six months, and never reads the small print. If that describes you, switch the base of the diet, not the brand.
What Reveal gets right
- Ingredient honesty. Three or four recognisable items. No gums, no carrageenan, no vague meat derivatives.
- Moisture. Broth based food is one of the easiest ways to get water into a cat, which protects the kidneys and urinary tract over a lifetime. If your cat ignores a bowl entirely, a cat water fountain often works better than any food change.
- Palatability. It converts fussy cats. If your cat has stopped eating and you need something tempting, this category works.
- Clear labelling. Reveal does say complementary on the pack. Plenty of brands in this category are far vaguer.
Should you buy Reveal?
Buy Reveal if you want a clean topper to make a complete diet more appealing or more hydrating, or if you want the dry Complete and Balanced range as a genuine main food. Both are good at their jobs.
Skip it if you want a single wet food to feed exclusively, because most of the range cannot do that and buying around the exceptions is fiddly. Our roundup of the best wet cat food covers complete options, and our main cat food guide compares full diets across budgets.
Reveal makes some of the cleanest wet food you can buy, and cats respond to it in a way they do not respond to brown pate. The ingredient list is short and honest and there is nothing in it to object to.
The catch is structural rather than a flaw. Most of it is a topper, and it should be bought as one. If you want Reveal to be the whole meal, buy Reveal Natural Complete & Balanced Grain-Free Chicken Recipe Dry Cat Food, 7-lb bag instead of the cans. This article is educational and not veterinary advice, so if your cat has been eating only complementary food for a long stretch, mention it to your vet rather than worrying alone.
Reveal questions
Q: Is Reveal cat food complete and balanced?
Reveal’s Natural Complete and Balanced dry cat food is complete and balanced and can be fed as a sole diet. Most Reveal wet food in broth is labelled complementary, which means it is not nutritionally complete and should be fed alongside a complete diet.
Q: Can I feed my cat only Reveal wet food?
No. Most Reveal wet cans are complementary rather than complete, so feeding them exclusively over a long period risks nutritional deficiency, including taurine deficiency. Use them as a topper on a complete and balanced food.
Q: What does complementary cat food mean?
Complementary cat food is food designed to be fed alongside a complete and balanced diet rather than instead of one. It usually lacks the full vitamin, mineral, and amino acid package a cat needs, so it works as a topper or treat but not as a whole meal.
Q: Does Reveal cat food have taurine?
Reveal’s complete and balanced dry recipes include added taurine. The minimal broth cans rely on taurine naturally present in the meat and fish rather than added taurine, which is one reason they are labelled complementary.
Q: Has Reveal cat food been recalled?
There is no widely reported FDA recall of Reveal cat food. Always check the FDA recall database for the current status of any pet food brand before buying.
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.
