Open Farm Cat Food Review: Quality Nutrition for Cats
If you have spent any time researching premium pet food, chances are you have come across Open Farm. The brand has built a strong reputation among ingredient conscious cat owners, and for good reason. It leads with transparency, ethical sourcing, and a product line that genuinely prioritizes animal protein. But does it hold up to scientific scrutiny, and is it worth the price for Canadian cat owners?
In this in depth review, I break down the brand’s background, ingredient quality, nutritional profiles, safety record, and overall value, without the marketing spin.
About Open Farm
Background & Manufacturing
Open Farm was founded in 2014 by Jacqueline and Isaac Prehogan, a Toronto-based couple who rescued a dog named Bella and grew frustrated with the lack of transparency in the pet food industry. Their mission: create pet food that is ethically sourced, fully traceable, and nutritionally sound.
Open Farm’s corporate headquarters are based in Toronto, Ontario, making it a proudly Canadian company. However, it’s worth noting that the actual manufacturing takes place at a facility in Minnesota, USA and and many ingredients are source from across the globe. The company is transparent about this distinction — its packaging reads “Formulated in Canada, Made in the USA.” That manufacturing facility is subject to routine audits by the FDA, USDA, Certified Humane, and AIB International, which is a meaningful credential stack for food safety. Every batch of Open Farm product is independently tested by a third-party laboratory before it reaches shelves.
Team & Philosophy
Open Farm’s formulation team includes PhD certified companion animal nutritionists, food scientists, and veterinarians — a credentialed group that lends real scientific weight to the brand’s nutritional claims. Recipes are not developed by marketers; they’re developed by people who understand the biochemistry of feline nutrition.
The philosophy centres on three pillars: ingredient traceability, ethical sourcing, and nutritional integrity. Their website features a transparency page where pet owners can input a lot code from any product to trace every ingredient back to its source farm or supplier. This level of supply chain visibility is rare in the pet food industry and sets a meaningful standard.
Product Line Overview
Open Farm offers cat owners a meaningful range of formats, which is a genuine strength of the brand. Here’s a snapshot of each line:
Dry Kibble (Goodbowl Kibble): Oven-baked in small batches, Open Farm’s kibble features named animal proteins as the first ingredients and avoids corn, soy, and artificial preservatives. Options include grain-inclusive and grain-free varieties.
Wet Food (Rustic Blends & Pâtés): Available in stew-style and pâté formats, Open Farm’s wet food is high in moisture and heavy on animal protein. Some lines are packaged in resealable cardboard cartons rather than cans — a sustainability-forward choice.
Freeze-Dried Raw: Minimally processed and designed to preserve the nutritional profile of raw ingredients, the freeze-dried raw line is intended for cat owners who want a raw-adjacent diet with the convenience and food safety of a shelf-stable product.
Gently Cooked / Meal Toppers: Lightly processed at low temperatures to retain nutrients, these options work well as meal toppers to enhance a kibble-based diet or as standalone meals for cats with palatability issues.
Each format is designed to serve a different feeding philosophy, from convenience-driven kibble feeders to raw-curious owners who aren’t quite ready to source and handle raw meat themselves.
Product Selection
Open Farm’s cat food line covers kitten, adult, and senior life stages, which is important since nutritional requirements shift significantly across a cat’s lifespan. Kitten formulas carry a higher protein and fat density to support growth, while adult formulas are tuned for maintenance.
Protein variety is a genuine strength here. Open Farm offers chicken, turkey, salmon, whitefish, and surf-and-turf blends, which matters for cats with developing food sensitivities or owners who rotate proteins to reduce the risk of protein-specific intolerances. Novel protein options are also available for cats with established allergies.
The brand is relatively easy to navigate, with a well-organized website, clear life stage labelling, and store availability across independent and specialty pet retailers in Canada. It is not typically found in large chain grocery stores, which speaks to its positioning as a specialty food.
| Crude protein (min) | 47% |
| Crude fat (min) | 40% |
| Crude fiber (max) | 5% |
| Moisture (max) | 5% |
| Calories | ~256 kcal/cup |
| Crude protein (min) | 37% |
| Crude fat (min) | 18% |
| Crude fiber (max) | 3% |
| Moisture (max) | 10% |
| Calories | ~470 kcal/cup |
| Crude protein (min) | 7% |
| Crude fat (min) | 6% |
| Crude fiber (max) | 2% |
| Moisture (max) | 82% |
| Calories | ~138 kcal per serving |
Open Farm consistently leads with named animal proteins such as chicken, turkey, and salmon, the right call for obligate carnivores. Taurine is listed explicitly across every recipe reviewed, which is non-negotiable for feline cardiac and ocular health. Chicken meal and salmon meal, while less appealing to consumers visually, are concentrated protein sources with a lower moisture content that meaningfully raises the total protein density of the formula.
Some grain-free kibble formulas lean on lentils and peas as secondary protein contributors. They add to the guaranteed protein figure on the label, but their amino acid profile is not equivalent to an animal source.
Chicken fat and herring oil appear across multiple recipes, delivering meaningful EPA and DHA. Mixed tocopherols are used as the preservative rather than BHA or BHT, appropriate for a premium formula.
The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio is not disclosed on most packaging. Coconut oil in some wet recipes adds saturated fat with limited omega-3 benefit.
Wet food recipes are naturally low in carbohydrates. Chicory root offers prebiotic fibre, and pumpkin contributes soluble and insoluble fibre that supports gut health.
Grain-free kibble contains lentils, peas, and chickpeas among the top six to eight ingredients. Grain-free does not automatically mean low carbohydrate, so owners managing glucose regulation should calculate the estimate before choosing a formula.
A standard premix meets AAFCO adequacy, and whole food ingredients such as cranberries, pumpkin, and spinach contribute naturally to the micronutrient profile.
The brand does not currently publish the specific mineral form used, chelated versus inorganic, which would help owners managing absorption issues in their cats.
Guaranteed Analysis Highlights
For comparison, AAFCO’s minimum recommended protein for adult cat maintenance on a dry matter basis is 26%, and for growth/reproduction it’s 30%. Open Farm’s dry kibble formulas sit at approximately 37–40% crude protein on an as-fed basis — well above minimum requirements and appropriate for obligate carnivores.
Fat content in the kibble (around 18%) is also well-positioned for a maintenance diet. Open Farm’s wet food, while appearing lower in protein on an as-fed basis, converts to a DMB protein level (~40–44%) that is equally impressive.
Moisture content is, predictably, the most significant difference between product formats: approximately 10% in kibble and 78–82% in wet food. For cats with a history of urinary tract issues or chronic kidney disease, the wet food format is substantially preferable from a hydration standpoint.
Recalls and Quality Control
Open Farm has never issued a formal recall. A December 2024 voluntary withdrawal affected select freeze dried raw dog products only, not cat food, after small pieces of food grade plastic liner were found. No injuries were reported.
Every batch is independently tested for salmonella, E. coli, and mycotoxins, and results are published through the brand’s lot code tracking system.
Sourcing and Packaging
Open Farm partners only with Certified Humane or Global Animal Partnership farms and uses wild caught fish across its seafood ingredients.
Wet food ships in resealable cardboard cartons rather than cans, and the lot code system doubles as an environmental accountability tool. These are audited claims, not marketing spin.
The protein sourcing is genuinely species-appropriate, and the transparency infrastructure is best in class for Canada.
What gives me pause is the high fat content in some of the freeze dried raw products, along with the brand’s emphasis on dry formats when cats generally do better on higher moisture diets.
Best suited for healthy adult cats whose owners want ethically sourced, transparent food. Less ideal for cats with diagnosed kidney disease or diabetes, who need a veterinary therapeutic diet, and for multi-cat households on tighter budgets.
- Named animal proteins lead every recipe, appropriate for obligate carnivores
- Explicit taurine supplementation across all formulas
- Herring oil provides meaningful EPA and DHA
- Ingredient traceability through a lot code system
- No corn, soy, artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives
- Independent third-party safety testing published publicly
- Zero formal recalls in over a decade of operation
- Wet food options provide excellent moisture for feline hydration
- Mineral form, chelated versus inorganic, is not disclosed on labelling
- Premium price point is a real barrier for budget conscious or multi-cat households
- High fat to protein ratio in some freeze dried raw diets
- December 2024 voluntary withdrawal on dog products was a reminder that no brand is immune to manufacturing issues
- Manufactured in the USA despite Canadian headquarters, relevant for some buyers
Want a Nutrition Plan Built Around Your Own Cat
Every cat has different needs based on age, health history, and lifestyle. If you would like a personalized recommendation instead of a one-size-fits-all brand pick, I can help.