Glossary of the terms we use

The version for adult cats from 12 months, seniors included.

The version designed for kittens from 8 weeks, and suitable for adults who share their bowl.

A recipe balanced on purpose with fewer supplements, so your first try at homemade costs less. Full recipes use more, for a better balance and wider nutrient margins.

The catalog groups recipes into families by main meat, such as the chicken family.

Chicken is the recipe's largest main meat, named first. Beef-, turkey-, lamb- and duck-forward work the same way.

How the food is finished. Most recipes offer four textures: Chunks, Minced, Shredded and Pâté, each with the same ingredients and nutrition.

The base size of a recipe: 1,000 kcal of food. It feeds an average 4 kg (9 lb) adult cat for about 4 to 5 days.

The recipe page section that shows where to get each ingredient and supplement.

The ingredient list's Exact view: supplements unrounded, by weight, for a precision scale that reads to 0.01 g. It is the way we recommend.

Supplements rounded for measuring by hand: spoon fractions, drops, and whole or half capsules and tablets. The Metric and US views show them.

The calcium source in Adults Only versions, made at home from its own recipe.

The calcium and phosphorus source in Kitten & Adult versions, made at home from chicken bones, with its own recipe.

An amino acid cats need for the heart and eyes. They cannot make enough of it.

An omega-6 fatty acid cats must get from food.

A protein your cat has never eaten. A vet may suggest one for a suspected food sensitivity.

How much fat your cat carries, judged by feeling the ribs and checking the waist. Guide 7 has the chart.

The European pet food industry federation. Recipe pages use its 2025 nutritional guidelines.

The Association of American Feed Control Officials, whose model nutrient profiles most US pet food labels follow. Recipe pages use the 2014 profiles.

The US National Research Council. Its 2006 review of cat nutrient needs is the science the other two draw on.

Kilocalorie, the unit of food energy, often called a calorie on human food labels.

The energy your cat can use from food, after what is lost in stool and urine.

How many kcal a kilogram of the food holds, as fed.

Measured on the food as served, water included.

Measured with the water removed, to compare foods of different moisture.

Calcium to phosphorus. Cats need at least as much calcium as phosphorus, but meat alone has more phosphorus.

NRC's Recommended Allowance and Safe Upper Limit: guidance rather than hard limits.

A regulatory limit, not a nutritional one, on nutrients added as supplements. The nutrient tables mark it "legal", and we chose to follow it.

A band kept inside the range, next to each limit, for the natural variation in whole foods. It shows yellow on the Balance bar (What the nutrition numbers mean).