Cat Food Toppers: Friskies Lil’ Soup Review

Last Updated on October 19, 2021 by Holly Anne Dustin

Sprinkles, broths, raw mixers, shreds, and purees.  Goat’s milk, herbals, and super foods. Cat food toppers, complements and supplemental diets. Cat moms and dads are looking to improve the nutritional punch of their kitty’s meals by adding cat food toppers or completers to the kibble, canned stews or pates they offer their cats.

Why Cat Food Toppers?

The topper market is expanding rapidly.  Some entries are designed to aid digestion, skin and coat health, immune support or hip and joint health.  Others offer an easy way to add freeze dried raw food to Kitty’s diet.  Increased palatability is the obvious benefit to offering your cats toppers and completers with their meals.

Moist complements and toppers are a good source of hydration when added to kibble. They can be helpful convincing a picky cat to try a new diet. A tasty topper can cause a kitty with anorexia from illness or stress to come back to her food bowl. For a senior cat, a topper or complement can provide needed nutrition in an easy to digest addition. They also make a tasty treat and a reward for a job well done.

Life&Cats received a free 8-pack of Friskies Lil’ Soups from Chewy.com in exchange for our honest opinions of the product. 

Dog owners have used moist food as a supplement to a kibble diet for some time. The cat market is a little different because moist food is more common. However, toppers and complements are becoming more popular as the cat market continues to grow. The feline side of the toppers market grew by 264% in 2016 according to PetFoodIndustry.com.

Friskies Lil’ Soups

A newer entry to the complements market is Friskies Lil’ Soups by Purina (direct link to Chewy).  We tried the Sockeye Salmon in Velvety Chicken Broth during our recent road trip.

Plush likes something special for his “road food” when we go to cat shows.  He wasn’t too excited about the Fancy Feast grilled canned food I offered even though it is something he enjoys.  Adding the Friskies Soup over top of the canned food had him tucking right in. He also enjoyed it straight as a treat after his show day. Besides the Salmon flavor Plush reviewed this weekend, Lil’ Soups come in shrimp, tuna, and chicken and squash flavors.  I think Plush will enjoy trying out all the flavors during upcoming road trips.

Nutritional Profile

Nutritionally, the Lil’ Soups make a solid option as a treat or complement.  The guaranteed analysis shows crude protein (min) 9.0%, crude fat (min) 0.05%, crude fiber (max) 1.0%, moisture (max) 92, with 18 kcal/cup.

The ingredient list is short, and includes no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.  I was pleased to see there is no carageenan though I’m not too excited about the gums.  Friskies includes powdered cellulose to provide the creamy texture.  Along with the gums the cellulose could irritate the gut of a cat with inflammatory bowel disease. I would not offer this product to my Shadow but Plush can have it because he has no digestive problems, and I will not be using it on a daily basis long term.

Pricing

Chewy offers the Lil’ Soups for $7.50 per case of 8 cups as well as an 18 cup variety pack for $17.99 (as of the date of this review).  It is a little pricey but I would not hesitate to purchase this product if I had an elderly cat, or a recovering cat, that needed help to regain their desire to eat.

For more information on how to read a cat food label, check out our guide here.

It is similar in price to other broths and toppers like Fancy Feast appetizers. You can save 5-10% off the price by getting your Friskies soups on autoship. Chewy offers a 30% off your first autoship order if you are a new customer. Shipping is free on all orders over $49. If you haven’t shopped at Chewy before and want to learn more about my experience shopping with Chewy, I have a post here.

Thank you Chewy for allowing Plush the opportunity to enjoy a new treat.  This won’t be the last time we order the product.