Product Review: Purrfect Bistro Thanksgiving Day Dinner

Last Updated on May 29, 2021 by Holly Anne Dustin

My cats and I had the pleasure of trying out Merrick Purrfect Bistro Grain-Free Thanksgiving Day Dinner minced in gravy cat food.

My cats range in age from 4 months to 14 years old. I expected the kittens to eat whatever is put in front of them. This was no exception. I could hardly get the cans open before they had their faces in the cans. I didn’t expect my big cats to go for it but I was wrong. They were all eager to try it. Eager enough I couldn’t get pictures. I guess I know what I’ll be buying for Thanksgiving treats.

The product discussed in this article was provided at no cost from Chewy.com. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

Appeal:

My cats are primarily raw fed; but I like being able to provide my fur babies with treats of canned food now and then. I want them to eat canned food should our raw food not be available for whatever reason. I look for meat based, grain-free, low carbohydrate products that my cats will love. The highest quality product is not a treat if the cats hate it.

Merrick formulates Purrfect Bistro Thanksgiving Day Dinner for cats and kittens so all my cats can eat it. It is a minced with gravy texture which is the favorite around here. It is not like a “gravy lovers” formula dripping in gravy. The gravy is thicker. I wasn’t sure what my gravy lovers would think, but they gobbled it up. I fed it as a treat, but fed alone Merrick recommends a 3-ounce can per 3.5lbs of the cat.

The food is visually appealing in the can and on the plate. But cats don’t care about that. Smell matters to cats. This food smells rich and meaty, like food, not just stinky like a lot of canned foods.

Ingredient Panel:

Merrick’s marketing materials say Bistro is full of real whole foods, fresh ingredients from local growers, no meat by-products, and prepared in their US based, organically certified, kitchens. Purrfect Bistro Thanksgiving Day Dinner is 74% protein and fat, 26% carbohydrates, fiber and vitamins/minerals. According to Chewy, the product is only 2.1% carbohydrates as fed, similar to the diet of a feral cat. It doesn’t include additives, sweeteners, colors or preservatives.

All that sounds great. If I read no further, I could feed this product to my cats full time. Even the start of the ingredient panel is great. The first 5 ingredients are all meat based. However, then the peas, potatoes and alfalfa show up. Peas and alfalfa are plant-based protein that increase the protein percentage in the food but are not as digestible by obligate carnivores. There is also the current concern over the relationship between legumes and heart disease.

Purrfect Bistro contains powdered cellulose, a source of insoluble fiber. It serves the purpose of fur or feathers that a cat would eat if catching food in the wild. It is common in food for weight loss as it adds bulk so your cat feels fuller longer. I’m just not thrilled with it as an ingredient in my cat food choice.

The food also contains carrageenan, a common but controversial thickener I try to avoid as it may irritate my Shadow’s severe IBS. Yucca Schidigera is another controversial ingredient.  It purports to be an anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritic ingredient but manufacturers add it to food to reduce stool odor. If you want to reduce odor in the litter box, feed raw!

If you would like to learn more about decoding cat food labels, we have a guide available here.

Conclusion:

While I wouldn’t feed Merrick Purrfect Bistro on a full-time basis, I will add it to my emergency cat food rotation. I am looking forward to testing out other flavors with my clowder.

Merrick Purrfect Bistro Thanksgiving Dinner has a 4.4 star review on Chewy.com. It was also a popular offering in the retail store I used to manage. My cats agree. All paws up!  Thank you Chewy for the opportunity to try another great product.  If you want to give Merrick a try, you can save 30% if you haven’t already set up a Chewy account. If you already have an account, you’ll still save. And shipping is free after $49. If you want to learn more about shopping with Chewy, I have written a post about my experiences here.