Heart To Tail Cat Food Review

Heart To Tail cat food is an economy brand sold through the grocery chain Aldi in the United States. The brand makes both wet and dry foods. Learn more about Heart To Tail in our unbiased review.

The Cats.com Standard – Rating Heart To Tail Cat Food on What Matters

We have analyzed Heart To Tail cat food and rated it according to our standards here at Cats.com. Our grades are based on the species-appropriateness of the food, the quality of the ingredients, product variety, price, customer experience, and recall history. You can read more about our ratings here.

Here are our ratings for Heart To Tail in these key areas:

We give Heart To Tail cat food a 38 out of 60 rating (63.33) or a C- grade.

About Heart To Tail

Heart To Tail is a relatively new product line. Online information is scarce. However, we can say that the brand is sold through the German-owned grocery chain Aldi which has been expanding in the United States since the 1970s. Aldi is closely connected to the popular chain Trader Joe’s.

Sourcing and Manufacture

There is various information online about who manufactures Heart To Tail for Aldi. Our best guess is that Sunshine Mills (Evolve, Triumph, Sportsman’s Pride, and many other pet foods), with manufacturing plants in Alabama, makes the brand’s kibble. Sunshine Mills is a large company with seven plants (as of 2020).

There is speculation that Heart To Tail wet cat food is made by Big Heart Pet Brands (formerly part of Del Monte, now owned by J.M. Smucker) in Texas and Washington. Big Heart Pet Brands also makes 9 Lives and other pet foods. However, Heart To Tail cat foods have stated at times on their labels that they are products of Canada. We’re not sure who makes Heart To Tail wet food for Aldi.

Aldi doesn’t provide this information so we can only guess based on online comments and occasional press releases.

There is no indication where the ingredients are sourced. Aldi doesn’t provide this information about the food. As a private label brand, there is no web site for Heart To Tail so the information isn’t easily available.

We do take this lack of information into account when rating foods. Many customers today want to know who makes a pet food. They also want more information about the ingredients. Secrecy about these issues leads to suspicion that the brand has something to hide.

Has Heart To Tail Cat Food Been Recalled?

We found recalls for some Sunshine Mills pet foods from 2020 and 2021 that included some Aldi dog foods such as Pure Being. However, no Heart To Tail cat foods appeared to be involved.

What Kinds of Food Does Heart To Tail Offer?

Heart To Tail offers wet foods, dry foods, treats, and cat litter.

Heart To Tail canned foods are available in assorted flavors (5.5 ounce cans): salmon, turkey & giblets, whitefish & tuna.

Heart To Tail entrees are available in assorted varieties (3 ounce cans): Gourmet Chicken Entrée, Beef Entrée, or Cod, Sole, & Shrimp Entrée

Their dry cat food comes in a Complete Nutrition formula (16 pounds), Special Medley (3.15 pounds), and Indoor Cat (3.15 pounds) formula.

Heart To Tail Cat Food – Top 3 Recipes Reviewed

#1 Aldi’s Heart To Tail Premium Cat Food Salmon Entree (Made With Real Salmon)

Buy At Aldi

Some private label/store brands do a very good job of providing information about their products. Aldi is not one of these stores. A look at their Heart To Tail products online will not provide you (or me) any information about the nutrition in the foods.

The information for these reviews has been pieced together from various places online. Even the ingredient lists have come from other online sites. You can’t find the ingredients or guaranteed analyses on the Aldi site.

Heart to Tail Premium Cat Food Salmon Entree (Made With Real Salmon) is a wet food that comes in a 5.5 ounce can. Aldi doesn’t provide a price on their web site, telling you to check your local store. However, these 5.5 ounce cans are inexpensive. One older review from a couple of years ago lists them at 39 cents (US) per can.

This product is also available in White Fish & Tuna and Turkey & Giblets.

The main ingredients in the food are meat by-products, salmon, poultry by-products, fish, and brewers rice. We do not automatically condemn foods that contain meat or poultry by-products. There are some highly-respected veterinary nutritionists who say that meat and poultry by-products can be good for cats since cats are obligate carnivores.

These may not be parts that some of us would want to eat, but many cats love organ meats and entrails – and they are good for cats. The salmon and fish are also good ingredients.

Brewers rice is a common carbohydrate found in some pet foods. Most of us don’t like to see cereals and grains in wet foods. It is not especially harmful in small amounts but it is low in nutritional value. You can make some excuse for some carbohydrates in dry foods since starch is necessary for the kibble but it’s harder to excuse this kind of starch in a wet food.

Other ingredients in the food do raise some flags such as artificial flavors, added color (red and other artificial colors), guar gum and carrageenan, and sodium nitrate. Your cat doesn’t care about the color of the food and the sodium nitrate is used to help retain the added colors.

Note that the can says on the front label that there are no artificial flavors so it’s possible there has been a change in the ingredients. (Remember we are only piecing together the information we found online for this food.)

Heart to Tail Premium Cat Food Salmon Entree (Made With Real Salmon) is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for Growth and Maintenance.

Heart to Tail Premium Cat Food Salmon Entree (Made With Real Salmon) could be a fall back food if you are on a budget. However, the food contains some ingredients that are concerning.

Calorie Content (ME Calculated): 1190 kcal/kg; 186 kcal/5.5 ounce can/156grams

Ingredients

Meat By-products, Water Sufficient Enough For Processing, Salmon, Poultry By-products, Fish, Brewers Rice, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Guar Gum, Added Color (Red And Other Artificial Colors), Salt, Potassium Chloride, Dl-methionine, Vitamins (Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, D-calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid), Carrageenan, Taurine, Minerals (Ferrus Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Proteinate, Potassium Iodide, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite), Choline Chloride, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Sodium Nitrate (To Promote Color Retention)

Ingredients We Liked: Salmon, fish

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Brewers rice, artificial flavors, added colors, sodium nitrate

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 10%

Crude Fat: 5%

Crude Fiber: 1.5%

Moisture: 78%

Ash: 3%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 45.45%

Fat: 22.73%

Fiber: 6.82%

Carbs: 11.36%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 40.58%

Fat: 49.28%

Carbs: 10.14%

Pros

• Salmon and fish are good sources of protein for cats
• Meat by-products and poultry by-products can be good sources of nutrients for cats
• Very affordable

Cons

• Contains artificial colors and flavors
• Brewers rice is usually considered a filler ingredient, especially in wet foods
• Contains both guar gum and carrageenan

#2 Aldi’s Heart To Tail Premium Cat Food Gourmet Chicken Entrée (Made With Real Chicken)

Buy At Aldi

If you have ever wondered which food items most commonly show up as food allergens for cats, they are beef, fish, and dairy. Who knew, right? These are probably some of a cat’s favorite foods.

They have also been fed to cats for a long time, hence the reason why some cats have developed allergies to them. The more animals (or humans) encounter something, the greater the possibility that they can develop an allergy to it.

Oddly enough, chicken has not yet reached that stage with cats in general, though an individual cat can have an allergy to chicken.

If your cat likes chicken, we have a review for Heart To Tail Premium Cat Food Gourmet Chicken Entrée (Made with Real Chicken), sold at Aldi’s. This is a 3-ounce can of food that sells for slightly more than the 5.5 ounce can of wet foods reviewed above. It’s also available in Beef Entrée and Cod, Sole, & Shrimp Entrée.

The main ingredients are chicken, animal liver, meat by-products, fish, and poultry by-products.

The good news here is that chicken is the first ingredient. This food, like the food for the 5.5 ounce cans, also contains meat by-products and poultry by-products. Again, this doesn’t automatically make it a “bad” food. Organs are good for your cat.

However, it is usually better when ingredients are specifically idientified. For example, instead of “animal liver,” it would be nice to know what kind of animal. Meat and poultry by-products could be more clearly identified by animal.

The label on the Aldi web site states that the food contains no artificial flavors or preservatives which also makes it an improvement over the 5.5 ounce cans.

Heart To Tail Premium Cat Food Gourmet Chicken Entrée (Made with Real Chicken) is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for Growth and Maintenance.

Heart to Tail Premium Cat Food Gourmet Chicken Entrée (Made with Real Chicken) is an improvement over Heart To Tail’s 5.5 ounce cans. It has slightly more protein, no artificial flavors or preservatives, and it omits the added carbs from the brewers rice. It costs slightly more but it is worth the extra cost.

Calorie Content (ME Calculated): 1158 kcal/kg and 98 kcal/3 ounce can/85 grams

Ingredients

Chicken, Water Sufficient For Processing, Animal Liver, Meat-byproducts, Fish, Poultry By-products, And Natural Flavor … Complete list not found online. (See this page for a picture of an older version of the can.)

Ingredients We Liked: Chicken, fish,

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Added color, sodium nitrite

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 11%

Crude Fat: 5%

Crude Fiber: 1.5%

Moisture: 78%

Ash: 3%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 50%

Fat: 22.73%

Fiber: 6.82%

Carbs: 6.82%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 44.64%

Fat: 49.28%

Carbs: 6.09%

Pros

• Chicken – a named animal protein – is the first ingredient
• Contains slightly more animal protein than Heart To Tail’s 5.5 ounce cans
• No artificial flavors or preservatives
• Still affordable

Cons

• Contains added colors
• Contains sodium nitrite for color retention

#3 Aldi’s Heart To Tail Premium Adult Cat Food Indoor Formula

Buy At Aldi

We had a heck of a time finding information about this food (or any of Heart To Tail’s dry foods) online. We finally found the ingredient list on Instacart. Then we found the food on Amazon.com where it’s not supposed to be sold. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have any information to give you about the food.

Heart To Tail Premium Adult Cat Food Indoor Formula dry cat food has main ingredients such as corn meal, poultry by-product meal, soy bean meal, corn gluten meal, and animal fat.

Other ingredients lower in the list are concerning such as corn distillers dried grains with solubles, rice bran, beef and bone meal, and wheat middlings. This food is very high in carbohydrates and the protein seems to be low quality.

Although the protein percentage for this food looks high, a lot of it comes from plant sources such as corn and soybean meal.

This food is very affordable. It’s sold in 3.15 pound bags for about $3 at Aldi.

Heart To Tail Premium Adult Cat Food Indoor Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance of adult cats.

Most of the comments we found online suggested that Aldi’s wet foods were better than their dry foods. We agree. Heart To Tail Premium Adult Cat Food Indoor Formula dry cat food might be suitable in an emergency but we would not recommend this food if you have other options. Not every cat gets to eat filet mignon for dinner but there are many cat foods, even dry cat foods, that have better ingredients than this one.

Calorie Content (ME Calculated): 3220 kcals ME/kg; 366 calories per cup

Ingredients

Corn Meal, Poultry By-product Meal, Soybean Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Corn Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles, Rice Bran, Beef And Bone Meal, Wheat Middlings, Powdered Cellulose, Fish Meal, Chicken Liver Digest, Rice, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Vegetable Oil, Lecithin, Taurine, Parsley Flakes, Vitamins: (vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals: (zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Salt)

Ingredients We Liked: Fish meal

Ingredients We Didn’t Like: Corn Meal, Soybean Meal, Corn Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles, Rice Bran, Beef And Bone Meal, Wheat Middlings

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein: 30%

Crude Fat: 9.5%

Crude Fiber: 4.8%

Moisture: 12%

Dry Matter Basis

Protein: 34.09%

Fat: 10.8%

Fiber: 5.45%

Carbs: 49.66%

Caloric Weight Basis

Protein: 31%

Fat: 23.84%

Carbs: 45.16%

Pros

• Contains some reasonably good animal protein such as fish meal
• Very affordable

Cons

• High in carbohydrates
• Contains lower quality plant and animal proteins

What Do Customers Think of Heart To Tail Cat Food?

Opinions of Heart To Tail cat foods varied. Some people said that their cats really loved some of the wet foods. A few people said their cats liked the dry foods. We also found customers who said their cats used to like the foods but they had recently refused to eat them. They specullated that the formulas had changed.

Positive Reviews

“I started buying the Heart to Tail 5.5 oz. canned cat food this past spring as a result of cat food shortages everywhere. I’ve become disappointed with Friskies due to weight shortage of cans and increased water in their Pate’ formulas. My 2 Male Chartreux cats enjoy the salmon, turkey and giblets, as well as ocean whitefish & tuna. The ash content as listed on the label is low, compared to other brands, which is a good thing! Weight per can is actually slightly more than advertised. I know because I use a precision cooking scale to evenly divide a can between my 2 guys. I’ve noticed no problems across the board, and it seems to be superior to Friskies as far as quality of ingredients. Price is also a bonus, but not all that important. They also LOVE!!! Fancy Feast Fish & Shrimp, as a treat meal. My boys also have a bowl of very high quality dry food (Taste of the Wild) available 24/7. They are both very active and healthy ages 15, and 5 yrs. So far I have no complaints with the Aldi’s brand of wet cat food. I understand they also carry a higher quality brand, but have not seen it yet. “- by William Thesing reviewing Heart To Tail on December 31, 2021

“My cats prefer the Aldi brand salmon pate’ over any others. I’ve not had any issues with it so far and none of my 4 cats regurgitate it. They only eat wet food in the morning and small amounts of kibble a couple of times during the day (Iams indoor salmon). The stray loves the Heart to Tail dry food… no issues with it either. The cats that I foster love the Aldi pate’ of any flavor. I have no complaints for Heart to Tail “yet”.” – by Cecelia reviewing Heart To Tail on December 20, 2021

Negative Reviews

“My cat use to love the heart to tail wet food and dried food , it s the only brand she likes , but lately when i bought the canned food i opened one , she didn’t like it , opened the second one she didn’t t like it , did it again and again. But no response , she refuses to eat other brand . I asked my sister , she gives the same brand to her cat , she said the same thing , that s when i figured out that heart to tail changed the ingredients. My concern is what should i give my cat ? And what i m going to do with all the stock of the canned food i have ?? I cant watch my cat loosing weight for a stupid reason Heart to tail dont have a 800 number to contact either aldi dont respond !!! I need customer service asap.” – by Racha reviewing Heart To Tail on March 13, 2022

“I purchased the Salmon cat food at Aldis and although my cat liked it he threw up pink salmon pate all over my carpet. I tried it again and he did the same thing. I gave the remaining cans to a friend to give to his cats since I thought it may just be my cat. BUT his cats threw it up all over the carpet too. 3 cats puking up salmon pate all over your carpet leads me to believe it is the cat food and not the cat.” – by Tamara Root reviewing Heart To Tail on May 27, 2021

How Much Does Heart To Tail Cat Food Cost?

All of Heart To Tail’s cat foods are inexpensive. The 5.5 ounce cans are around 39 cents per can in the United States (unless the price has increased during the pandemic). The 3 ounce cans cost about 49 cents per can.

Heart To Tail dry foods are also very affordable. The indoor food for cats is about $3 for a 3.15 pound bag. The Special Medley formula, also 3.15 pounds, also costs about $3.

Heart To Tail makes a complete and balanced dry cat food – 16 pounds – that costs about $9. All of these prices are for in-store sale.

Overall, Is Heart To Tail Cat Food a Good Choice?

Heart To Tail cat foods are a mixed bag. The 3-ounce canned entrees are the best of their foods. At 49 cents per can, they are an affordable food for people on a budget.

The 5.5 ounce wet foods cost a little less but they are not quite as good as the 3-ounce entrees.

Heart To Tail kibbles appear to have ingredients that are of poorer quality than their canned foods. We would not recommend them if you can buy something better.

How Do You Order Heart To Tail Cat Food?

Heart To Tail cat foods are only available through Aldi stores. (Though we did find one food for sale – at an outrageous price – on Amazon.com.)