Smalls Cat Food Review: Pricing, Recipes & Where to Buy (2026)

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The short version: Smalls is a legitimate, well-documented fresh and freeze-dried cat food subscription, founded in 2017, with published nutrition data and a real money-back guarantee. It’s not sold through Chewy, Petco, or PetSmart, and the pricing isn’t a fixed number — it’s built around your cat’s weight and household size. Whether it’s worth it for a cat parent depends on whether your cat will actually eat a fresh diet and whether the subscription model fits your routine.

Smalls is a fresh, human-grade cat food brand sold by subscription. It is also one of the most searched cat food names online, which means it’s surrounded by a lot of secondhand claims. This Smalls Cat Food review sticks to what Smalls actually publishes on its own site and Help Center, plus independent veterinary and regulatory sources where the topic calls for it. We haven’t fed it to our own cat; what follows is built from verified documentation, not a taste test.

What is Smalls cat food?

Smalls was founded in 2017 by Matt Michaelson and Calvin Bohn, built around fresh, human-grade recipes rather than traditional shelf-stable cat food. It’s a subscription brand; you don’t buy it off a shelf, you set up a plan for your specific cat and it arrives on a delivery schedule.

We couldn’t verify an ultimate parent company from any public corporate record. A 2023 funding round included investors linked to Mars and General Mills, but an investment isn’t the same as ownership, and we’re not treating it as one.

What’s in Smalls cat food?

Smalls organizes its lineup by protein rather than publishing one universal ingredient list, since each recipe is built around a different primary meat.

Fresh recipes span seven options built around bird, other-bird, pork, and fish proteins: Ground Bird, Smooth Bird, Ground Other Bird, Smooth Other Bird, Smooth Pig, Smooth Fish, and a combination Smooth Bird & Fish Dish (see the recipes and formats section above for the full breakdown).

Freeze-dried recipes currently include Puffy Bird, Puffy Other Bird, and a Puffy Fish variety listed as coming soon.

What we can verify sitewide: Smalls states its fresh recipes exceed AAFCO’s minimum taurine standards, and the brand also publishes phosphorus values for its fresh recipes — though the table we reviewed wasn’t clearly mapped to each individual recipe. If phosphorus content matters for your cat, Smalls’ Cat Concierge team can provide a recipe-specific breakdown by text or email.

For the complete, recipe-by-recipe ingredient list — including any AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement — the most current and accurate source is the product page for the specific recipe on smalls.com, since formulations can change and a general article isn’t the place to reproduce a list that might go stale.

Where can you buy Smalls cat food?

This is the question we get asked most, and it’s worth answering precisely: as of this writing, Smalls is not sold on Chewy, Petco, or PetSmart. On Amazon, we found a listing for one of Smalls’ freeze-dried products — but it’s tagged “Brand: Generic” rather than an official Smalls storefront, which is a strong sign it’s an unauthorized reseller rather than Smalls itself. Smalls’ subscription plans, which is how the brand is actually meant to be bought and priced for your cat, aren’t available on Amazon at all.

The reliable way to buy Smalls is directly through smalls.com, where pricing and recipes are built around your cat’s weight and household size.

Smalls also lists a separate wholesale/retail page on its own site with a dedicated retail contact. But that channel is for retail partners, not something an individual shopper would use.

How much does Smalls cost?

Smalls doesn’t publish a single monthly price, and we’re not going to invent one. By its own account, pricing varies based on your plan size and how many cats are in your household. The ordering flow asks directly how many cats you’re feeding, and serving amounts scale with your cat’s weight — Smalls’ general guidance is one 200-kcal fresh packet daily for every 10 lb of body weight at a healthy goal weight. More cats, bigger cats, or a higher-calorie recipe all mean a bigger monthly plan.

Smalls does offer a sampler to try before committing to a full subscription, currently discounted, plus a money-back guarantee if your cat won’t eat it — details worth confirming at checkout, since the exact dollar figures depend on your specific plan.

The most accurate way to know what Smalls will actually cost for your cat is to run their quiz and get a quote built around your cat’s real numbers, rather than trusting a generic online estimate.

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How does the Smalls subscription work?

Smalls runs entirely as a direct-to-consumer subscription — there’s no shelf version to grab at the store, and the plan is built around your specific cat rather than a fixed product.

Setting up a plan. The ordering flow asks how many cats you’re feeding and factors in each cat’s weight to calculate serving size. Smalls’ general guidance is one 200-kcal fresh packet daily for every 10 lb of body weight at a healthy goal weight — so a larger cat, a multi-cat household, or a higher-calorie recipe all mean a bigger plan and a higher price.

Trying it first. Rather than committing straight to a full-size plan, Smalls offers a discounted sampler so you can see whether your cat will actually eat it before you’re locked into a recurring order.

Delivery. Once you’re on a plan, orders arrive on a recurring delivery schedule sized to your cat’s plan — this is where the fresh-food storage rules matter (see the storage and serving section above), since each shipment needs to go into the fridge or freezer fairly promptly.

Changing or canceling. Plans can be managed through your account portal: log in, go to Account Details, and select “Cancel My Plan,” which includes a short exit survey before confirming. One important limit — once an order has already processed, Smalls says it can’t be changed, canceled, or refunded, so timing matters if you’re adjusting a plan.

If it doesn’t work out. Smalls’ money-back guarantee is the backstop if your cat won’t eat the food, separate from the standard cancellation process above.

What recipes and formats does Smalls offer?

Smalls’ current lineup, as shown on its own site, spans two formats:

Fresh recipes: Ground Bird, Smooth Bird, Ground Other Bird, Smooth Other Bird, Smooth Pig, Smooth Fish, and a combination Smooth Bird & Fish Dish.

Freeze-dried recipes: Puffy Bird (available in 3 oz, 8 oz, and 14 oz), Puffy Other Bird (14 oz), with a Puffy Fish variety listed as coming soon.

Recipe names and formats can change, so treat this as a current snapshot rather than a permanent lineup — worth double-checking on Smalls’ site before you commit to a plan built around a specific recipe.

How do you store and serve Smalls?

Because it’s fresh, not shelf-stable, Smalls comes with real storage rules. The food is perishable and stays good for up to five days sealed in the refrigerator, or up to 12–18 months frozen depending on the protein. If you’re thawing from frozen, Smalls recommends placing packets on a fridge shelf held at or below 40°F — not in the door, where temperatures fluctuate more.

To serve, you can warm a packet in a bowl of warm water for 3–5 minutes to bring out the aroma, or microwave in short 5-second bursts, mixing between each. One detail worth knowing if you’re using Smalls’ own Slooowserve feeding dish: it isn’t microwave-safe. Warm the food in a separate microwave-safe dish first, then transfer it over.

Is Smalls cat food healthy?

Smalls states that its fresh food contains taurine, an amino acid that’s essential for cats, and that its fresh recipes exceed AAFCO’s minimum taurine standards. That’s a meaningful, verifiable claim.

Smalls also publishes phosphorus values for its fresh recipes, though the published table wasn’t clearly mapped to individual recipes in what we reviewed. If phosphorus matters to you — for instance, if you’re managing a cat with kidney concerns — Smalls offers a more detailed, recipe-specific breakdown through its Cat Concierge team, reachable by text or email.

One thing we couldn’t confirm: a full AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement spelling out which life stage (adult maintenance, growth, or all life stages) each recipe is formulated for. Smalls does use “vet-approved recipes” as marketing language on its site, but we found no named veterinarian, credentials, or formulation methodology attached to that claim. Per FDA guidance, endorsements and seals on their own aren’t proof of nutritional adequacy — so we’re reporting this as Smalls’ own marketing language, not as an independently verified fact.

Do veterinarians recommend Smalls?

No major veterinary body — the AVMA, AAFP, WSAVA, or similar — endorses a specific commercial cat food brand, and Smalls is no exception to that. So the honest answer is: there’s no independent veterinary endorsement of Smalls that we could locate.

Smalls does use “vet-approved recipes” as marketing language on its own site. But we found no named veterinarian, no credentials, and no described formulation methodology attached to that claim. Per FDA guidance, endorsements and seals on their own aren’t proof of nutritional adequacy — a brand can accurately say a vet reviewed something without that meaning what a reader might assume it means.

That doesn’t mean vets object to Smalls. Fresh, human-grade cat food as a category isn’t controversial in veterinary nutrition — the more relevant question for any individual cat is whether the recipe is complete and balanced for that cat’s life stage and health status, which is a conversation to have with your own vet using your cat’s actual bloodwork, not a brand’s marketing copy. If your cat has a diagnosed condition like kidney disease or diabetes, that conversation matters more than any brand’s general reputation (see the health conditions section next).

Is Smalls safe for cats with health conditions?

If you’re researching Smalls because your cat has urinary crystals, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease, here’s the honest answer: fresh or gently cooked food isn’t, by format alone, a treatment for any of these conditions. Veterinary nutrition guidance for each of these is specific to the individual cat’s diagnosis and nutrient needs, not to whether a food is “fresh.”

For chronic kidney disease specifically, Cornell Feline Health Center notes that dietary modification is a proven part of treatment, typically through therapeutic diets restricted in protein, phosphorus, and sodium — a different formulation approach than a standard fresh-food recipe. For diabetes, peer-reviewed research supports low-carbohydrate diets as one effective management option for many cats, though cats with additional health issues, like kidney disease, may need a different approach entirely.

None of this means Smalls is unsuitable for a cat managing one of these conditions — it means the decision should be made with your vet, based on your cat’s specific bloodwork and needs, not on a brand’s general marketing.

What if my cat won’t eat it?

Switching an established cat to a new food, especially a fresh one, doesn’t always go smoothly on the first try. If your cat is hesitant, a gradual transition — mixing small amounts into their current food and increasing the ratio over time — tends to work better than an abrupt switch. Warming the food (see the storage and serving section above) can also help, since fresh food served cold is less aromatic to a cat than food closer to body temperature.

If it genuinely doesn’t work out, Smalls’ money-back guarantee is the practical safety net — worth reviewing the specific terms at checkout before you commit to a full-size plan.

How does Smalls compare to other fresh cat food brands?

Smalls sits in the same general category as other fresh and human-grade cat food subscriptions, like Open Farm. The meaningful differences between brands in this space usually come down to recipe format (fresh vs. freeze-dried vs. gently cooked), price structure, and how transparent each brand is about its actual nutrient data — which is exactly what we’ve tried to verify here rather than take at face value.

If you’re also considering a more shelf-stable natural option rather than a fresh subscription, our guide to best natural and holistic cat food or best limited ingredient cat food covers that territory.

FAQ

Here are quick answers to the questions we get asked most about Smalls cat food.

Does Chewy sell Smalls cat food? No. As of this writing, Smalls is not listed on Chewy.

Does Petco or PetSmart carry Smalls cat food? No, Smalls isn’t sold through either retailer currently.

Is Smalls cat food on Amazon? There’s at least one freeze-dried Smalls product listed on Amazon, but it’s tagged under a generic, non-Smalls brand listing rather than an official storefront, and the subscription plans aren’t available there at all. Buying direct through smalls.com is the reliable way to get it.

Can kittens eat Smalls cat food? Smalls publishes kitten-specific feeding guidance rather than a separate kitten-only fresh-food recipe. For kittens under 12 months, Smalls’ guidance is roughly 90–100 kcal per pound daily from 1–6 months, tapering to about 45–54 kcal per pound from 6–12 months, fed in multiple small meals a day using regular Smalls packets.

How do I cancel a Smalls subscription? Through your account portal: log in, go to Account Details, select “Cancel My Plan,” complete a short exit survey, and confirm cancellation. Note that canceling doesn’t cancel an order that’s already been processed — once a box has processed, Smalls says it can’t be changed, canceled, or refunded.

Who owns Smalls? Smalls was founded in 2017 by Matt Michaelson and Calvin Bohn. We couldn’t verify a current parent company from any public corporate record.

Smalls cat food: pros and cons

Here’s the honest tally, based on what we could verify directly against Smalls’ own documentation and independent sources.

Pros

• Real, published nutrition data. Smalls states its fresh recipes exceed AAFCO’s minimum taurine standards — a specific, checkable claim rather than vague marketing.
• Genuine money-back guarantee. If your cat won’t eat it, Smalls’ guarantee is a practical safety net (terms worth confirming at checkout).
• Transparent about being subscription-only. No pretending it’s available at Chewy, Petco, or PetSmart — Smalls is upfront that direct-through-smalls.com is the intended way to buy it.
• Try-before-you-commit option. A discounted sampler exists for cats who haven’t tried Smalls yet, ahead of a full-size plan.
• Recipe variety across two formats. Fresh and freeze-dried options span multiple proteins, including options for cats who need to avoid a specific protein source.

Cons

• No complete AAFCO adequacy statement located. We couldn’t confirm which life stage (adult maintenance, growth, or all life stages) each recipe is formulated for.
• “Vet-approved” is unverified marketing language. Smalls uses the phrase on its site, but we found no named veterinarian, credentials, or formulation methodology behind it.
• No fixed price to compare against. Cost depends on your cat’s weight and household size, so you can’t get a real number without running Smalls’ quiz.
• Not available through major retailers. If you’re used to buying cat food at Chewy, Petco, or PetSmart, Smalls requires a change in routine — and the Amazon listing that does exist isn’t an official storefront.
• Requires freezer and fridge space. As a perishable product, Smalls needs cold storage — not a fit for households without room to spare.

Bottom line

Smalls holds up well under scrutiny on the things that matter most: it publishes real nutrition data, backs up its taurine claims, offers a genuine money-back guarantee, and is straightforward about being a direct-to-consumer subscription rather than a retail product. Where it falls short of a full endorsement is in the gaps — no complete AAFCO adequacy statement we could locate, and “vet-approved” language that isn’t backed by named credentials.

For cat owners who want fresh, human-grade food and are comfortable with a subscription model, Smalls is a legitimate option worth investigating directly through its own site. For cats managing a specific health condition, treat this review as a starting point for a conversation with your vet — not a substitute for one.

Also for first time subscribers, you will get free treats for life for your cat. And 50% off your first order.

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Sources

• Smalls Help Center (help.smalls.com) — storage, serving, taurine, phosphorus, cancellation, and kitten feeding guidance
• Smalls official site (smalls.com, hello.smalls.com) — pricing structure, retail page, subscription details
• FDA — Complete and Balanced Pet Food
• Cornell Feline Health Center — Chronic Kidney Disease
• Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, via PMC — dietary management of feline diabetes
• Forbes, PR Newswire, Business Insider — company founding and background