Pikko Cat Food Review – Pet Food Reviews (Australia)
Pikko is a high quality delivered-to-your-door Australian slightly-cooked “raw” cat food.
This brand will suit you if you’re keen on feeding your cat a more natural diet, but are slightly put off by bacteria fearmongering or simply feel a little uncomfortable with raw. If you have a young family, live with elderly, or have an immunocompromised or diet-sensitive cat, then slightly cooked is a good option.
Some cats – particularly those used to kibble – may not take to raw, whereas they may take to a slightly cooked cat food like Pikko.
Being slightly cooked, you have more assurance of food safety, but unlike kibble you will be feeding a cat food with most nutrients intact. Cooking at high temperatures – which is how kibble is made – kills nutrition, so slightly or gently cooked is much better.
Just keep in mind Pikko is a soft food, and this means it will do very little for your cat’s dental health. The simple solution to that is to feed some chicken wings or necks as well (Frontier Pets sell freeze-dried chicken necks which have a very long shelf life).
Pikko Review (Chicken Recipe)
For simplicity we’ll take a look at the Chicken Recipe – but based on the ingredients across the range, I’d recommend feeding your cat a variety of recipes, including Pikko and other high-quality foods.
Your cat is a carnivore and shouldn’t be fed grains (or grain-free alternatives like legumes or potatoes) like you find in most cat foods. Thankfully, you won’t find that rubbish in the Pikko recipes!
In the Chicken Recipe, the main ingredients are chicken thigh, chicken heart, and chicken liver. These are the types of ingredients your cat will truly benefit from.
Many raw feeders think chicken breast is the best option. And yes, here in Australia we tend to treat breast as the premium cut – but for cats, chicken thighs are better in many ways. They’re richer in taurine, which is essential for cats, and also higher in iron, zinc, and B vitamins. They’re also higher in fat, which makes them a better source of energy for your cat.
Quick fact
One of the biggest myths – whether in animal diets or our own – is that fat makes us fat. In reality, it’s carbohydrates that make cats fat, simply because they can’t digest them properly.
Many BARF or raw patties contain ground bone. This isn’t the case with Pikko, which instead uses a nutrient blend of vitamins and minerals that includes all essential nutrients as well as calcium and phosphorous.
This is what I’d call a vitamin pack or premix – a common way of adding essential nutrients to kibble or wet food. I’d generally consider ground bone a more natural option, but even that has drawbacks. Ground bone negates the dental benefits of feeding raw meaty bones, which help keep your cat’s teeth clean.
Fish oil is a solid addition – full of DHA and EPA to support your cat’s brain, joints, and skin. It would be good to know which fish it comes from to give us a better idea of quality, but it’s still a positive inclusion.
Quick fact
Cats can’t make DHA and EPA from plants. They need omega-3 from animal sources like fish oil.
Flaxseed oil is also included. That’s a plant-based omega-3, and while it’s not as useful to cats, it can still help support a healthy coat and should be considered a good inclusion.
Summary
Overall I would recommend Pikko for your cat. I haven’t taken into account affordability, but I feel the formula is very good and a much healthier option for your cat than most cat foods available.
If you’re currently feeding a kibble, Pikko is definitely a huge improvement whether you switch to the brand completely or mix it with your regular brand of kibble.
Ingredients
The ingredients of Pikko cat food (Chicken Recipe) are:
Chicken thigh, chicken heart, chicken liver, fish oil, flaxseed oil, Pikko Nutrient Blend*.
*Pikko Nutrient Blend: Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K2, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Biotin, Choline, Zinc, Manganese, Iodine, Selenium, Copper, Iron, Taurine, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Phosphorous
Analysis
The analysis of Pikko cat food (Chicken Recipe) is as follows. Please note these figures are As Fed / Dry Matter, where dry matter excludes moisture (handy for comparing against kibble):
| Protein | 14.76% / 63.38% |
| Fat | 6.12% / 26.28% |
| Ash | 0.87% / 3.73% |
| Crude Fibre | 0.27% / 1.16% |
| Moisture | 76.72% / 0% |
| Carbohydrates * | Negligible |
