Home / Cat food / Blue Buffalo / Baby BLUE Kitten High-Protein, Grain-Free Chicken and Pea Recipe

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Blue Buffalo Baby BLUE Kitten High-Protein, Grain-Free Chicken and Pea Recipe

Dry food · kitten cats

A formulated-to-meet, deboned-first dry food from Blue Buffalo, denser per cup than 75% of the dry cat foods we've verified. Cat-food pricing isn't in our corpus for this SKU yet, so cost-per-day isn't shown — the composition numbers below are fully verified.

THE FACTS, ONE SENTENCE — data as JSON · reference cat 10 lb · updated 2026-07-12

Your catupdates every number on this page
10 lb

Joint, kidney, dental or heart concerns? Labels can't honestly answer those — that's vet territory. Why we don't checkmark them →

The evidence

The Verified Label

Every food on this site gets this exact panel — same fields, same order, sourced from the official label — so brands finally become comparable. Dots show where this food sits among all 283 dry cat foods we've verified.

Verified LabelThe standardized pet-food panel
VPFD № BLUE-B
verified 2026-07-12

Composition — dry-matter basis

why dry matter
Dry food is ~5-10% water, wet food ~75-82%, so as-fed numbers are on two different scales. As-fed values shown small. How the conversion works →
Protein 44%label: 40% min higher than 77% of dry cat foods
Fat 22%label: 20% min no corpus anchor for fat yet
Fiber 3.8%label: 3.5% max lower than 76% of dry cat foods
Est. carbohydrates ash not disclosed → 8% assumed, so this is an estimate ≈21.4%diabetic-check target <10% lower than 85% of dry cat foods
Magnesium as fed: 0.14% max
why 0.12% DM
A commonly cited veterinary target for helping manage struvite-crystal (urinary) risk in cats is magnesium under roughly 0.12% on a dry-matter basis. This is a general, label-checkable guideline — not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for your vet, especially for cats with a history of urinary issues.
0.2%dry-matter above the ~0.12% DM urinary-health threshold
Ash 8% assumed — not disclosed on label 8%as used in carb estimate no corpus anchor for ash yet

Calories & cost — for your 10-lb adult cat

Calorie density 457 kcal/cup3954 kcal/kg denser than 75% of dry cat foods (median 415)
Daily serving½ cups
Cost per day
2-lb bag lasts13 days

Cost per 1,000 kcal not available yet — this cat food isn't price-matched to a retail listing in our corpus yet. Serving math uses standard veterinary energy formulas — see the formula.

Standards & ingredients

AAFCO statement
what this means
Two claims exist: formulated to meet a profile, or fed to real cats in an AAFCO trial. Which is stronger, and how rare it is →
Formulated to meet · growth
First five ingredients (by pre-cooking weight)Deboned Chicken · Chicken Meal · Pea Protein · Tapioca Starch · Menhaden Fish Meal (source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids)
Named animal protein first; named meals onlyYes
Legumes in first 10 (FDA DCM inquiry)2 (pea protein, peas)
BHA / BHT preservativesNone on label
Carrageenan (thickener)None
Ethoxyquin
why unknown
A preservative added by a fish-meal supplier need not appear on the finished label, so no label can prove its absence. Why we show gaps →
Can't be determined from label

Safety

FDA recalls — Blue Buffalo, since 2023None on record
ManufacturerNot confirmed from label
Label transparency 11 of 15 standard fields
Green = verified favorable · amber = gap in the record · red = verified unfavorable · gray = not disclosed / neutral fact.
Source: official label source (official) · anchors: 283 verified dry cat foods · how to read this label

The fit

For your cat, specifically

Checked for a 10-lb adult cat with urinary health + a low-carb goal — the same published criteria our finder uses. Change your cat above and these update.

Not validated for adult maintenanceThe AAFCO statement on file covers growth only.
Magnesium above our urinary-health threshold0.2% magnesium (dry-matter) is over the ~0.12% DM level commonly cited for struvite-risk management. See lower-magnesium options →
·
Fiber 3.8% DMNot selected as a concern for your cat — shown here for reference.
·
Sensitive stomachNot selected for your cat — but shown here for reference.
·
Contains chickenNot selected as a concern for your cat — shown here for reference.
Too many estimated carbs for a low-carb target≈21.4% carbohydrate (dry-matter, estimated) is over the ~10% DM target some vets use for diabetic/low-carb cats. Estimate only — not a lab measurement. See lower-carb options →

The source material

The full ingredient list

Every flag above is computed from this list. Why order is by pre-cooking weight, and how splitting bends it →

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Pea Protein, Tapioca Starch, Menhaden Fish Meal (source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Peas, Dried Egg Product, Flaxseed (source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Natural Flavor, Fish Oil (source of DHA-Docosahexaenoic Acid and ARA-Arachidonic Acid), Pea Fiber, Calcium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Potassium Sulfate, DL-Methionine, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Potatoes, Dried Chicory Root, Salt, Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate, Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Potassium Chloride, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Vegetable Juice for color, Ferrous Sulfate, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Blueberries, Cranberries, Barley Grass, Parsley, Turmeric, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Copper Amino Acid Chelate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), L-Lysine, Biotin (Vitamin B7), Vitamin A Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Dried Yeast, Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Aspergillus niger fermentation extract, Dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, Dried Bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite, Oil of Rosemary

15 ingredients in this list are ones we hold sourced evidence on , and 3 of them are genuinely contested rather than merely unpopular online.

  • Pea protein · ingredient 3ContestedA concentrated protein fraction extracted from peas, used to raise a food's protein content without added meat. As a pea-derived pulse ingredient it falls within the group of legume ingredients examined in the FDA's open 2018 investigation into diet-associated canine DCM; metabolomic work has flagged pea-related compounds, but causation has not been shown.
  • Peas · ingredient 7ContestedA pulse (legume) used in many grain-free foods as a plant protein and carbohydrate source. Peas are central to an open FDA investigation, begun in July 2018, into a possible link between diets high in peas, other pulses, and potatoes and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM); 93% of reported products contained peas and/or lentils.
  • Potato · ingredient 18ContestedA starchy tuber used as the carbohydrate base in many grain-free foods (it is a vegetable, not a cereal grain). The FDA's open 2018 investigation into diet-associated canine DCM listed potatoes 'in various forms' as main ingredients of interest alongside pulses such as peas and lentils.
  • Named Muscle Meat (e.g., Deboned Chicken, Beef, Salmon) · ingredient 1Well supportedA named fresh muscle meat identifies both the species and that it is clean flesh (AAFCO defines 'meat' as the clean flesh of a specified slaughtered mammal, and 'poultry' as clean flesh and skin). Naming the species is what lets an owner verify a protein for allergy avoidance.
  • Named Meat/Poultry Meal (e.g., Chicken Meal, Lamb Meal) · ingredient 2Well supportedA rendered, water- and fat-reduced concentrate from a named species (AAFCO, e.g., 'chicken meal'). Because most moisture is removed it is a dense protein source (poultry meals commonly around 57-69% crude protein) and it names the species for allergy avoidance.
  • Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E) · ingredient 6Well supportedA blend of vitamin E forms (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-tocopherol) used as a natural-source antioxidant to slow fat rancidity, commonly chosen as an alternative to synthetic preservatives. EFSA concluded that tocopherol-rich extracts are safe for all animal species and the consumer and are efficacious antioxidants in feed.

Wet ingredients like fresh deboned chicken shrink once cooked — which is why named meals appearing high on the list matter: they keep meaningful animal protein after moisture is removed.

The maker

Who makes this — and how they back it up

The four questions the WSAVA nutrition guidelines tell you to ask a pet-food company. Every answer is sourced or marked as an undisclosed gap — never guessed. This is the "is it made competently?" axis that star-rating sites skip.

Owns its manufacturing Mixed

Same source also states: 'Blue Buffalo sources and produces everything from its own facilities or from partners across the United States.' Indicates a mix of own facilities plus third-party co-manufacturers.

source →
Employs a qualified nutritionist Yes — sourced

Blue Buffalo's professional site states doctorate-level animal nutritionists on staff. dvm360 (via search, not fetched) reports Laura B. Gaylord, DVM, DACVIM (Nutrition) — a board-certified veterinary nutritionist — and Matt Panasevich, PhD, work at Blue Buffalo; the true value rests on the fetched bluevetconnect quote.

source →
AAFCO feeding trials Yes — sourced

15 of 443 verified labels in our corpus carry an AAFCO feeding-trial substantiation statement.

source →
Peer-reviewed research Unconfirmed

14 PubMed-indexed papers carry this brand's name in an author affiliation — but without a recognized pet-nutrition research arm we can't confirm these are the company's own studies rather than unrelated name matches (surnames, the taxonomic family "Canidae", institutions). We don't count it as confirmed research.

source →
Parent company General Mills, Inc. Founded 2002 Headquarters / plant Wilton, CT FDA recalls on record None on record

Full company scorecard, sources, and every SKU we've verified for this brand: Blue Buffalo brand page →