Home / Cat food / Blue Buffalo / BLUE Natural Veterinary Diet Dry Cat Food NP Novel Protein Alligator Available exclusively through your veterinarian.
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Blue Buffalo BLUE Natural Veterinary Diet Dry Cat Food NP Novel Protein Alligator Available exclusively through your veterinarian.
A feeding-trial-validated dry food from Blue Buffalo, lighter per cup than 52% 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
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 2026-07-12
Composition — dry-matter basis
why dry matter
why 0.12% DM
Calories & cost — for your 10-lb adult cat
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
what this means
why unknown
Safety
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.
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 Alligator, Alligator Meal, Pea Protein, Pea Starch, Peas, Tapioca Starch, Canola Oil (source of Omega 6 Fatty Acids), Flaxseed (source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Natural Flavor, Pea Fiber, Fish Oil (source of DHA–Docosahexaenoic Acid), DL-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Potassium Sulfate, L-Threonine, Taurine, Pumpkin, Dried Kelp, Dried Chicory Root, Direct Dehydrated Alfalfa Pellets, Calcium Sulfate, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin E Supplement, preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, L-Tryptophan, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Niacin (Vitamin B3), Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Vitamin A Supplement, 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
10 ingredients in this list are ones we hold sourced evidence on , and 2 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 4ContestedA 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.
- Fish oil (EPA + DHA omega-3) · ingredient 11Well supportedMarine-source omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) from fish oil. A randomized, double-blinded controlled trial (Roush 2010) found improved weight-bearing in dogs with osteoarthritis, and a 2022 meta-analysis identified clear clinical analgesic efficacy for omega-3-enriched diets and supplements.
- Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E) · ingredient 26Well 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.
- Rosemary extract · ingredient 51Well supportedA plant-derived natural antioxidant (active compounds carnosic acid and carnosol) used to slow fat oxidation, frequently chosen as an alternative to synthetic preservatives. It is an authorized food antioxidant in the EU (E 392); JECFA established a temporary acceptable daily intake for rosemary extract expressed as carnosic acid plus carnosol.
- Tapioca · ingredient 6NeutralA nearly pure starch extracted from the cassava root, used as a carbohydrate base and binder in grain-free foods (it is a root starch, not a cereal grain). Because it is almost entirely starch with little protein, tapioca contributes essentially no amino acids and is not implicated in the taurine hypothesis; it was not a highlighted ingredient in the FDA's DCM investigation, which focused on pulses and potatoes.
Nutritional twins
Priced close matches
This food has no verified price yet — these are the closest label matches that do.
Label-composition matches only: same species, form, and growth stage; same primary protein where both are known; grain-free preserved; protein within 4 points and fat within 4 points, and estimated carbs within 8 points, on a dry-matter basis. Not a medical or quality recommendation.
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.
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 →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 →15 of 443 verified labels in our corpus carry an AAFCO feeding-trial substantiation statement.
source →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 →Full company scorecard, sources, and every SKU we've verified for this brand: Blue Buffalo brand page →