About Friskies
Friskies traces back to 1934, when the Carnation Company introduced it as a dry dog food. A cat food line followed in the 1950s, among the first dry foods ever made specifically for cats. Nestlé acquired the brand in 1985, and in 2001 Nestlé's pet-food business merged with Ralston Purina to form Nestlé Purina PetCare, which manufactures and markets Friskies today alongside sister brands like Fancy Feast and Purina Pro Plan.
The wet food lineup spans dozens of varieties across multiple textures, including Shreds, Classic Pate, Extra Gravy, and Tasty Treasures, most sold as multi-can variety packs built for flavor rotation. Friskies also sells several lines of dry kibble and treats, and its wide, affordable, grocery-and-pet-retailer availability has made it one of the most recognizable everyday cat food brands in the country.
Brand website: purina.com/friskies
What Friskies makes
Friskies's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Friskies Shreds
shreds-in-gravy wet food variety packs, the everyday-value line in our reviews — featured on House of Mittens
Friskies Classic Pate
smooth pate wet food recipes sold as single flavors and variety packs
Friskies Extra Gravy
pate and chunky recipes with additional gravy for cats that prefer a wetter texture
Friskies Tasty Treasures
wet food recipes built around seafood and meat combinations
Friskies dry cat food
multiple kibble varieties for owners who feed a mixed wet-and-dry diet
Friskies treats
several treat lines, including the Party Mix crunchy treat range
Why we recognized Friskies
The House of Mittens Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our vet-reviewed category guides. Friskies earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: assessed against feline-health criteria, used with real cats, and judged on merit.
Friskies products we rated highly
Purina Friskies Wet Cat Food Variety Pack, Shreds in Gravy
One of the lowest costs per ounce of any complete-and-balanced wet food we evaluated, the 40-can shreds-in-gravy variety pack held a 4.7-star average across roughly 29,000 ratings in our research, an unusually large and consistent review base for the category. It's AAFCO complete and balanced for adult maintenance with added taurine, so the affordable price doesn't come at the cost of the amino acid cats cannot live without, and the shreds-in-gravy texture gives picky cats the flavor rotation that keeps them eating.
Read the 8 Best Wet Cat Foods of 2026 guide →What earned Friskies the recognition
- One of the products we rated highly in our wet cat food reviews, recognized for pairing complete-and-balanced adult nutrition with a price a multi-cat household can sustain daily.
- The Shreds in Gravy variety pack is AAFCO complete and balanced for adult maintenance with added taurine, so its everyday price doesn't come at the cost of the amino acid cats need.
- Carries one of the largest review bases of any wet cat food in our research, with a 4.7-star average across roughly 29,000 ratings reflecting broad, consistent acceptance among cats.
- Part of Nestlé Purina PetCare's wide product ecosystem, spanning shreds, pate, and extra-gravy wet food textures plus dry kibble and treats, giving owners flavor rotation for picky eaters.
- A brand with roots to 1934 and continuous cat food production since the 1950s, among the longest-running names in mainstream pet nutrition.