Hound & Gatos

Hound & Gatos makes single-protein, whole-meat pet food in New Mexico, built around a dead-simple idea: dogs and cats are carnivores, and their food should reflect that. The brand was created by Will Post, a longtime animal welfare advocate who grew frustrated watching pets develop allergies, digestive problems, and chronic illness on conventional kibble packed with grains, fillers, and mystery protein blends. His solution was to strip pet food back to basics — one animal protein per recipe, no grains, no artificial anything.

Every Hound & Gatos formula features a single named protein source. That means if the can says "Lamb," it's lamb. Not lamb meal plus chicken fat plus pork liver plus "natural flavors." This matters enormously for pets with food sensitivities, since identifying and eliminating allergens requires knowing exactly what's in the bowl. Most commercial pet foods make that nearly impossible because they blend proteins and rotate suppliers without changing labels.

The protein sources themselves are worth paying attention to: alongside the expected chicken and beef, Hound & Gatos offers rabbit, duck, lamb, and other options that give pet owners real variety and real elimination-diet capability. The recipes are high in moisture, grain-free, and formulated to approximate something closer to what a cat or dog might eat in a less domesticated context. It's not raw feeding, but it's a serious departure from the corn-and-soy paradigm that dominates the pet food aisle.

Will Post didn't come to this from the pet food industry — he came from rescue work and animal advocacy. That background shapes the company's priorities. Hound & Gatos has supported shelter and rescue organizations since its founding, and Post has been an outspoken critic of how the major pet food conglomerates handle ingredient quality, labeling transparency, and nutritional standards.

Hound & Gatos is independently owned. No multinational conglomerate owns them, no private equity firm dictates their ingredient sourcing, and Post still drives the brand's direction.

Products

• Single-protein wet dog food (chicken, beef, lamb, rabbit, duck, and more)
• Single-protein wet cat food (same protein variety)
• Grain-free formulas across all recipes
• Limited-ingredient options suitable for elimination diets
• Paleolithic-inspired nutritional profiles

Why We List Them

• Independently owned and founder-led
• Single-protein sourcing for severe allergy management
• No grains, fillers, or artificial ingredients
• High-moisture, biologically appropriate formulations
• Transparent ingredient lists with no mystery protein blends