Chicken Gizzard

It is the muscular part of the stomach that grinds up the food the bird eats.

Chicken gizzard is the muscular part of a chicken's stomach, and some cat foods include it as an organ meat. Tufts veterinary nutritionists note that organ meats often provide more nutrients per weight than muscle meat and that they are a normal part of pet food. Gizzard is high in protein and fairly low in fat. If your cat has a medical condition, ask your veterinarian.

Source: sites.tufts.edu

Chicken gizzard adds animal protein along with iron, zinc and vitamin B12. A cat eating prey would eat organs as well as muscle, and recipes that list gizzard, heart or liver aim to copy that pattern. Gizzard is lean, so it adds protein without much fat. The label names the bird, which makes the source clear.

It is both in a sense. The gizzard is an organ, part of the bird's digestive tract, but it is made almost entirely of thick muscle that grinds food. That is why its protein is close to muscle meat while it is still sold and labeled as an organ meat. In cat food it is usually grouped with heart and liver.

Organ meats add nutrients in a small amount of food. Tufts veterinary nutritionists say by-products, which are mainly organ meats and entrails, often provide more nutrients per weight than muscle meat. They also note that some companies list organs by name, such as liver or heart, instead of using the word by-product. Chicken gizzard on a label is one of these named organs.

Source: sites.tufts.edu

Pettings gives chicken gizzard 5 out of 5 and lists it as a named animal protein. It appears on 1 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. The score covers the ingredient only. Each food's page shows how it scores overall, which depends on the full list of ingredients.