Dried Chicken Flavored Gravy

Not necessarily. "Chicken flavored" means the gravy tastes like chicken; it does not mean chicken is a main part of it.

Dried chicken flavored gravy is a powder that coats kibble or turns into gravy when water is added. It is made mostly for taste. AAFCO's rules let a label name a flavor when a listed ingredient provides it, but they set no minimum amount of chicken. We found no authority that flags this ingredient for cats. Ask your veterinarian if your cat has a chicken allergy or another medical condition.

Source: aafco.org

It is a dry gravy mix applied to the food. On kibble it adds a savory coating, and in some products it forms a sauce once water is poured over it. The words "chicken flavored" describe the taste. Its job is to make the food more appealing, not to supply much protein.

It means the product tastes like chicken, not that chicken is a main ingredient. AAFCO allows a flavor name on a pet food as long as a listed ingredient provides that flavor and the word "flavor" is printed as prominently as the flavor name. There is no minimum amount. To see how much chicken is in the food, look at where chicken appears in the ingredient list.

Source: aafco.org

Only if the package tells you to. In some products the dried gravy is already baked or sprayed onto the kibble and needs nothing added. In others it is meant to form a sauce when you pour warm water over the food. If you add water, any leftover wet food spoils faster than dry kibble, so remove it after the meal.

Pettings gives dried chicken flavored gravy 1 out of 5 and lists it as a flavoring. It appears on 1 of the 149 dry cat foods we list. It scores low because it adds taste with little nutrition, and the chicken content is not stated. Each food's page shows how it scores overall.