The scores
Tiki Cat After Dark Chicken & Quail Egg Pâté Canned Cat Food: A (90/100) — Canned-wet with chicken broth + chicken + quail egg + chicken liver/gizzard/heart stacked top-six. 100% non-GMO, commercial retort pathogen control, formulation-based AAFCO for adult maintenance.
Smalls Smooth Bird Fresh Chicken Recipe Pate Cat Food: A (90/100) — Cooked-fresh with chicken + chicken liver top two, human-grade USDA-inspected facility, 73% moisture, formulation-based AAFCO for adult maintenance.
Both sit at the top of the Fresh Food Rubric v1.0 cat catalog alongside Stella & Chewy’s Freeze-Dried Raw Cat (A/90), Primal Freeze-Dried Cat (A/90), and The Honest Kitchen Grain-Free Clusters Cat (A/90).
How the ingredients compare
Tiki Cat After Dark: Chicken broth, chicken, quail egg, chicken liver, chicken gizzard, chicken heart, sunflower oil, dried egg product, tricalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, xanthan gum, agar agar, choline chloride, salt, taurine — plus a complete vitamin and B-complex tail.
Smalls Smooth Bird Chicken: Chicken, chicken liver, green beans, water sufficient for processing, dried yeast, tricalcium phosphate, kale, magnesium proteinate, potassium chloride, choline chloride, dandelion greens, dried kelp, taurine, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, cod liver oil, salt — plus a complete vitamin and B-complex tail.
Tiki Cat is a multi-protein stack — chicken + quail egg + three organ cuts across five consecutive premium positions. Smalls is a classic chicken-then-chicken-liver open followed by vegetable and supplemental inclusions (green beans, kale, dandelion greens, kelp). Both hit the nose-to-tail principle of obligate-carnivore nutrition but through different structural approaches: Tiki Cat through multi-protein stacking, Smalls through human-grade facility and whole-vegetable supplemental inclusions. Both earn the same A/90 under the rubric.
Where Tiki Cat After Dark pulls ahead
Convenience and retail availability. Tiki Cat After Dark ships on retail shelves, Chewy, and mainstream pet-supply sites without a subscription. No freezer space, no thaw time, no monthly delivery schedule. For owners who travel, live in apartments without dedicated freezer space, or simply don’t want a pet-food subscription, this logistical difference is significant.
Lower per-day cost. Tiki Cat After Dark runs roughly $2.50-4 per day for an average 10-lb cat fed exclusively on the formula. Smalls runs roughly $3-7 per day for the same cat. Over a year, the difference can exceed $1,000 per cat.
Multi-protein organ stacking. Chicken + quail egg + chicken liver + chicken gizzard + chicken heart is the most complete organ-stacked profile in our canned-wet catalog. While Smalls delivers chicken-plus-liver, it does not match Tiki Cat’s gizzard + heart inclusion.
Pantry-stable storage. Canned-wet lives in the pantry unopened until needed. For owners without dedicated freezer space, this is a real practical advantage. Shop on Amazon →
Where Smalls holds its own
Human-grade USDA-inspected facility. Smalls is produced in a USDA-inspected facility to human-grade standards — the same regulatory tier as human food. Tiki Cat is produced to pet-food-industry standards, which are lower than USDA human-food standards. For owners who value the human-grade designation specifically, Smalls is the stronger choice.
Higher moisture delivery in some forms. Smalls cooked-fresh at 73% moisture delivers water through the food matrix (not through broth). The bioavailability of that water is arguably superior because it’s integrated into the protein matrix rather than served as broth. Tiki Cat’s 78% moisture is higher on paper but much of it is broth.
Minimal-ingredient approach. The Smalls Smooth Bird panel is notably spare — no peas, no lentils, no potatoes, no rice, no corn, no wheat, no soy, no by-products, no artificial flavor. Tiki Cat shares most of these attributes but includes dried egg product and potato starch. For cats with documented sensitivities to any of these, Smalls may be a simpler ingredient story.
Subscription predictability. For owners who value knowing that the right amount of food arrives on a schedule without thought, Smalls’ subscription model is a feature. Auto-ship + portion-packed delivery reduces the weekly "am I running out" management overhead. Shop on Amazon →
The bottom line
Both cat foods earned an A (90/100) under the Fresh Food Rubric v1.0, which means the ingredient-quality measurable is a tie. The deciding factor is logistics and household preferences. Pick Tiki Cat After Dark if you want shelf-stable canned-wet convenience, retail availability without subscription commitment, multi-protein organ stacking, and lower per-day cost. Pick Smalls if you want human-grade USDA-inspected facility production, subscription predictability with portion-packed delivery, or the highest-moisture cooked-fresh format in our catalog for a cat with serious urinary history. See the full reviews for Tiki Cat After Dark and Smalls to pick the one that fits.
Compare Tiki Cat After Dark & Smalls →