Our feline reporters test out Japan’s soup for cats to find if it makes for a purrfect treat

Would you share a meal with your cat? This soup might make you consider it.

These days, more and more companies are serving up extra-tasty treats for our beloved feline friends. Japan’s biggest soup restaurant chain, Soup Stock Tokyo, has taken it to the next level by creating a range of soups that look delicious enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them on the menu at a restaurant.

Soup for Cat comes in three different flavors, each carefully designed to keep your cats coming back for seconds.

▼ Tuna and sweet potato

▼ Chicken and carrot

▼ Sea bream and pumpkin

The set we obtained contains two packs of each, costing 2,682 yen (US$17.67), or about 447 yen per pack. The moment that our cat-loving Japanese-language reporter K. Masami stumbled upon them, she had already clicked the “buy” button before she had even thought, “Wow! These look delicious!”

Examining the 50-gram (1.76-ounce) soup packs, Masami found that their shelf lives are impressively long, lasting between four and twelve months, and a close look at the ingredients showed that unnecessary additives were nowhere to be seen, making it a healthy choice for your pets. However, these soups are only designed to be treats, and not used in place of regular meals, so be sure to bear in mind that they should be given sparingly for balanced nutrition.

Excited to put the soup to the test, Masami prepared to serve her two cats the first of the three flavors: tuna and sweet potato. As the packaging stated it could be slightly warmed, she threw it into the microwave for a bit. Opening up the door to the microwave once the cycle was done, a mouth-watering dashi aroma filled the air, so tempting that Masami’s own stomach started to rumble. Unable to resist the appetizing meal, she couldn’t help but take a sip.

The broth was both rich and delicious. You could very well serve this up for dinner to humans and everyone would be none the wiser. However, it is unequivocally cat food, so it’s probably best to keep it in your pets’ bowls. Although, we at SoraNews24 are no strangers to eating pet food.

With such a luxurious meal in front of them, Masami was sure her two cats would love it. She first offered a taste to her most recent addition: a calico, which always seems to display a lack of interest when it comes to food. When she placed the dish in front of the cat, it barely reacted. Spoon-feeding worked a little better, as the cat took a few bites with an expression that could probably be read as “Huh… not bad.”

On the other hand, Masami’s white cat is on a never-ending quest for food, devouring everything in seconds. Sure enough, when given the opportunity to try the soup, large chunks had disappeared into its mouth in the blink of an eye.

When finished, the white cat looked into the bowl with a sad expression, as if saying, “That was gone too fast…”

Over several days, Masami tried giving the two of them the other two flavors.

▼ Chicken and carrot

▼ Sea bream and pumpkin

The white cat was just as enthusiastic as it was with the first. The size of the carrot and pumpkin chunks gave it a little bit of trouble, but the bowl was polished off clean.

▼ “No more?”

While both Masami and her white cat felt that Soup for Cat was delicious, it’s not going to make every cat crazy to eat more, as seen with her calico. Still, not only is it a healthy treat, it’s even got the added benefit of extra hydration. With February 22 being Cat Day in Japan, named for the Japanese of 2/22 (“Ni Ni Ni”) sounding similar to the sound a cat makes (nyan nyan nyan), makes now the perfect time to spoil your cats to something special. Why not try a bowl of soup?

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