UPDATED May 2012 (several foods added)
This is a living, updating list. You can help me keep it accurate and current by leaving info in the Comments.
I like people who want to find the best food for their cat, because I have come to believe that cat food choice alone can actually prevent diseases and extend a cat’s life.
It’s important to know that many cat health & nutrition experts do not recommend dry kibble cat food because:
- it’s more of a strain on kidneys and urinary system over time (because it’s dehydrating) and could lead to health problems
- the extrusion process of creating dry cooked food results in a less digestible protein
- most dry cat foods have a lot of carbs, which are particularly fattening for indoor cats
- most have grains, which can wreak havoc on a cat’s digestive system over time (possibly leading to IBD and lymphoma, I believe)
Having said all that:
- there are some quality low-carb, grain free dry cat foods–listed below
- feeding dry cat food on a rotation basis (eg, wet food at night, dry in the morning) or only occasionally (eg, when you are rushed) may be a reasonable compromise
For the purists who believe kibble should not even be discussed, I understand where you are coming from, but here’s where I’m coming from:
I provide this list because I know most people (and mainstream vets) choose dry cat food at least some of the time and I want to make sure that these people can at least help their cat avoid diabetes and digestive diseases (possibly even intestinal lymphoma) by making better dry food choices.
To find out more, see the post on how I selected these foods.
A good alternative to these dry foods is the raw dry cat food ZiwiPeak, listed in Best canned and raw cat foods. I think it’s healthier than the dry foods listed here.
If your cat has special health needs, please be sure to consult with a good vet about their food.
To assure you these food reviews are unbiased, I never use an affiliate (sponsored) link for a cat food.
BEST
|
WHAT’S
|
COST |
SPECIAL
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Orijen grain free cat food(Orijen introduced grain free recipes for cat food in 2011)  |
|
|
For kidney and urinary health, use dry food only occasionally or in rotation with wet food.Several experts say dry foods are too dehydrating for cats with kidney problems. |
Young Again 50/22, dry |
|
|
Contains active dry yeast (don’t feed if cat has yeast allergy)For kidney and urinary health, use dry food only
|
| Nature’s Variety Instinct dry **Chicken or turkey/duck formula(not rabbit formula)  |
|
|
For kidney and urinary health, use dry food only occasionally or in rotation with wet food.Avoid the Rabbit formula, as the rabbit is processed in China.Several experts
|
| Innova Evo grain free dry  |
|
|
This very high protein dry food is
|
| Wellness Core grain free dry  |
|
|
|
Petcurean GO! cat GRAIN FREE FORMULAS ONLY Grain Free Chick/Turkey/Duck
|
|
|
For kidney and urinary health, use dry food only occasionally or in rotation with wet food. (Did I say that enough?!)Several experts
|
| Wysong Epigen 90, dry Only Epigen 90 is recommended.(I do not recommend standard Epigen, which has gluten)  |
|
|
Introduce slowly and gradually. Minimal-starch cooked food can require time for system to adjust to.For kidney and urinary health, use dry food only occasionally or in rotation with wet food.Several experts say dry foods are too dehydrating for cats with kidney problems. |
Wysong Archetype (raw dry)  |
|
|
Includes ground bones, which some cats have trouble digesting.Ground bones may also not be ideal for cats with kidney disease (check with your vet). |
If your cat’s favorite natural cat food didn’t make the list…
See These natural cat foods didn’t make the “best” list: here’s why.
Many cat foods almost made this list. There were so many foods, I had to be brutal in selecting. Maybe I missed a food.
Let me know if you have questions. Looking for the Best canned and raw cat foods?
Resources
Where to find these foods
- Only Natural Pet Store (carries most of these foods – affiliate store chosen for their reasonable prices)
- Amazon.com also carries many of these foods and sometimes you can find good deals there
- Many brands are available online directly from the company that makes them (like Young Again)
- Your local pet food store (especially holistic stores) have some brands
How to get your cat to eat new foods?
Your experience? Let’s talk!
None of these foods are perfect, but they met the “best of” criteria for dry cat food.
However, every cat has different needs, just like you and I do.
I welcome your experiences, opinions, and contributions in the comments below.
|
Join the natural cat tribe!
Join the hundreds of folks worldwide who receive exclusive updates, and get a FREE COPY of my eBook, 6 Natural Ways to Help Your Cat Live Longer! Just enter your name and email below:
|
|
I’ve noticed all of these foods have fish in them. Are there any that you recommend that don’t?
What are your thoughts about Innova ‘Prime’ grain free (chicken and turkey formula)? I noticed a reader was looking for a fish free food. you listed the Innova ‘Evo’ above, but not this one, so i was wondering if it didn’t make the cut. If that’s the case, I’d like to know, so I can switch foods. I had chosen this one as I had read fish sometimes causes very aromatic feces and I have a Scoopfree litter box which makes this an important factor (if you are familiar with this type of box).
My cats eat a primarily canned food diet, but I do give them a little dry kibble per day. I recently found Planet Earth Organics Cat Formula. It was recommended by the pet store. What is your opinion on this food?
Oops! I just realized that I wrote the wrong name. It is called Natural Planet Organics Cat Formula.
Hello
I recently purchased the Nautre’s Variety: Instinct Raw Bites (Chicken) for my cat. Is that as good as just the plain dry kibble? Also my cat REFUSES to eat wet food. Can you recommend a wet food that nearly no cat has turned down??
Thank you!
Hello
I recently purchased the Nature’s Variety: Instinct Raw Bites (Chicken) for my cat. Is that as good as just the plain dry kibble? Also my cat REFUSES to eat wet food. Can you recommend a wet food that nearly no cat has turned down??
Thank you!
The first one listed, Orijen, lists 5 different kinds of fish in it! That’s too much fish in my opinion as it can contribute to uti’s and can have mercury and other toxins.
I decided to go with Young Again. Thank you for this AWESOME information!
Here’s another con to high protein dry food according to Dr Jean Hofve:
“Protein provided in its natural form, as meat, also comes with a great deal of moisture. Canned food contains about 78% water; a prey animal contains 65-70% water. The cat’s body is designed to handle that. Feline kidneys are extremely efficient and are able to retain most of that water. Cats have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrate. Nor do they have an upper limit on protein, although in practical terms protein is balanced with fat. Fortunately, nature provided cats’ natural prey with perfect nutrition: a rat is about 55% protein and 40% fat.
Grain-free dry foods tend to be higher in protein than regular dry foods (which are already dehydrating), and are therefore more dehydrating.”
So cats eating high protein dry food that don’t drink a lot of water might be more susceptible to uti’s than cats eating dry foods that are not super high in protein.
I’m changing from Royal Canin to Nature’s Variety Instinct now, because they’re grain free and also have the rawboost type of food. My cat is healthier than ever. Very good products.
Hi!
My cat’s on Evo at the moment (which he absolutely loves, but then he is a dry food addict and we are trying to wean him off). I received a sample of Nature’s Variety Instinct Raw Boost (which has freeze-dried pieces of raw food) today. What is your opinion on dry food that incorporates raw food into it? I’ve never come across such a thing before and I personally thought that freeze-dried foods needed to be supplemented with water. My cat has dehydration issues (he tends to forget he needs water and has been hospitalised twice for dehydration in his 11 years, even though we change his water bowl thrice a day)
Would food such as this be detrimental to his health? Any advice or opinion would be appreciated, not necessarily in relation to my cat but in general as well. Thank you very much for everything you’ve done so far!
Hey Jasmine, Not food related but I noticed my cats weren’t drinking enough water and saw somewhere online that if their food dish is beside the water dish they will not drink from it, so I moved their water dish to a different room from the food and they can’t get enough!
Something I’ve found with cats and water is that cats don’t like standing water. When I had a regular water bowl my three weren’t drinking much water, so I decided to get them a fountain and now they are drinking quite a bit of water. I have a ceramic fountain to avoid the chemicals in plastic but also because it has an adjustable motor. I have it low enough that my timid cat is comfortable with it but it’s still moving the water, and my other 2 just drink the water directly from the bubbler and the slide.
The only fish free food i’ve found thats decent is california natural chicken and rice my cats do quite well on it but it technically isnt grain free as it has rice in it but it doesnt have corn, wheat, or soy so I guess it was a good compromise( for me @ least)
What about Blue Buffalo Weight Control with life source bits? This was recommended to me at a natural foods store (along with wet foods) and I’m wondering if it is truly a good option. My cat is bigger (not necessarily overweight) so I want to find a good food for him for weight control. Any suggestions?
Hello!
I was looking through your list and I did see that you had the Nature’s Variety Instinct but not the Salmon Meal. Is there something wrong with that one? My cat really only likes the dry food when it’s a seafood type.
Thanks!
It might be because of the mercury and other chemicals in fish. I’ve heard of different people saying that was why they won’t use it long term or at all; or because of its source like China instead of US type deal
Has anyone heard of/familiar with pure vita?? I was using california natural and needed to switch since the quality has markedly decreased the past few months and this was recommended by a natural food store. My cats defintely prefer it to the california natural as they are picking out the pure vita and ignoring the california natural but I want to make sure its a good food. Also they won’t eat raw or natural meat that I try to supplement with, I’ve never had a cat refuse the meat I eat before when its plain so I’m not sure how to get them to eat the meat. Any ideas??
I’ve been feeding my two cats Pure Vita since we adopted them a year ago, and at the start we were a bit worried as there weren’t any proper reviews of it online, but due to lack of choice we decided to give it a try. It’s grain free and relatively affordable. We’ve tried both the chicken and the fish flavour, but ultimately decided to stick with chicken as the cats seemed to prefer it, and apparently feeding fish too often to cats isn’t the best idea. My cats never had any issues with it, and are as healthy and happy as they can be~
What about Evolve Maintenance Chicken? I have a limited income so I found this food at walmart (of all brands there it seems the best that I have found)
I’m not sure if I can afford Orijen and I’m not sure where to get it close to me (Wichita KS USA)
Personally I don’t like evolve because of how much rice and yeast it has in it (listed 5 times) as well as all of the super highly processed chemicals. I like simpler not as processed ones(personal non-expert opinion). I like Pure Vita (its only $8 more than evolve) because its simpler and is grain free, cats aren’t meant to eat grains. I’m on a limited budget as well but I’ve learned the hard way that spending the money on healthy food saves money on the vet and emotions because the cats (or dogs) feel better and enrich our lives that much more. Nature’s Variety is another good one that my mom uses for her cats who have issues with the fillers and “crap” in the lower quality foods and its not horrendously expensive, it usually runs about $32. As far as where to get them try googling pet stores. I did that and found a great store near where I moved that I would never had known about otherwise, if that doesn’t work you can always try online, some places do free shipping etc. It depends on the site. I hope this helps, good luck
I have just recently changed my cats from Royal Canin to the Merricks Grain Free chicken dry food. Am also trying different grain free canned foods too. What are your thoughts on the Merricks?
Thanks for the great website and all the effort researching this information! Our two new kitties are happily eating Orijen Cat & Kitten mixed with Nature’s Logic Rabbit formula. They get a “treat” once or twice a day of canned food, such as Nature’s Variety Instinct, Fromm, Evanger’s or other premium brands I can find easily at local stores. I really hoped they’d take a liking to the Ziwi Peak “dry” food, but so far neither one has done more than nibble a few pieces before losing interest. They do like it better than Honest Kitchen Prowl, which neither one would even try after sniffing it. That one looked great on paper, but oh well!