Best Cat Food - Ratings And Reviews Of The Top Dry And Wet Cat Food Brands In 2023

To help pet owners make informed decisions, we conducted comprehensive research on every available cat food option. Our evaluation process included a thorough examination of ingredients, macronutrient profiles, and protein-fat ratios. We rated each food using a combination of formulaic and scientifically based, practical criteria to ensure the best options for your feline friend.

Providing your feline companion with the best quality cat food can ensure a long, healthy, and content life for your furry friend. On the other hand, opting for low-quality cat food can have the opposite effect.

As a cat owner, it is essential to ensure that your pet is well-nourished, regardless of whether it is a newly adopted kitten or a senior feline. By selecting a diet that is biologically appropriate and fits within your budget, you can ensure your cat's overall well-being and happiness.

As obligate carnivores, cats require a high-protein diet to thrive. Research indicates that the natural diet of wild and stray cats consists of 63% protein, 23% fat, and just 2-3% carbohydrates (on a dry-matter basis). This is in stark contrast to most commercial cat foods, which often contain excessive amounts of carbohydrates (20-40%) and insufficient amounts of protein.

With so many options available, it can be challenging to determine which cat food is the best option for your feline companion. Despite the overwhelming amount of choices and marketing jargon, finding a biologically appropriate cat food for your adult cat should be a priority.
Furthermore, most commercial cat food is of poor quality and contains questionable ingredients such as corn and meat by-products.

To help pet owners make informed decisions, we conducted comprehensive research on every available cat food option. Our evaluation process included a thorough examination of ingredients, macronutrient profiles, and protein-fat ratios. We rated each food using a combination of formulaic and scientifically based, practical criteria to ensure the best options for your feline friend.

Below, you will find our list of the top cat foods, along with our comprehensive reviews.

Top Cat Foods

Editor's Choice
Feline Natural: This premium canned wet food contains very limited ingredients. In addition to having near-perfect macronutrients, It also contains Green Lipped Mussel for joint health.

Nutro Perfect Portions: This brand of wet food contains only quality ingredients with healthy organ meat and excellent macronutrients included.

Best Freeze Dried 
Vital Essentials: This outstanding food is as close to wild cats' diet as possible. It contains rabbit meat almost exclusively and includes lots of organ meat.

Smalls: This is an excellent fresh food company with great nutritional profiles and convenient home delivery.

Tiki Cat After Dark: Contains nothing but meat and vitamins. It is very high in protein and is void of any fillers. 

Best Dry Food 
Wysong Epigen Go: This is easily the best dry food available since it contains almost no fillers and has an incredibly high protein content. 

Best Cheap Food 
Triumph: This is the cheapest good-quality food with good macronutrient profiles and almost no fillers.

How We Review And Rate Foods

Many websites rely solely on Amazon ratings when making their cat food recommendations, resulting in the promotion of foods containing low-quality ingredients such as corn. This is a disservice to our feline friends.
In contrast, our extensive database of cat foods encompasses over 2000 individual products. We meticulously gathered all crucial information on each food, including:

• AAFCO rating
• List of Ingredients
• Macronutrient profiles (Including Guaranteed Analysis, Dry-Matter Basis, and Caloric Basis)
• Overall price and price per pound
• Calories per 100 grams
• Whether meat is the first ingredient
• Comparing the food against the average of all cat foods on a macronutrient basis
• If the food's recipe utilizes more than four controversial ingredients

All this data is used to calculate a rating on a 1-5 star scale (with half-point increments), providing a clear and comprehensive assessment of each product.
The rating system operates as follows:

• One point is awarded if the primary ingredient is meat. 
• One point is given if the food does not include unspecified meat ingredients (such as "meat by-products").
  
• One point is awarded if the food contains an above-average protein level on a dry-matter basis compared to other foods in the database. A score of 0.5 points is given for an average protein level. 
  

• ​​One point is earned if the recipe includes fewer than four controversial ingredients. A score of 0.5 points is awarded for exactly four controversial ingredients. 
• ​​The final point is a discretionary score based on various factors, including the carbohydrate content, the presence of probiotics and vitamins, and our overall evaluation of the food's quality and suitability for your cat. This score is determined by our experts and represents their judgment of the food's quality and biological appropriateness for your feline friend.

Our rating system is designed to provide a transparent, fair evaluation of all cat foods, enabling easy comparison and selection of the best brands. This method will make your search for the best cat food simpler and more informed.

What To Look For In A Quality Cat Food 

Research conducted on both indoor cats fed commercially prepared food and feral and stray cats indicates that felines naturally choose food sources that provide the following macronutrient balance (calculated on a dry-matter basis):

Protein: 52-63% Fat: 22-36% Carbohydrates: 2.8-12% (with feral cats having a lower percentage in this range)

This data suggests that cats have evolved to flourish on a diet high in protein, moderate in fat, and low in carbohydrates.

Our ratings and recommendations are based on this understanding.
To simplify your search for the best cat food, we've distilled the key components of a cat-appropriate diet into the following guidelines: Look for foods that are high in protein, moderate in fat, and low in carbohydrates. 

Our rating system reflects this understanding and will assist you in selecting a diet that meets your cat's nutritional needs.
First, the primary ingredient in the cat food should be a named meat source.

Second, it is crucial to opt for named meat ingredients instead of unnamed ones as the latter often consist of low-quality, rendered meat products that may come from questionable sources such as sick, dying, disabled, or deceased farm animals, roadkill, zoo animals, and even euthanized cats and dogs.

Third, the food should be free from filler ingredients such as corn, rice, or potatoes and should have a minimal presence of potentially harmful ingredients. The use of carbohydrate fillers such as corn, rice, and potato by companies is due to their low cost, ability to boost the protein content, and ability to form dry food kibble pieces.

It's important to be aware of all the other ingredients in the recipe and their purpose. Some of these ingredients, such as guar gum, carrageenan, titanium dioxide, and artificial flavors, may be controversial or harmful, while others are vital minerals and vitamins.

The food you choose for your cat should prioritize high animal protein and low carbohydrate content. It's best to base your decision on the Dry Matter Basis or a Calorie Basis rather than on the Guaranteed Analysis. Unfortunately, the law doesn't require cat food labels to include the amount of carbohydrates, so you'll have to calculate it yourself. That's why we've evaluated and rated each food and provided in-depth information about their ingredients. Keep in mind that each cat is unique and may require different nutrients depending on their life stage or breed. For example, kittens need a lot more food than an adult or senior cats, as they need a lot of energy for their rapid growth. Rest assured that all of our recommendations meet the standards for natural ingredients and low carbohydrates. We don't support the use of artificial or high-carbohydrate cat foods.

Reviews And Ratings Of The Best Cat Food Brands

Our list of top-rated cat foods are free of any paid promotions or sponsorships, and we will never compromise our integrity by accepting payment from companies to be listed.
Our top priority is to provide an impartial and informed recommendation for your cat's food, ensuring that he has access to the best and healthiest options for a long and happy life. The ratings and evaluations in our database of cat food are based purely on the data we have collected.
In our database, the majority of wet cat foods receive a 4.5 or 5-star rating, compared to a relatively lower number of dry foods. 

Our selection of the best wet foods is primarily due to the high moisture requirement of cats. However, it is important to remember that not all wet foods are created equal, and some can still be lacking in terms of high-fat levels or contain too many filler ingredients.

That's why, in our list of the best cat food, we only include recipes with a high protein content and an appropriate level of fat, typically derived from high-quality sources such as organ meat. 

Canned Cat Food Vs. Dry Cat Food - Which Is Better?

Compared to dry cat food, wet cat food is vastly superior.

Dry cat food often does not provide the necessary moisture that cats need, which can increase the risk of the urinary tract and kidney diseases. On the other hand, wet cat food has a higher moisture content, which makes it less likely to have negative effects on your cat's health.

We understand that for some pet owners, a dry kibble is a convenient option, especially when using an automatic cat feeder to dispense meals when away from home. However, if you choose to feed your cat dry food, we recommend either the Wysong or Dr. Elsey's clean protein options, as it took significant effort to find only a few dry food choices that meet our standards. Additionally, adding some water to the dry food can provide extra moisture to your cat's diet.

How Much To Feed Your Cat

Maintaining a healthy weight range is crucial for your cat's overall well-being. Unfortunately, almost 60% of cats in the United States are overweight, which can lead to health problems similar to those experienced by humans.

To minimize the risk of conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer, it is important to keep your cat at an appropriate weight.

For cats struggling with weight problems, feeding them specific calorie counts per unit of food can help to regulate portion sizes and ensure that they receive the correct amount of food.
For further information on how much to feed your cat, please refer to our post for a more detailed analysis.

By-Products and Grains - The Ugly Truth

This topic is always a subject of debate.
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Whether cheaper, store-bought cat food is adequate for a cat's health is often debated. While it is true that some cats can survive and live a long life on lower-quality food, the same way humans can live on non-organic vegetables and meat, it's not the best choice for their health.
While organ meat and finely ground bone can be beneficial, the highest quality cat foods list these ingredients specifically rather than mixing them with low-quality meat cuts and chicken beaks and feet. Lower-quality cat foods often contain filler ingredients that lack the necessary nutrients and may result in inflammation and discomfort for your cat. 

Additionally, by-products, which are essentially leftover animal parts, can pose some issues.

Although a named by-product can be acceptable as an ingredient, it should be paired with a main cut of meat. While a chicken and chicken by-product combination isn't the worst recipe, we recommend opting for cat foods that list the meat source and other vital components, such as chicken liver and chicken heart. However, if you're comfortable with by-products, you can still find budget-friendly cat food options suitable for your cat's dietary needs.

One of the issues with the self-regulated pet food industry is that unnamed by-products and meat products may contain various substances. There has been speculation, and some evidence, that some rendering plants use questionable ingredients such as meat past its expiration date, diseased livestock, zoo animals, and even euthanized cats and dogs.

For this reason, although named by-products can be an acceptable ingredient, we strongly recommend selecting a cat food recipe that contains whole, named meats and avoiding foods with unnamed by-products.

Feeding your feline doesn't have to be difficult. With our informative guide, you can rest assured that your cat will have the best diet possible for a happy, healthy life.