What is the Best Dry Cat Food?
Cats have different food needs throughout life but some basic needs are consistent such as high protein. Cats are built to eat meat. They can eat some vegetation in the wild but there are no vegetarian cats. They are all carnivores. There teeth are built to eat meat and their systems are made to process meat. A diet high in grains such as that found in many dry and canned cat foods will result in weight gain and many other potential health problems such as diabetes. So what is the best dry cat food?
Is Dry Food Good for Cats?
A raw diet of carefully prepared foods with meat and supplements is probably best but is time consuming to prepare. Special knowledge is needed to assure complete nutrition. Cats cannot live on just one kind of meat from the store. They should not have too much fish due to potential mercury poisoning. Meats may need to be cooked to avoid disease and supplements need to be added for balanced nutrition. This process is not practical for many cat owners.
Should I Just Feed my Cats Canned Food?
Yes, cats can live on canned food just fine but it can be very expensive! High quality canned food often costs over $1 per can! With multiple cats this can simply be too expensive for many pet owners. Cheap canned food is full of processed grains that lead to weight gain and other health problems.
Can Dry Food be Healthy for Cats?
Yes, dry food can be healthy. There is a vast array of different dry foods. Some are total junk food. The cheap brands are the equivalent to us eating sugary cereal all day, every day. They are seriously lacking in nutrition though they may taste good.
On the other end of the spectrum there are high quality dry cat foods that are very expensive as well. Here I recommend a very high quality dry cat food that is not at the top of the price range! It is still a lot more than the cheap stuff but for the amazing quality of the ingredients it is cheap! This is Solid Gold brand cat food. It was the food we finally found that works for all our cats. They all love it and it has amazing quality. My orange, tabby boy has food sensitivities and this was one of the only foods that does not make him sick! It is also very healthy for all my kitties.
Solid Gold makes a variety of formulas for different cat needs such as Kitten, Adult and Senior. There are Grain Free varieties and different kinds of protein for cats with various sensitivities. For example, my cat was sensitive to the rabbit kind but does fine on the chicken and pollock. We started with the chicken based Indigo Moon variety. It has an amazing 4.8 out of 5 star rating on Amazon.com. I now feed them all the Pollock variety called Fit as a Fiddle since it is lower in fat for weight control.
I give my cats both wet and dry food every day. The wet food is a treat and a vehicle to give them supplements for health problems such as tooth and gum disease and upper respiratory infections they are prone to from being in shelters when they were younger. I think Solid Gold gives them all the nutrition they need.
Make sure your cats drink lots of water if they eat dry food. Kidney disease is common in cats and can be brought on in part due to dry food diets. Some cats just don’t like to drink much water so a wet food diet may be better for them. My cats drink lots of water every day. Of course they like it fresh so make sure you change it daily and wipe or wash out the bowl.
If you are wondering what is the best dry cat food, I would highly recommend one of the varieties by Solid Gold. They are healthy, affordable, tasty and offer high-quality nutrition for your kitties. Let me know how your cats like it and what you think!
Jessica
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Hello, I liked your website about cats. I own a couple myself and we balance their food with both wet and dry. Last thing we want is for them to gain too much weight and anything that is unhealthy for them. Its good to see the food you feel is bes on that page. It follows your message perfect. I will definitely look into that in the future. Thanks again.
Sincerely;
Crystal
Hello Crystal,
We tried so many different foods before we found the right one! I am sure there are others out there that are great but this is our favorite and works for all three of our babies! I like that I can have one food that works for all of them. It would be such a hassle to always seperate them and try to keep them from eating each other’s food if they needed different kinds.
Thanks,
Jessica
I’m really happy to have read your post today about Solid Gold. I’ve been looking for a new brand of cat food as my cats are getting so picky the older they get. Also, good to consider the Mercury in fish! Maybe this in coincidence, but every time I’ve fed my cats canned food, they seem to get loose stools. Do you think this could make that difference? Maybe too rich? Thanks for your post. Helpful!
Hello Jackie,
Many cats are extremely sensitive to changes in their food. They often need new foods to be phased in slowly. They also can be sensitive to many ingredients. I wrote about food sensitivities and intolerance here: https://thrivingcat.com/what-i…
We had to try many foods to find brands that my cat could tolerate. That is one reason we ended up with Solid Gold. For wet food we give our cats Authority brand. It is a great mid-range food that is much higher quality than cheap store brands but not ridiculously expensive. It is especially affordable when it goes on sale at PetSmart. Before I found Authority I fed my cats Purina Pro Plan. That is a good option if you want to find a store brand wet food.
I hope you find something that works well for your cats!
Thanks for your comment,
Jessica
Hi Jessica!
Thanks for the suggestions. We recently bought our daughter a kitten; but I really don’t know what I am doing! The food we bought it was dry food from the store… but I had no idea to consider that come of it could very well be junk that will cause weight gain, or other internal problems. I will have to be more considerate of what I am purchasing.
If fish is really more a treat for the cat; how often do you recommend allowing it to eat a half of small can of tuna fish? :/ And are our regular cans of tuna OK for the kitten?
Hello Mei Scarlet,
Tuna is fine as a treat or occasional food but it is not nutritionally complete. It is missing many vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin E which can be serious as well as taurine which is added to cat foods. This reason as well as the potential for mercury consumption are some reasons why tuna is not healthy as a regular food for cats. It can also be too high in sodium.
Canned tuna usually does not have skin, bones etc. That is part of why it is not a complete diet and missing vitamins and minerals.
I recommend Authority brand wet canned food. It is much better quality than cheap store brands but not ridiculously expensive. When it goes on sale at PetSmart it is even better. A good store brand is Purina ProPlan.
Thank you for your comment,
Jessica
These are great reminder Jessica. I remember years ago when I inherited a cat from my brother, he moved so no longer could have her. Lucy was the cat and she was an older cat that had all kinds of issues such as weepy eyes, and sneezing etc. Honestly she was a bit of a mess.
I took her to a vet and they recommended a high quality dry food. After a month of being on this change of diet (off canned food) with the occasional chicken necks from the butcher, all her sinus issues completely cleared up. So although the food cost more initially, it saved me hundreds of dollars in future vet visits and bills and medications.
Hello Fleur,
Yes, it is amazing how quality pet foods are misunderstood. Just like us, eating junk as your only source of nutrition will lead to serious health problems for dogs and cats as well. It is perfectly logical but somehow we got used to pet food being cheap in price and quality. I am glad there more and more good options for quality food available now and Solid Gold brand is my favorite.
I am glad you could help your adopted kitty Lucy get healthier and happier!
Thanks,
Jessica
Hi, really nice looking site and some good information on cat food.
Thanks for the great rundown on this food. One of my cats has been getting a stomach ache from the food I’ve been feeding her lately so I’ve been looking for an alternative. Quick question, have you tried sprinkling any water on this food yet to see if your cat will still eat it?
My cats tend to stick their noses up at wet food in general, so I usually try to sprinkle a few bits of water on the dry food on top of having their water fountain nearby. Curious if you’ve tried this to see the results.
Hi Craig,
I think my husband tried putting some water on it at one point but I don’t recall the outcome. Generally we don’t do that since ours are all good at drinking lots of water anyway but I have wondered if I should try that just to negate the bad effects of eating dry food. I was afraid they would not like it getting wet…you know…cats!
My tabby boy has digestion issues, which could indicate he really should not be eating dry food at all. Luckily they love their wet food but we still feed both since the dry has better nutrition. The wet food is a good vehicle to give them all their supplements.
Do yours drink much water? Does the fountain make them more interested in drinking?
Thanks!
Jessica
Lovely site. Keep sharing. I now have a cat, so I truly welcome your honesty.
Thank you Josephine! I will keep sharing. Let me know if you have any questions or post suggestions.
Jessica