The best cat food for your feline friends
Our cats deserve the very best — and the food that they eat is a major part of their well-being. That said, what’s best for one cat won’t be the best for another, so it’s important to know what works best for your cat.
And if yours are anything like ours, then they can be remarkably fussy — we’re talking ‘I’m going on a hunger strike until you buy something I like.’ fussy.
So whether you’re shopping for a kitten, a senior cat, or looking for a more health-conscious diet for your precious feline, we’ve hand-selected some of the best cat food options on the market for you.
Read more: 9 best dog foods for your four-legged friend
Our favourite cat foods
Best overall choice
Gourmet Perle Cat Food Chefs Collection
Best dry food
IAMS Complete Dry Cat Food for Adult 1+ Cats with Ocean Fish
Best wet food
Purina One Adult Cat Food Mini Fillets in Gravy
Best choice for kittens
Lily’s Kitchen Kitten Paté Selection Multipack
Best overall choice
If you’re looking for the perfect all-rounder food, then we don’t think you can do better than this one from Purina.
This collection is part of Purina’s ‘gourmet’ collection, meaning your cat will be eating like the king or queen that they are. We’re talking thick pieces of meat with a succulent gravy that even the fussiest of cats won’t turn their noses up at — probably.
This box comes with four succulent flavours including turkey, tuna, duck and lamb and we absolutely love the mix between meat and fish — we certainly wouldn’t want to eat the exact same thing for weeks on end, so why should our cats?
Best dry food
Dry food is essential in every cat’s diet, whether it’s what they predominantly eat or it’s a ‘sprinkle throughout the wet food’ situation.
Dry food is often a much more affordable (and convenient) food option for cats — you can leave it out for a longer amount of time, allowing your cat to only eat when they’re hungry.
We love this one from IAMS that has 88% of animal protein that supports seven signs of healthy vitality. It’s rich in Vitamin E that helps sustain a healthy immune system for your cat, and even better, it’s completely wheat-free with no fillers, artificial flavours, colours or GMOs — what more could you want?
Best wet food
While your cat would be fine on a primarily dry food diet, there are many benefits to a wet cat food diet — it helps keep them hydrated (essential in the summer), promotes a lean body mass, and it works better with their digestive system than dry food.
Among the most trusted and best cat foods is this Purina one as it’s basically a one-stop shop for everything your cat needs. The Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids help keep their skin and fur looking shiny and healthy, and the essential vitamins and minerals will help support their bones, muscles and joints.
This food comes in a variety of flavours, such as beef, lamb, chicken and ocean fish, helping add variety to please your cat’s taste palate.
Best choice for kittens
Everyone loves kittens, and we also want them to have the very best food for kittens so they can grow up big and strong. It’s important to select a food that’s expertly designed for kittens. In addition to different portion sizes, kitten food needs to be high calorie, high protein to ensure they will gain weight at a healthy rate.
A smooth paté is undoubtedly the best cat food choice here — it’s easy for their tiny bodies to digest while they start to become more independent from their mothers.
This selection from Lily’s Kitchen is our preferred option for kittens aged two-plus months. That’s because they’re made from all-natural ingredients, with high-quality meat and fish, and are also grain-free.
This multipack contains two different varieties of kitten food, Chicken and Chicken & Cod with Salmon, both jam-packed with everything your growing kitten needs.
Best senior food
Just like us, cats have different needs when they get older, and their food is the best way to reflect this.
This selection for senior cats from IAMS contains taurine, which supports healthy heart and eye functions and has important vitamins and minerals to keep their bones strong and supple — like all IAMS food, this is free from artificial flavours, colours and GMOs.
For senior cats, we definitely recommend (from experience!) using wet food over dry food, since it can be difficult to get them to drink water. So, having water in their food is great to keep them hydrated during the day.
Best for sensitive stomachs
For cats with sensitive tummies, our top pick is Hill’s Science Plan dry food. It uses prebiotic fibre to encourage the production of helpful gut bacteria and support a balanced microbiome. It also contains easy-to-digest ingredients to make life easier for your cats.
Rich with Vitamin E and Omega 6 for skin nourishment this choice promotes a healthy, shining coat, too.
Note: If your cat has a particularly sensitive stomach, we recommend talking to your vet about which food will be best for your cat.
Best hypoallergenic food
Food allergies in cats present as skin discomfort such as rashes and upset tummies, and can affect cats of all ages. It’s simply no fun.
If your cat is more sensitive to allergens, Purina Pro Plan hypoallergenic cat food may be the perfect fit for your feline.
This hypoallergenic food is made with protein that is broken down so they’re much smaller and less likely to cause an allergic reaction. While designed with food sensitivities in mind, Purina Pro Plan still delivers all the vitamins and nutrients your cat needs to be happy and healthy.
Cat has a urinary condition? This food has St/Ox which helps support and encourage great urinary health.
Best grain-free food
There are many benefits to grain-free cat food — they tend to contain more ingredients like what your cat would eat in the wild, a higher meat content and they’re typically grain free. As grains are a common feline allergy, this type of food often eliminates the need to buy specific hypoallergenic cat food.
There are no artificial flavours, colours or antioxidants, and excludes common allergens such as pork, beef, soya, eggs, dairy and wheat. It’s also rich in Omega 6, zinc, Vitamin E and beneficial minerals which all work together to keep your kitty as healthy as possible.
Our verdict: What is the best food for cats
There are a lot of cat foods out there, and it can be difficult to know which one is the best for your cat — after all, like us, they need a balanced diet.
If you’re looking for a great all-rounder, then we suggest the Gourmet Perle Cat Food Chefs Collection — it’s one of the highest quality cat foods out there, it’s a nutritious meal option for any adult cat, and if your cat has no specific dietary requirements, then it’s our top pick.
Got a new kitten? Feed your little darling with this Lily’s Kitchen Kitten Paté Selection. The paté is easily palatable to kittens and available in a bunch of flavours, meaning that there’s one for everybody, ahem, we mean cat.
Like us, some cats require specific allergen-free food, and if your cat is one, we recommend the Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Ha Hypoallergenic Dry Cat Food — it’s formulated to still give your cat all the nutrients they need to live a happy and healthy life, just without the risk of breaking out in an allergic reaction.
Prices updated on 10/07/2023. We are not responsible for any changes on the prices mentioned above.
