As the owner of a 10-year-old cat, I’m constantly thinking about how to keep her happy and healthy. Choosing the right food is a major part of that equation, and wading through a sea of marketing claims can make it a surprisingly difficult task. If you’re like me — overwhelmed by the options out there from grain-free and raw to human-grade and freeze-dried — veterinarian Brennen McKenzie, who blogs about science-based pet care at the SkeptVet, may help put your mind at ease: “The reality is that there is no one ‘right’ food, and most cats can thrive on a broad variety of available diets,” he says. “Compared to the haphazard diet of whatever prey and scavenged dead things that feral cats can find, our pets have an excellent source of nutrition in conventional commercial cat foods.”
But even with that comforting guidance, there are still hundreds of cat food formulas to choose from, so I asked McKenzie and 11 other experts to guide me through the different options and explain why a cat owner might choose one brand or type of food over another. As explained in the criteria below, some of the determining factors will depend on your cat’s specific needs (often determined by their age), while others are more subjective (as cat owners know, picky felines often have their own unexplainable preferences).
Best meat-in-gravy cat food
Weruva Paw Lickin’ Chicken in Gravy Grain-Free Canned Cat Food
If your cat prefers meat-in-gravy formulas, Berg says this chicken-in-gravy flavor from Weruva is a good option because of its high-protein and low-carbohydrate content. The brand is also recommended by pet-nutrition consultant Susan Lauten. It is grain-free, if that’s something you’re looking for, but as stated above, “grain free” is more of a marketing term than a reliable indicator of healthiness.
