Best Dry Cat Food

Cat in dry cat food
Photo: The Spruce.

Date: March 2010 – Country: The USA is represented here because the information that I have refers to US products (I’ll be looking at the UK market next)…I think that it is a little tricky figuring out what is the best dry cat food. What criteria do you use for selecting it? Do you select on the basis of best ingredients or most popular? And how do you know if it is popular with your cat – because he or she seems to like it? And if it is popular with your cat is it good for your cat? Finally is the information available? Cat food manufacturers wouldn’t do a survey and my research indicates that there is a lack of good information on what is probably the best selection method; that the best dry cat food has the best ingredients. Of course that means higher prices, which won’t suit everybody. However, there will be a natural overlap. When a cat food has good ingredients it should be liked by our cat and therefore us.

When we decide the best dry cat food we probably have to decide on the basis that there are two customers: us and our cat. What is best for both of us? It can get complicated.

What I have done initially, is to do something that I have not seen done before. I have taken the information from several sources and compared them to see whether any patterns come out of it. Potentially one or two products will be mentioned more than the others and should that be the case it is probably reasonable to assume that these stand out products are the best. Although to be honest there may be some “incestuous” overlapping of work here (one site taking from another). I set out my research below in a table. The 10 best are listed in descending order – the top being the best:

Franny Syufy About Cats – premium food1Share Ranks2Buzzle4Only Natural Pet Store5
1Innova EVO Dry Cat FoodInnova Dry Cat FoodInnova EVO Dry Cat FoodInnova EVO Dry Cat Food [more on this]
2Wellness CORE Dry Cat FoodBlue Spa SelectWellness Complete Health Salmon Dry Cat FoodCastor & Pollux Organix Feline Formula Organic Cat Food
3Wellness Complete Health Salmon Dry Cat FoodChicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s SoulNature’s Variety Instinct Dry Cat FoodWysong Uretic Feline Diet
4Natural Balance Ultra Premium Cat FoodInnova EVO Dry Cat FoodWellness CORE Grain-Free Feline Diet
5Innova Dry Cat FoodWellness Complete Health Salmon Dry Cat FoodCalifornia Natural Dry Cat Food
6Evolve Dry Cat FoodBlue Buffalo OrganicNature’s Variety Instinct Dry Cat Food
7Nature’s Variety Instinct Dry Cat FoodWellness CORE Dry Cat FoodMerrick Before Grain Dry Cat Food
8California Natural Chicken and Rice Cat FoodNatural Balance Ultra Premium Cat FoodWellness Indoor Health Dry Cat Food
9Timberwolf Serengeti Herbal Feline DietFelidae Cat and Kitten FormulaSolid Gold Katz-n-Flocken Dry Cat Food
10Felidae Cat and Kitten FormulaRoyal CaninTaste of the Wild Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

 
On the simple research carried out, Innova Evo Dry Cat Food is an outstanding product and one that I think I can safely endorse as the best dry food in the USA (probably). Wellness CORE comes second in my view. There you have it. One aspect of good dry cat food is that it does not contain high levels of grain (it is grain free cat food) that is unnaturally used to make dry cat food as it contains starch and starch is required to bind the kibble – it is needed for manufacturing not for the cat. However, all dry cat food needs some carbohydrate product to create the kibble.

An alternate carbohydrate source is potatoes or sweet potatoes (used in Canyon River Feline Formula for instance). “Grain free” should read, “carbohydrate free”. That said I do not know what the manufacturing process for Evo dry cat food is.- see ingredients. It is probably the peas that are a substitute to grain. The manufacturers of Wysong Epigen Starch-Free Dry Dog & Cat Food say it is the “nutrient-rich protein sources” that allow the binding and shaping of the kibble.

In my opinion, based on personal experience and reading the view of others (including some or many vets), feeding a cat dry cat food even the best dry cat food permanently is not recommended. It is too dry and cats don’t compensate by drinking more water. A balance between wet and dry and treats should be established. The very best is well prepared homemade cat food as it more accurately reflects true cat food but there are dangers in taking that path. Cats like variety in the same way we do. Rotating cat food products helps to satisfy that need.

Innova EVO Dry Cat Food – Best Dry Cat Food USA

Ingredients5
Turkey & Chicken: Turkey, Chicken Meal, Chicken, Herring Meal, Chicken Fat, Peas, Egg, Turkey Meal, Pea Fiber, Natural Flavors, Apples, Carrots, Cranberries, Herring Oil, Tomatoes, Pumpkin, Dried Chicory Root, Cottage Cheese, Alfalfa Sprouts, Taurine, DL Methionine, Minerals, Vitamins, Direct-Fed Microbials.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min)50.0%Vitamin E (min)300 Iu/Kg
Crude Fat (min)22.0%Vitamin C (min)500 mg/Kg
Crude Fiber (max)2.0%Taurine (min)0.2 %
Crude Moisture (max)10.0%Magnesium (max)0.1%
Linoleic Acid (Omega 6 Fatty Acid) (min)4.0%Omega-3 Fatty Acids (min)0.4%
Carbohydrates NFE (max)7.0%Docosahexaenoic Acid (min)0.1%
Total Micororganisms (min)90,000,000 CFU/lb
Calories
4420 kcal/Kg130g = 1 Cup
602 kcal/Cup4.80oz = 1 Cup

 

Associated Pages: Evo Cat Food – a visitor’s article. And Rebecca says that Wellness Core cat food is rated the best. Carmen from England says that dry cat food made her cat ill. See also these articles on best cat food, if you wish..

Best Dry Cat Food – Notes:
1. Best dry cat food containing No By-Products, Chemical Preservatives, or Unnamed Protein Sources – http://cats.about.com/od/dryfood/tp/premdrycatfood.htm
2. http://www.faqs.org/shareranks/3747,Best-Dry-Cat-Food
4. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/best-dry-cat-food.html
5. this link broken sorry |Pet+Type=Cats&avs|Department=Food&avs|Food+Type=Dry – sells wide range of dry cat food allowing for a good number of reviews and therefore greater accuracy.

Best Dry Cat Food to Best Cat Food

7 thoughts on “Best Dry Cat Food”

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  4. For every animal is different, Royal Canin provides adapted nutritional answers for your animal. Royal Canin focus totally on the animal, with the aim of improving daily life and ensuring better health for dogs and cats through nutrition.
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  5. Just imagine if you were a cat (you know, the cool Garfield or Heathcliff type) and were suffering from a urinary tract infection or some other related problem. This is a bacterial infection that affects the bladder and urethra, which can prevent urine from passing. Now if you have ever had to hold it in, you can only imagine how painful this experience is. In fact, you may have suffered a urinary tract infection yourself and know first hand the symptoms your cat feels. However, when you get sick with UTI you can always go to the doctor and immediately get special treatment. Your cat has a bit of a communication barrier and is reliant on you to know how to respond to UTI. You can take the cat to the vet, but the vet will be communicating instructions to you. Your cat’s health depends on how well you can follow instructions and “sense what the cat feels.” One part of caring for your cat’s condition will be in choosing urinary tract health cat food. Cat food for urinary tract health is a specially formulated diet that helps improve health.

    Reply
    • Does this seem like a good choice for urinary infections? A specially formulated diet that helps improve health? Royal Canin Urinary dry food:

      Chicken meal, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, corn, chicken fat, natural flavors, soy protein isolate, powdered cellulose, salt, dried egg product, brewers dried yeast, potassium chloride, calcium sulfate, fish oil, sodium bisulfate, vegetable oil, taurine, choline chloride, DL-methionine, vitamins [DL-alpha tocopherol acetate (source of vitamin E), niacin supplement, biotin, riboflavin supplement (vitamin B2), D-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin A acetate, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), folic acid, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement], marigold extract (Tagetes erecta L.), trace minerals [zinc oxide, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, calcium iodate, sodium selenite], rosemary extract, preserved with natural mixed tocopherols and citric acid

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