Canned Cat Food Reviews- Best Cat Food Brands

What are the best ingredients to look for?

If you read my lens on the dangers of commercial cat food, you already know that the very best canned cat foods are always grain free and are as natural as possible. If you are unaware of why this is, please read my lens about the dangers of commercial cat food.

A named meat source, such as chicken, lamb, rabbit, venison, beef, or turkey, for example, should be the first ingredient. The next several ingredients should also be along those lines, fish or other named meat proteins. Usually the meat will be followed by a starch of some sort, such as potatoes, sweet potato, carrots, etc. These often serve as a binder and filler, and while are not essential in the large quantities that are in most canned grain free foods, they sure beat the alternatives.

Then other vegetables are usually listed, followed by a long list of vitamins. Sometimes you see fruits listed, which appear to make a food healthier, but really have no place in a cat's diet. It is not harmful though. I always find one lone blueberry in my Merrick canned cat food. While a small amount of vegetable matter is included from the stomach contents of the prey a cat in the wild would catch, too much is not good. A lot of the better brands of cat foods still add things that while not optimal, are a far better choice than garbage grains. No, a cat does not eat an apple or cottage cheese or berries in the wild, but we have to pick our battles, don't we?



Following grain free canned cat foods are those premium foods that do have grains. You do need to make sure the grains are whole grains, and not flours of any sort. Corn and wheat are highly allergenic and should always be avoided. Some grains can cause bowel distress in cats, so you may have to experiment which canned cat food works best for your kitties. Most premium foods don't use such garbage grains as corn or wheat, but read labels to make sure.

Also, make sure you are getting named, specific meat sources. Avoid any ambiguous term like "meat". That literally can mean any type of flesh from any type of creature, including diseased animals and road kill, and worse. If you don't know exactly what I mean by worse, prepare to be horrified when you read my "Commercial Cat Food is Dangerous" article.

Ingredients you should avoid.

There's a whole list a mile long of poor quality ingredients that are in pet food, but I will give you some common ones that are in all inferior cat foods. These ingredients are harmful to your cat if fed over time, and will result in poor health and a shorter life span.
Poor health means more trips to the vet, which are always very expensive! Poor food results in a little savings now, yet a lot of expense later.

The word by-product in any form, such as meat by-product, or chicken by-product. This is always very bad news.

Wheat gluten. This is what was contaminated and killed thousands of pets in 2007, when Menu Foods allowed adulterated wheat gluten into its cat and dog foods. It is highly allergenic for cats and can cause irritable bowels, just like it does in humans. It is used as a very cheap filler and very poor source of protein. It is used to boost the protein content of the food, so that it appears to be healthier than it is. This is one of a million deceptive practices the pet food industry employs.

Any type of flour is not good. Wheat, rice, soy or corn flour. All bad.

Ground rice or brewers rice.

BHA, and BHT are both known to cause liver and kidney dysfunction

Ethoxyquin, a known carcinogen. Most companies are not using this anymore, as far as I can see, but one WELL KNOWN cat food company does, and THIS is the one vets often recommend! I'll tell you later.

The BEST Canned Foods for your Cat
I have included the ingredients list from some of these foods so you can see what truly healthy canned cat food should contain.

Merrick's BG ( Before Grain) a SUPERIOR food, but may not be nutritionally complete. Lacking in organ meats. Cats do need a bit more variety. The ingredients are just the protein source, and water. That's it! Best for supplemental feeding, along with other superior canned foods that include some vegetables.
This food comes in beef, chicken, tuna, quail, turkey and salmon.

Here is an example of their beef canned cat food ingredients:
100% Beef
Ingredients: Beef, Water for Processing

Innova EVO Canned Cat Food- Excellent cat food. One of my top choices for my cats - only one flavor. Here is what is says about EVO canned cat food:
Innova EVO has been specially designed to provide all the key nutritional benefits received from the feeding of raw food diets. EVO is based on ground chicken & turkey meat, bones, fat, cartilage and connective tissue. It includes whole, raw fruits and vegetables, which contain health promoting phytochemicals and micronutrients. Low Carb, Hi-Protein and Grain Free.



Ingredients:
Turkey, Chicken, Turkey Broth, Chicken Broth, Chicken Meal, Herring, Carrots, Whole Eggs, Salmon Meal, Natural Flavors, Guar Gum, Seaweed Extract, Apples, Tomato Flakes, Cottage Cheese, Herring Oil, Potassium Chloride, Apple Fiber, Inulin, Vitamin C, Sea Salt, Choline Chloride, Sunflower Oil, Beta Carotene, Vitamins/Minerals

Wellness Cat Food This is my top, number ONE choice of canned cat food, and the food I feed my 11 cats. The nice thing about Wellness is that they offer it in 3 oz cans, 5.5 oz, and 12.5 oz cans. This makes it practical to feed if you only have one cat, or a multi-cat household.

You have to read the labels though, on Wellness, as some of Wellness's foods do have grains. The ones that do not have grains clearly state it on the front of the can.

These are grain free- Chicken, Beef & Chicken, Chicken & Herring, Turkey, Turkey & Salmon, Beef & Salmon.



The following flavors have brown rice and are not grain free- Chicken & Lobster, Salmon & Trout, Sardine Shrimp & Crab.

Chicken -
Chicken Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Liver, Turkey, Chicken Broth, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Natural Chicken Flavor, Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Flaxseed, Squash, Cranberries, Blueberries, Zucchini, Potassium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Taurine, Iron Proteinate (a source of Chelated Iron), Beta-Carotene, Zinc Proteinate (a source of Chelated Zinc), Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Cobalt Proteinate (a source of Chelated Cobalt), Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate (a source of Chelated Copper), Folic Acid, Manganese Proteinate (a source of Chelated Manganese), Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Potassium Iodide, Biotin.

Nature's Logic Canned Cat Food - grain free
Available in chicken, rabbit, duck & salmon.

Natures Variety Instinct Cat Food: Comes in chicken, beef, lamb, rabbit, duck, venison.

Lamb-
Lamb Formula Ingredients: Lamb, Lamb Liver, Lamb Broth, Flaxseed, Eggs, Tricalcium Phosphate, Peas, Carrots, Lecithin, Potassium Chloride, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Riboflavin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Dried Kelp, Salt, Taurine, Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide), Artichokes, Cranberries, Pumpkin, Tomato, Blueberries, Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale, Parsley.

Only Natural Pet has a fabulous selection of premium cat and dog foods as well as supplements and more!

Merrick Cat Food-
I personally think Merrick cat food ROCKS! Not only does it actually smell GOOD, but the names are fun, in addition to this being a really great canned cat food.
(If you think these names are cute, check out Merrick canned DOG food! My dog loves it and the names are adorable.)



Some flavors of Merrick canned cat food contain brown rice, others do not. Read the labels.

Available flavors: California roll, Cowboy Cookout, Grammies Pot Pie, New England Boil, Southern Delight, Surf & Turf, Thanksgiving Day Dinner, Turducken and Ocean Breeze.

Grammy's Pot Pie: Grammys' Pot Pie Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Broth, Turkey Liver, Fresh Red Jacket New Potatoes, Fresh Carrots, Fresh Snow Peas, Fresh Whole Red Delicious Apples, Potato Starch-modified, Olive Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Tricalcium Phosphate, Cassia Gum, Carrageenan, Flax Seed Oil (For Omega -3), Poultry Seasoning (Thyme, Sage, Rosemary) Choline Chloride, Salt, Taurine, Mixed Tocopherols, Vitamin E Supplement, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Complex,d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Acetate, Niacin, Lecithin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Cobalt Glucoheptanate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin,Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite.

Weruva cat food: This food really looks edible for the human pallet. Some do have white rice and corn flour- not desirable for regular feeding, but a nice treat food. Many of the flavors are fish intense, which may attract cats, but is not all that good for sustained feeding.

Available flavors- these have fun names too!



Outback Grill: Sardines, Trevally*, Barramundi*
Marbella Paella: Mackerel, Rice, Calamari, Shrimp, Mussels
Asian Fusion: Tuna, Rice, Shirasu*
Mack & Jack: Tuna, Mackerel, Grilled Skipjack*
Mediterranean Harvest: Tuna, Peas, Tomato, Potato
Meow Luau: Mackerel, Aloe*, Carrots, Baby Corn
Mideast Feast: Tuna, Grilled Tilapia*
Polynesian BBQ: Sardines, Tuna, Grilled Red Bigeye*
Paw Lickin' Chicken: Chicken, Carrot, Potato, Pea
Grandma's Chicken Soup: Chicken, Carrot, Potato, Pea
Funky Chunky: Chicken, Carrot, Pea, Rice
Nine Liver: Chicken, Chicken Liver
Green Eggs & Chicken: Chicken, Egg, Pea
Peking Ducken: Chicken, Chicken Liver
On the Cat Wok: Chicken, Duck, Carrot
Steak Frites: Beef, Tomato, Pea

Innova EVO 95% Meat Canned Cat Food>/I> - Beef, chicken & turkey, duck and venison. No grains

Beef-
Ingredients: Beef, Beef Broth, Tricalcium Phosphate, Natural Flavors, , Carrageenan, Minerals, Potassium Chloride, Guar Gum, Vitamins, Choline Chloride, Herring Oil, Salt, Sodium Ascorbate, Sunflower Oil, Taurine, Sodium Phosphate, Beta Carotene

Evanger's Canned Cat Food - Basically good ingredients, but the seafood flavor has ground corn and rice flour- HORRIBLE! I am shocked that this company would add these garbage grains to any of its foods.

AvoDerm Natural Select Cuts Canned Cat Food - This food looks excellent. They don't list avocados on the ingredients list, but this is something that is supposed to be in it. Why aren't they listed?



Select Cuts Chicken Chunks
Ingredients: Chicken, Chicken Broth, Xanthan, Potassium Chloride, Methionine, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Iron Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Vitamin B1 Supplement, Vitamin B2 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.

Halo Spot's Stew for Cats- no grains, but a little vegetable heavy. Looks good though!

Original Recipe
Ingredients: Chicken, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Celery, Chicken Liver, Carrots, Green Beans, Water, Green Peas, Turkey, Calcium Lactate, Soy Sauce, Dried Kelp, Garlic Powder, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Zinc Gluconate, Taurine.

ZiwiPeak Daily Cat Cuisine Canned Food - A fairly new canned cat food. Grain Free, Yahhhh!!! It does have some odd and interesting ingredients.

Venison & Fish
Ingredients: Venison - Meat (min. 26%), Liver, Tripe, Heart & Kidney (min. 18%); White Fish (min. 14%), Green-lipped and Blue Mussel* (min.4%); Carrageenan, Guar Gum, Flaxseed Oil, Taurine. Minerals - Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Potassium Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Magnesium Sulphate, Zinc Sulphate, Ferrous Sulphate, Manganese Sulphate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite. Vitamins - Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid

High Quality Foods with Grains

I found dozens of higher quality canned foods that do contain grains, which makes them less desirable by far from the previously listed grain free options.

After reading my lens on commercial cat food, you will be aware of the negative health impact on cats from eating grains. Whole grains are always preferable to grain flours. Corn and wheat are common allergens and should be always be avoided. Whole brown rice, and barley are better choices as far as grains go.

Here are some other better quality cat foods that do contain grains:

Natural Balance Ultra Premium Canned Cat Food - The Green Pea and Venison is grain free, as is Duck and Green Pea. These are good choices for cats with allergies to common meat proteins, such as chicken or beef. Other flavors use ground brown rice. All in all I would choose this food as one of my TOP picks for a canned cat food that does have grains.



Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Canned Cat Food This website is pretty cool.

California Natural Canned Cat Food - I used to feed this food, but the fish does not agree with some of my cats. It is pretty good, with minimal ingredients, but does have rice and fish. Do not feed everyday.

Innova Canned Cat Food- Ground white rice, not so good. Other than that, I love Innova cat food.

Castor & Pollux Canned Organix Feline Formula - Has brown rice in it.

Pinnacle Holistic Canned Cat Food - contains oat bran and quinoa, both grains.

Felidae Cat & Kitten Formula Canned Food - contains alfalfa meal and brown rice.



Castor & Pollux Ultramix Feline Canned Formula - has brewers rice flour- this is undesirable in a cat food.

Pinnacle Holistic Canned Cat Food - contains oat bran and quinoa, both grains.

Castor & Pollux Ultramix Feline Canned Formula - has brewers rice flour- this is undesirable in a cat food.

Tiki Cat Premium Wild Caught Canned Cat Food- way too fish heavy. All flavors are fish. Many have rice. Some do not. Good for occasional feeding. One of the most prevailing diseases afflicting "fish junkies" is Steatosis or Yellow Fat Disease, an inflammation of the fat tissue in the body due to a deficiency of vitamin E.

Newman's Own Organics Canned Cat Food - with both rice and oat bran in all flavors, this is a little grain heavy. At one point in the past they used SOY in their foods, but it may have been the dry cat food. Soy is very harmful to cats, as it suppresses the thyroid gland. I personally would NOT choose this food.

Mulligan Stew Canned Cat Food- I never heard of this one until now. It has some freaky weird ingredients that I cannot believe cats would eat, such as horseradish (!!!) and cabbage. This is how they explain these oddities: Cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage and horseradish, contain high amounts of glutathione peroxidase, powerful enzymes that play significant roles in scavenging the body for free radicals. These vegetables also provide the fiber required for a healthy digestive system. Also contains brown rice.

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul - This food is so grain heavy, I would not recommend it at all. It has brown rice, white rice, barley, oatmeal and powdered cellulose (which usually means peanut shells or something else equally bad). This food is barely better than grocery store brands in respect to quantity of grains. Avoid this one. It is simply more grain than anything else. TWO paws DOWN for this food!

Solid Gold Poultry and Fish canned cat food- two grains, but far back after a long list of meat sources. Not too bad!

Evolve- has brown rice. I used to feed this to my cats.

Eagle Pack- has oats

Blue Buffalo- has brown rice and barley (NOTE* Blue Buffalo was one of the tainted cat foods in the mass poisonings of pet food in 2007)



Nutro- Has rice bran and rice gluten. I would avoid glutens of any kind.

Drs. Foster and Smith Canned Cat Food-contains brown rice

Canned cat food lies! How you are being fooled.

The manufacturers of the following foods purposely lie to the public about the quality of these foods. An educated consumer won't be fooled, but most people just have never been exposed to the truth, until now. These so called "premium" canned cat foods are complete crap.

Do you know the REAL reason vets highly recommend sub-par foods like Iams, Science Diet and Eukanuba? It is not that they are purposely lying to you, it is that the manufacturers of these foods supply veterinary colleges with study aids, reading material and make grants to the schools so that the future veterinarians will recommend and push these unhealthy cat foods onto the unsuspecting public.

The veterinarians do not get an education in nutrition at veterinary college,(Is that not shocking in itself? Not so shocking when you realize that medical doctors for us humans are taught ZERO about nutrition either. How sad and how scary.) so pet food manufacturers can easily dupe them into believing their products are healthy. I was fortunate enough, when choosing an new vet several years ago, that I found a holistic vet, one who was educated in nutrition to some degree. It was he who informed me of Innova cat food, and I educated myself further from there.

Here is my review of the most common cat foods that people THINK are healthy.

Max Cat- This is awful cat food. Here are the first few ingredients: Chicken Meal, Ground Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour, Rice Flour, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Ground Whole Wheat.
ABSOLUTE GARBAGE. This is no better than Friskies or any other store brand.



Hill's Science Diet- This food is a gross violation of what a cat should eat. The first ingredient is WATER, followed by meat by products. Remember, if it doesn't name the animal the meat came from, you may be serving the remains of euthanized house pets. (cats and dogs) Please read my other article on COMMERCIAL CAT FOOD to learn the alarming source of "meat" in foods like this.

Water, Liver, Meat by-products, Chicken, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Wheat Flour, Corn Starch, Powdered Cellulose, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor, Rice Flour.

IAMS- Previously poisoned crap that killed thousands of cats in the 2007 cat food poisonings by Menu Foods. Here are the first several ingredients- Chicken Broth, Chicken, Chicken Liver, Chicken By-Products, Wheat gluten, Meat By-Products. It sounds a tad better than some others, but only by tiny degrees.

Eukanuba- This is TOXIC CAT FOOD- It uses the very carcinogenic preservative Ethoxyquin. Then, on their website, they try to say it is safe, when it has been PROVEN to cause cancer! STOP FEEDING THIS FOOD Immediately!
Some of the ingredients: Chicken By-Product Meal, Corn Meal, Corn Grits, Chicken, Fish Meal, and of course Ethoxyquin.

I think I am going to email this company and ask them why they have a known carcinogen in their cat food. Let us see if they can talk their way out of that one!

Grocery Store Junk. The cheap crap.

Now for the grocery store brands we all grew up feeding; Friskies, Nine-Lives, Fancy Feast, and Whiskas. Sadly, these familiar and comforting cans of cat food are bottom of the barrel in nutrition. Their labels are so cute and they have smiling kitties looking all happy and healthy. What a deception.



Friskies- first couple ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, beef, liver, wheat gluten, meat by-products, turkey, corn starch-modified, soy flour, artificial and natural flavors.

Oh God, there is that wheat gluten again. No wonder so many cats get IBS!

I am not even going to bother listing Nine-Lives, Whiskas and Fancy Feast. They are on the same sub-par level as Friskies.

Needless to say, unless you are dirt poor and have no other choice, ditch the store brands.

Making the switch to a healthier canned cat food.

Now that you have a very good idea of what canned foods are best for your cat, I hope you will make the appropriate changes to ensure your cat a long and healthy life.

The SECRET and TRICK to get your cat to switch foods is that you have to remember to do it gradually.

I was just like you, feeding Friskies for years! Then I learned about healthier options after reading Ann N. Martin's book, Foods Pets Die For.

NONE of my cats made the switch easily. But they all did eventually. I actually feed a mixture of raw ground chicken and canned Wellness cat food, twice a day, to eleven cats. That's a lot of dish washing.

You cannot just dump a new food on a plate and expect your cat to eat it. It doesn't work that way. My mother's cat Clovis was very finicky, but she managed to switch her from a store brand over to Wellness.

You will need to buy the smallest cans possible of the new food, because you may be wasting some of it initially. The trick is to mix only a TEASPOON (or less) at a time into the old food, just a tiny little amount of the new food. You want to make sure the new food is in such a small amount, that they cannot detect it. Cats hate change, and healthy cat food simply does not have the pungent stench of death and chemicals that cats so love in cheaper foods.

Once your kitty accepts a tiny amount of the good stuff into her food, increase the amount by tiny increments every few days. Back off if your cat is showing signs of ignoring her food. Wait until she is accustomed to the new taste before adding any more.

If you follow this plan, you can easily switch your cat over to healthier foods. Just remember, slow and tiny increases at a time.

I am a HUGE Fan of Only Natural Pet. I have dealt with them for years and love their choices of healthy and natural cat and dog foods.

BEST CANNED FOODS- GRAIN FREE :

Wellness

Innova EVO

Merrick

Merrick BG ( Before Grain)

Natures Variety Instinct

Natures Logic

Innova 95% Meat

Weruva

Halo Spot's Stew

Avoderm

ZiwiPeak

Evangers

-----------------------------------

BETTER FOODS with grain

Natural Balance

Tiki Cat

California Natural

Innova

Castor & Pollux

Felidae

Pinacle

Mulligan's Stew

Solid Gold

Evolve

Eagle Pack

Blue Buffalo (Blue Spa Select)

Dr's. Foster and Smith

Not as good:

Newman's Own (although I really don't recommend this one)

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers Soul (I don't recommend)

Nutro (I don't recommend)

------------------------------------------

Very bad:

Hills Science Diet

Eukanuba

Iams

Max Cat

Friskies

9-Lives

Whiskas