Best Low Carb Cat Food in 2022 – Reviews & Buyer’s Guide
Cats are strict carnivores that don’t require carbs in their diet. Carbohydrates can lead to weight gain, and they can also throw off your cat’s sensitive gastrointestinal tract. Switching to a low-carb diet can help promote better health and reduce thefrequency of constipation and diarrhea, but with so many competing brands, it can be difficult to find the right one for your pet. We’ve chosen several low-carb brands to review for you so you can see the difference between them. We’ll tell you about the pros and cons we experienced with each one, and we” also tell you how our cats liked it to help you make an informed purchase.
Feline Natural Chicken & Venison Feast Grain-Free Canned Cat Food is our pick as the best overall low-carb food for your cat. It features very few ingredients other than lean animal protein like chicken and venison and provides your cat with 9% protein per serving. The chicken is free-range, and the venison comes from New Zealand. It provides a balanced meal for cats of all ages and even has helpful omega fats. We liked Feline Natural Chicken & Venison, and we usually keep some in our home. The only problem we have with it is that two of our pickier cats won’t eat it.
Pros
Few ingredients
Free-range chicken
Omega fats
Balanced meal
Cons
Some cats don’t like it
2. Crave Turkey Pate Grain-Free Cat Food Trays – Best Value
Crave Turkey Pate Grain-Free Cat Food Trays is our pick as the best low-carb cat food for the money. It has no artificial colors or preservatives and provides your cat with a balanced meal that contains added essential vitamins and minerals, like taurine and omega fats. We liked the ingredients in Crave Turkey Pate for the price, but like many low-carb foods, it can be challenging to get your cats used to it, especially if it’s coming off a dry food that was high in corn.
Pros
No artificial colors or preservatives
Provides a balanced meal
Added vitamins and minerals
Cons
Some cats don’t like it
3. Wysong Epigen 90 Starch-Free Formula – Premium Choice
Wysong Epigen 90 Starch-Free Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog & Cat Food is our premium choice low-carb cat food, and it’s one of the few dry foods on this list. It’s extremely high in protein and will provide your cat with 63% per serving due to its patented extrusion process, which makes it possible. It’s also high in probiotics which help strengthen the cat’s good bacteria in the gut, omega fats to improve the coat and heart health, and antioxidants to boost the immune system. The downside to Wysong Epigen is that the kibble is large and odd-shaped and may not suit some older cats or kittens. We also didn’t like that its first ingredient is chicken meal instead of fresh meat like chicken, turkey, or salmon.
Pros
High in protein
Probiotics
Omega fats
Contains antioxidants
Cons
Large kibble
Chicken meal first ingredient
4. Tiki Cat Puka Puka Luau Canned Cat Food – Best for Kittens
Tiki Cat Puka Puka Luau Succulent Chicken in Chicken Consomme Grain-Free Canned Cat Food is our pick s the best low carb cat food for kittens. It features chicken as its first ingredient to help deliver 16% protein to your growing kitten. It’s also high in omega fats and has added vitamins and minerals to provide your pet with a balanced diet. The biggest downside we experienced while reviewing Tiki Cat Puka Puka was that many of the cans contained chicken pieces that were a little too large for our kitten. Like many other brands, some of our kittens held back from eating until we offered them their usual food.
Pros
Omega fats
High in vitamins and minerals
High in protein
Cons
Large chicken pieces
Some cats don’t like it
5. Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets DM Formula Canned Cat Food
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets DM Dietetic Management Formula Canned Cat Food features a special formula for diabetic cats that is extremely high in protein while remaining low in carbohydrates. Wed had no problem getting our cats to eat this food, and it provides them with a balanced meal high in antioxidants to help boost their immune system. The downside to Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets is that it is expensive and only available with a prescription. We also didn’t like that the number one ingredient is meat byproduct instead of named meat like chicken or turkey.
Merrick Purrfect Bistro Grain-Free Chicken Pate Canned Cat Food is a high-quality cat food that features chicken as its first ingredient to provide your cat of any age with a balanced diet high in protein. Additional vitamins and minerals help your cat stay healthy and fight off disease, while omega fats help maintain a shiny coat and healthy skin. We liked the ingredients in Merrick Purrfect Bistro, and our cats liked it, but it had a bad odor, and it gave several of our cats bad gas with the same odor. The litter box smelled terrible, so we had to switch to another brand.
Pros
Balanced diet
Omega fats
Added vitamins and minerals
Cons
Smells bad
Caused gas
Buyer’s Guide
Wet Versus Dry Cat Food
When choosing your low-carb cat food, you will first need to choose if you will feed your cat wet food or dry food. We almost always recommend serving your cat a dry kibble because the crunching helps to clean the cat’s teeth. Dry kibble is less expensive, easier to store, and less likely to give your cat diarrhea. However, kibble is naturally high in carbs. It’s essentially a cookie baked with ingredients your cat needs then sprayed with nutrients, while wet food is often real pieces of meat baked right in the can. Choose a dry kibble if you notice your cat putting on weight and you want to switch brands to low-carb food before it gets out of control. Choose a wet food if your cat has a medical condition and needs to limit carbohydrates immediately.
Image Credit: rotbart94, Pixabay
Dry Kibble
The best way to choose a low-carb dry cat food is to choose a grain-free brand. Grain-free brands often eliminate the worst carbs like corn and soy that digest quickly, adding sugar to the blood. Grain-free foods are high in animal protein, and they often contain other healthy ingredients that can boost the cat’s immune system and help it stay healthy.
Wet Food
If you need to eliminate carbohydrates, wet food is the best option because it gets rid of the cookie and puts the real meat pieces in a gravy your cats are more likely to enjoy. The real meat pieces are high in protein and more closely resemble the cat’s natural diet. You can find low-carb cat food by looking for grain-free brands and looking at the ingredients list. Choose a brand with meat listed as the first ingredient with no corn, soy, or other grains that might raise blood sugar.
Can I Cook Plain Chicken and Give It To My Cat?
Cooking a plain chicken can make a great low-carb treat, but it won’t provide your cat with the balanced meal they require to stay healthy.
Conclusion
When choosing your next low-carb cat food, we highly recommend our pick as the best overall. Feline Natural Chicken & Venison Feast Grain-Free Canned Cat Food was a hit with most of our cats, and it contains only a few high-quality ingredients to provide your pet with a balanced diet that includes omega fats. Another smart choice is our pick as the best value. Crave Turkey Pate Grain-Free Cat Food Trays provide your cat with a high protein, low carb diet without breaking the bank. We hope you have enjoyed reading over these reviews and found a few brands you would like to try out. If we have helped you provide a better diet for your pet, please share this guide to the best low-carb cat food on Facebook and Twitter.
Ed Malaker is a veteran writer who has contributed to a wide range of blogs that cover pets, tools, guitars, fitness, and computer programming. When he’s not writing, Ed is usually performing DIY projects around the house or working in the garden. He’s also a musician and spends a lot of time helping people fix their guitars and composing music for independent films.
