The Top 7 Best Dry Cat Foods of 2022 (We Tested Them All)
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- Опубліковано 20 тра 2024
- After hours of research and testing, we've chosen the following 7 recipes and brands as the best dry cat foods you can buy in 2022.
Explore our cat food brand reviews and read full lab reports: cats.com/cat-food-reviews
Read our complete guide to the best dry cat food on the market: cats.com/best-dry-cat-food
Read our complete guide to the best wet cat food on the market: cats.com/reviews/best-canned-...
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Video Navigation and Product Links:
0:00 Introduction
0:14 How We Chose the Top Foods
1:18 Dr. Elsey's cleanprotein Chicken Formula Grain-Free Dry Cat Food
Buy on Chewy: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
Buy on Amazon: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
2:53 Best Budget: Kirkland Signature Maintenance Cat Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Cat Food
Buy on Costco: www.costco.com/kirkland-signa...
Buy on Amazon: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
4:16 Best Air-Dried: Ziwi Peak Mackerel & Lamb Dry Cat Food
Buy on Chewy: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
Buy on Amazon: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
6:07 Best for Weight Loss: Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Deboned Chicken & Egg Recipe
7:23 Best Ethically-Sourced: Open Farm Wild-Caught Salmon Recipe
Get 5% off your first subscription order: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
8:42 Best for Kittens: Instinct by Nature's Variety Original Grain-Free Recipe with Real Chicken for Kittens
Buy on Chewy: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
Buy on Amazon: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
9:53 Best for Transitioning to Wet Cat Food: Stella & Chewy's Chick Chick Chicken Freeze-Dried Raw Cat Food
Buy on Chewy: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
Buy on Amazon: cats.com/link/?href=https%3A%...
12:24 Conclusion
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So nice to see someone taking the time to help us cat owners that actually tests the things that ALL the corporations lie about. It's just horrible what monopolies have done where we now pay less for actual beef or steak that they price out cat food for. thanks for the help here.
I have my mostly indoor cats, but I also feed (& TNR) homeless cats. I feed them all Purina One various formulas for variety of proteins. Wet and dry. They all thrive on Purina and I can get some at Walmart and some at Petco. They do not get treats which I think are unnecessary and more expense. My only income is my social security so cost is a factor. The cats all get plenty of catnip also and they love it. I am doing the best I can.
Thanks for feeding them! I also TNR’ed and feed about 11 cats in my neighborhood. They get mostly dry food but I try to give them wet at least a few times a week.
Love and the best you can afford. That's what cats need. It's wonderful of you to look after homeless cats. Mine doesn't get designer food either.
Why is it those who have the least give the most?
I fed my precious cat (born in my lap!) Purina One products and he contracted diabetes that I treated with insulin for over a year (very expensive). I asked the vet if his food was the problem and they said "No." Ultimately he died, something that devastates me to this day because after the fact research indicates that his diet WAS what gave him this disease since Purina products are made with CORN as their first ingredient and as obligate carnivores corn has NO PLACE in any cat's dietary needs, metabolizes to sugar and is the primary villain in killing cats specially (and dogs peripherally) because of overweight and diabetes.
DO NOT FEED CATS ANY FOOD (dry or wet) THAT HAS CORN AS IT'S FIRST INGREDIENT!!!! No matter how much you pride yourself on "taking care" of these animals you are only contributing to their poor health by feeding them that kind of food.
Insure ALL these animals are spayed and neutered to stop the problem of unwanted animals at the source. Sure, this may sound expensive but its a lot cheaper to get the surgery than feeding the progeny forever.
Donna Mamey, you are an angel!
This is EXACTLY what I have been looking for!!!! Glad this isn’t sponsored!! Thank you for this information!!
These videos have been so incredibly helpful! Thank you so much for doing all this research and helping me be informed quickly. Been learning a lot from your channel today :)
You are so helpful!! Thank you for taking your time and money to do all this research.💓💗💓
I wish the Dr Elsey's food wasn't so expensive. A 6lb bag for $40 is outrageous.
Yeah it has really gone up. I might have to switch also
@@Dumbluck14 Perhaps mix it with another product. I do that with my cat and she seems to like it.
That's not bad at alk. I'm looking at getting ziwi air dried and its 80cad for 2lbs.. but it's quality. You pay for what you get
@@lotsaluvnikki Bad is certainly relative to budget.
The food I am feeding my can now is $20-30 for a 2lb bag
Thank you for doing this for us!
Your website has been my “holy Bible” for foods!
Very insightful, especially food content verification by a lab. Thanks for the information.
seriously ty for all your hard work!
Very helpful information.
Thanks for the review.
Amazing 👏👏 Thorough information
Thank you
i have watched basically all of your reviews. thank you so much for all the hard work, time, and money spent on these!! if i had a suggestion, there’s a few cat backpacks out there that i have my eyes on. excited to see what you review next :)
I have a bunch of backpacks in the living room ready for review! Stay tuned. :)
Great question!
Appreciate all that you do
Thanks, Zanily!
Thank you so much for all of your research.
I'm glad to see this updated review based on lab results. I've fed both of my cats wet food from the time I got them but it's getting very expensive. I want to introduce kibble for one or two "snacks" with their wet/freeze dried raw as their main meals. Thank you!
keep them off the kibble. I wish my cat would eat wet food.
Thanks so much for this video - it is SO useful!
Happy to hear that!
I would love to see another budget roundup for food! Thank you for these reviews!
Thanks, Amy. I think that's a good idea.
@@AllAboutCatsYT 👍👍
I feed my cat Nutro chicken and rice recipe. It’s a grain free food, has digestive enzymes and a few other nutrients in it and the price is right! You can find it in petsmart, pet supermarket and petco. I believe it is also on chewy.
Do you have any other low carb dry food recommendations for an active, 2 year old, indoor cat who doesn't need to loose weight? Unfortunately, I'm disabled, in poverty and can only feed her one cab a day. I do add rehydrated, freeze dry toppers, and she drinks plenty of water. I'm single, in an apartment and don't have a Costco membership.
WOW. Your information is wonderful! My cat became allergic to her dry food, I took it away, tried freeze dried, but she wouldn't eat it. It was a really difficult thing to do....but, this information has given me some hope that I can find a pretty healthy dry food. So happy I found you. You are a treasure!
I hope you are able to find a great replacement food!
My cats like Orijen
Liked and shared to my Facebook!
Helpful as always. Thanks so much!
Thank you so much Malory for the detailed explanation of each dry cat food brand. I have gained an extensive amount of knowledge about cat nutrition by watching all your videos. As a first time cat parent it's been overwhelming to choose the right food brand. I have tried Purina One, IAMS, Instinct, Hill's diet dry food. My cat loved his Purina and IAMS. I am slowly trying to transfer him to Instinct for better quality food. However, I couldn't find any reliable review about IAMS chicken flavored dry food (orange packet). Will really appreciate if you can do a review on that one. My cat didn't like the too healthy Hill's diet dry food given by his vet nor the wet food from Instinct. I am really trying to feed him healthier food without breaking my bank but I guess he likes the unhealthy stuff like we all do.
I appreciate your videos they are definitely helpful. What do you think about the cat food brands Hills, Merrick, Weruva, and Pure Bites
I thought did well giving a moderated take on the information. It's clear you know (as do I) that wet food is best, but you gave a great review regardless. Thanks!
Excellent video as always, I'm a new channel addict. Mallory I wanted to ask you, since your cats are experienced with a variety of cat foods and you are personally experienced with the different brands and types of cat foods, what is your cats staple food and feeding routine? I've seen your recommendations but wanted to get a personal idea on it. Thank you!
Hi there! Great video! Unfortunately most of those brands aren't available in my country. Can you please do a review of nutrisource? maybe the one for senior cats
Bro, this is perfect.
I love your videos😍🐈
Thank you!!
You're welcome!
Any chance you can also look into testing Orijen’s Original Cat recipe and Carna4?
What do you think about the Nulo dry food? I saw your review on their wetfood line, but not much on their dry food. Thank you!
Hello I am new to your channel and I was wondering your thoughts on Carna4 for Cats.
Thank you for the wonderful information.
Love your videos!!! Any chance that you have tried Feline Natural Freeze dried? My Bengal is obsessed with it and doesn’t eat Ziwi anymore. All the best :)
We haven't tried that yet! We did review it here, though: allaboutcats.com/feline-natural-cat-food-review
Thank you this was very helpful -- could you do a video on Fromm cat foods (dry and wet)?
Yes! We'll consider it! Thanks.
@@AllAboutCatsYT Thank you
Great video, any thoughts on Rawz kibble?
It looks really good; I think we should include it in our next roundup of the best dry food.
I hope you also review the New Zealand Natural Pet Food Co. they have a MEOW line and they are fairly new. And was hoping i could get more info about them from you.
Great video! We feed our cats a mix of the tiki cat born carnivore and ziwi peak..glad to know they make the cut!
Sounds like your kitties are on a good diet!
Thank you!!!!!!!!
Hi can you please also make a review of the Oasy cat food? Thank you so much.
Would love to see a video on n&d
Mallory, i have to say i cherish your content, as im getting a kitten of my own and want to be prepared to the fullest. My family (with our previous cats) have used Crave wet/dry cat food and not to judge their take on the affects on the cats (w/ fur, teeth, overall health, ect) I would adore to see you review it, im relatively new to the channel, and i have skimmed through a bit to see if you had done a previous video on this brand, but i havent seen it. Take this as only a request, and if you have done a video on it then i'd love to get the link ^^ Thanks again for the informational & overall lovely content
Hi there! Thank you for the kind comment. We haven't reviewed Crave on the channel, but I did write up a review on the All About Cats website. allaboutcats.com/crave-cat-food-review
Could you please do a review on Allando, Orijen and N&D dry cat food. These brands are one of the few thats always available in my country aside from royal canin and taste of the wild. Would really help if you could provide some inputs on the 3 brands. Thanks!
alot of brands are not available in some countries of Europe. thankyou so much for all the info!
Thanks for the informative video! We just got a new Siamese kitten and it’s so confusing as to what foods are better. I researched instinct after watching your video. The only negative thing I have seen is that they started using a synthetic vitamin k. Any thoughts on that? Is it safe? I’ve been binging your content. Keep up the great vids!
Going to watch the royal canin vid after :)
Several years ago, I had a cat adopted for a neighbor’s daughter, but eventually became mine as I ended up caring for her. She was an outdoor cat for the most part. Because of this, fleas were a problem until I started putting brewer’s yeast on her dry cat food. She loved it and the fleas hated it. Anyway, she would turn her nose up on her food if I failed to put the brewer’s yeast on it. I had no idea about the differences of nutrition of cat food. Figured most were all the same, but knew the yeast seemed to help her and her coat. Very informative show. Not sure I’ll have another cat to care for, but if I do, I know where to go for help and info!! Thanks Mallory.
Hi! Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. I've always been skeptical of brewer's yeast for flea treatment, but there definitely seems to be something to it, and it seems to have some other benefits as well. A very interesting story; thanks for sharing it. Take care!
We do travel frequently so we are looking for a new healthier dry food for our two cats. What is you best recommendation for older cats 9 and 6 (6 year old has urinary tract issues)? We also need budget friendly since I am between careers right now. Thank you for all your advice always love your channel. Currently on science diet urinary.
For the feral cats, it is Maintenance Cat by Costco and for my very senior cat it is Orijen. For our kitten it is purina One kitten formula. Update: I ended up mixing all of them together and they all love it, kittens to adults to seniors.
Really helpful reviews. You helped me narrow some good choices. I really liked the lab analysis I just wish it showed glyphosate content. The first thing I will automatically eliminate from my choices is the presence of any seed oils such as canola or safflower oil. I didn't see any seed oils on any of your choices. Seed oils will cut any human or animal's life span significantly. I also try to eliminate any lectins. You had several good choices in your list. Examples of lectin ingredients would be chickpeas and lentils. Ironically, except for the high carb profile the Kirkland brand was really good.
Have you researched young again cat food. The only thing is be sure to not overfeed this food because it will cause loose stools. It is highly digestable with pork as first ingredient. High protein but low phosphorus which is good for male neutered cats. No carbs and low sodium. Pork is highly digestable and high protein. Hills had this in some of their prescription foods but I don't like the ingredients for such a high priced food.
Thanks for the help! I feed my cat wet food twice a day, and dry food twice a day. She obviously prefers the dry food, which is funny because she only has 1 tooth! I put her capsule medicine in her dry food, thats the easiest way to give it to her!
I use the maintenance cat dry food. I needed a big bag that was a decent price and this was the only one I could find at Costco.
Great upload! Did you specifically prefer the Americas as source food options? I am glad you found Canada's market offers high value. Finally, did you find many brands offer rabbit meal and which type of protein meal do you prefer for younger cats?
Ziwi is New Zealand...
BTW
My cats say Ziwi is NOT edible that they would rather STARVE than eat THAT!
Made for pretty expensive dog food for the neighbors.
Can you do a video on food toppers for cats so if I feed them dry food maybe the topper Will help with the moisture thank you PS I enjoy your videos and your cute little kitties
Great suggestion!
I have 7 yr old himmie and 2 six month old kitties. They’re all on good wet food ( thanks to you !) but I need to know how often to actually feed them. The 2 kittens are extremely active…. They’re short hair domesticated babes. Any advice would be appreciated ❤️😊
As a kitten, my first cat glommed on to Royal Canin wet with a sprinkling of Nature's Variety Ultimate Protein kibble on top. Y'know, the cheap stuff. /s Did wonders for his coat and poops, though. I haven't seen the Ultimate Protein variety on the shelves or online anywhere for a looooong time. Not sure if that's due to supply issues or another recall.
Can you review the Stella abs chewy dry? I give that to my cats, it’s the one with the freeze dried pieces in it! Chicken flavor! Also Fromm dry.
Can you possibly review the Redford Naturals brand? It's Pet Supplies Plus' store brand and it's the closest store in my area.
Hi, putting this on our to do list
I add broth two times a day to my cats dry kibble and they get multiple small protein of wet food with added water so I'm giving as much moisture as possible
What do you think about Orijen guardian 8
Could you do a review of Instinct Raw: Longevity with 20% Raw. I know it’s only available at neighborhood pet stores but there’s a locator on their site. Thanks for the thorough video as always.
If she could that would be amazing and if she could talk about the freeze tried pieces they sell separately!!! That would be great
Really any of the Instinct line would be nice. I've actually just switched my cats to the Instinct Original based on other reviewers out there...would definitely like seeing AAC's take given their deliberate review process...
Thank you as always for your research and for sharing! Could you please let me know what is the official website for Kirkland one? And also, is Kirkland Signature Healthy Weight Cat food similar yet better than the Maintenance one, because there is no Corn, Wheat, or Soy in it? Thank you very much!
Hey there! There's no official site for Kirkland's pet food-it's just listed on the Costco website. I don't feel that the Healthy Weight recipe is superior to the regular one. While it is free of corn, wheat, and soy, the food contains a lot of rice and is higher in carbohydrates, meaning that its nutrient composition is less species-appropriate for your carnivorous cat.
@@AllAboutCatsYT Thank you so very much!
Would like to see a review on Rawz dry
Love Stella and Chewy
Hey, I came across this brand called Oven Baked Tradition. Can you make a review on their dry cat food?
Can you give suggestions for indoor senior cats?
I use Orijen! I think its one of the best dry foods based on ingredients for cats. My 2nd choice is Instinct and Tiki cat. I get an employee discount for those brands at Petco, so the accessibility and money I can save helps me to feed a better diet. Its really hard to find high protein, low carb kibbles. I use freeze dried dog foods as treats and toppers since its easier to find and gives a lot more variety in proteins and animal parts. Love the list
Orijen is one of the 16 cat foods the FDA has linked with heart disease in cats due to high plant based proteins
@@Luaeria cool :)
@@Luaeria ohhh no. I just bought 2 bags! Thanks for the info. I won’t be buying anymore, especially for the ridiculous price
I tried Orijen but it won't work. It's high in protein, and my kitten always has diarrhea
problem after had it.
@@jiemingchen2654 no food works for all cats ^-^ & i have since found better things to fit my animals than orijen
My cats wont eat dry anymore, they are spoiled now to wet food. They love Wellness chicken pate and turkey pate, and I feed them Instinct rabbit pate and they go crazy for that.
I do appreciate the information you provide. I have 2 cats, one prefers dry and the other wet. I would love to be able to afford to feed my cats the best but, financially that's not possible. I have a Costco a few miles away. I ended my membership because of the distance but I think I will renew it. I do like several of Costco's products and making a trip once a month would be reasonable.
I think you can find the diamond version on chewy. Probably cheaper overall.
@@jc.1191 just checked and the formulation isnt the same and its lower quality 🤷
@@cyberpunklain Thanks for the update with details, I had just skimmed it.
Great channel! Now I know which cat food to buy next time. Is it good to give your cat boiled chicken, meat or fish and how is the nutritional value in these less processed foods?
Thank you for this!
What is worse in a dry food: to have tons of carbohydrates or to have plant-based protein sources? For example, leaving price aside, do you prefer Kirkland or Taste of the Wild? The former has rice in it and the latter has pea protein and potato protein. Of course, ideally they don't have either but...
Thanks!!
I'd lean towards carbohydrates, especially carbs from something that is not a legume. Therefore, Kirkland's food wins out here.
I hope wet food is next! I'm curious if your recommendations have changed from last year :)
Coming soon!
@neal cassady Hi Neal, to be clear, while we do get affiliate commissions on purchases made through our links, we were not paid by any of the brands shown here. I don't really like using my cats as examples, because their preferences shouldn't be used to guide anyone's decisions, and my cats don't eat dry food, anyway.
Since putting my cat on a healthy and strict can food diet and taking her off the prescription food she went from a little butterball to slim and trim. Her overall health has greatly improved also. She is now able to eat dry food in moderation. After eating her can food in the morning. If I know I will be away for a day I can leave dry food out so she doesn't have to wait till evening to eat. Your videos have helped point out there are much healthier and better foods out there for my cat.
strict
@Lauren-vd4qe When you type without your glasses on, that's what happens
@@craftyfox1959 ha ha!
Would you do a review on Farmina! My cats love it and I pay a lot go get it for them but have not seen a review
Hi Denyse, we have a review of Farmina here: cats.com/farmina-cat-food-review
Can you please rewiev Lokuno cat food?
I feed my outside cats the Kirkland food from Costco. The cats really like it. I do not have a Costco membership however it is shipped free to your home with the 25lb bag.
Any opinions on Purina Cat Chow Naturals?
Have you tested Instinct limited ingredient dry food either turkey or rabbit?
I currently use taste of the wild used to use orijen.
Im not sure if it’s because this is a different list but I see Solid Gold isn’t on here. After reading one of your other food lists, I switched my cat to solid gold and he LOVES it so I’m surprised I didn’t see it on here
What’s the best for senior sterilized cats? Would Acana grasslands do the trick? Or does it need to be something like Orijen?
ORIJEN Guardian 8 seems nice, but is expensive if you by 1.8kg bag (about €38/$38 (€20/$20 a KG). 4,5 is affordable enough €70/$70 (€15.5/$15.5 a KG), but I feel like the food will lose nutritional value if I buy big bag. With one ca eating about 45g a day that bag would last about 14 weeks. The Orijen whole prey is recommended to consume within 6 weeks. I don’t see that for Guardian 8, but 6 weeks may be a general recommendation?
my vet recommended have cat food WITH grain because of the potential heart concerns for the future. I had a dog pass away from a heart condition in the past and I've ready that the "grain free" might be related. I am so worried about this. What would you recommend? She also showed concern with a raw diet because of the salmonella concern
In Dr.Elsey’s lab report, should I worry for my senior cat aged 13 should I be worried about the results of these substances? Cyanide-0.591, Aluminum-0.7, Ash 7.1, Phosphorus-1270, Sodium 611. My Orange Tabby birthday is today and I just bought Dr.Elsey’s & Weruva (Cats in Kitchen) to improve the quality for my senior cat. Weruva lab reports in comparison were: Cyanide-ND, Aluminum-ND, Ash-1.1, Phosphorus-134, Sodium-44.8. These numbers are drastically different but I understand that they’re also different types of food as 1 is dry and the other 1 is wet. Is that why the values are so drastically different? Thank you for taking the time to read this!
Any thoughts on “Gentle Giants” dry food?
What's your opinion on Simply Nourish?? I have my 8 month old kitten on it right now he seems to like it but how healthy is this???
all have such high phosphorus.. can you recommend something in a lower phosphorus/ CKD dry food?
Id love to see a study of the life expectancy and chronic illness comparison of indoor cats who consume budget/avg($1.5-$5 lb) dry food for majority of their lives vs those who consumed only the top shelf $6-$18 /lb dry food.
Hmm, that would be really interesting. Years back, I worked in market research and it's interesting the money big pet food companies spend on getting data, it would be great if they put some effort finding out these kinds of answers.
My cats have been on 5 dolar cat food for 8 years and aRE FINE! Shush
Could we do a product review for solid gold and instinct? Really curious about the dry matter basis review. Thanks!
She has one for soild gold
I want to get a Bombay cat. I've heard that they tend to have respiratory issues and they need a good quality food. Any suggestions that would help specifically for those issues ?
It would be interesting to also see price per portion. You could assume a typical/average age and weight for a cat, and then how much that dose would be.
Specially to be able to compare these to wet foods, but also between different brands that are more caloric dense
@neal cassady sure, but it can give you a better comparison between different brands.
Even if it is something like price per amount of calories.
Are any of these good for cats with seafood sensitivity? My cat gets sick when he eats anything with fish or seafood if any kind. Vet prescribed Natural Balance LID high protein chicken, but by the looks it’s ratings aren’t that high 😞 finding a food without seafood has been difficult and I’m not sure if there’s a better food out there for him
Im curious, what do you know about Nulo medal series cat food?
I'll give you all the info I have: It's a dry formula with 84% animal source protein, grain free. I use the cat& kitten turkey and cod recipe. First four ingredients are deboned turkey, turkey meal, chicken meal, and deboned cod. The analysis on the back of the bag says 41% protein, 20% fat, and 4% fiber, so does that mean it's 35% carbs?
It also has vitamins C &E, omega 3& 6, and probiotics. It seemed pretty good to me, and since I have a 7 year old and an 8 month old that will *not stop* eating each other's food, I found this a good compromise. I plan to switch to Tiki when the little one hits 14-16 months.
That scoop from the first food you tried (and probably the following ones), what is the maximum capacity? Is it 50g?
In the uk we have dry food called Lily’s kitchen, could you do a review on their dry food? Thank you
I live in the Uk too. Lily's kitchen is ok.
Hello Malory can you do a cat review on tiny tiger wet and dry food
Does kittens need on a grain free food? I don't have many stores around to get food just at Walmart and Tractor Supply....Do you know anything about the wholesome food? Thanks
So instict for kittens, is it also recommended for the other bags /adults?
What do you think about rawz dry food
I’m looking for the best food for my cat with stomatitis. We had three of her teeth pulled and she’s now been enjoying canned food for the last few weeks, but we’re going out of town for a week and I’m wondering if there’s a soft dry cat food to transition her to.
Could you do a review for purizon please