Healthy Canned Cat Food

You don't have to buy holistic or all-natural canned cat food to provide a healthy diet for your cat. But take the time to read the labels on cat food cans before you buy. The list of ingredients will tell you whether the food will provide healthy meals for your cat.

  1. Meat First

    • If meat, not meat byproducts, is listed first or second on the label, the food should provide all the animal protein your cat needs.

    Avoid Rice and Wheat Gluten

    • Cats' bodies don't use grains efficiently, and in many cats, they turn to fat. Grains are also a common allergen in cats. Canned food with "sauce" or "gravy" usually contains grain in the form of wheat gluten.

    Stay Away from Soy

    • Soy, too, is a common allergen in cats. And while soy is a source of protein, cats are obligate carnivores and need meat, not protein, from plants.

    No Need for Veggies

    • Cats have no physiologic requirement for vegetables and lack the enzymes needed to break them down so they can be used efficiently.

    About Meat Byproducts

    • According to Elizabeth Hodgkins, meat byproducts listed after meat on a cat food can label are not necessarily bad. On her website, she says clean spleens and lungs make "perfectly acceptable" meats for cats, who eat those organs in the prey animals they catch.

    Human Grade and All Natural

    • Susan Thixton, author of the Petsumer Report newsletter, says words such as "natural" and "human grade" on pet food packaging can be misleading. If you call or email, most cat food manufacturers will tell you the grade of meat used in their food, where the ingredients are sourced and whether their products are made in factories that also produce food for humans.