Best cat food brands

Finding a good cat food can be difficult – but it can make a big difference to your pet's health and wellbeing. 

We surveyed 3,240 cat owners to reveal the brands preferred by pets and their owners. We've also tracked the prices of major brands to find out which offer the best value for money. 

Plus, we've got tips from pet nutrition experts to help you serve your cat the healthiest diet. 

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Cat food comparison

Our top rated cat food brand achieved an impressive 75% among customers, while eight brands at the bottom of the table scored less than 50%. 

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Customer scores ranged from 40% to 75%. with some brands receiving one-star ratings for value for money and/or the cat's reaction to the food. 

Our top scorer received five star ratings for both cat's reaction to and wellbeing on the food. 

Best cheap cat food

We tracked the price of different cat food brands at eight of the UK's major supermarkets (Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose), plus Pets at Home and Amazon, over a three-month period from May 2024 to July 2024.

We averaged the price of every brand's standard range (i.e., not designed for a specific age range or dietary requirement) and used this to calculate the price per day for feeding a medium-size (4kg), moderately active cat.

We've split the results into dry and wet foods because feeding your cat dry dog food is the most cost-effective option. Wet food costs an average of 665% more per day than dry food - more than six times as much.

This information can give you a guide to the relative cost of different brands, but bear in mind regional variations in prices, product promotions, and ranges available (among other factors) will all impact the average price of your dog food. 

Best cheap dry cat food

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Best cheap wet cat food

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How to calculate cat food price per day

If you want to calculate the price per day of cat food at your local supermarket, you can use a simple equation: the price of the pack multiplied by how much of the pack (or how many packs) you need to feed your cat per day. 

Most dry food packs contain multiple portions. Here, you need to divide the portion size by the size of the pack to calculate how much of the pack you need to feed your cat per day. 

For example, if the portion size is 30g per day and the pack size is 2kg, you divide 30g by 2,000g = 0.015. Then multiply this figure by the price of the pack. If the pack costs £4, the price per day will be 6p (£4 x 0.015). 

For wet food, the portion size will likely be in the region of two to four packs per day. If one pack costs 50p, and you need to feed your cat four packs per day, the price per day will be £2.00 (£0.5 x 4). 

If it's a multipack, you'll need to do the same as for the dry food.

For example, if you need to feed your cat four packs per day, and a multipack contains 12 packs, you need to feed your cat 0.33 of the pack everyday (4 divided by 12). 

If the multipack costs £7, the price per day will be £2.33 (£7 x 0.33). 

Also a dog owner? See our guide to the best and worst dog food brands

How to choose the best cat food

We spoke to pet nutrition researchers to understand what really matters about choosing a cat food. 

‘The most important part of choosing a food is actually monitoring your pet,’ says Dr Teresa Hollands, senior lecturer in veterinary nutrition at the University of Surrey.

Dr Nigel Kendall, lecturer in nutrition at the University of Nottingham, agrees. ‘If your pet is on completely the wrong diet, then there will be physical signs.’ 

Signs that your pet is eating a nutritious diet, and being given the right food for their needs, include: 

• Good overall health 
• Plenty of energy 
• Good sleeping habits
• Regularly passing firm stools 
• Maintaining a healthy weight

How to feed your cat

As well as choosing the right food, you can also maximise the nutritional value of your cat’s diet by feeding them in the right way. 

Dr David Gardner, professor of physiology at the University of Nottingham, tells us it's important to:

Choose a complete cat food

Start by making sure you are feeding your pet 'nutritionally complete' food.

These are designed to give your pet all the nutrients it needs, so you can feed it the same thing every day without causing a nutritional imbalance or deficit. 

Weigh out cat food

You may not notice that you are overfeeding your pet. The safest way to avoid this is to weigh out the right amount of food for your cat at every meal. 

Vary what you feed your cat

If you occasionally change the food you give your cat, then you are more likely to cover all the nutrients they need. 

These changes could be as small as varying the flavour of the food. Remember, though, to make dietary changes gradually. Give your cat no more than 25% new food for the first couple of days, increasing bit by bit over the course of a week. 

Some cats can be fussy, though, and varying your pet food is not essential. If your cat will not eat different food, then it is more important to ensure they are eating than having a varied diet.

Make sure your furry friend is covered – see our guide to the best pet insurance for your cat

What's the average cat weight?

The average cat weight is approximately 4kg, but this varies significantly by breed. 

According to a UK Pet Food, the leading trade body, 43% of cats (and 50% of dogs) are overweight or obese. 

Being overweight can have a huge impact on your pet’s quality of life, including limiting their ability to exercise or sleep properly. It also predisposes them to illness including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. 

Cat weight chart

Hollands suggests a simple method for checking your pet’s weight:

‘Create a fist with your hand, and feel your  knuckles with your fingers,’ she says. ‘If your pet’s ribs feel like that, they are underweight. Then lay your hand flat, and feel your knuckles again. If their ribs feel like that, they are the perfect weight.

‘Finally, keep your hand flat, turn your hand over, and run your fingers over the pads on your palm at the base of your fingers. If their ribs feel like that, they are overweight.'

Is wet or dry food better for cats?

Both wet and dry food can be nutritionally complete, so there is no significant advantage to either food type. 

Gardner recommends feeding your pet a mixture of wet and dry food. This is because there can be slight differences in the nutrients they contain, so having the variety gives you the best of both.

Wet food tends to be more appealing, but is often more expensive and can predispose pets to dental disease. 

Dry food is beneficial to a cat's teeth and gums, and is usually cheaper and easier to use and store. If you opt for mostly dry food, make sure that your cat has access to plenty of fresh water, so they stay well hydrated.

Can cats be vegan?

It is more difficult to create a balanced vegan diet for cats than dogs. This is because cats require a lot of taurine, and meat is a much better source of taurine than most non-animal products. 

However, complete vegan (and vegetarian) cat foods do exist. A complete food contains all the nutrients that cats need to survive and thrive. 

Experts do not generally recommend that you feed your pets a homemade diet, because it is very difficult to ensure it is complete – even if you follow a recipe. This is particularly true of vegan homemade diets for cats. 

Read new guidance about the cat microchipping deadline

How we calculated cat food brand ratings and prices

To find the best and worst cat food brands, in July 2023 we surveyed 3,240 Which? members who'd bought cat food recently and asked about their experiences with their chosen brand.

Which? customer scores are based on how satisfied customers are with the brand overall, and whether or not they’d recommend it. 

Our unique survey insights reveal how much owner's pets liked the food, as well as what they thought of the brand in terms of quality, value for money and more.

To find the cheapest cat food, we collected the prices of our surveyed cat food brands on a weekly basis for a three-month period between May and July 2024. Prices were taken from eight of the UK's major supermarkets (Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose), plus Pets at Home and Amazon. 

We did not include loyalty card prices, but we did include promotional prices that were available to all. 

We excluded any products that were: on sale for less than 80% of the three-month period, made for senior cats or kittens, or made for a specific diet (such as weight loss or incontinence). We excluded grain-free products unless a brand only makes grain-free products (ie, grain-free products are the "standard range") and brands where no products or only one product met our criteria. 

We averaged the price of every product over the three-month period, then used the brands' feeding guidelines to calculate price per day to to feed a 4kg, moderately active outdoor cat. Then we averaged the price per day of each product. 

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