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Dry cat food offers shelf-stable convenience for pet parents and a concentrated source of balanced nutrition for cats. It has its drawbacks (mainly low moisture and high carbohydrate content), but it’s what many cats prefer. If your cat prefers dry food, we’re here to help you find the best product to fit their needs.
Based on hours of research and testing, we’re bringing you an updated list of the best dry cat foods in the industry. The following foods earn their place with outstanding ingredient quality, nutritional merits, and safety records.
Over the past several years, our team has spent countless hours researching and reviewing cat food brands and their products. We’ve put hundreds of individual recipes to the test with the help of our own cats, drawing on a combination of research, personal experience, and customer reviews to provide a curated list of recommendations.
After identifying some of the best dry cat food products on the market, we subjected them to qualitative analysis and in-home testing. We also spent time delving into the brands themselves, gathering details about their manufacturing processes, recall history, and reputation for customer satisfaction. Here’s the full methodology behind our cat food ratings.
Finally, we consulted 7 veterinarians to get their professional opinion on what makes great cat food.
Overall Best: FirstMate Chicken Meal with Blueberries Formula
Made In: Canada
Guaranteed Protein: 36% Min
Age Range: All Life Stages
Calories Per Ounce: 100
Typical Cost Per Day: $0.58 per day
Made with cage-free chicken as the first ingredient and sole source of animal protein, this FirstMate recipe is a protein-packed choice for cats. It contains a limited list of ingredients as well, which helps improve digestibility and reduce the risk of triggering dietary sensitivities.
This dry food formula contains 40% crude protein and about 18% crude fat on a dry matter basis. Both the primary source of protein and fat are animal-based, sourced from chicken. The only other significant ingredients are potato and whole blueberries.
Potato serves as a binding agent and, along with whole blueberries, brings the dry matter carbohydrate content up to about 29%. While this is certainly higher than we like to see, it’s very common for dry cat foods to contain 30% dry matter carbohydrate or more. Like any dry food, this recipe is also low in moisture.
Best for Kittens: Tiki Cat Born Carnivore Deboned Chicken & Egg Recipe
Made In: Thailand
Guaranteed Protein: 42% min.
Age Range: Kitten
Calories Per Ounce: 112
Typical Cost Per Day: $0.88 per day
Though primarily a wet food brand, Tiki Cat also offers a limited selection of dry foods in their Born Carnivore line, which contain 44% protein on average. This food is baked to preserve nutrition and is free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. Specially formulated for kittens, this particular recipe has higher levels of protein and added DHA for brain and eye development.
Tiki Cat’s Born Carnivore Chicken & Egg Kitten Food features deboned chicken, chicken meal, and dried egg as its top three ingredients. These contribute to a dry matter crude protein content of around 47%. When measured as dry matter, the fat content is over 24%—which helps make this a calorie-dense diet that supports kitten growth and development.
While this recipe is meat-based, it does contain peas, chickpeas, and tapioca. These appear after the top six ingredients (all of which are animal-derived), but they still contribute to a fairly high carbohydrate content.
Best Budget: Kirkland Signature Chicken and Rice Cat Food
Made In: United States
Guaranteed Protein: 30% min.
Age Range: All Life Stages
Calories Per Ounce: 115
Typical Cost Per Day: $0.12 per day
If you want to feed your cat dry food on a budget, Kirkland Signature’s kibble is a great option. Along with a better grade of primary ingredients, Kirkland Signature dry cat food contains nutraceuticals that are seldom found in the cheapest kibble on the market.
Kirkland’s Chicken and Rice Dry Cat Food features chicken and chicken meal as its primary ingredients. A mix of brown and white rice adds carbohydrates and consistency. Though it’s not radically high in protein and isn’t a low-carbohydrate food, this product has some notable benefits. For one, unlike most foods at this price point, Kirkland contains a mix of supplemental probiotics and prebiotics that may help to support digestive health and overall well-being.
At about 115 calories per ounce, this is a fairly calorie-dense dry food for cats. It’s one of the most economical options we’ve found and should only cost about $0.25 per day to feed the average 10-pound cat. While it’s convenient to buy Kirkland Signature cat food on Amazon, you’ll find the best deals in Costco’s pet product aisle. This food is also available at Walmart.
Best Air-Dried: ZIWI Peak Air-Dried Mackerel & Lamb Recipe Cat Food
Made In: New Zealand
Guaranteed Protein: 44% min.
Age Range: All Life Stages
Calories Per Ounce: 129
Typical Cost Per Day: $3.51 per day
This cat food looks more like chunks of jerky than bits of kibble—and it’s made differently, oo. Whereas most kibble is extruded, this food is air-dried. A twin-stage dehydration technique destroys pathogenic bacteria while retaining nutrients. This process makes Ziwi Peak dry cat food one of the most species-appropriate and nutrient-dense dry products you can put in your cat’s bowl.
All Ziwi Peak recipes are composed of 96% or more fresh meat, organs, bones, and New Zealand green-lipped mussels. While most cat foods rely on synthetic vitamins and minerals to replace nutrients lost in cooking, Ziwi Peak’s Air-Dried Mackerel and Lamb Recipe harnesses the nutritional power of the heart, tripe, liver, lung, kidney, and bone.
With virtually no plant content, this food is extremely low in carbohydrates, landing at around 4%—less than most canned food. It may be more expensive than other products on the market, but it’s also very nutrient-dense, so you can feed your cat less at every meal. It should cost about $3.40 per day to feed the average 10-pound cat, which makes it an economical alternative to freeze-dried food.