Buying guide
Compare the full cat-food recipe
Keep ingredients, calories, and feeding directions in view when changing formulas.
Indoor, senior, and sensitive-stomach labels need a closer look
Read the exact recipe and feeding directions behind the claim. These groups can still contain foods with different ingredients and calories. A sensitive-stomach tag in the table is a product claim, not a diagnosis or a promise that it will suit your cat.
If your cat is on a veterinary diet, compare offers for that specific food rather than treating a similarly named supermarket recipe as a substitute.
Check who the food is made for
Look for a complete-and-balanced statement for the life stage you need. The FDA distinguishes growth from adult maintenance; a kitten’s food choice needs that growth suitability.
Which brands should you compare first?
Purina, Hill’s, Royal Canin, and Iams are commonly recommended by U.S. veterinary practices using WSAVA’s food-selection criteria. Those criteria examine nutrition expertise, formulation, quality control, and research.
WSAVA doesn’t certify brands, and this shortlist doesn’t establish that every other food is unsuitable. Choose a complete-and-balanced cat food appropriate for your cat’s life stage and health needs, then compare prices for that recipe.
Compare the same recipe by weight
For a familiar food, price per pound makes different bag sizes and multipacks easy to compare. Count all the bags in a bundle and check the flavor and recipe name.
Choose a bag size you can use within the maker’s storage guidance. A large bag can have a lower unit price without being the most practical purchase for one cat.
Consider how much you feed
A recipe change can change the daily portion. For an estimate, divide the bag’s grams by your cat’s daily grams, then divide price by days of food. If you use a cup measure, use the grams per cup for that food.
The calorie statement can help you spot why portions differ. AAFCO describes the label’s calorie figures per kilogram and per serving unit.
- Source: AAFCO: reading pet-food labels