Choosing your cat’s everyday food and once-in-awhile treats can be a tricky thing: Cats are notoriously picky, and cat foods are notoriously filled with ingredients that could make your hair stand on end. Which brings us to the question: what are the most nutritious organic cat foods? The most natural canned feasts? The best organic cat food brands? Many cat parents have asked these questions in the quest to provide only the best, most nutritious, and tastiest diet for their favorite felines.
We know there’s a lot to consider when picking the best food for your lovable little ball of fur and sometimes it can be a daunting task. We looked at dozens of organic cat foods to find the best of the best, based on a careful review of ingredients, cost, Amazon ratings, and more. We narrowed our search down to 5 of the best natural and organic cat foods sure to please the finickiest of felines.
For more cat and dog food options, take a look at our informative pet food and treats posts.
One natural cat food brand stood out among the pack: Evanger’s Organics Beef Dinner for Cats. A USDA-certified organic canned cat food made of organic beef, organic liver, and organic beef kidney, it’s an excellent choice for cat lovers who want to provide a top-quality diet for their pets.
Our Top 5 Picks for Organic Cat Foods
| Editor’s Picks | Brand | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Our Vet’s Top Pick | Evanger’s Organics Beef Dinner for Cats | 4.2 |
| Runner Up | Evolution Diet Vegan Ultra Life Dry Cat Food | 4.8 |
| Best Budget Buy | Organix Castor & Pollux Dry Cat Food | 4.4 |
| Best Organic Dry Cat Food | Tender & True Cat Food, Organic, Chicken & Liver Dry | 4.3 |
| Best Organic Wet CatFood | Organix Castor & Pollux Canned Wet Cat Food | 4.3 |
*Ratings are from Amazon at the time of publication and can change
Our Vet’s Top Pick: Evanger’s Organics Beef Dinner for Cats
Evanger’s are innovators of hand-picked, gourmet dinners and balanced meals for pets of all ages and breeds. Evanger’s Organics Beef Dinner for Cats is USDA-certified organic. To earn that label, a pet food must contain at least 95% organic ingredients.
This USA-made cat food is also certified organic by Oregon Tilth. Nutritionally complete and balanced, this canned food is naturally cooked in its own juices. The first three ingredients are organic beef, organic liver, and organic beef kidney. Another great feature of this recipe is that it’s free from grains, GMOs, hormones, and antibiotics. Cats love the flavor of this delicious organic beef meal, and you can rest assured knowing that it’s a nutritionally complete and balanced diet for your favorite feline.
Evanger’s Organics Beef Dinner for Cats Key Features:
- Certified organic by the USDA and Oregon Tilth
- Made with organic beef, organic liver, and organic beef kidney
- Free from grains, GMOs, hormones, and antibiotics
- Made in the USA
Our Runner Up Pick: Evolution Diet Vegan Ultra Life Dry Cat Food
Providing the necessary proteins, vitamins, and minerals your cat needs to thrive, Evolution Diet Vegan Ultra Life Dry Cat Food is a premium cat food your cat will love. The award-winning vegan formula boasts 100% of the required nutrients cat need according to NRC and AAFCO nutritional profiles. In terms of organic ingredients, you’ll find organic sunflower meal, organic peas, organic pea protein concentrate, organic soybeans, and organic soybean meal.
This option is rich in protein, offering 30% plant-based protein. It also contains many amino acids, vitamins, and minerals to ensure that your cat is getting a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet to support a long, healthy life. As this food is ‘condensed,’ just keep in mind that you’ll need to add water to it before giving it to your kitty.
Evolution Diet Vegan Ultra Life Dry Cat Food Key Features:
- Suitable for all stages of life
- 30% plant-based protein
- Award-winning
Best Budget Pick: Organix Castor & Pollux Dry Cat Food
Organix Castor & Pollux Dry Cat Food contains organic, free-range chicken as its #1 ingredient, a highly digestible protein source. It has earned the USDA-certified organic seal, meaning it contains at least 95% organic ingredients. The chicken and brown rice recipe contains no soy, corn, or wheat, but does contain other grains to support healthy digestion. If you’re looking for a grain-free option, Organix also offers a grain-free chicken and sweet potato formula.
Prepared in an organically certified USDA kitchen, Organix Chicken & Brown Rice recipe contains a nutrient-packed superfood blend with organic flaxseed, organic cranberries, and organic coconut oil. As with all Organix organic cat foods, this kibble is produced without chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics, or added growth hormones.
If you’re looking for confidence that your cat is getting only the finest, top-quality organic ingredients at a price that won’t break the bank, Organix is a solid choice for most cats.
Organix Castor & Pollux Dry Cat Food Key Features:
- Chicken and brown rice formula
- Grain-free formula also available
- Organic chicken as the #1 ingredient
- Made in the USA and USDA-certified organic
Best Organic Dry Cat Food: Tender & True Cat Food, Organic, Chicken & Liver Dry
Tender & True Organic Cat Food is a dry cat food that’s USDA-certified organic and also grain-free. With USDA-certified organic chicken as the #1 ingredient, it’s a good source of protein for your beloved feline. The recipe is made with a precise blend of organic ingredients, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, other trace nutrients, all carefully blended to create a balanced, delicious meal with optimal nutrition.
Tender & True Organic Cat Food contains no soy, corn, or wheat. There are no no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors in this premium cat food. Reviewers with multiple cats are pleasantly surprised to find a certified organic dry cat food that all of their finicky felines will readily enjoy.
Tender & True Cat Food, Organic, Chicken & Liver Dry Key Features:
- Organic chicken is the #1 ingredient
- USDA-certified organic
- No corn, soy, wheat, artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors
Best Organic Wet Cat Food: Organix Castor & Pollux Canned Wet Cat Food (24-Pack)
Organix Castor & Pollux Canned Wet Cat Food is a professionally developed recipe for high-quality organic canned cat food. It’s USDA-certified organic, and features USDA-certified organic, free-range turkey as the #1 ingredient. The recipe is jam-packed with the nutrients your cat needs to thrive, including plenty of superfoods such as organic flaxseed, organic coconut flour, organic dried egg, and organic cranberries.
It contains no chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, artificial preservatives, or added growth hormones. It has a delicious turkey flavor your cat will go crazy for. If you’re after a different flavor, this line includes plenty of other flavors your cat will love such as: chicken; chicken & liver; turkey, brown rice, & chicken; a kitten recipe; shredded chicken & chicken liver; shredded chicken; turkey & spinach. A single order contains 24 x 3 oz. cans.
Organix Castor & Pollux Canned Wet Cat Food Key Features:
- USDA-certified organic
- Organic turken is the #1 ingredient
- No chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, artificial preservatives, or added growth hormones
- Plenty of flavors to choose from
Who Should Buy Organic Cat Food
You may be sold on organic food for your diet, but how do you know if an all organic diet is right for your precious feline? There are a lot of considerations to make, and not the least of which is the availability of truly cat organic cat food. While we have several products on our list, unfortunately there aren’t as many organic options and therefore you may find yourself limited in variety. You can find Natural and high quality alternatives, but if you find an organic cat food that works for your kitty, hold on tight!
If your cat has allergies, you may want to make the switch to an organic cat food. Organic foods typically have fewer ingredients and those ingredients are inspected and held to a higher standard in order to be certified organic. You definitely will need to factor in the supply and demand component: There aren’t a ton of organic cat foods, despite there being plenty of demand for it. That has inevitably made it a bit more expensive than a standard bag of cat food. So while you may concede organic to be better for your cat, you still may not be realistically able to give it to her.
Finally, organic cat foods are the right option for anyone who’s particularly conscious of the environment in which their cat’s food is produced. Organic food uses no chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers nor does it have any GMOs. While the research isn’t yet conclusive on whether organic cat food is generally a better product, you can base this decision on the research that has been done and form your own opinion o see it it’s worth it for your family.
Important Features to Consider
When you’re looking through to pick your cat food, there are some features that you’ll need to consider to ensure you’re choosing a quality food for your cat:
- Raw foods. In their ancestral form, cats certainly didn’t cook their food and often you’ll hear the argument that your house cat should also eat raw foods. While there is some truth to that, it’s important to be careful with raw foods. They carry an increased risk of salmonella and listeria – even packaged foods. So do your homework if you opt for raw and minimize the risks.
- Probiotics. There’s a good chance your cat will benefit from a food with probiotics. Studies have shown probiotics cause positive changes in the intestinal bacteria of a cat. These changes can help with everything from inflammation to a strengthened immune system.
- Hydration. Cats may be domestic, but their bodies are still suited for the diet of mice and small rodents. Considering mice are 60%-70% water, you want to make sure your house cat is replacing not just the nutrients of the mouse, but the moisture as well. This may lend you to a wet food or it may convince you to put multiple water dishes throughout your house and as long as your cat is getting a proper hydration, both would should work fine.
- Ability to set routine. If your cat is a creature of strict habit (as a lot of cats are), you’ll want foods that will foster that ability. If she needs to eat at a certain time, and you have a flexible working schedule, you may want to look into dry foods that you can leave out for her. If she needs to have wet foods, you may want to look into one that comes in smaller cans so you won’t have to keep half in the refrigerator. You want something sustainable and consistent for your kitty’s food. You won’t want to splurge on occasional fancy foods because she may very well go on a hunger strike when you go back to normal.
- Obesity prevention. It’s important to look at the nutrition and fat content of your cat’s food while you’re picking it out. You need to always have in your mind this simple fact: it is far easier to keep your cat from becoming obese than it is to try to get your willful and stubborn cat to shed those pounds.
- Natural preservatives. Store bought cat food is going to need preservatives, but you may want to look for the more natural kinds. That is typically in the form of Vitamin C or E.
- Made in the USA. Patriotism or no, if your cat’s food is coming from the other side of the world you know it’s likely not the freshest. And on the other side of the world, the standards for food production may be drastically different. This is a simple case of practicality; Buy it where they make it.
- Ingredients. The FDA requires pet foods to list their ingredients in order from most to least based on weight and label the percentages of protein, fat, fiber and moisture. This will make it a lot easier for you to see what kind of quality your cat food is. Look for foods that list a specific meat first and if any grains are included, whole grains are best.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for cats: wet or dry food?
This is a question best answered by your vet as it applies directly to your cat’s individual needs. You can find a cat food that is nutritionally sufficient in either wet or dry foods. You may find it easier to get the quality nutrition in a wet foods because, generally, the wet food is more expensive; and while not an absolute, usually the more expensive a product the better its quality.
The biggest difference is the moisture content. Your wet foods contain about 75% moisture and your dry foods are about 10%. This may go a long way in keeping your cat hydrated if you find she isn’t drinking enough. That extra hydration may help your kitty’s bones and muscles, but that’s nothing you can’t get with proper water consumption. Dry foods, however, may be good for her teeth in a way that outweighs the benefits of the extra hydration.
Convenience may sway you to find a better dry food. You don’t need to refrigerate unused foods, and you can leave it out all day for the cat to nibble as she chooses. Vets will usually say a combination of the two is ideal because it will give you the best of both worlds.
What should I feed my old cat?
Even if your cat still looks and acts like she did as a young cat, once she gets to be about 12 or so you may want to consider changing her diet. They are subject to the same effects of aging that we are so you will want to look out for creaky bones and a lack of activity may lend to your kitty plumping up some. You may want to consider a leaner food for her or maybe minimizing the quantity. Sometimes just changing or minimizing treats can help.
Dental disease may make it so that she needs a softer food, and therefore you may want to look into wet foods (or adding moisture to her dry food, at least). There are other nutritional needs you’ll want to accommodate for, as well. Plenty of fish oil will help joints and brain power. Taurine will help the heart muscles and eyes function so including that in her diet may help your kitty’s sight last for longer. Older cats can’t process fats as well so you’ll want to choose foods that include roughly 10% fat for dry food or 4% for wet.
How much should I feed my cat, wet and dry?
As a general rule, you want to feed your cat about 25-35 calories per pound each day. So your 8 pound cat should get 200-280 calories a day. Dry food is roughly 300 calories per cup and wet food is approximately 250 calories per 6 ounce can. Some fast math shows that if you’re giving your 8 pound cat dry food, give her just under a cup every day. For wet food, you’ll be okay just giving her half the 6 ounce wet food can in the morning and the other half in the evening.
If she eats everything in her bowl at once, you may want to space it out even more so she doesn’t beg for more later when she’s feeling a bit peckish. Should she supplement her diet with some hunting you may want to consider backing off on the portions of food you give her, as well.
How do I get my cat to lose weight?
The first step of controlling your cat’s weight is controlling her calorie intake. This may look like cutting her portions or it may be just switching from her high fat food. If you plan on switching your cat’s current food brand, consider the cat food options listed in our post on the best diet cat foods. In the case of cats with outside access, you may want to limit her hunting (of other creatures that could become food). Limiting treats may be a big help, too.
After you have her diet under control, you’ll want to take a look at your cat’s activity. When you can, play with her. If you’re worried that you’re not able to spend enough time playing with her to make a difference, then you’ll want to give her toys that will keep her active. That can be simple toys or you can create an involved environment for her with cat posts and elevated places for her to play or sleep.
In addition to worrying about your cat gaining too much weight, sometimes pet owners will have the opposite problem, especially if the cat has hyperthyroid issues. Read our vet advice on how to make a hyperthyroid cat gain weight.
