Best Cat Food for Pancreatitis (2024): 8 Top Choices for a Healthy Diet

Cats that become lethargic, lose their appetite or are regularly vomiting have a high chance of being diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. 

Pancreatitis in cats wasn’t always common, but sadly it’s become a growing problem for our feline friends over the years. In fact, a recent clinical study showed that as many as 66% of cats have some form of the disease.

The good news is that, as long as it is treated when discovered, feline pancreatitis is not a life-threatening condition for most cats. They can live a full life, although they may well have recurring mild symptoms.

If it is serious or untreated, however, pancreatitis can cause a lot of problems for your cat, so a visit to the vet for diagnosis if you observe lethargy and a reluctance to eat is a must. 

Whilst there are medicines and treatments for serious cases and its complications, the main ongoing treatment is to ensure that your feline is put on a cat pancreatitis diet. So we have tested the best cat food for pancreatitis so that you can give your cat the best care.

The key thing to know about food for cats with pancreatitis is that it needs to be high in quailty nutrients that are easy to digest. You need to encourage your cat, who will have a low appetite, to eat and eat well. 

This will ensure that they get sufficient calories and nutrients to prevent their condition causing further liver problems. We explain this in more detail in the 'buyers guide' section below.

Although Smalls cat food is a higher price, it's worth it when your cat needs tightly controlled healthy nutrition.

If your cat is diagnosed with pancreatitis and you're struggling to get them to eat, it's worth trying the Small's trial offer. Mainly because it's exactly the sort of food they need when coping with this condition. But, even better, if it turns out that this food isn't right for your cat when you're trying out various foods for cats with pancreatitis, Smalls offer a full refund.

Smalls human grade fresh recipe is made from the very highest quality animal protein sources, including high nutrient liver and heart which have plenty of natural vitamins including essential B12.

Importantly, all the ingredients are very digestible and most cats love the taste so they are keen to eat. If your cat is suffering from this common condition, this could well be the right food to keep them fit and healthy in the long term.

3 Top Cat Foods For Pancreatitis Picks – Best, Value & Premium

As with all our cat food group tests, we pick three recipes that we, our reviewers and our community have used and found to be effective as part of a cat pancreatitis diet.

We have a vast audience on our social media channels (over 1 million followers), so we regularly reach out to this cat owner community and get their valuable and real world experience and input for our tests.

After all, they certainly know best because, sadly, some level of pancreatitis in cats is so common, and many of them have either recent or long-term experience of what has worked for their cats.

So we'll look at the top selections recommended by cat owners in our community who have already moved their pets over to a cat pancreatitis food, and also those formulas that our vet advisors recommend.

Our test foods cover a range of great tasting, budget-friendly, and premium cat foods for pancreatitis, and we also include two vet prescription only options.

Best Cat Food for Pancreatitis: Alternative Picks

If the three options above don’t work for you, don’t worry. There are still plenty of other great cat foods for pancreatitis that we tested and that you can try until you find the one that's right for your cat..

Your vet may even be able to recommend specific food options (such as the two prerscription foods we tested below) depending on your cat’s unique needs.

Let's look at the other favorite options that ranked well in our testing below.

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Cat Food For Pancreatitis Buyers Guide

Feline pancreatitis is a potentially serious inflammation of the pancreas that can impact on your cat's overall health and well being. You are likely to first notice that your cat may be suffering from this condition if you see that they appear to be sick, lethargic and reluctant to eat. 

Whilst there can be complications with pancreatitis in cats and it can cause other conditions, your vet will be able to treat those and will recommend that you manage the condition with diet.

The core of a cat pancreatitis diet is high-quality, age-appropriate food that they enjoy and can easily digest. You'll also need to avoid any food that might trigger inflammation.

While you might consider a low-fat diet, it's not always necessary for cats as it is for dogs or humans. Instead, focus on providing them with meals they prefer and can easily digest.

The key thing is to make sure that your cat is eating high quality nutrients, even if their loss of appetite means they won't eat as much as you're used to.

Making sure that they eat something they like, which has a high enough calorie content for what they need, and that they can fully digest, is what you need to find in foods for pancreatic cats.

What is Feline Pancreatitis?

Pancreatitis in cats is a condition that has grown slightly more common over the years, perhaps as a result of changing ingredients in cat diets and various other factors. 

This term refers to any inflammation of the pancreas, the small organ responsible for secreting digestive enzymes and insulin, to manage blood sugar and process food. 

Pancreatic inflammation is one the more common conditions among older cats, usually over the age of 10, and it’s often combined with other inflammatory conditions, like cholangitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. 

In fact, this condition is becoming very common in cats, with a recent vet study showing that up to 66% of cats have some form of the disease.

While symptoms of pancreatitis may differ depending on your cat, they may include:

Pancreatitis can also be an acute issue, and appear with several severe symptoms at once, or it could be a chronic condition, which appears in bursts and periodic episodes, with moderate discomfort.

What Causes Pancreatitis in Cats?

The pancreas is an important organ for your cat, responsible for secreting digestive enzymes and critical insulin. However, it’s an organ also frequently placed under additional strain by the modern diets available for today’s feline friends. 

According to some experts, a highly-processed diet with a lot of carbohydrates can place additional stress on the pancreas. 

A highly-processed diet generally won’t contain digestive enzymes, and therefore floods the body with a lot of carbohydrates, forcing the pancreas to work even harder to produce the right amount of insulin and critical enzymes. 

The wrong diet can effectively exhaust your pancreas over time. 

Many cats with pancreatitis also suffer from diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.

This argument is common among a lot of vets and cat experts, but there’s no specific evidence that a processed diet will definitely cause pancreatitis. 

We don’t have any specific clear information demonstrating where pancreatitis comes from, but common causes could include:

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What to Feed a Cat With Pancreatitis

If your cat has pancreatitis, your vet will most commonly recommend a specialist diet to address the issue. 

The right diet can reduce the pressure on the pancreas, as well as support the digestive system, making it easier for your cat to process the food and nutrients they need. 

The number one aim when feeding a cat with pancreatitis is to get past their loss of appetite and make sure that they are actually eating enough. The condition usually leads to your cat not wanting to eat which puts them at risk of weight loss but also the other liver complications we have discussed.

On that basis, any food that they are happy to eat is better than them going without.

Once you have them eating you need to focus on highly digestible foods and ingredients. Pancreatitis causes your cat to produce less of the enzymes needed for digesting food so nutrient rich and easy to digest is the way to go.

That means looking for cat food with a high animal protein content and few, if any, plant ingredients. Plants generally have a high carbohydrate level and a high glycemic index, both of which make the nutirients harder to process.

If your cat is having a “flare-up” of their pancreatitis conditions with significant severe symptoms, your vet may also recommend giving them a bland diet. 

Most of the time, when your cat's pancreatic symptoms are bad, your cat won’t feel much like eating, which places them under additional risk of suffering from hepatic lipidosis. 

This condition takes place when a cat doesn’t eat enough and has to start using its fat as energy. 

This fat can gather in the liver, causing significant discomfort and stress over time.

Feeding your cat bland cat food, like cooked chicken breast, chicken livers, or lamb with no additional seasonings, can help them to eat more during a time when their appetite is low. Recipes of cat food high in these nutrients should be your go to cat food.

If your cat’s condition worsens to an extreme state, your vet may need to recommend a feeding tube and fluid therapy for a short time until they’re able to recover and start eating on their own.

Cat Pancreatitis Diet Top Tips

Choose palatable foods which are easy on the GI tract

Highly palatable foods that are attractive to your cat and easy to eat will improve their chances of consuming the right number of calories and nutrients on any given day. 

If the approved cat food suggested by your vet doesn’t work, you could consider some home made food for cats with pancreatitis by giving them cat bone broth, or access to unseasoned meats that have been baked or boiled.

Meat-based and unseasoned baby food may also work but do check the ingredients list.

Don’t worry about low-fat diets

If you’ve had experience with pancreatitis in people or dogs in the past, you may know excessive to moderate fat levels of fat in your diet can make the condition worse.

This is why many pancreatitis’ patients are advised to keep to a low-fat diet. However, cats and kittens aren’t the same as dogs or people.

There’s no significant connection between extra fat in a diet and your cat’s pancreatitis. 

Stick to small and frequent meals

Forcing your cat to go long periods without eating will lead to spikes in their hormone levels, which may be problematic for cats with pancreatitis.

If your cat has chronic pancreatitis, you may find it’s easier to split their food into several small meals (such as 6 a day) instead of a few large meals. 

Consider additional digestive enzymes

Extra digestive enzymes may be useful for a cat with pancreatitis too.

Because the pancreas is the part of your cat responsible for producing digestive enzymes, it can make it difficult to process food when your cat’s pancreas isn’t working as it should be. 

Providing your cat with additional digestive enzymes in the form of supplements and other “added extras” for their food could be an excellent way to kick-start their digestion.

Certain foods like green tripe are excellent for accessing digestive support for your cat.

Avoid inflammatory ingredients

Inflammation is a common problem for cats with chronic digestive conditions like pancreatitis.

The more inflammation your cat experiences, the more likely they are to suffer from a range of symptoms, including vomiting, trouble eating, and discomfort. 

Ideally, all cat owners should avoid substances in cat food that may lead to additional inflammation for their cats.

However, it’s particularly important to be aware of these ingredients if your cat has pancreatitis.

Certain ingredients are more likely to cause inflammation than others, such as added sweeteners and artificial coloring in your cat’s food. 

FAQs

What food should I feed my cat with pancreatitis?

Your vet will be able to provide recommendations on the right food for your cat, based on their specific needs and condition.

The best cat foods have easily digestible enzymes and contain plenty of high-quality animal protein that will be valuable for your cat.

Make sure there are no inflammatory ingredients to worry about when choosing the right food too. 

Should you feed a cat with pancreatitis?

Making sure your cat eats food is one of the most important things you can do when it comes to a cat with pancreatitis.

Although it’s ideal if you can provide your cat with the foods your vet recommends, if they’re not attracted to that food, your vet will usually recommend feeding anything they will eat so they can continue to get calories and nutrition.

What causes pancreatitis flare-ups in cats?

A number of factors can trigger a flare-up of pancreatitis in your cat, including the consumption of something that irritates their stomach or digestive system, or an impact to the stomach, such as if your cat jumps somewhere and hits their stomach during the jump.

How long does cat pancreatitis last? 

Usually, Pancreatitis is a chronic condition that can last for the entire life of your cat. However, they may only encounter occasional flare-ups which last between two and three days, depending on how severe the symptoms are.

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Best Cat Foods for Pancreatitis: The Verdict

If you've read this far you are well equipped to choose the ‘best cat food for pancreatitis’ for your cat.

Importantly, your vet will be able to carry out a thorough examination which may involve x-rays and an ultrasound to check for inflammation of the pancreas. 

The vet will then provide medication, a prescription diet, and advice on the best cat foods for pancreatitis based on your cat’s unique needs. 

However, we think that Smalls cat food is the best long term cat food for cats with this condition because it is one of the best options on the market with exceelent quality ingredients, all animal protein that offers easy digestibility and stomach support. 

As an added bonus, it’s also a wet cat food, which means it should be easier to get your cat the moisture they need in their food if they’re having trouble drinking regularly.