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Best Cat Food For Weight Gain (2024) – Wet and Dry High Calorie Picks
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If your kitty is a little skinnier than it should be, you might need the best cat food for weight gain. While obesity is a common and serious problem in many cats, it’s worth remembering our feline friends can suffer from being underweight too.
If your cat's calorie intake is too low it can begin to show a number of worrying symptoms.
Weight loss in cats can be a result of anything from poor dietary choices to intolerances, chronic illness, or simply age. Talking to your veterinarian will ensure you implement the best strategy for maintaining your cat's ideal weight.
Generally, this will involve placing your pet on a food designed to help your cat gain weight.
Here are some of the best cat foods for weight gain.
Our Top 3 Choices
Best Overall
Instinct Original Grain Free Real Chicken Recipe Natural
Best Value
Nulo Freestyle Chicken & Cod Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat & Kitten Food
Premium Choice
Nature's Logic Feline
Our 3 Top Picks
To help narrow down your options, we’ve sorted through a number of calorie and nutrient-dense food options in the feline market.
The options below were chosen for their excellent formula, their level of appeal for most adult cats, and a range of other benefits.
1. Instinct Original Grain Free Real Chicken Recipe Natural (Best Overall Pick)
This grain-free cat food features chicken as its number one ingredient (95%), so you know you’re giving your kitty plenty of the protein they need. The chicken meal formula also includes chicken liver, turkey, vegetables, fruits, and added vitamins.
While there are various healthy substances included in this mix, the wet food contains no artificial colors, artificial flavors, substances, or by-products, so it’s better suited to cats with a sensitive stomachs.
Made from real meat and whole foods, this product is suitable to use either as a main meal or meal topper, thanks to its soft pate texture. The complete and balanced nutrition helps to support lean strong muscles, healthy bones, and a super-soft coat.
Pros
Cons
2. Nulo Freestyle Chicken & Cod Recipe Grain-Free Dry Cat & Kitten Food (Best Budget Pick)
An excellent choice for kitties who prefer the crunch of dry kibble, the Nulo FS Cat and Kitten food is completely grain-free with no corn, wheat, or soy. There are no added flavors or preservatives, and plenty of protein to support your cat’s growth.
While this product is excellent for weight gain, it’s also low in carbohydrates, so you can keep your cat lean.
The cat food also features a patented probiotic, designed to help your cat absorb the nutrients it needs most.
This could be crucial if you’re struggling to feed your cat full meal portions due to a low appetite.
There’s also plenty of added fiber and taste.
Pros
Cons
3. Nature's Logic Feline (Best Premium Pick)
This wet cat food from Nature’s Logic is designed to suit all cat breeds, at any age. There are various flavor options to choose from, so you’re less likely to end up with a cat bored of its meals.
The product also contains over 95% animal ingredients, for excellent protein.
Nature’s Logic Feline formula includes naturally occurring taurine from organ and muscle meat.
It also eliminates any unnecessary additives and synthetic ingredients which might cause stomach sensitivities.
With an all-natural approach, the food is brimming with minerals and nutrients.
Pros
Cons
Additional Picks
If the three options mentioned above don’t appeal to your feline friend, there are still some great options out there.
Here are some of our other top picks for cat foods designed to help your kitty gain some extra weight.
1. Wellness CORE Grain Free Canned Cat Food, Chicken, Turkey & Chicken Liver Pate
Thanks to a soft pate texture, this Wellness CORE cat food is more likely to appeal to cats who have sensitive teeth, or appetite issues.
The product comes with a grain-free recipe, with no additives or synthetic ingredients to irritate your cat’s stomach.
The all-natural formula also contains meat as the primary ingredient, with a fish and flax omega blend for better skincare.
The Wellness CORE cat food is specially designed to give your cat all of the minerals and nutrients it needs to thrive, even in smaller doses.
It’s also excellent for boosting immunity, digestion, strong teeth, and healthy eyes.
Pros
Cons
2. ZIWI Peak Canned Wet Cat Food
Another excellent option in the wet cat food arena, ZIWI Peak’s canned wet food is available in a range of great flavors, including lamb, mackerel, and venison.
The high-protein formula contains no fillers, sugar, artificial preservatives, or grains.
What’s more, all of the ingredients are ethically and sustainably sourced from free-range farms.
To help improve cat health, this product comes with a range of superfoods like tripe and green muscles to support joint health.
The chunky loaf-style design helps to entice picky eaters, and the unique recipe promotes relief from food allergies and improved digestion.
Pros
Cons
3. Dr. Elsey's clean protein
A great dry cat food alternative for kibble lovers, Dr. Elsey’s clean protein chicken formula is made up of 90% protein, all animal-based, to give your carnivore the nutrition they need.
The primary ingredients are all chosen with excellent biological availability to improve absorption.
The product also comes with omega-3 fatty acids to support skin and joint health.
This grain-free dry food is great for feeding cats who prefer to graze on their food throughout the day.
It’s suitable for felines of all sizes and can be mixed with wet food if you want to give your kitty a little bit of extra variety.
Pros
Cons
Is Your Cat Underweight?
While obesity in cats gets a lot of attention from health professionals in the animal world, skinny kitties are frequently overlooked. While it’s important to keep your cat lean to avoid any common obesity issues, you’ll also need to make sure your cat is getting enough food to stay healthy.
Ultimately, unlike obesity in cats, underweight cats are rarely the outcome of simply eating the wrong food or getting too much exercise.
There’s a good chance the problem could be connected to something underlying within your kitty’s health.
This means it’s important to seek advice from a vet if you think your cat might not be as chunky as it should be.
In addition to suggesting dietary changes, your cat might also conduct tests to find out if there are any underlying problems contributing to your cat’s condition.
The best way to check if a cat is underweight is to speak to a vet. Different breeds of cats have different ideal weights.
For instance, a fully-grown Maine coon cat should weigh between 5.3kg and 8.1kg to be perfectly healthy.
Alternatively, a fully-grown British shorthair is usually between 4kg and 7kg in weight. There are a few tests you can do at home to check for signs your cat is underweight, such as:
Reasons Why Your Cat Is Underweight
There are various reasons why a cat may end up weighing a few ounces less than they should. Sometimes, they’re simply not getting enough food.
For instance, you might not be giving your cat the right amount of kibble or wet food if they’re a larger breed and you’re treating them like a mid-sized cat.
In some cases, multi-cat households can also make it harder for one cat to get the right nutrition.
A more dominant cat can eat another feline’s food before they have a chance to enjoy it themselves. Keep a close eye on how much your kitties are eating, and make sure you’re always getting your portions right.
Your vet will be able to guide you if you’re not sure how much to feed your kitty.
Outside of simply not getting enough food, there are a number of conditions that can also contribute to weight loss in cats.
For instance, some of the most common underlying health issues which can also cause a cat to be too skinny include:
If your cat is getting a little older, sometimes they may begin to have less of an appetite because they spend less time running around.
This is why it’s very important to make sure your senior kitty is getting the right level of nutrition.
As your cat ages, you might consider speaking to your vet about whether you need to change their diet.
Crucially, defining the reason why your kitty is underweight will be essential to making sure you can solve the problem correctly.
In cases where your cat has an underlying condition, simply changing their food to something with more calories might not be enough.
Speak to your vet about the best possible strategy for keeping your cat healthy.
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What Makes a Food High in Calories?
Cats who struggle with weight maintenance or lose weight easily generally need to be put on a diet with a higher number of calories. High-calorie cat foods are specially formulated to be more energy-dense.
This could mean they’re filled with specific kinds of meats and other whole products which are higher in calories than most standard cat ingredients.
High-calorie cat foods are often brimming with other substances which can help your feline friend to gain weight.
After all, it’s not just the calories your cat needs to thrive.
If your cat has a low weight, you’ll likely need to look for high-calorie foods filled with protein, and fiber.
It’s also worth looking for the best high-calorie cat foods as they are easy to eat and particularly appetizing, so your cat is more attracted to their meal.
Notably, cat foods for weight gain should not contain extra fillers, sugars, or fats. The key to successfully increasing your cat’s weight is helping them to rebuild a lean and muscular body.
Best Cat Food For Weight Gain: The Verdict
Our top pick for the best cat food for gain weight is the Instinct Original Grain-Free wet food. This food benefits from an excellent high protein content and comes in pate form so it’s easier to eat.
There are no additives or other substances which might harm your cat’s digestion or cause problems with food intolerances either.
Good luck finding the best weight-gain food for your kitty.
Get 30% off and FREE shipping on cat supplies!
U.S.A only
To Find out why we recommend chewy.com, click here
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