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Blue Buffalo Cat Food
Your feline friend is quite active, hence need more protein. This enable them to function better and supply ample energy through the entire day. So, do you want to know the best high protein cat food that meet their nutritional requirements?
By the way, I have listed my favourite option in the beginning itself. For more details, let's dive in.
When you're a cat lover through and through, there are three things always on the top of your mind: make sure you take time out of your day to play with your cat, groom them, and find high-quality and nutritious food.
Finding the best high-protein cat food for your indoor cat is no easy feat. While some of us might want to pull out our pots and pans and whip up a homemade meal, understanding your cat's digestive system and dietary needs is crucial to finding something that actually suits them.
At Daily Cat Food, we’re cat food enthusiasts and animal nutrition experts writing the most comprehensive guides for your feline friends! With our helpful guides and myriad nutrition tips and facts, we can help you make an informed decision.
We make sure to do thorough research and find the most reliable cat food brands that will keep your cat buzzing with energy, full of life, healthy, and happy. We have carefully studied the diets, anatomy, genetics, and life cycles of different cat breeds and are committed to providing you with adequate information and high-quality content about different cat food brands available in the market.
What more do we want, if not a long and healthy life for our fluff balls? Whether your cat likes to munch on wet or dry food, here is a comprehensive guide on the best high-protein cat food for your indoor cat.
A List of the Top High-Protein Cat Foods
- Weruva Cat Food (Best budget-friendly cat food)
- ACANA Cat Food (Best natural diet)
- Applaws (Best grain-free recipe)
- Blue Buffalo Cat Food (Best overall cat food)
- Orijen (Best holistic diet)
- Soulistic Cat Food (Best high-moisture diet)
- Wysong Cat Food (Best nutritious meal)
What Does a Healthy Diet Consist of?
Just like us, our cats also require a meal packed with nutrition every day to stay active and full of energy.
Our feline friends require certain nutrients they cannot create in their bodies, like amino acids Taurine and Arginine, protein building blocks, and certain vitamins.
Because of this, cats are obligate carnivores, which means they are strictly meat-eaters. With a proper diet, our cats would receive all the right meat-based nutrients that their body requires to stay fit and healthy.
Proteins and Amino Acids
Just like other carnivorous animals, cats also derive most of their proteins from meat and other animal products. Animal-based proteins are best suited to our cat's digestive system compared to plant-based proteins.
The dietary proteins our cats require to remain healthy consist of ten specific amino acids they cannot synthesize independently. Also known as essential amino acids, they provide the main building blocks for some of the most important biologically active proteins and compounds.
These amino acids also provide the carbon chains required to synthesize glucose which boosts energy.
The deficiency of even a single one of these amino acids can result in serious health problems. For example, Arginine is necessary to remove any traces of ammonia from a cat's body through urine. The deficiency of Arginine in cats can lead to an unhealthy ammonia build-up in their bloodstream.
A taurine deficiency can also lead to several metabolic and clinical problems. These problems include deafness, blindness, cardiomyopathy, feline central retinal degeneration, heart failure, failure of the immune system, poor neonatal growth, reproductive failure, and many other congenital defects.
Since Taurine is mostly found in fish, birds, and rodents, feeding your cats an unbalanced diet will deprive them of the necessary nutrition.
Fats and Fatty Acids
Cats also need a healthy dose of dietary fats. Dietary fats are mainly synthesized from animal fats or seed oils of various plants and are their main energy source. Fats contain twice as much energy as carbohydrates and proteins per gram.
These fatty acids play an active role in regulating the function of cells and building cellular structures. In addition to that, fats can also enhance the taste and flavor of a cat's food, making it a yummy treat for your feline friend.
Several studies reveal that high amounts of fat in cat food are safe and even healthy. At a minimum, the cat food you purchase should contain a fat content of about 9% of dry matter.
Fatty acid deficiencies have adverse effects on your cat's skin and coat. Omega-3 – a family of essential fatty acid – deficiency can result in host nervous system abnormalities, vision problems, and impaired learning abilities.
Omega-6 fatty acid deficiencies lead to malfunctioning physiological mechanisms like metabolism, mechanical work, and excretion.
Vitamins
Vitamins are also super essential for your cats because they help regulate their metabolic systems and keep them healthy.
Cats need a healthy dose of Vitamin A and niacin from the food they eat. Vitamin A deficiency can have adverse effects on their health, especially their eyes.
Several canned cat-food brands contain fat-laden fish products, and this diet makes them more susceptible to vitamin deficiencies, especially Vitamin E.
Vitamin E protects cats from any oxidative damage since it is an antioxidant.
The Best High-Protein Cat Food Brands to Keep Your Cat Healthy and Happy
Let us now look at the list of our top picks for the best high protein cat food for this year. I hope you find the information useful for taking an informed decision when it comes to the health and nutrition of your feline friend.
Weruva is one of the most popular and A-rated pet food brands in the US that Stacie and David Forman founded in 2007. The couple named the company after their pet cats, Webster, Rudi, and Vanessa. When Stacie and Forman were tired of searching for high-quality food for their cats and dogs, they decided to create their own cat food recipes that contained just the right amount of nutrition their pets required.
Where is Weruva Produced?
Pet food at Weruva is produced in a human food facility headquartered in Thailand and many of the ingredients they utilize are products usually made for human consumption. Their food is produced offshores but still meets the standards required by the USFDA.
This pet food brand also comes highly recommended by the pet-nutrition consultant Susan Lauten.
Why Should You Get Weruva?
Weruva cat food basically consists of base proteins that include high-quality ingredients including muscle meat like white breast chicken, cuts of beef, and whole tuna loins. They also add many plant-based proteins and fresh vegetables to give it a refreshing taste. Other unique ingredients Weruva likes to add include calamari, red bigeye tuna, tilapia, grilled skipjack, and shirasu.
The processing standards for pet food are certified by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), and each meal prepared by Weruva meets their specific standards and requirements. Their pet food is hydration focused, highly palatable, and makes a balanced and complete meal for cats.
Environmentally Friendly
Weruva is hyper-focused on protecting the environment and makes sure it's doing everything it can to stay sustainable and environmentally friendly.
The company manufactures food pouches that are recyclable and BPA-approved. They partner with TerraCycle to provide their customers with a free recycling program for empty Weruva food pouches.
Weruva only utilizes ethically sourced ingredients to produce cat food. The chickens used at Weruva are grown in a cage-free and climate-controlled environment. Their beef and lamb meat is also sourced from grass-fed animals that are organically grown.
Click here to check out Weruva's nutrition information chart.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
Weruva is a family-based brand that makes sure they're providing cats with high-protein meals made with premium quality ingredients. The cat food prepared on their premises is safe, healthy, and full of proteins. All of the company's pet food is manufactured overseas, which significantly lowers the price of their high-quality pet food. But compared to other brands, many pet parents find Weruva to be relatively more expensive and not the best choice if the price is your main concern.
ACANA is another A-rated pet food brand that established its business in 1985 and still makes high-quality cat food rich in protein content.
ACANA cat food is a subsidiary of Champion Petfoods, the company that also makes Orijen.
ACANA uses premium-quality ingredients to manufacture its food, which is mainly why it's not a budget-friendly option. But for pet parents who are willing to spend any amount to give their cats protein-rich kibble, ACANA is the perfect choice for them.
ACANA headquarters is in Alberta, Canada, and uses locally sourced organic ingredients. Their cat food is packed with meat and is super high in protein.
Why Should You Get ACANA?
According to ACANA, since domestic cats inherited their wild ancestors' eating habits and anatomy, they aim to manufacture food that mirrors the quantity and variety of meats that cats need to eat. Their nourishing diet does not contain any synthetic additives, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and vegetable proteins.
ACANA's cat food is made with 75% of meat ingredients. In comparison, 95% of their protein content is derived from animal resources, your cat gets proper nourishment according to its evolutionary needs.
ACANA uses a mixture of fresh meat and raw meat to give cats a taste and flavor that they instinctively crave. ACANA cat food actually has ranch-raised red meat, free-run poultry, and wild-caught fish to give your cats a variety of fats and proteins to promote their health.
Although the different ACANA feeds have different calorie distributions, the metabolizable energy in their dry food is 4020 kcal/kg, with 37% from protein, 21% from fruits and vegetables, and 42% from fat.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
ACANA cat food is a premium cat food designed for anyone who wants to fulfill all the carnivorous instincts of their feline friends. Their dry cat food is packed with protein and is made with a wide range of meat sources to give your cats a boost of amino acids. Although it's pricey, ACANA is a reliable source of protein for your cat. On the other hand, ACANA does not have much to offer regarding the variety of tastes.
Applaws pet food is a popular cat food brand with a perfect mix of flavorful kibble and high protein content.
Applaws predominantly makes wet cat food but also offers many dry food choices to their customers. This pet food company started in 2006 in the UK and promoted itself by claiming that its pet food is 100% natural and is sourced ethically.
Applaws claims to use natural ingredients, essential nutrients, high protein levels, and crude protein in all of their cat food blends.
Why Should You Get Applaws?
Applaws cat food does not contain any artificial flavoring or animal derivatives but consists of pure human-grade meat packed with essential proteins, meat meal, vitamins, crude proteins, and amino acids. Applaws cat food is highly palatable, contains a healthy amount of fatty acids likeomega-6 fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids, and their dry food can supplement your cats' wet food diet.
This cat feed contains a healthy mix of fresh vegetables like alfalfa extract, carrots, chicory citrus, and cranberry extracts for healthy digestion and boosting their urinary tract health. They include Brewer's yeast extract to enhance the immune system with abundant vitamin B.
For protein, Applaws features a range of high-quality and sustainable fish species like Anchovy, Mackerel, Tuna, Salmon, and Ocean Fish, fresh and dried chicken full of amino acids, and mussels for a dose of Vitamin B12, Selenium, Zinc, and Omega 3.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Applaws is a reliable cat food brand packed with high-protein content and plenty of other essential minerals and vitamins. Their recipes are specially designed for cats allergic to some main cat food ingredients. However, because their recipes lack variety, it's best to supplement this feed with homemade materials and supplements.
Despite being a new company, Blue Buffalo has quickly established a reputation as a premier cat food manufacturer in the US. Blue Buffalo started in the year 2003 when they only used to make dog food. Gradually, they started to manufacture cat food with the same nutrition philosophy, and each recipe features an abundance of meat and aims to provide a natural diet to felines..
Blue Buffalo has a refined dietary formula best suited for cats of all ages. Their cat food features ingredients that food scientists and veterinarians meticulously selected to promote your cat's health.
Why Should You Get Blue Buffalo?
Their cat feed consists of chicken as the main source of protein, anti-oxidant-rich cranberries, brown rice that provides cats with essential B vitamins and minerals, beef and fish to support muscle development, and a variety of fruits and vegetables like carrots, potatoes, apples, and blueberries.
They also offer a special line of kibble that consists of what they call LifeSource Bits. This ingredient is actually special chunks of antioxidants and other nutrients mixed with regular kibble. This feed is designed to give young kittens and lactating adult cats more nutrition to keep them healthy.
Blue buffalo cat food charges more money than other cat food brands because their recipes are made with premium ingredients. This is mainly why Blue Buffalo isn't the best choice for people who are looking for budget-friendly options.
Their cat food is also not an ideal feed for pets with certain conditions and characteristics. For example, if your cat has a medical condition, it's best to invest in food that can alleviate your cat's condition.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
All in all, Blue Buffalo is a high-end cat food brand that is pricey but offers high-quality food rich in meat that helps to build strong muscles. All of their recipes have real meat and chicken liver as their first ingredient, and most are grain-free. Even if it is costlier than most cat food options, if your cat loves the taste, then it's worth it!
Manufacturers at Orijen believe in going back to the origin of a cat's diet. As a result, they strive to create biologically-appropriate sustenance for your cat.
Orijen makes all of its foods in its kitchen in Alberta and uses only fresh regional ingredients in all of its recipes.
Why Should You Get Orijen?
Orijen features a unique Whole-Prey diet that includes nutrition-full animal ingredients, including succulent organs sourced from poultry and fish. Their ranch is situated in the middle of Canada, where they organically grow their protein sources.
All their protein sources are frozen to lock in all the nutrition. This is why Orijen is one of the most nutrition-full choices of cat foods out there.
Whole-Prey muscle meat and organs are packed with an abundance of essential amino acids and fats, with a minute amount of bones that provide your cat with minerals to keep them strong.
Orijen's philosophy is that since cats are evolutionary carnivores, their diet should be rich with animal-based proteins for maximized nourishment. Their cat feed is made with ranch-raised meat like bison, lamb, and beef, free-run chicken and turkeys, eggs, and wild-caught fish.
Their origin-based diet consists of at least six different meat sources in each recipe.
The only thing we would like to see as an change in their cat food is the enhancement of fiber. Their cat food also includes 15% of fruits, vegetables, and other botanicals.
Their cat food is made by Champion Pet Food, a manufacturer outside Alberta, Canada.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
Orijen is a one-of-a-kind cat food brand out there because of its protein richness and abundance of meat. On the other hand, this cat food is expensive and can be hard to find. And since Orijen only makes dry food, sticking to this brand is not ideal for older cats who have periodontal diseases. But other than that, Orijen is the perfect choice for kittens and younger feline fellows who need a diet dense with energy and protein.
Soulistic Cat Food is a top-ranked cat food manufacturer that produces protein-rich feeds with simple recipes. As the name suggests, their motto is to "feed your cat's soul".
Weruva actually produces Soulistic Cat Food, and its food formulas are protein and meat-based. Just like Weruva, Soulistic Food also sources its ingredients from Thailand, but its facility maintains the certification put out by the BRC (British Retail Consortium).
Why Should You Get Soulistic?
Soulistic Pet makes cat food that provides proper hydration because of its high moisture content. It prevents any urinary tract infections because it has ultra-low ash and minimal carbohydrates, so your cat can properly digest its food.
Soulistic manufactures its cat food that consists of thick cuts of high-quality protein. Their cat feed has boneless, skinless white chicken breast meat or lean fish loins. All of their fish is wild-caught and responsibly sourced.
This cat food is best suited for cats with food allergies and sensitive stomachs that cannot handle preservatives. Soulistic makes sure its formulas are simple and use only limited ingredients to make nutritious food.
The best part about their food is the high moisture content. Moisture isn't just important to keep your cat hydrated and ensure the food stays preserved inside. Most of the moisture level in their food is actually made with fish and chicken broth. This means that the liquid in their cat food has significant nutritional value.
Soulistic also ensures the addition of essential amino acids like Taurine in their cat food. With Soulistic, your cat will get a gluten-free diet full of protein and fibers.
One questionable ingredient Soulistic uses is tapioca starch. Tapioca starch is an unnecessary thickener that thickens the consistency of food. Apart from thickening, this starch increases the level of carbohydrates in the food, which is not healthy for felines.
To learn more about the nutritional information, click here.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
Soulistic Cat Food is a wonderful cat food brand with quality ingredients packed with nutrition and protein. These manufacturers work hard to ensure that your cats get a well-balanced diet and high-protein food without any gluten or additional unnecessary ingredients. Even though it is produced overseas, you can give Soulistic and try and see whether your cat enjoys the crunchy texture and the taste.
Founded by Dr. Wysong in 1979, this cat food brand is wholesome, holistic, and produced by doctorate-level animal nutritionists. Wysong excels in making dry food for cats and dogs and also works on producing nutritious wet food for cats.
Wysong uses premium quality ingredients, apart from a few questionable things like garlic (which is known to be toxic for cats). The company's food has also been reported to give diarrhea in cats because most cats are unable to digest the richness in their food. But other than that, Wysong focuses on creating holistic cat food which is meat-based and packed with protein.
Why Should You Get Wysong?
Wysong cat food is specifically designed to mimic the archetypal carnivorous diet that is suitable for cats of all ages.
Senior cats require a more phosphorus-rich diet essential for bone development, while younger cats and kittens need high caloric food since they are growing every day. This is why Wysong creates premium quality cat food and offers revitalizing cat supplements to keep your cats fit and healthy.
Wysong also offers 100% pure diced meat, which is available in a freeze-dried form.
Many veterinarians caution against preparing raw food for your cats at home because there is always the chance of it being contaminated. Even though raw food is full of nutrition since it is less processed, when prepared at home, there is a possibility that it is full of bacterial dangers.
This is why Wysong's freeze-dried diced meat mimics the nutrient-rich food that is a yummy treat for your cat, prepared in a safe and sterile environment.
Where Do They Manufacture Their Food?
Wysong manufactures cat food in Midland, Michigan, and their canned wet food is manufactured by Evanger's in the US. They source their ingredients mainly from Europe and Australia, while some of the amino acids they add are from China.
Since their cat food is starch-free, it's suitable for cats with urinary problems and other urological issues. Their food is jam-packed with meat content and rich in proteins.
Pros
Cons
Conclusion:
Wysong cat food is a good choice for cats because it is rich in meat and proteins that promote your cats' health. Even though Wysong features some inappropriate ingredients for cats, their recipes are very healthy and made with top-quality ingredients. Wysong is also a good choice for people who want to stay on a budget since it is inexpensive and easily available. It is essential and very beneficial for cats, but because it is so rich, try to slowly introduce your cats to their kibble, so their little stomachs can get used to it.
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Let us ease your mind with our comforting guidance, and we can help you determine your cat's specific nutritional needs and requirements according to their age and preferences.
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