The Best Holistic Cat Food for Kitty: The 6 Most Healthful Brands

Whether you’re new to the world of cat companionship or you’ve had feline friends for some time, one thing is for certain—they are a part of your family.

Like any family member, you want the best dry cat food for your fur babies.

One of the most important ways you can care for your cat and their long term wellbeing is by feeding them a healthy diet, full of holistic cat food!

What is Holistic Cat Food?

The word “holistic” is thrown around in many circles. It has become synonymous with “healthier” and “natural,” also rather superfluous marketing words. So what does that mean when it comes to cat food?

While there’s no specific agency that is able to certify cat food as “holistic,” the most respected cat food brands have set their own rigorous standards and utilize third party testing to ensure they are making the best natural cat food. Animal lovers rejoice!

That being said, technically any brand can label their cat food “holistic.” This is why it’s important to educate yourself about what holistic means when it comes to dry cat food, and how to read the label of any new cat food you’re looking to buy for your favorite feline.

Representatives from the Cimarron Animal Hospital in Tucson, AZ gave us some insight as to what holistic cat food actually means.

A holistic diet for cats is one that considers the overall health and wellbeing of the feline, whether she’s a kitten or a senior. It is balanced and provides the necessary vitamins, calorie count, and other nutritional components that your cat needs to thrive. It also means that all the ingredients in it are human-grade and useful—not just fillers, byproducts, or full of chemicals. It’s a key feature of grain-free cat food!

Of course, cats are ‘obligate carnivores,’ meaning not only are they stoked for a meat-heavy meal, but they need it! These apex hunters have evolved to need a higher protein intake than most other mammals, and have adapted to be able to derive most of their nutritional needs from meat alone.

That doesn’t mean you should start feeding your feline birds and mice you’ve captured around the house. It simply means whether or not you’re in the market for organic wet cat food or grain-free dry cat food, you absolutely must do your own due diligence.

But don’t worry, we’re here to make it easy for your kitten to get the vitamins she needs from the protein-rich, nutrient-rich, organic ingredients she loves.

Top 6 Holistic Cat Food Brands

With so many cat food brands and options to choose from, it can be difficult to sort out what the best option is for you and your cat or cats. We’re here to help break down your options with our honest holistic cat food reviews!

Public Goods

At Public Goods, we’re committed to making healthy, sustainable, and affordable products for the whole family—including your furry friends. Made with hormone- and antibiotic-free chicken and brown rice, we’ve developed our cat kibble with your cat’s health in mind.

Public Goods’ dry cat food contains the essential fatty acids and proteins your kitty needs for a shiny coat, lean muscle, and overall healthy body. Cats of all breeds and life stages can benefit from this mix made without wheat, soy, corn, or artificial flavors or preservatives.

Your cat will also want to try our grain-free freeze dried duck nibs, served as an entree, meal topper, or tasty treat!

Wellness Cat Food

Wellness Pet Food has been collaborating with veterinarians, scientists, and animal nutrition experts for over twenty years to create wholesome, natural pet food. Their offerings include wet cat food, dry food, snacks and treats, plus options for dogs.

The folks at Wellness practice conscientious manufacturing every step of the way, including sourcing from quality suppliers and taking every precaution necessary to ensure the best products. They are transparent with their process and even show you how they develop your cat’s food in a step-by-step process.

Aside from developing incredible products, Wellness Pet Food has a ‘Wellness Foundation’ that promotes pet adoption, ethical breeding practices, sustainability initiatives, and works with other like minded non-profits.

Orijen Cat Food

Offering award winning products for both cats and dogs, Orijen prides themselves on using fresh, regional ingredients that are biologically appropriate and never outsourced. This means they try to mirror what your pet’s ancestors would have consumed in nature.

With such high ethical standards, they only conduct testing that they would do on their own cat and dog companions. Partnering with suppliers that come from agriculturally abundant communities allows them to ensure quality ingredients with sustainability in mind.

Orijen offers dry cat food and freeze dried treats.

Fromm Cat Food

Fromm Family foods has been a family owned and operated pet food company for five generations. This innovative company has been a pioneer in the world of pet food by developing the original dry kibble you’ll now find in most homes with pets.

They are able to maintain their high standards of food safety by manufacturing their own products from their two Wisconsin based facilities. Obtaining quality tested ingredients from their suppliers, they also test new ingredients at their on-site testing labs. But they don’t stop there. They then test for pathogenic bacteria at an outside lab to ensure the best quality dry cat food and treats they have offered for generations.

They offer dry and holistic canned cat food for all life stages.

Wysong Cat Food

Wysong offers innovative solutions to provide your cat with a safe and shelf-stable “archetype” raw diet.

Their theory is that while heat is used to cook out pathogens from animal products, it also destroys the necessary nutritional components that your pet needs to thrive.

They create “raw” products with a rigorous and innovative process involving special machinery developed to remove harmful pathogens using low temperatures while maintaining moisture levels.

Wysong offers one of the best organic dry cat foods on the market, along with canned food, “raw” treats, supplements, and other pet grooming and care products.

Earthborn Holistic Cat Food

Earthborn blends vitamins, minerals, and probiotics made from premium ingredients to give your cat everything it needs for a healthy diet. Made without artificial preservatives or flavors, they also use BPA free packaging to ensure your pet is getting what it needs—without any harmful chemicals.

Their in-house manufacturing allows them to ensure quality standards while testing ingredients and finished products at their quality control laboratories.

Earthborn carries holistic grain-free canned cat food, pouches, and dry food, as well as options for dogs. They are committed to sustainability by minimizing waste and using renewable resources every step that they can.

Tips for Getting Your Kitty to Eat Holistic Cat Food

While some cats can do just fine switching from one brand to another, others may need more time to adjust. Whether that’s because they’re a persnickety eater or have a sensitive tummy, we’ve got some tips to help ease the transition.

First of all, give you and your kitty seven to ten days to make the switch. You can do this by starting with a three fourths to one fourths ratio of the old food and new food respectively (¾ old food, ¼ new food). Do this for a few days before switching to half and half, then to mostly the new food, and voila!

If your cat has any digestive issues during the transition, try slowing down the process to four to five days before increasing the amount of the new food.

This may be easier to do with younger cats or kittens who aren’t yet set in their stubborn ways. Most cats do well switching to adult food around one year old.

You can also encourage a picky eater to try a new dry food by putting it over wet food, drizzling tuna juice over it, or adding a treat on top of it—like homemade chicken!

If you have any questions or concerns, or your cat doesn’t seem to be adjusting well, give your vet a call. They’re there to help!

Don’t Forget The Doggos!

If your furry family doesn’t stop at cats, you may be wondering what your options are for holistic dog food. Although your pup may be happy with cat food or anything else it can scrounge up, it’s best to keep them away from it and instead turn towards holistic dog food.