The 14 best weight loss foods for cats, with advice from vets

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The best weight loss cat foods are packed with nutritious ingredients and can help keep your cat feeling full.

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The best weight loss foods for cats are formulated to help cats lose weight safely. They typically have fewer calories, less fat, and more nutrients per serving than other foods. Many weight loss cat foods also contain extra fiber, which helps cats feel full while eating less. 

We asked veterinarians how to choose the best foods for overweight cats. Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight Adult Roasted Vegetable and Chicken Medley and Nulo Freestyle Adult Trim Salmon and Lentils Recipe are two of our top picks because they contain key ingredients to help cats feel full and burn fat. Our recommendations also meet or exceed the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) standards and align with the Global Nutrition Guidelines published by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA). 

If your cat has put on some extra weight, your veterinarian can offer guidance on their daily calorie needs and may recommend a weight management food. Keep in mind that cats can gain excess weight for various reasons. For example, spaying or neutering cats is essential for their health but can lead to weight gain over time. Age, limited mobility, consuming too many calories, or getting too little mental and physical exercise can lead to extra weight. Properly portioning your cat's food can help them maintain a healthy weight, but simply cutting down the amount you feed them can be dangerous. A smaller serving may not provide all the nutrients your cat needs, says Dr. Mark Freeman, a veterinarian and assistant professor of community practice at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.  

Read more about how we research and test pet products here.

Highlights for the best weight loss foods for cats

Best overall wet: Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight Adult Roasted Vegetable and Chicken Medley - See at Chewy

Best overall dry: Nulo Freestyle Adult Trim Salmon and Lentils - See at Chewy

Best budget wet: Blue Buffalo True Solutions Healthy Weight - See at Chewy

Best budget dry: Purina One +Plus Ideal Weight High Protein Real Turkey - See at Chewy

Best for seniors: Iams ProActive Health Healthy Senior - See at Chewy

Best wet overall

These canned foods from Royal Canin, Hill's, and Purina contain extra ingredients that are common in the best weight loss food for cats.

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Canned food, also called wet food, contains a lot of water: 75% to 78% moisture compared to 10% to 12% water in dry food. This is significant because cats prefer to get most of their hydration from their food rather than drinking water, says Dr. Deb Zoran, a small animal internist, nutritionist, and professor at Texas A&M University. What's more, the water in canned food helps fill cats up, even when they consume fewer calories. 

Because wet and dry cat foods have different amounts of water, you'll need to convert the wet food values to a dry matter basis to compare the nutritional content. This means you remove all the moisture from the wet food and then calculate the nutritional values based on the remaining solids. We contacted the manufacturers of the foods listed in this guide to get the nutritional profiles of each food on a dry matter basis. If you'd like to compare recipes for dry foods with wet foods not listed in this guide, you can use these directions from the Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University, call the food manufacturer, or ask your vet for help.

Our picks for the best wet cat foods for weight loss have added fiber from ingredients like powdered cellulose. More fiber can help your cat stay full for longer, so it may help keep them from meowing for more food between meals. The recommendations below also contain L-carnitine, an amino acid that helps the body burn fat for energy and may help with weight loss.

Royal Canin Weight Care Thin Slices in Gravy

Meat protein sources: Pork byproducts, chicken, chicken liver, pork liver, pork plasma
Other standout ingredients: Powdered cellulose, L-carnitine
Feeding trials: No
Nutrition breakdown: 59.8% protein, 15.7% fat, 11.3% fiber
Calorie count: 55 kcal/3-ounce can

Hill's Science Diet Perfect Weight Adult Roasted Vegetable and Chicken Medley

Meat protein sources: Pork liver, chicken
Other standout ingredients: Powdered cellulose, L-carnitine
Feeding trials: No
Nutrition breakdown: 38.8% protein, 11.9% fat, 9.2% fiber
Calorie count: 62 kcal/2.9-ounce can

Purina Pro Plan Healthy Metabolism Chicken Entree

Meat protein sources: Chicken, liver, meat byproducts
Other standout ingredients: L-carnitine
Feeding trials: No
Nutrition breakdown: 60% protein, 16% fat, 0.5% fiber
Calorie count: 73 kcal/3-ounce can 

Best dry overall

Nulo, Royal Canin, and Farmina make excellent dry weight loss foods for cats.

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Your veterinarian might recommend dry food (kibble) that contains salt for weight control. Salt may seem like a strange ingredient, but Freeman says pet food brands add salt to encourage your cat to drink more water. "It's another mechanism to help pets feel full and reduce food consumption," he says. 

Calorie control also plays a major role in weight loss. Even so, cat treats are still important for bonding with your cat and rewarding them, says Dr. Julie Churchill, a veterinary nutritionist and professor of nutrition at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. She suggests using a portion of your cat's kibble as a treat. This way, you can give them a few small pieces of a complete and balanced food without disrupting their diet.

Our picks for the best dry cat foods for weight loss contain soluble and insoluble fiber sources like beet pulp, oats, psyllium seed husk, and inulin, which can come from chicory root or Jerusalem artichoke. Soluble fibers absorb water and form a gel in the stomach, slowing digestion while helping cats feel full. Insoluble fibers add bulk to your cat's stool and help keep their digestive system healthy.

Nulo Freestyle Adult Trim Salmon and Lentils Recipe

Meat protein sources: Deboned salmon, turkey meal, chicken meal, deboned cod
Other standout ingredients: Dried chicory root, dried cranberries, L-carnitine, probiotics 
Feeding trials: No
Nutrition breakdown: 42% protein, 12% fat, 5% fiber
Calorie count: 421 kcal/cup

Royal Canin Weight Care 

Meat protein sources: Chicken meal
Other standout ingredients: Dried plain beet pulp, fish oil, powdered psyllium seed husk, L-carnitine
Feeding trials: No
Nutrition breakdown: 34% protein, 8.4% fat, 11.2% fiber
Calorie count: 254 kcal/cup

Farmina N&D Weight Management Lamb, Quinoa, Broccoli, and Asparagus

Meat protein sources: Lamb, dehydrated lamb, dried whole eggs, herring, dehydrated herring
Other standout ingredients: Herring oil, inulin (derived from chicory root), psyllium seed husk
Feeding trials: No
Nutrition breakdown: 40% protein, 9% fat, 10% fiber
Calorie count: 318 kcals/cup

Best budget wet

Blue Buffalo and Purina make the best budget-friendly wet cat foods for weight loss.

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Along with added moisture, many wet cat foods contain carbohydrate sources that can help your cat lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. For instance, Tufts University says complex carbohydrates such as brown rice and whole corn are more fiber-rich than other carbohydrates. They can help your cat feel full for longer. Our experts recommend whole, complex carbohydrates over processed carbohydrates such as flour and meals. This is because cats use more energy to break whole carbs down, says Dr. Korinn Saker, associate professor of clinical nutrition at the College of Veterinary Medicine at North Carolina State University. 

Our budget weight management picks for the best cat foods include fiber to help your cat feel full and L-carnitine to help them burn fat. If wet food still feels too pricey (it tends to be more expensive per serving than dry food), you can ask your vet for help creating a meal plan that mixes wet and dry food. Zoran says she offers her cats wet food to keep them hydrated but also incorporates a small amount of dry food in feeder puzzles. This helps slow her cats' eating by making them work for their food, which can help them feel more satisfied and promote weight loss.

Purina One Ideal Weight White Meat Chicken Recipe

Meat protein sources: Chicken, liver, pork lungs, ocean whitefish
Other standout ingredients: Powdered cellulose, L-carnitine
Feeding trials: No
Nutrition breakdown: 47.1% protein, 11.7% fat, 4.4% fiber
Calorie count: 69 kcal/3-ounce can

Blue Buffalo True Solutions Healthy Weight

Meat protein sources: Chicken, chicken liver, whitefish
Other standout ingredients: Brown rice, powdered cellulose, L-carnitine
Feeding trials: No
Nutrition breakdown: 38.8% protein, 11.9% fat, 9.2% fiber
Calorie count: 86 kcals/3-ounce can

Best budget dry

For healthy weight loss dry cat food, we like these recipes from Merrick, Natural Balance, and Purina.

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Budget dry food is a good option for cat owners looking for an affordable way to help their cat lose weight. Both budget and premium weight loss cat foods may contain cost-effective protein sources like meat byproducts and byproduct meals. These are secondary ingredients from the human food industry, but they meet the nutritional requirements for pets set by the AAFCO. Our experts agree that byproducts and meals make good protein sources for cats. 

Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they need animal-based proteins for essential amino acids like taurine. Budget dry cat foods can meet your cat's dietary needs as long as proteins in the form of whole meat, meat meal, or byproducts come first on the ingredient list.

Our budget picks for the best weight loss foods for cats are low in calories and fat, like our other recommendations in this guide. They contain proteins such as deboned chicken, turkey meal, and salmon meal. Salmon meal is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, which can help improve joint health and relieve inflammation. This may help ease joint pain caused by stress on the joints from excess weight. Our picks from Purina and Natural Balance also contain L-lysine, an amino acid that supports the immune system and may boost a cat's resistance to certain viruses.