The 9 best wet cat foods of 2025, according to vets
Don’t panic if your cat doesn't love drinking water — here’s how their wet food helps keep them hydrated.
Purina Fancy Feast Grilled Wet Cat Food in Gravy
$23.04
$26.40
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While shopping for wet cat food, experts recommend considering the following factors.
All the wet cat foods below meet or exceed AAFCO standards and are nutritionally balanced to support your cat’s health. Each one has at least 75% moisture and lists protein as one of the first ingredients on the nutrition label. Plus, all are highly rated at retailers like Amazon, Chewy and Petco, and many come recommended by veterinarians or cat owners at NBC Select.
Regardless of what other wet foods I’ve tried to feed them, there’s nothing my cats, both of whom are picky eaters, love more than Fancy Feast. This particular recipe is their favorite — they like the meaty, tender, shredded texture and the fishy flavors. It’s rich in protein, vitamins and minerals, and comes in a savory gravy. Fancy Feast’s wet food is also free from artificial colors and preservatives.
Savageau recommends Purina wet cat food because the brand has a great reputation and works with board-certified veterinary nutritionists and scientists to formulate its products. Its Complete Essentials wet food has a soft paté texture with gravy in it. It’s fortified with 25 essential vitamins and minerals, like linoleic acid and vitamin A for skin and coat health, antioxidants for immune health and taurine for vision health, according to the brand. It’s also free from artificial colors and preservatives.
If your cat gets bored of eating the same flavor after a while, try buying a variety pack with different options so you can alternate between them. Blue Buffalo’s Tastefuls variety pack comes with meat- and fish-based flavors like chicken, tuna and fish and shrimp, all of which are cooked in gravy and have real brown rice and sweet potatoes in their formulas. The wet food is free from by-product meals, corn, wheat and soy, as well as artificial flavors and preservatives.
If you have two cats, you likely split a can of wet food between them, eyeballing how much you’re scooping into their bowls to make sure each pet gets roughly the same serving. Iams Perfect Portions wet food takes the guesswork out of mealtime. Each tray comes with two individual servings of food — you snap the tray in half, peel the film off each half and serve. The Perfect Portions trays are also great for those who have one cat and feed them wet food twice a day — you can use one serving in the morning and one in the evening.
Iams’ grain-free wet food has a pate texture. It’s made with fiber and prebiotics to support digestion, omega fatty acids to support skin and coat health, and antioxidants to support cats’ immune system. The food is free from fillers and artificial preservatives.
Wet food for senior cats usually has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil to fight inflammation, and it may be made with ingredients like glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health, says Hart. This Purina wet food is formulated to meet the needs of cats ages 7 and older. It’s high in fiber and protein to support strong muscles and the immune system, and it has a rich vitamin and mineral blend to give pets extra energy. The food is grain-free and made without fillers.
Wet cat food typically costs more than dry kibble, so if you’re looking for a lower priced option, try 9Lives. NBC Select SEO editor Nikki Brown often feeds it to her two cats, who are about 9 and 3 years old. The wet food is made with taurine and other nutrients to support your pet’s heart, vision, skin and coat. It’s higher in calories compared to some of the other options on this list, so talk to your vet about the appropriate serving size for your cat’s needs.
My vet recommended feeding my cats food from this Hill Science Diet line to help them maintain their weight. It’s high in protein, so it supports your cat in growing lean muscle, and you can see real vegetables and rice in the formula. The food is made with vitamins and minerals like vitamin E, B12 and D3, as well as taurine. It’s best for cats ages 1 to 6 years old, according to the brand.
Royal Canin is another cat food brand Savageau recommends because of its high quality. This vitamin- and mineral-rich formula is specifically made for those with sensitive stomachs. There’s highly digestible proteins in its recipe that helps cats absorb nutrients better, leading to stool odor reduction, according to the brand.
Kittens can start eating wet food when they’re around four to five weeks old, so by the time you welcome them home, it will likely be an essential part of their diet, says Hart. It’s best to continue feeding them the kitten food they’re used to, but if you want to gradually switch over time, Merrick makes a great option. I gave it to my cats for their first year of life, and because it’s so soft, it was easy for them to eat when they were really young and barely had any teeth. The finely ground kitten food is rich in protein and nutrients like taurine, omega 6 and omega 3 fatty acids to aid in growth. It’s free from grain, corn, wheat and soy, as well as artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.
The main advantage of wet cat food is its high water content, which helps your pet stay hydrated, especially if they’re not big on drinking water from a bowl or fountain, says Savageau. It’s also often more appealing to picky eaters than dry kibble because of its potent taste and scent, and you can mix liquid, powdered or crushed supplements and medications into it if needed. Additionally, since wet food has a soft texture, it’s easier for cats to chew than dry food, which some cats prefer, especially those that are older or have dental issues, she says.
There are a few key differences between wet and dry cat food:
Ideally, cats should eat wet and dry food to get the benefits of both, experts say. However, some cats don’t like one or the other, which is fine, so long as you make sure they’re getting whatever their food of choice doesn’t offer elsewhere. So if your cat only eats dry food, closely monitor how much water they’re drinking, and if they only eat wet food, pay extra attention to their dental health.
How much wet food cats should eat per day depends on their calorie needs, whether they also get dry food and how they prefer to have their meals. For example, some cats prefer larger, scheduled meals two to three times a day, while others are grazers and eat a little bit here and there. Your vet can help you figure out what the appropriate serving of wet food is for your cat, and help you adjust it over time as they age or their eating habits change.
If you have any wet cat food left in a can or packet after you open it, cover it or seal it tightly and put it in the refrigerator. Use it within three days, says Hart. After serving your cat wet food, you should only leave it out for about four hours — after that, it may start to grow bacteria and spoil, experts say.
No, raw food is not good for cats and all the experts I spoke to do not recommend feeding it to your pet. Raw foods are unprocessed and made from uncooked meat, fish and internal organ products. They’re not subjected to the same sterilization and pasteurization processes as cooked diets, so there’s a risk of bacterial contamination from organisms like salmonella and E. coli, says Hart. Not only can these bacteria make your cat sick, but they also put the people who handle them at risk of contracting an illness.
Grain-free pet foods are made without grains like wheat, corn and rice. They’ve been scrutinized in recent years as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to investigate a potential link between feeding pets grain-free diets and them developing heart disease due to a taurine deficiency, says Hart. This health risk is mainly a concern for dogs, however, and since most wet cat foods are fortified with taurine, there’s a low chance that felines will develop a deficiency if they eat grain-free wet food, she says. But grains offer many nutritional benefits you don’t want your cat to miss out on, so if you’re considering feeding them grain-free food, make sure you consult your vet first.
The best way to change your cat’s wet food is to do so gradually over about a week to avoid potential stomach upset, which is the last thing you want — if cats have a negative experience with a food, they’re likely to avoid it in the future, says Hart. Start by feeding your cat meals with 25% of the new food and 75% of the old food. Wait a few days, see how your cat responds and if everything goes well, you can increase the proportion of the new food to 50%, then 75% a few days later and then 100% a few days after that. If your cat is especially sensitive, you may have to transition them to the new food in 10% increments rather than 25% increments, says Hart. And if your cat becomes ill at any point, stop feeding them the new diet, call your vet and go back to what they’re used to.
There’s a few ways you can entice your picky cat to eat their food, but before trying anything, it’s important to make sure they’re otherwise healthy. Some illnesses can decrease cats’ appetite and make them more picky than usual, so talk to your vet to rule that out. Once you do, try the below strategies, which Hart recommends.
Add food toppers: Another way to enhance palatability is to add toppers to your cat’s food, like those from Tiki Cat, Made by Nacho and Purina Fancy Feast. You can also use low-sodium unseasoned chicken broth, the juice from canned tuna and puréed treats like Inaba Churu.
At NBC Select, we work with experts who have specialized knowledge and authority based on relevant training and/or experience. We also ensure that all expert advice and recommendations are made independently and without undisclosed financial conflicts of interest.
I’m a reporter at NBC Select who has covered pet care since 2020, including topics like cat food, cat treats, kitten food, cat toys, kitten supplies and cat travel carriers. To write this article, I interviewed two veterinarians about how to shop for wet cat food and rounded up the best options to shop. I also have two cats and have volunteered at animal shelters for years.
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