The 15 Best Cat Food for Weight Loss (Updated List)

Like humans, overweight cats are at an increased risk of various diseases that affect their life expectancy. In addition to liver disease and diabetes, overweight cats can develop arthritis, skin diseases, respiratory disease, and overall decreased life expectancy.

The Best Diet Cat Food (All Reviews)

Obesity can significantly shorten the life of a cat. To cope with excess weight, you should only use a high-quality diet. In this article, you will learn how to feed a cat for weight loss.

1. Blue Buffalo Weight Control Natural Adult Dry Cat Food  

BLUE Buffalo food is made from natural ingredients enriched with vitamins and minerals. The product contains natural meat, healthy cereals, vegetables, and fruits. The brand’s diet is enriched with antioxidants to support overall health and well-being. The formula of this food is suitable for all life stages. High-quality sources of protein and fiber support digestive health. Besides, it perfectly copes with the function of weight control.

Key benefits:

• The recipe is designed to maintain muscle mass.
• Real meat is the first ingredient.
• It contains omega 3 & 6 fatty acids to promote a shiny coat and healthy skin.

2. Royal Canin Feline Weight Care Thin Slices in Gravy Canned Adult Canned Cat Food

This food is specially designed to help to lose weight. This formula is designed to maintain an ideal body condition and muscle mass, and recommended by vets. Besides, it contains the perfect blend of vitamins and minerals to help keep your pet’s overall health and well-being.

Key benefits:

•  Soft texture that cats prefer.
• Contains L-carnitine.
• Adapted protein content helps maintain muscle mass.

3. Instinct Raw Boost Healthy Weight Grain-Free Chicken & Freeze-Dried Raw Coated Pieces Recipe Dry Food

Instinct Raw Boost grain-free food helps maintain a healthy weight. The feed contains a high content of animal protein, pieces of freeze-dried raw meat. The feed recipe helps maintain a healthy weight with fewer calories and fat. It contains l-carnitine, which helps burn fat to keep a healthy metabolism and an ideal fiber level.

Key benefits:

•  Chicken is the first ingredient.
• L-carnitine helps burn fat to maintain a healthy metabolism.
• Does not contain cereals, potatoes, corn, wheat, soy.

4. Halo Spot’s Stew Cat Formula Grain-Free Hearty Chicken Recipe

The quality feed manufacturer Halo uses real whole meat, poultry, or fish for food preparation. There is no “meat flour” in the feed. Grain-free pet food with reduced calories and fat is designed to support your cat’s weight control. This product is produced without GMOs. The diet is enriched with vitamin E, which helps maintain healthy skin and a shiny coat.

Key benefits:

• Contains L-carnitine to speed up metabolism.
• Formula made without artificial colors, preservatives.
• The highest digestibility.

5. AvoDerm Natural Indoor Weight Support Recipe Adult Canned Cat Food

Help your pet maintain a healthy ideal weight with the AvoDerm Natural Indoor Weight Control formula. The food contains fewer calories and low-fat protein from chicken and tuna and fiber-rich oatmeal, oat bran, and flaxseeds. The extra fiber will help your pet feel full and happy. The food is also enriched with avocado Superfoods grown in California. Thanks to this, each piece of food contains vitamins and antioxidants for a radiant coat.

Key benefits:

•  Chicken is the # 1 ingredient.
• Avocado oil provides omega-3 and 6 fatty acids for skin and coat health.
• Unique formula for overweight indoor cats.

Wet Foods for Overweight Cats we Reviewed

1. Hill’s Prescription Diet Metabolic Weight Management Chicken Flavor Canned Cat Food

According to research, more than 50% of cats are overweight.^[6] Hill’s nutritionists and veterinarians have developed a recipe for dietary food to maintain weight. 88% of Pets lost weight at home in 2 months, eating this food.

Key benefits:

• Naturally works with individual metabolism.
• Supports the excellent health of your pet.
• Helps avoid weight regain after weight loss.

2. Purina Pro Plan Focus Adult Weight Management

This food from Turkey and rice is a high-protein, low-calorie formula that supports ideal body weight. The formula also helps your pet’s muscle health.

Key benefits:

• Specialized high-protein, low-calorie formula.
• This preserves muscle mass.
• This contains taurine, which is necessary for protection against heart disease.

3. Blue Buffalo Healthy Gourmet Natural Adult Flaked Wet Cat Food

Blue Buffalo Healthy Gourmet grain-free canned food for indoor cats is designed to maintain an ideal weight. Canned food does not contain gluten, which is known to cause allergic reactions in some pets. This food is made from the most significant natural ingredients, carefully selected by our nutritionists to meet domestic needs.

Key benefits:

• The food does not contain artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.
• Made from natural ingredients.
• Specialized high-protein, low-calorie formula.

4. Royal Canin Feline Weight Care Loaf in Sauce Canned Adult Wet Cat Food

Royal Canin Ultra Light food is designed to help your pet maintain a healthy weight. The feed contains L-carnitine, which speeds up metabolism and helps burn calories.

Key benefits:

• This product is ideal for maintaining a healthy weight for adult cats from 1 year and older.
• It contains high-quality protein for an active lifestyle.
• Enriched with L-carnitine to support healthy metabolism and weight control.

5. Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Diet, Grain Free Natural Adult Pate Wet Cat Food

Natural cat food provides your pet with all the essential amino acids and vital nutrients they need daily. Healthy whole grains such as brown rice, barley, and oats will provide your cat with the necessary complex carbohydrates for energy. Organic vegetables and fruits such as whole carrots, sweet potatoes, parsley, and cranberries contain substances that help your cat stay healthy.

Key benefits:

• It is a limited ingredient diet.
• Specialized high-protein, low-calorie formula.
• It has pumpkin to support digestion.

Dry Low-Calorie Dry Foods we Reviewed

1. Purina Pro Plan Focus Adult Weight Management Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Cat Food

Purina Pro Plan FOCUS contains 46% protein, which helps protect muscle mass during weight loss. Besides, this feed formula contains 20% less fat. The food is made from high-quality protein sources, including real chicken as the # 1 ingredient. Each ingredient is carefully selected. The natural prebiotic fiber in each serving of this product helps improve digestion.^[1]

Key benefits:

• It contains 46% protein, which helps protect muscle mass during weight loss.
• The formula provides your pet with the necessary energy and stamina.
• Chicken is the first ingredient.

2. Hill’s Science Diet Feline Adult 1-6 Chicken Recipe

This product will help your pet lose weight and live a long, happy life. This nutritious recipe made from a healthy chicken. The product helps to reduce weight and maintain muscle mass. Produced in the United States, each ingredient meets strict requirements for purity and nutrient content.

Key benefits:

• This helps maintain muscle mass during weight loss.
• Antioxidants support a healthy immune system.
• The feed does not contain any artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

3. Royal Canin Feline Weight Care Adult Dry Cat Food

This product is designed specifically for domestic cats to maintain a healthy weight. A recipe with a moderate fat content helps control weight. Optimal fibers help your family friend feel full. The feed also contains L-carnitine, which allows the metabolism to work hard to burn fat. ^[5]

Key benefits:

• Enriched with L-carnitine to support a healthy metabolism.
• This helps maintain muscle mass during weight loss.
• It contains a unique blend of fibers, which allows cats to feed faster.

4. Merrick Purrfect Bistro Grain-Free Healthy Weight Recipe Dry Cat Food

This formula does not contain grains. The recipe is made from chicken and turkey mixed with healthy foods such as peas and sweet potatoes. Besides, it contains insoluble fiber, which helps maintain a healthy weight and prevents the appearance of lumps of wool. The product is enriched with antioxidants to support the immune system, omega-acids for healthy skin and hair, vitamins, minerals, and taurine.

Key benefits:

• The recipe contains 60% animal protein from chicken and Turkey.
• Contains antioxidants and omega-3 and 6 fatty acids to maintain healthy skin and shiny fur.
• Does not contain gluten, wheat, corn, soy.

5. Solid Gold Grain-Free & Gluten-Free Fit as a Fiddle with Fresh Caught Alaskan Pollock Adult Dry Cat Food

This recipe for grain-free and gluten-free food is nutritious, delicious, and safe for the body. This recipe is created from Alaskan Pollock with a unique blend of functional Superfoods that provide gut health and overall immune support and help control weight.

Key benefits:

• Made from omega-rich fresh-caught Alaskan Pollock as the 1st ingredient.
• It does not contain artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.
• Omega-fatty acids support gut health and overall immune support.

*All ratings are formed by the article’s author based on their own research and combined with customer reviews.

How to Put a Cat on a Diet?

The program for weight loss in cats is multi-stage and includes the following steps:

• Analysis by a veterinarian. You need to consult your veterinarian before putting your pet on a diet since there are many health considerations. Your veterinarian will assess your family friend and determine if there are any underlying diseases causing obesity or if your pet is at risk for any illnesses caused by obesity. They can then recommend the most suitable foods for your cat. Rapid weight loss can affect the health, so the veterinarian will help you set the optimal program ideal for your animal. A cat with excess weight should not be abruptly transferred to a diet with a limited number of calories or lose weight too quickly. This can cause serious and even fatal hepatic lipidosis. 
• Changing the diet. Choose the most appropriate product. Naturally, to reduce weight, you need to limit the number of calories. Most programs recommend giving the cat 75% of the calories it would need if it had the ideal weight. 

There are two ways to reduce the number of calories. The first is to give the cat less food. The second is to switch to a diet containing fewer calories.

READ MORE: Kitten Health Issues

Limit the amount of food. If your furry friend is losing weight according to the program that allows feeding it with regular food, its amount should be reduced by 20-40%. For example, if your furry friend usually eats 3/4 сup of dry food, you should now give it 1/2 cup. After 3-4 weeks, you should see positive results. You may have to cut the portions even more. Essential fatty acids are beneficial for any cat, however, not just those on a weight loss program.  

If your pet has switched to a portion of the greatest weight management food, you can save the standard part, but it contains less fat and calories. Some diets include carnitine, as it affects the body’s absorption of fat. Studies conducted on rats have shown that another chemical, pyruvate, fruitfully affects the metabolism of obese individuals and causes faster weight loss. It has a similar effect on people. Chromium picolinate encourages the body to produce insulin more actively. The effectiveness of its effect on weight loss in obese animals is currently being studied. The herbaceous plant Garcinia cambogia contains hydroxylimonic acid, which is considered a substance that prevents fat cells’ formation. Coenzyme Q10 (also known as ubiquinone) provides the body with energy at the cellular level. It is beneficial for people with various heart and muscle diseases, but its effect on animals suffering from obesity is still under study. Finally, as a supplement to the diet, chitin or chitosan, a substance that can inhibit fat absorption, is being investigated. ^[2] 

• Сat should be fed with smaller, more frequent meals to make sure they stay full and don’t feel like starving. This will allow you to control the feeling of hunger. It is usually recommended to give 2-4 small portions of the right low-calorie food during the day. Feed your dieting feline separately from other pets so that it does not eat the other pet’s food. Usually, overweight cats are not as agile as others, so you can feed it on the floor, and others — at a higher level, for example, on the cat “tree.”
• Physical exercise. In addition to reducing incoming calories, you also need to increase calories burned. It is more difficult for obese cats to develop an exercise program than for dogs. For some cats, walking on a harness is already a good exercise. Even a simple walk in the yard under your supervision can encourage the pet to move slightly. Buy some new toys and start playing with them. In addition to the fact that the game will help burn extra calories, it will also distract the cat from the food bowl.

READ MORE: Cat Emergency Kit

Buying Guide

Foods aimed at weight loss usually have a lower energy value than other products of the same line. This is achieved by reducing fat percentage and including additional sources of fiber (indigestible fibers). The fibers swell in the stomach, providing the animal with a feeling of satiety, while they are removed from the body unchanged and practically do not give calories.

Cellulose

In high-quality food, fiber is usually represented by vegetables, root vegetables, unsweetened fruits, and other plants. When there are many fillers, they excessively irritate the intestines, cause digestive disorders, stool disorders, and prevent food absorption.

Additives

Sometimes special supplements are used in fitness feeds to normalize weight. For example, the introduction of L-carnitine allows you to limit fat deposition if we are talking about preventing obesity and preserving muscle mass in the process of losing weight.

Protein source

The protein content of food for weight control should be high (at least 32-35%). This contributes to rapid saturation, weight loss due to fat, and not the muscles and internal organs. Pay attention to the sources of protein: it should be meat and the entrails of animals.

When using food, it is essential to observe the daily dosages recommended by the manufacturer. If dry pellets are always in the bowl, and the cat continues to eat according to appetite, weight loss will not occur, despite the special diet. ^[3]

READ MORE: How much protein does a cat need?

FAQ

Article Sources:

1. “What Is Average Cat Weight?” Purina, purina.com/articles/cat/health/what-is-average-cat-weight.
2. “Small Cat Breeds: 6 Breeds That Stay Small.” Wilderness Cat, 27 Mar. 2019, wildernesscat.com/small-cat-breeds/.
3. “​Keeping Your Cat at a Healthy Weight.” Royal Canin, 17 Nov. 2020, royalcanin.com/us/cats/health-and-wellbeing/keeping-your-cat-at-a-healthy-weight.
4. “How Can I Promote a Healthy Weight for My Cat?” Purina, purina.com/articles/cat/health/help-my-cat-lose-weight. 
5. “Health Risks of Overweight and Obese Cats – Royal Canin.” Royal Canin, 17 Nov. 2020, royalcanin.com/us/cats/health-and-wellbeing/health-risks-of-overweight-and-obese-cats.
6. “Share of Obese and Overweight Cats in the United States in 2018.” Statista, statista.com/statistics/524790/obese-and-overweight-cats-share-in-the-us/.