Last Updated: 06/11/2025
Best Natural Food for Cats
Ready to upgrade your cat's diet? Learn the 6 key benefits of natural cat food: from a vital high meat content and novel proteins to superior nutrient absorption and ethical sourcing. We break down how premium, complete, and balanced diets impact your cat's health.
Author: Dr Carla Paszkowski BVSc (Hons)
Reading Time: 7 minutes - short read
With people becoming more conscious of what they eat, it's a natural instinct to want to share those same wholesome, natural food benefits with their cats. The idea of natural nutrition has taken off for a good reason: pet parents are seeing the positive impact of fresh, high-quality ingredients for themselves and want to extend that to their beloved feline family members.
While home cooking your cat’s meals might feel like the ultimate way to ensure a fresh and wholesome diet, it's notoriously difficult to get the balance right, and let's be honest, cooking for your cat is also costly and time-consuming!
The great news is that you don't have to choose between 'natural' and 'complete.' There are plenty of premium, ready-made natural cat diets that offer high-quality ingredients while being 100% complete and balanced.
What is Natural Cat Food?
Natural pet foods are defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) as those made from only natural ingredients derived from plant, animal or mined sources with no chemical alterations or synthetic additives, including ingredients like artificial colours, flavours and preservatives.
Natural cat foods are available in dry, wet, and freeze dried, air dried and fresh food formulations. Some popular natural cat food brands include Black Hawk, Open Farm, Ziwi Peak and Feline Natural.
What are the Benefits of Natural Cat Food?
With so many different natural cat food options available, learning the benefits will help you make a truly informed choice.
1.Higher Meat Content
Natural cat foods offer the benefit of providing a high meat content, which is for advantageous for felines being obligate carnivores.
By listing a meat or animal product as the first ingredient, these foods ensure it is the most prominent component by weight. This is vital because cats have specialised nutritional needs, requiring specific nutrients like Taurine and Arachidonic Acid found almost exclusively in animal tissues. While commercial foods may boost their protein percentages with cheaper plant sources like corn or soy, high-quality natural diets prioritise readily digestible and absorbable animal protein.
As an example, Open farm Wild caught Salmon Cat Dry Food - a high quality natural food - contains 'wild pacific salmon' and 'ocean whitefish meal' as the two first and prominent ingredients. To compare, a variety that uses the title "with salmon" only needs to contain a minimum 3% of salmon. Ultimately, it's important to check the ingredients panel if you are sourcing a specific type of meat.
2.Quality Ingredients, not just Nutrients
While all commercial cat foods, including natural ones, must meet international guidelines for macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates), these standards typically overlook the actual ingredients used to achieve those levels. High-quality, less-processed ingredients deliver the required macronutrients along with a wealth of beneficial micronutrients that are not mandated by nutritional guidelines and are therefore often absent in cheaper, poor-quality diets.
By prioritising ingredient quality, natural cat foods ensure your cat benefits from the entire nutritional profile of each component. Consider two foods that both meet the protein guideline: one uses corn meal and highly processed animal by-products; the other sources the same level of protein from salmon meat. The salmon is far more bioavailable (easier to digest and absorb) for a carnivore, and it naturally delivers crucial micronutrients such as antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids that simply aren't supplied by lower-grade fillers.
Important micronutrients to look out for include:
- Omega Fatty Acids: Increased levels of the omega 3 fatty acid from marine sources such as green lipped mussel or oily fish can help to support healthy skin and a shiny coat as well as joint health and mobility, kidney, cardiovascular and brain health. Omega 3 fatty acids are now widely utilised in many prescription and veterinary therapeutic diets due to their array of health benefits. Omega fatty acids from other plant based sources such as flaxseeds can also provide some benefits for cats however the affects tend to be less potent than those from marine sources. If you are looking for a natural food to help support healthy skin and a shiny coat, make sure you check out the ingredients to see where the omega fatty acids are coming from.
- Antioxidants: Antioxidants are found in many natural ingredients, particularly fruits and vegetables including blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes, carrots and spinach. Antioxidants protect the body's cells from the destructive effects of free radicals, helping to support a healthy immune system and fight premature ageing.
- Pre and Probiotics: These nutrients help support the microbiome or 'good' bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. The right balance of beneficial bacteria can help to improve digestion, help fight infection and strengthen the immune system.
3.More Grain Free Options
Put simply, a grain free diet is a diet free from all grains, including wheat, corn, rice, oats and barley.
Many grain-free products use alternative carbohydrate sources like potatoes, peas, or lentils as binders, which can sometimes result in a carbohydrate content as high as or higher than grain-inclusive foods. Therefore a grain free diet does not necessarily mean low carbohydrate.
People may choose to feed their cat a grain free diet if they are concerned their cat may have a grain allergy (which is actually quite rare). There is also belief that grains are a useless "filler" ingredient in cat food but many grain free diets just use alternative carbohydrate sources and often still have a similar meat : carbohydrate ratio.
To read more, take a look at our article Best Grain Free Cat Food
4.Novel and Single Protein Options
Premium, natural food brands frequently adopt a limited ingredient approach, focusing on a single protein source (like just duck or just fish) per recipe. This is especially helpful if your cat has a suspected food sensitivity or food allergy. Sensitivities develop over time due to repeated exposure to a specific protein, with common ones like chicken or beef often being the triggers.
If you suspect your cat has a dietary issue, a single-protein food makes it much easier to pinpoint and eliminate the problematic ingredient.
For a cat reacting to common ingredients, novel proteins can be a game changer. A novel protein is simply a meat source your cat hasn't been exposed to before. Natural cat food brands are leading the way by offering excellent options like kangaroo, venison, duck, rabbit, or unique fish varieties. Introducing one of these novel proteins can often help resolve skin or digestive issues linked to sensitivities.
5.Complete and Balanced
It’s completely understandable if you feel a little hesitant about switching to a natural cat food. Many pet parents worry that a "natural" or "holistic" approach might mean the diet is incomplete or fails to meet their cat's complex nutritional requirements.
The truth is that the vast majority of commercially available natural cat foods are created to comply with established feeding guidelines, such as those set by the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials). These guidelines specify the minimum necessary levels for all essential nutrients, including proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals, ensuring your cat receives a complete and balanced diet.
How to Check for Nutritional Assurance
If you are unsure about the safety or completeness of a specific natural cat food brand, here’s what to look for on the label:
- Look for the AAFCO Statement: Most reputable brands will state whether they " Meet AFFCO nutritional requirements"
- Proceed with Caution: If a diet does not contain this specific nutritional adequacy statement, we strongly recommend you consult with your veterinarian before feeding it as your cat's primary food source.
Choosing a natural diet doesn't mean compromising on science; it means getting high-quality ingredients with guaranteed nutritional support.
6.Ethically Farmed and Sustainably Sourced
Many pet parents are committed to animal welfare. When shopping for yourselves, you likely favour choices like free-range eggs or humanely raised meat.
It makes perfect sense, then, that you would want to select a cat food brand that extends this concern to the welfare of production animals. Finding companies that genuinely prioritise and are transparent about ethical and humane sourcing has traditionally been a challenge.
Fortunately, many premium natural cat food brands are now leading the industry by setting higher standards for their supply chains. These companies specifically source their ingredients from farms that practice free-range or grass-fed methods, ensuring the meat is free from routine antibiotics and growth hormones.
Natural cat food brands, such as Ziwi Peak and Feline Natural, are great examples of this commitment. Some brands, like Open Farm, offer extraordinary transparency, using only sustainable fishing practices and providing you with the ability to trace the exact origin of every ingredient in your cat's food via their website.
Best Ethically Sourced Food for Cats
Ultimately, natural food has many benefits for cats. For a diet, free from artificial additives, and full of quality ingredients, try a natural cat food and see the improvement for yourself.
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History
Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
Thurs Oct 16 2025
Edited by Dr Angie Armstrong BVScDr Carla Paszkowski BVSc (Hons)
Veterinarian
Dr. Carla graduated from the University of Queensland in 2013 with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science and worked for a number of years in small animal clinics across South East Queensland. While Carla enjoys most facets of clinical veterinary work, she holds a special passion for feline medicine, pocket pets, and nutrition.
