How to choose dry food based on your cat's age and needs
The most important thing when choosing dry food is to match your cat's life stage and physical needs: a kitten, an adult cat and a senior do not have the same requirements for energy, protein and nutrients. A kitten is building its body and needs a food with more energy and protein, while an older cat often benefits from a food tuned to lower activity and ageing joints and kidneys.
Cats are obligate carnivores. That means they have a genuine biological need for nutrients from meat, including the amino acid taurine, which, unlike many other animals, they cannot produce in sufficient quantities on their own. Therefore, the meat content and the protein source are the first things you should look for on the label, not the amount of grain or filler.
In this collection you will find dry food for the different life stages. For the smallest ones there is kitten, and for the ageing cat there is a dedicated senior collection. If you have a cat with a sensitive stomach, it makes sense to start with sensitive stomach rather than guessing.
What a good dry food should contain
A nutritious dry food is based on what a cat is actually built to digest: meat. Look for a clear, named meat source high on the ingredient list rather than unspecified wording, and for a food that is not filled up with cheap carbohydrate sources, added sugar or artificial colourings and flavourings.
Taurine is worth mentioning separately, because it is critical for the cat's heart and vision and must be present in sufficient quantities. A well-balanced cat food is composed so that it covers the cat's need for protein, fat, vitamins and minerals in the right proportions.
If you want to go into more detail about how to read a label, we have gathered it in the article what should cat food contain, which goes through the most important points you can hold a food up against.
Dry food or wet food for the cat
The question of dry food versus wet food is less about what is best in itself, and more about what suits your cat and your everyday life. Dry food has practical advantages: it can be left out longer without spoiling, it is easy to portion, and many cats enjoy chewing on the dry texture.
The most important thing to be aware of with dry food is water. Cats are descended from desert animals and have a low thirst instinct, so a cat that eats only dry food gets far less fluid through its food than a cat on wet food. Therefore, make sure fresh water is always available, and keep an eye on whether your cat is actually drinking.
Many people choose to combine the two. If you want to give wet food alongside the dry food, you can look at pâté for seniors for the older cat or the rest of the selection of cat food, so the dry food can make up one part of the diet plan and the wet food the other.
How much dry food should a cat have per day
The daily amount depends on the cat's weight, age and activity level, and on how energy-dense the specific food is. Therefore, the most accurate guidance is always the feeding instructions on the bag you choose: it states grams per day based on the cat's weight for that particular food.
A good starting point is to weigh the portion rather than estimate it by eye, and to divide the daily amount into several small meals, which resembles the cat's natural way of eating many small prey. If you feed both dry food and wet food, remember to count both in the total daily intake, so the cat does not get too much.
Keep an eye on the cat's body condition over time rather than just the daily ration. If the cat needs to lose or gain weight, there is food tuned to that in our overweight collection and underweight collection.
Kitten food and the transition to adult food
A kitten grows quickly and needs a food with a higher energy and protein content than an adult cat. Kitten food is composed precisely for that growth phase, and therefore a kitten should stay on kitten food until it is close to being fully grown, rather than switching too early.
When a cat is fully grown depends partly on the breed. Many cats are close to adult size around one year of age, while large breeds may take longer to become fully grown. We have elaborated on this in the article when is a cat fully grown, which is a good place to read up when you are considering changing food.
When you switch from kitten to adult food, it is a good idea to do so gradually over about a week by mixing the new food into the old in increasing amounts. This gives the stomach time to get used to the new food. For the little one you will find the food in kitten, and if you want to try before committing to a large bag, there are combined solutions such as the kitten love package.
Changing food without straining the stomach
Cats can react to a sudden food change with loose stools or reduced appetite, no matter how good the new food is. Therefore, the principle is the same whether you are changing brand or life stage: switch slowly. Mix a small portion of new food into the old, and increase the share of new over about a week, until you are completely on the new one.
If your cat already has a known sensitive stomach, it makes sense to choose a food composed with that in mind. Our sensitive stomach is put together for exactly those cats whose digestion requires extra consideration. If the cat has instead had an acute upset stomach, tummy rescue may be relevant to know about.
If you are unsure whether a new food will suit your cat's taste, sample sizes are a cheap way to test it without buying a large bag. This applies, for example, to JAGUAR SAMPLE, PANTHER SAMPLE and LITTLE LION SAMPLE.
Bag sizes and price of dry food
The price per kilo typically becomes lower the larger the bag you buy, and if you have several cats or a large cat, it can be an advantage to go for the larger units rather than buying small again and again. Dry food keeps well when the bag is sealed tightly and stored dry, so a larger bag does not have to go to waste.
If you want to hit a reasonable price per kilo without compromising on the contents, you can compare the sizes directly on the individual foods. The Jaguar, the Panther and the little lion come in several bag sizes, so you can choose the one that suits how many cats you are feeding and how quickly a bag gets used up.
