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As they get older, our cat’s digestive system may become more sensitive, leading to stomach upset and other health issues. However, this problem isn’t limited to senior cats; adult cats of any age can develop food intolerance to many different foods or ingredients. In this guide, we share the 15 best foods for cats with sensitive stomachs.
What is Sensitive Stomach Cat Food?
There are many factors to think about when looking for the best cat food for pets with digestive issues. The first thing that cat owners need to think about is the type of food they need since each kind will have different pros and cons. For instance, wet food will be easier to digest compared to dry food.
However, it’s also vital that you look at the ingredient list to ensure that the food item doesn’t contain anything that your cat is sensitive or allergic to. Finally, it’s a good idea to consider how much activity your cat gets; older cats will be less active compared to younger kitties and will need a diet that consists of fewer calories. But if you have an adult cat that’s still very active, then it may need a balanced diet with higher protein content.
Benefits of Sensitive Stomach Cat Food
There are many benefits to switching over to cat food that’s meant for sensitive stomachs. Most importantly, it’s able to aid in healthy digestion; food items that contain probiotics or prebiotics can help to maintain the pH levels in a cat’s stomach. These will contain high quality ingredients that help to keep your cat’s skin and coat healthy.
The Best Food for Cats with Sensitive Stomachs
Here are our top picks for the 15 best foods for cats that may have food sensitivities while providing a balanced diet as well as the best value for your money.
1. Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Cat Food
Highlights:
- Uses chicken as its first ingredient along with other natural ingredients
- With added minerals, vitamins, and essential amino acid
- Gentle on your cat’s sensitive stomach and highly digestible
- Contains omega-6 fatty acids and vitamin E to support coat and skin health
Using Hill’s Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Cat Food, you can give your cat the best dry cat food that will support digestive health as well as the skin and fur. With added FOS, a prebiotic fiber, it works to provide a balance within the natural microbiome and encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria. This dry cat food provides easy digestion and allows your cat to process nutrients much quicker, leading to better stool pickup.
2. Purina Cat Chow Sensitive Stomach Gentle Dry Cat Food
Highlights:
- Dry kibble full of prebiotic fiber to support the digestive tract
- Made from sustainably sourced ingredients without artificial flavors or colors
- With 25 essential minerals and vitamins needed by adult cats
- Made with farm-raised turkey and other high-quality ingredients
Cats that suffer from allergic reactions to certain foods need different kinds of nutrients to thrive; Purina Cat Chow Gentle Dry Cat Food is made to support your cat’s sensitive skin and stomach. Packed with prebiotic fiber, it’s the best dry cat food to strengthen overall health, helping cats to stay nourished while omega-6 acids help to deliver a shiny coat. Using only responsibly sourced ingredients, it contains all of the vital vitamins and minerals cats need, plus it comes in a delicious turkey flavor that your cat is sure to love!
3. Blue Buffalo Tastefuls Sensitive Stomach Cat Food
Highlights:
- Uses real chicken to deliver the best dry food flavor
- Formulated with prebiotics to protect sensitive tummies
- Uses a blend of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to support the immune system
- Free from chicken by-products such as wheat, corn, preservatives, and artificial flavors
Specifically designed for cats with sensitive stomachs, the Blue Buffalo Tastefuls Sensitive Stomach Natural Adult Dry Cat Food is the best choice if you want real chicken flavor in your cat’s diet. With prebiotics to encourage improved digestion and a signature blend of vitamins and minerals to support the immune system, it’s among the best options to feed cats with stomach sensitivities. Free from bad things like corn, soy, wheat, artificial flavors, or preservatives, you can count on this balanced recipe to provide your cat’s nutritional needs.
4. Purina ONE +Plus Sensitive Skin & Stomach Cat Food
Highlights:
- Made with prebiotic fiber to combat skin problems and support a sensitive stomach
- Natural ingredients such as real turkey make it a good option for a high-protein diet
- Uses four sources of omega fatty acids and antioxidants for a robust immune system
- Manufactured inside Purina-owned facilities in the United States
Serve your cat the best food possible while being gentle on their tummy with the Purina ONE +Plus Sensitive Skin and Stomach Cat Food! With an easily digestible formula, it’s full of fibers, and omega fatty acids, and is also packed with 38 grams of protein for strong muscles during everyday adventures. With four sources of antioxidants, your cat will enjoy each bowlful of this delicious dry cat food kibble, and the added calcium will also help to develop strong teeth.
5. Iams Proactive Health Sensitive Digestion & Skin Cat Food
Highlights:
- With a unique blend of fibers, including beet pulp and prebiotics
- Has a combination of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids for healthy skin and coat
- Specially crafted for cats with sensitive skin, stomachs, and digestion
- Proudly made in the USA!
If your cat suffers from medical conditions such as sensitive skin and digestion difficulties, then it will benefit from IAMS PROACTIVE HEALTH Adult Sensitive Digestion & Skin, Dry Cat Food. This dry food with turkey has been formulated for cats; made without any soy or wheat, it contains limited ingredients and aids in nutrient absorption while supporting digestive health. Furthermore, both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids provide extra support while giving your cat a shiny coat and glowing skin!
6. Purina Pro Plan Adult Sensitive Skin & Stomach Cat Food
Highlights:
- With oatmeal and rice to provide gentle digestion and support an elimination diet
- Uses real lamb among its main ingredients for a high-protein diet
- Fortified with live probiotics to improve immune and digestive health
- Contains vitamin A and omega-6 fatty acids to nourish your cat’s coat and skin
With the Purina Pro Plan Brand Cat Food Sensitive Skin and Stomach Lamb and Rice Formula, you get great skin cat food that’s been made specially to help your little one thrive. With real lamb as its first ingredient, along with oatmeal and rice, your cat will enjoy each serving which contains probiotics, vitamin A, and fatty acids to support immune and digestive health. This 100% balanced meal for cats, it’s perfect for sensitive tummies while boosting the beauty of your pet’s skin and coat.
7. Halo Holistic Wild-Caught Whitefish Sensitive Stomach Cat Food
Highlights:
- Made with real salmon without any meat meals included
- Uses wholesome grains to provide a balance of fatty acids for a healthy coat and skin
- Contains no wheat, corn, soy, or artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives
- Made from high-quality ingredients cooked in the USA
Your cat deserves to eat the right food at all times, so give it some Halo Holistic Wild-caught Salmon and Whitefish Adult Dry Cat Food! Using real fish, this highly digestible meal helps with health problems through a holistic recipe that uses probiotics, postbiotics, and prebiotics to provide aid in every step of their digestion process. With added minerals, vitamins, and nutrients, it helps to give your adult cat the complete and wholesome nutrition it needs, making it the best option for healthy digestion.
8. Nutro Wholesome Essentials Sensitive Cat Food
Highlights:
- Uses real chicken as its first ingredient
- Contains no GMO ingredients, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives
- This stomach formula pet food has been designed for cats with digestion problems
- Free from food allergens such as wheat, soy protein, and corn
With Nutro’s Wholesome Essentials Sensitive Cat Chicken, Rice & Peas Recipe, your feline friend will be able to enjoy real chicken, antioxidants, and omega-6 fatty acids. When combined, this tasty treat helps with digestion and immunity, and provides a shiny coat and healthy skin; it’s also completely free from unwanted filler ingredients. Moreover, the ingredients used in this dry cat food have been sourced from trusted suppliers and farmers, so you can be sure that your cat is getting high-quality nutrition.
9. Purina Beyond White Meat Chicken & Egg Cat Food
Highlights:
- Uses white chicken meat without steroids as its first ingredient
- With few ingredients, it focuses on delivering natural probiotics for a healthy digestion
- A gluten-free option that provides balanced nutrition for your adult cat
- Made in Purina-owned facilities in the U.S.
When you want to deliver a big dose of animal protein into your cat’s diet, look for Purina Beyond Simply Grain Free White Meat Chicken & Egg Recipe Dry Cat Food. Designed by pet nutritionists, this high-protein recipe is packed with added minerals and vitamins for a balanced and complete meal while promoting weight loss. This grain-free cat food will make your cat’s meals even more special — use it as your cat’s meal or add it to her meals for an extra blast of flavor.
10. Hartz Delectables Bisque Lickable Cat Treat
Highlights:
- An easily digestible and yummy puree made from real chicken and tuna
- With added vitamins B and E to support the health of your senior cat
- Works as a great treat to reward your cat’s good behavior
- Contains small flakes that make it easily digestible for cats
The Hartz Delectables Bisque Lickable Cat Treat is approved by even the pickiest of eaters, making it the best wet cat food available! This deliciously unique cat food is a single-serve treat that has been formulated with prebiotics, potassium, B, and E vitamins to provide kidney and digestion support. Made specifically for aging cats of 15 years and older, you can make feeding time exciting again, and is a good choice if you’re looking to introduce your cat to new food.
11. Purina Friskies Farm Favorites With Chicken Dry Cat Food
Highlights:
- Contains human food such as carrots, spinach, and farm-raised chicken for a variety
- With antioxidants to support the immune system and fatty acids for healthy skin
- Offers a crunchy texture for chewing and balanced nutrition for your adult cat
- Made in the USA and contains no preservatives or artificial colors
Opening a box of Friskies Farm Favorites Chicken Dry Cat Food will provide your cat with a meal that’s straight out of the ranch, and will love the taste of farm-raised chicken! With a combination of spinach, carrot, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids, this meal helps to promote a healthy coat and skin while delivering all the essential nutrients your cat needs. Because it has no preservatives or artificial colors, it’s a natural treat for your cat and it will also enjoy the crunchy texture that will keep teeth clean.
12. Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Cat Food
Highlights:
- This recipe uses limited ingredients; just one protein and one vegetable
- Contains farm-raised rabbit, a protein that can be easily digestible
- With high levels of antioxidants and natural omegas for immune health and more
- Has no grain, dairy, corn, wheat, soy, sweet potatoes, or artificial colors and flavors
If you want to give your cat essential and simple nutrition, you can trust Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Cat Food. When your cat is sensitive to certain foods, it’s important to know exactly what you’re feeding them — this recipe uses a short list of ingredients on purpose. It aims to deliver raw food while using the finest ingredients; this grain-free food delivers nutrition in every piece to ensure that your cat thrives.
13. Royal Canin Feline Care Nutrition Digestive Care Dry Cat Food
Highlights:
- This dry cat food has been formulated for cats over 1 year of age with food sensitivities
- Helps to reduce stool amount and promotes better stool quality
- Uses ring-shaped kibble to encourage slower eating and a healthy digestion
- A great addition to your cat’s diet and can be used to complement their wet cat food
The Royal Canin Digestive Care Dry Cat Food has been specially formulated for diet trials and cats with sensitive stomachs. A sudden change in diet may cause allergic reactions to food, so use this dry cat food to switch your kittens over from Royal Canin wet food; these ring-shaped kibbles will help your feline friend slow down and chew more. These digestible proteins include a blend of dietary fibers and prebiotics to help maintain healthy digestion in your cat’s intestinal tract.
14. Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Dry Cat Food
Highlights:
- These grain-free, limited-ingredient kibbles feature premium-quality venison
- Packed with carbohydrates for easily-digestible energy along with omega-3 and 6
- With taurine, vitamins, and minerals to maintain a healthy heart and eyes
- Proudly packed in the USA without any artificial colors, flavors, or bleached ingredients
With the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Venison Grain-Free Dry Cat Food, your cat will have a delicious reason to look forward to with every meal. Made especially for cats with food sensitivities, this simple recipe contains very few ingredients but will still keep your cat satisfied. Its savory venison flavor is bursting with flavor while every bite is packed with all the essential nutrients your cat needs to thrive — plus, it doesn’t carry anything artificial, so it can help to prevent allergic reactions.
15. ORIJEN Six Fish Grain-Free Dry Cat Food
Highlights:
- Grain-free cat food that’s loaded with as much as 90% of animal ingredients
- Contains six ingredients to give your cat a variety of proteins, minerals, and vitamins
- With a freeze-dried coat of liver to deliver an extra punch of flavor
- Crafted to mimic the whole prey that cats and their ancestors would eat in the wild
Feed your furry friend the ORIJEN Six Fish Dry Cat Food and see how much they’ll love feeding time; featuring a biologically formulated recipe, it contains as many as 90% animal ingredients to nourish your kitty. Because cats are carnivores, they need a diet that’s full of protein; this protein-rich cat food contains six ingredients including whole herring, whole mackerel, whole hake, Acadian redfish, flounder, and monkfish. This dry cat food is suitable for cats of all life stages, so both young and old felines can enjoy every bite and get the nourishment they need.
FAQs
Below are some of the most asked questions when it comes to taking care of cats with sensitive stomachs.
What Causes Cats to Get a Sensitive Stomach?
There are various factors that could be the cause of your cat’s sensitive stomach or why it has symptoms related to an upset stomach. Here are a few common reasons behind them:
- Stress – Chronic or sudden stress may lead to stomach upset in cats. Stress can stem from moving houses, introducing new family members or pets, and suddenly changing their diet.
- Food allergies – Some of the most common food allergens include fish, chicken, beef, eggs, and dairy. These can affect the skin and stomach and can lead to diarrhea, itchy skin, and vomiting.
- Food intolerance – When your pet has an intolerance to certain foods, then its digestive system will have trouble breaking them down. If your cat food has too much fat or too little fiber, then it may lead to a strong reaction.
- Foreign objects – If your cat eats something that can’t be expelled through its digestive tract, then it may cause tummy issues such as vomiting.
- Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): Cats that have IBD won’t be able to absorb nutrients efficiently and won’t be able to move food well through the GI tract. They may need medication or a special diet to help with this condition.
Some of the more severe causes behind a sensitive stomach include bacterial infections, intestinal parasites, kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, and gastrointestinal cancers.
What Type of Food is Better for a Sensitive Stomach?
Sensitive stomach cat food can come in a wide variety. Wet food is known to have a higher moisture content and helps to keep your cat hydrated. It’s also a good addition to your pet’s existing diet since it can help them absorb plenty of nutrients.
Wet food is generally the best option for cats with sensitive stomachs but dry food can be a great choice too, provided that your kitty gets enough hydration. However, cats will prefer one option over the other — if you add a source of moisture (such as bone broth or water) to dry food, it will get a similar consistency to wet food.
How to Switch Your Cat Over to a New Diet?
If you need to switch your cat’s diet in order to achieve a healthy weight or as a result of expert advice, you will need to make the transition nice and slow. Making sudden changes to your cat’s diet will only upset their stomach further, and changing between different brands may also contribute to this. Be sure to look for foods that have high protein and are rich in moisture while avoiding irritating ingredients.
It will also help to look for options with plenty of fiber for healthy digestion. Foods with a high moisture content play a key role in helping your cat absorb as much of the nutrients as possible from the food it eats. Whether your cat prefers dry or wet cat food, you’ll be able to find the best option for sensitive stomachs in the list above.
Your Cat Deserves Only the Best!
As our cats age, their digestive systems may become less efficient with their jobs; as pet parents, it’s up to us to help them get as much as they can out of their meals. However, even younger cats can experience a sensitive stomach, and when that happens, switching them over to the right food will ensure that their tummies are back in order. The options above offer the best value in the market; no matter what kind of food your feline pal prefers, you’ll be able to give it a real treat that it will love!
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