Wet Cat Food

Wet cat food sits at roughly 75-80% moisture, against about 10% in kibble, and that is the main reason to feed it: cats evolved to take most of their water from prey and many are poor drinkers, so a wet meal a day does more for hydration than a second water bowl will.

Texture decides whether the bowl gets emptied. Gravy suits cats that lick rather than chew and leave the chunks behind; jelly is lighter and often the one a fussy cat will accept in warm weather; loaf and pate are easiest for kittens, seniors and any cat with sore teeth; and mousse is the smoothest of the lot, useful for tempting a cat back on to its food. Cats form texture preferences early and narrowly, so rotating between two or three formats while a cat is young is worth more than finding the single one it likes today. Pouches portion themselves and are the tidier option for a single cat; cans and trays work out cheaper per serve in a multi-cat house, and an opened can keeps in the fridge for about two days.

Shop Wet Cat Food by Brand

• Royal Canin
• Inaba
• Ciao
• Applaws
• Feline Natural
• Absolute Holistic

Shop Wet Cat Food by Type

• Pate cat food
• Kitten wet food
• Freeze dried cat food

Shop Royal Canin Wet Cat Food

Royal Canin runs the same recipe across gravy, jelly and loaf, which makes it a practical way to find the texture your cat will actually eat without changing the nutrition underneath.

• Royal Canin wet cat food — gravy, jelly and loaf pouches in 85g x 12 and 85g x 48, plus 195g mousse.
• Royal Canin Indoor — gravy and jelly pouches for indoor cats, alongside the dry bags.
• Royal Canin Hairball Care — pouches for long-haired and heavy-shedding cats that groom a lot.

Shop Hill's Science Diet Wet Cat Food

Hill's Science Diet runs its wet cat food in pouches and cans, using the same needs-based split as its dry range, so a cat already eating Hill's kibble can stay on the brand when you add wet.

• Hill's Science Diet wet cat food — pouches and cans across adult, Adult 7+ and Perfect Weight recipes.
• Hill's Science Diet Hairball Control — the Hairball Control and Urinary Hairball Control pouches and cans, for cats that groom heavily.

More wet cat food ranges

Both of these run on limited ingredient lists, which matters if you are working out what a fussy or itchy cat reacts to.

• Applaws cat food — natural limited-ingredient pouches and tins. Note the Natural range is a complementary food, so it is fed alongside a complete diet, not as the whole diet.
• Pure Life cat food — 80g x 12 pate multipacks, including a three-recipe variety pack.