Best High Fiber Cat Food for Constipation and Diarrhea – Reviews of the Top Wet and Dry Brands

Many cats on a commercial diet don’t get enough fiber…or, in some cases, the right kind of fiber.

Fiber is a bit of a messy subject and can be hard to understand.

But we’ve done the research and have put together a list of the best high fiber cat foods to help aid your cat if she’s constipated or suffering from diarrhea.

First, it’s important that you don’t just run out and buy any old cat food that is high in fiber, because:

• a) It might be the wrong type of fiber
• b) It might not be the fiber that’s the problem, but a low quality cat food

I know it’s easy to just skip to the review section, but I really urge you to read the following information before making a decision on which food is best for your kitty.

Our review process is unbiased and based on extensive research. If you buy through the links on our site, we may earn a commission.

Quick-Find Best High Fiber Cat Food Table

Why Feed A High Fiber Diet To Your Cat?

Most people looking to serve a high fiber cat food are doing it because their cat has some sort of gastrointestinal issue. Most commonly constipation or diarrhea.

Both issues may be solved with the addition of more fiber in the diet.

But it’s important to learn about the different kind of fibers, because if you choose a cat food with the wrong type, you may actually make the constipation or diarrhea worse!

The Different Types of Fiber

In our reviews below, we’ll mention what type of fiber is present in the food, and for which stomach issue it’s best suited.

Soluble Fiber

Soluble fiber dissolves in water and is more digestible. That means it helps food pass smoothly through the GI tract.

This type of fiber might be better suited to cats with diarrhea.

Some examples of soluble fiber are:

• Some legumes
• Oats
• Rye
• Barley
• Some fruits and vegetables
• Root tubers
• Root vegetables
• Psyllium husk
• Flaxseeds
• Nuts

Insoluble Fiber

Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water, and acts as a sort of lubricant in the gut.

This type of fiber might be better suited to cats with constipation.

Some examples of insoluble fiber are:

• Whole grain foods
• Wheat and corn bran
• Beans
• Peas
• Some nuts and seeds
• The skin of potatoes, lignans, green beans, cauliflower, zucchini, avocado, kiwi, and tomatoes

Warnings Before Feeding A High Fiber Food To Your Cat

Most cats don’t need a high fiber cat food.

If your cat’s stools are fairly small, and only happen 1-3 times per day, you probably don’t need to be searching for more fiber.

In fact, adding more fiber can actually be detrimental to your cat’s health.

You see, if you add too much fiber, it can actually disrupt the normal digestion process, and in some cases stop more important nutrients from being digested and absorbed in her belly…including the all-important protein.

Many people who think their cat needs a higher fiber food actually just need to pick a better cat food.

Take a look at your cat food ingredient list.

If meat is not the first ingredient, or if there’s a little meat, but lots of corn, oats, or other grains, the problems with your furry friend’s digestion are likely just caused by a poor quality cat food.

So, take a second to go look at the ingredient label.

Below, we talk about the ideal diet for an adult cat, so if you see that you’re feeding your cat a food that is full of poor quality ingredients, please, PLEASE take a look at our list of the top rated cat foods here. You want him not only to have a healthier gut, but also have a healthy weight and live a long time, right?

If budget is a concern, check out our list of the best cheap cat foods here, or if you just want to switch to a grain-free food, we provide the best here.

Another point to consider, is that before choosing a whole new food and potentially causing distress to your cat (most hate change!), you might try adding some additional fiber to her current food.

You can do this by adding a bit of ground up, leafy green veg, or by sprinkling psyllium husk fiber, or coconut fiber on her current food. Another option is pure pumpkin puree, which is actually sold as a cat-specific food by Nummy Tum-Tum here.

Dr. Karen Becker, who we greatly respect here at Catological, has this to say about fiber in pet food:

When pets consume unnecessary fillers, like wads of fiber, it inhibits digestion and absorption of many vital nutrients. A small amount of fiber is very important, but a diet loaded with fiber is very detrimental, unless, of course, you’re feeding a horse or cow. (source)

How We Chose The Best High Fiber Cat Foods

We have a huge database of over 2000+ cat foods. We rate foods based on a five point system, which we’ll talk about below.

We sorted them by fiber content to see what the best foods for cats were that had a high fiber rating.

Unfortunately, anything with over 8% fiber (on a guaranteed analysis basis) in it proved to be a very low quality food. Most of them were 1 or 2 stars out of 5 in our rating system.

As such, what you’ll find below in our ratings, are foods with between 5% and 8% fiber.

It’s still high, but we prioritized good quality cat foods over insanely high fiber content, because bad food will do much worse things to your cat than adding a couple extra grams of fiber.

The average amount of fiber in cat foods across the entire database is 2.3%. So, by showing those with 5-8%, we’re still giving suggestions with around double the amount you’d normally find.

What Cats Actually Want To Eat

Studies on both indoor, commercially-fed cats, and feral and stray cats show that cats will self-select food sources that result in a macronutrient profile in this range (dry-matter basis used):

• Protein: 52-63%
• Fat: 22-36%
• Carbohydrate: 2.8-12% (with “wild” cats on the very low end of this range)

What we believe this shows is that cats have evolved to thrive on a high protein, moderate fat, and low carb diet.

How We Rate Foods

Our database of cat foods contains over 2000 individual foods.

We collected all the relevant information on each product, including:

• AAFCO Rating
• Ingredient list
• Macronutrient profiles (Guaranteed Analysis, Dry-Matter Basis, and Caloric Basis)
• Price and price per pound
• Calories per 100 grams
• Whether meat is the first ingredient
• How each food compares to the average of all foods on a macronutrient basis
• Whether the recipe uses more than 4 controversial ingredients

Each of these data points works together to form a star rating on a 1-5 star scale (including half points).

1. If the food’s first ingredient is meat, it gets 1 point.
2. If the food does not use unnamed meat ingredients (“meat by-products”), it gets 1 point.
3. If the food has an above average protein level on a dry-matter basis, compared to all other foods in the database, it gets 1 point. If it has an average amount, it gets .5 points.
4. If the recipe contains fewer than 4 controversial ingredients (not necessarily bad ingredients), it gets 1 point. If it contains exactly 4 it gets .5 points.
5. The final available point is a discretionary point that we award based on things like carbohydrate content, inclusion of probiotics and vitamins, and other points, and is our judgement call on a food’s quality and biological appropriateness for your cat.

We think that this system provides a fair, transparent system by which we can compare all foods on an equal footing, and give you the easiest possible time when choosing the best of the best.

Reviews Of The Best High Fiber Cat Foods

Reviewing The Best Healthy High Fiber Wet and Freeze-Dried Cat Food

Reviewing The Top Rated High Fiber Dry Cat Food

What To Look Out For

We have already discussed the fact that adding more fiber to your pet’s diet is not necessarily the thing that is going to fix their gut issues.

The real problem may be in the actual food itself.

Often, it’s the fact that these foods are packed with the wrong types of fiber, which is inhibiting normal gut function, AND inhibiting good nutrients from being absorbed, like protein.

So again, before you distress her tummy with one of these hugely fiber filled foods, make sure you’re buying one that has a lot of meat and very few carbs.

It’s important to note again that most of the super high fiber foods are absolutely dreadful to feed to any animal, let alone your beloved cat.

Popular brands like Hill’s Science Diet, Purina, Royal Canin, and similar brands often have very high fiber options, but it’s at the expense of good quality ingredients. They’re often full of by-products, unnamed meat sources, and unhealthy grains like corn and wheat.

If fiber really is the culprit to your cat’s gastrointestinal disturbances, one of the foods above should serve you well!