Cat food with no sugar
Cats are obligate carnivores with no biological need for sugar in their diet, and most complete cat foods contain very little of it as a result. Where added sugar does turn up, it's usually in wet food gravies, sauces, or treats rather than in a standard dry complete food — and checking the ingredients list is the way to be sure.
Why cats don't need sugar in their diet
As obligate carnivores, cats get their energy primarily from protein and fat rather than carbohydrate, and their bodies are not well adapted to processing large amounts of sugar. A well-formulated complete cat food reflects this and doesn't rely on sugar for palatability or energy the way some other pet foods might.
This doesn't mean every trace of natural sugar is absent — some ingredients naturally contain small amounts — but a food built around meat protein has little reason to include added sugar as an ingredient in its own right.
Where added sugar can turn up
Some wet cat food gravies, sauces and jellies include added sugar or syrup to improve texture, sweetness or palatability, and some cat treats are formulated with added sugar for the same reason. This is more of a consideration in these products than in a standard complete dry or wet food, and it's one reason it's worth reading the ingredients on a treat separately from the ingredients on your cat's main meals.
Look for terms like sugar, glucose syrup, dextrose or sucrose on the ingredients list if you're specifically trying to avoid it. These will be listed like any other ingredient, usually further down the list if present only in small amounts.
Reading the ingredients list properly
Ingredients on a cat food label are listed by weight, from most to least, so an ingredient near the top makes up more of the recipe than one near the bottom. A food built primarily around a named meat, with sugar absent or only appearing very low down the list, is generally the sign of a recipe not relying on it.
If you're checking a specific product and the ingredients list on the packaging isn't detailed enough to be sure, contacting the manufacturer directly is the most reliable way to confirm whether a food contains any added sugar. This is worth doing for a cat with diabetes or another condition where sugar intake genuinely matters, rather than relying on a front-of-pack claim alone.
Without it, and in stock
Everything below is in stock with us, priced with delivery worked out, and packed and posted by hand in the UK.
James Wellbeloved Grain Free Adult Dry Cat Food Turkey
A grain-free turkey dry food for adult cats, with potato rather than rice or wheat for carbohydrate
£24.65
James Wellbeloved Kitten Dry Cat Food Fish
Single-protein fish dry food for growing kittens, excluding common allergens
£21.79
James Wellbeloved Senior Dry Cat Food Turkey
A single-source turkey dry food for senior cats, formulated with added joint-care ingredients
From£21.79
James Wellbeloved Hairball Adult Dry Cat Food Turkey
Single-protein turkey dry food for cats, with natural fibres to reduce hairballs
£24.65
Purina One Kitten Chicken
Chicken kitten food with added DHA, and a feeding guide from 6 weeks to a year
From£6.65
Purina One Sensitive Cat Turkey
A complete dry food for cats with sensitive digestion, built around turkey
£19.29
One Purina One Light Cat Chicken
A weight-management dry cat food with chicken, 37% protein and reduced fat for cats watching their weight
From£6.65
Simpsons Cat 90 10 Meat Fish
A high-meat dry food for cats, built from 90% animal ingredients across five sources
From£16.45
Iams Senior Cat Advanced Nutrition Tuna
Dry senior cat food with glucosamine for joints and taurine for the heart
£12.49
Burgess Adult Cat Salmon
Complete salmon dry food for adult cats, with several bag sizes available
From£8.85
Go-cat Kitten Chicken, Turkey & Milk
Complete dry kitten food named for chicken, turkey and milk, each a small share of the recipe
£7.39
Go-Cat Go Cat Herring with Vegetables Dry Cat Food
A dry cat food where herring makes up 3.2% of the recipe, in fish-shaped kibbles
From£1.35
Common questions
- Does cat food normally contain sugar?
- Most complete cat foods contain very little, since cats have no biological need for it and a food built around meat protein has little reason to include it. Some wet food gravies, sauces and treats are more likely candidates than a standard dry or wet complete food.
- Is sugar actually harmful to cats?
- Cats aren't well adapted to processing sugar, and a diet with regular added sugar isn't considered good practice for the species, though an occasional small amount in a treat is unlikely to cause serious harm. It's simply not something their diet is built to need.
- What ingredient names should I look for to spot added sugar?
- Sugar, glucose syrup, dextrose and sucrose are the most common terms to check for on an ingredients list. They'll be listed like any other ingredient, in order of how much the recipe contains.
- Do cat treats usually contain more sugar than cat food?
- Some do, particularly softer, chewy treats designed to be highly palatable, so it's worth checking the ingredients on treats specifically if avoiding sugar matters to you, rather than assuming the same standard applies as to a complete food.
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Written by Matt Garnett, who runs Giddy Pets and is a lifelong pet owner — not a vet. This is general information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot replace an examination by the vet who knows your animal. How we write these guides.