Cat food without meat
Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning their bodies genuinely require nutrients that are naturally found in animal tissue — including taurine, an amino acid a cat cannot make in sufficient quantities itself — so a truly meat-free diet isn't something we'd recommend, and a genuinely meat-free cat food isn't part of the range we sell. If you're searching for this, it's worth checking whether what you actually mean is a specific meat you want to avoid, such as chicken, rather than meat entirely.
Why 'meat-free' and 'cat' don't really work together
Unlike dogs, which are more flexible omnivores, cats have evolved as strict carnivores with a metabolism built around animal-derived nutrients. Taurine is the clearest example — a deficiency can cause serious heart and eye problems in cats over time — and it's found reliably in animal tissue, not in plant ingredients, which is why any genuinely balanced cat food needs an animal-derived protein source, whether that's meat, fish or, in some newer formulations, insect protein.
Vegetarian or vegan cat foods do exist in some markets, generally fortified with synthetic taurine and other nutrients to attempt to meet a cat's needs artificially, but this remains a genuinely debated and, among most vets, not widely recommended approach — it isn't a product category we sell, and we'd encourage speaking to your vet before considering one if this is something you're set on.
What people usually actually mean by this search
Most owners searching for 'cat food without meat' are actually trying to avoid one specific ingredient — often chicken, sometimes beef or a red meat — rather than genuinely wanting a diet with no animal protein at all. If that's your situation, look for our chicken-free or specific-protein cat food guidance instead, since fish, duck and turkey-based recipes are readily available and still give a cat the animal-derived nutrients they need.
A smaller number of searches come from an interest in more novel or alternative protein sources, such as insect-based cat food, which is a genuinely emerging category built around animal-derived protein from insects rather than being meat-free in the plant-based sense. That's a different thing from a truly vegetarian diet, and not a category we carry at present either.
What we actually stock
Our cat food range is built around meat and fish proteins — chicken, salmon, tuna, duck and turkey among them — because that's what a cat genuinely needs to thrive. If you're trying to avoid a specific ingredient rather than meat as a whole, check the ingredients panel on individual products, since that's the reliable way to confirm what's actually in a given recipe.
If you have a specific reason for wanting to move your cat toward a plant-based or reduced-meat diet, that's a conversation to have with your vet first, given how directly a cat's health depends on getting these specific nutrients from their food.
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.
Applaws Natural Wet Cat Food Tuna Fillet with Prawn in Broth
Tuna fillet and prawn in broth, with two can sizes to choose from
From£16.69
Applaws Natural Wet Kitten Food, Tuna Fillet in Jelly — 24 x 70g Tins
Sold as a case: 24 x 70g tins. Tuna fillet wet food for kittens in jelly, fed as a complementary food up to 12 months
£33.39
Cookhouse Cat Fish Pate Terrine 6pk
A 6-pack of tuna pate pouches in jelly for adult cats, 11% protein, 71kcal/100g
£4.99
Cookhouse Cat Chicken & Liver Pate Terrine 6pk
A 6-pack of chicken and liver pate terrine pouches for adult cats, 100% complete
£4.99
Lily's Kitchen Shredded Fillets in Broth Tins Multipack 32pk
A 32-tin cat food multipack across four broth recipes, so fussy eaters get variety
£47.99
Harringtons Cat Fish Selection in Jelly 12pk
Twelve cat food fillets in jelly, marketed on fish but built mainly on chicken
£6.39
Lily's Kitchen Chicken Pate for Mature Cats — 19 x 85g Trays
Sold as a case: 19 x 85g trays. Complete 85G mature-cat chicken pâté with equal chicken and pork
£24.59
Applaws Natural Wet Cat Food, Senior Tuna Fillet with Salmon in Jelly — 24 x 70g Tins
Sold as a case: 24 x 70g tins. Tuna and salmon wet food for mature and senior cats aged 7 and over, in cans
£33.39
Applaws Natural Wet Cat Food, Senior Chicken Breast in Jelly — 24 x 70g Tins
Sold as a case: 24 x 70g tins. A chicken and liver recipe in jelly, formulated by Applaws for senior cats
£33.39
Cookhouse Cat Tuna Pate Terrine — 18 x 70g Pouches
Sold as a case: 18 x 70g pouches. A 70g tuna pate pouch at 51% tuna, for adult cats fed several small meals a day
£16.09
James Wellbeloved Grain Free Senior Wet Cat Food Turkey in Gravy Pouch 12 Pack
Grain-free turkey pouches in gravy for senior cats, though the printed analysis looks inconsistent
£14.55
Sheba Fillets with Chicken and Tuna in Gravy — 32 x 60g Trays
Sold as a case: 32 x 60g trays. A dome-shaped chicken and tuna topper for adult cats, fed alongside a reduced main meal
£38.09
Common questions
- Can cats be vegetarian or vegan?
- It's not something vets widely recommend. Cats are obligate carnivores and need nutrients like taurine that are naturally found in animal tissue; a vegetarian or vegan diet would need careful synthetic fortification to even attempt to meet those needs, and most vets consider it a risky approach rather than a straightforward one.
- What happens if a cat doesn't get enough taurine?
- A taurine deficiency can lead to serious health problems over time, including heart disease and eye problems. It's one of the clearest reasons cats need a diet built around animal-derived protein rather than a plant-based one.
- Is insect-based cat food meat-free?
- Not in the sense of being plant-based — insect protein is still an animal-derived protein source, just a novel one rather than a traditional meat or fish. It's a different category from a genuinely vegetarian or vegan cat food.
- I want to avoid chicken, not all meat — what should I look for?
- Look for cat food built around a different named protein, such as salmon, tuna, duck or turkey, and check the full ingredients list rather than just the product name, since chicken can sometimes appear as a minor ingredient even in a differently named product.
Related
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.