Gluten free cat food
Gluten is a protein found specifically in wheat, barley and rye, not in grains generally, and genuine gluten sensitivity in cats is uncommon compared with suspected sensitivities to a specific protein like chicken or beef. There's no cat food industry standard for a 'gluten-free' label the way there is for human food, so what owners looking for this are usually after is a recipe that avoids wheat entirely — and a grain-free recipe does exactly that, since it contains no wheat, barley or rye at all.
Gluten specifically, versus grains generally
It's worth separating two different things that get run together. Gluten is one particular protein, found only in wheat, barley and rye. Grain-free goes further and excludes maize, rice and oats too, none of which contain gluten in the first place. So a recipe doesn't need to be labelled 'grain-free' to be free of gluten — a food using rice or maize as its starch source is already gluten-free even though it isn't grain-free.
For most cats this distinction doesn't matter much in practice, because true coeliac-type gluten intolerance is genuinely rare in cats, unlike in some dog breeds where it's a recognised issue. What's usually happening when an owner suspects a grain problem is a reaction to a specific protein in the food, which gluten and grains generally are not.
What we stock that fits
We carry grain-free recipes across both wet and dry cat food, including James Wellbeloved's Grain Free Adult Dry Cat Food Turkey and Burns Adult/Senior Cat Sensitive Grain Free Duck & Potato, both of which use potato as the starch source instead of any cereal grain — which means they're free of gluten as a straightforward consequence of being grain-free, not because they're marketed on the gluten point specifically.
If avoiding gluten specifically, rather than grains generally, is genuinely all you need, a recipe that uses rice or maize rather than wheat, barley or rye would also work and tends to cost less than a fully grain-free option — check the ingredients panel on the back rather than relying on front-of-pack claims either way.
When it's worth asking your vet instead of guessing
If your cat has ongoing digestive symptoms — vomiting, loose stools, poor coat condition — that you suspect are diet-related, working through ingredient exclusions on your own can take months and still miss the actual cause, which is as often a specific protein or an unrelated medical issue as it is anything to do with grain or gluten.
A vet can suggest a proper elimination approach, or rule out other causes first, which is a faster route to an answer than swapping bags of food repeatedly on a guess. Treat any change of diet as one part of a wider conversation with your vet rather than the whole answer.
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.
Whiskas 1+ Salmon Adult Dry Cat Food
Complete salmon dry food for adult cats in a practical 1.9KG bag
£12.39
Whiskas Kitten Chicken Dry Cat Food
Complete chicken dry food for kittens, available in several bag sizes
From£3.19
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
Whiskas 1+ Lamb Adult Dry Cat Food
Complete lamb dry food for adult cats in a practical 1.9KG bag
£12.39
Whiskas 7+ Chicken Adult Dry Cat Food
Complete chicken dry food for senior cats aged 7+ in an 800G bag
£6.09
Purina One Sensitive Cat Turkey
A complete dry food for cats with sensitive digestion, built around turkey
£19.29
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
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
Iams 7+ Senior Cat Advance Nutrition Chicken
Complete chicken dry food for senior cats aged 7+, in an 800G bag
£5.35
Go-cat Herring with Vegetables
Complete dry food for adult cats with real herring pieces pressed into fish-shaped kibble
£32.25
Common questions
- Is gluten bad for cats?
- Genuine gluten intolerance is uncommon in cats compared with dogs, where it's a recognised issue in some breeds. Most digestive problems attributed to grain or gluten in cats turn out to be a reaction to a specific protein instead, so it's worth discussing persistent symptoms with your vet rather than assuming gluten is the cause.
- Is grain-free the same as gluten-free for cats?
- Grain-free is broader — it excludes all cereal grains including some, like maize and rice, that never contained gluten in the first place. A grain-free food is automatically gluten-free, but a food doesn't need to be grain-free to be gluten-free; using rice or maize instead of wheat achieves the same thing.
- Why don't cat food brands label products 'gluten-free'?
- There's no standard gluten-free labelling scheme for pet food the way there is for food meant for people, and because true gluten sensitivity is uncommon in cats, brands tend to market around grain-free status instead, which covers the same ground and more.
- What should I do if I think my cat reacts to grain?
- Start by mentioning it to your vet rather than working through different bags of food alone — persistent digestive symptoms can have several causes, and a proper elimination approach or a check for other issues gets you a faster, more reliable answer than guessing.
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.