Bald spots, overlicking, and abnormal hair loss don’t need to be your cat’s norm. So many domestic cats struggle with these kinds of issues, but the truth is, they’re entirely treatable and preventable. Even if your cat doesn’t suffer from any of these issues, they can significantly benefit from eating a diet designed with their coat in mind. 

These kinds of diets improve your cat’s overall well-being by providing balance. If your feline does overgroom or shed more than the average amount, it’s time to look into a new diet.

Top Picks For Cat Food For Shedding Control

Excessive shedding can be indicative of a deeper problem in your cat. If they’re constantly shedding their fur, it’s time to take a look at which nutrients they’re deficient in.

By opting for a shedding control brand, you’ll be able to provide the ideal balance to reduce hair loss in your feline. For best results, choose a high-quality and reliable brand, such as one of the foods recommended below. 

Best Overall (Recommended)

Best Overall Runner Up

Best On A Budget

Best For Treats

Best For High Protein

Best Freezed Dried

What Is Cat Food For Shedding?

Cat food explicitly made for shedding will help your cat in reducing more than the natural process of hair loss. Most cats will shed twice per year when their undercoats start to come off to prepare for warmer weather. Most domestic cats experience small amounts of shedding year-round due to the artificial light they’re exposed to indoors. 

This natural way of removing dead hair should be in small amounts and shouldn’t be hair loss in clumps. For cats that are experiencing more dramatic hair loss throughout the year, dry cat food for shedding will supplement the nutrients needed for a healthy coat. 

Cat food for shedding control pays extra attention to the balance of amino acids and protein sources in the diet.

These vital vitamins and nutrients promote healthier skin which in turn improves the strength of the coat. If your cat food isn’t providing the right level of moisture content and care to your cat’s skin health, they’ll continue to scratch and lick. This will often cause more breaking of the hair. 

Types Of Cat Food For Shedding

Finding the right type of cat food for shedding is highly dependent on your cat’s preferences. Since all cat food varieties have different smells and textures, some cats are more drawn to one type over another. Before buying a shedding control diet, take note of the kinds of foods your cat opts for when you give them an option. 

By providing them with the type of food they prefer, you’ll have more luck transitioning them onto a new diet. 

Wet Food

Wet food options are ideal for older cats or those that won’t eat kibble. While these can be higher in fat and more expensive than dry food, they’re more palatable and easier to digest for many cats. Since these foods are soft, they’re also easier to eat for elderly cats who may have hair loss due to age. 

If you opt for wet food, pay close attention to serving size. Depending on the size of your cat, you may need to give more than one can per meal. This can cause you to go through wet cat food more quickly.

Dry Food

Processed kibble is usually easily consumed by most cats. This is by far the most popular type of shedding control food out there. As long as your cat is drawn to kibble and has no problem eating it before you transition to the new diet, this is a great option. 

Freeze-Dried Food

Many cats like freeze-dried food because it’s quite pungent in smell. However, this can also be the reason why many cat owners don’t like offering this type of food to their felines. The major downfall to freeze-dried food is that it may not work as well as the wet or dry foods on the market. 

This is an excellent option for supplementation or for treats but may not be ideal for the entirety of your cat’s diet. Make sure they include natural ingredients.  

Should You Buy Cat Food For Shedding Control?

Making the switch to a new cat food can feel stressful. You never know if it’ll improve their symptoms or make them worse. And while there are always downfalls to any food you’re giving your pet, there are also many benefits to consider. 

Pros:

Specialty formulas can greatly benefit your cat’s health due to their emphasis on balance. Since these kinds of recipes provide the proper levels of amino acids and proteins, your cat is likely to have an improvement in their overall health and wellness.  

Even if your cat doesn’t have abnormal shedding, it’s always beneficial to feed them a balanced diet that supports good healthy skin and coat health. This will reduce discomfort and reduce the odds that they’ll start overgrooming. 

Cons:

Many shedding control foods are dry in texture when compared to basic cat foods. This may lead your cat to eat less or avoid eating that specific diet. If you’re finding that the formula you purchase is dry, try adding some water to loosen it up. This can make it easier for your cat to digest. 

Some of the shedding control foods have also been reported to smell much worse than basic cat foods. This is mainly a con for pet parents as they will likely find the smell unpleasant. 

Whenever you’re purchasing a specialty food, keep in mind that it’s likely to be more expensive. This is primarily because it’s marketed as a unique formula. Whenever a diet strays from the basic, brands are able to up the price because consumers feel they have to buy the food to solve a problem in their pet. 

During your shopping, check the ingredients and nutrition facts of all of the foods you can find. Not all shedding control foods are created equally, and because of this, some may not be effective. 

Best Cat Food For Shedding Control 

Despite some cats shedding excessively, excessive shedding has been identified as a sign of allergies, stress, and poor diet.

Bring your cat to your veterinarian for a diagnosis if she sheds a lot. To control shedding, your veterinarian may recommend a change in diet.

A cat may also have a problem with hairballs. Furballs can obstruct the digestive tract causing fatal blockages.

Nature’s Variety Instinct Grain-Free Recipe

Designed to mimic your cat’s ancestral diet, Nature’s Variety Instinct is the perfect food for your feline. Contains plenty of protein and is grain- and gluten-free. In essence, it contains wholesome foods that cats naturally eat, like meat and healthy fibers, in nature.

Hill’s Science Diet Wet Cat Food, Adult

Designed for pets with kidney health issues, this cat food could be a great choice if your cat is suffering from urinary tract issues along with shedding. 

Senior cats require antioxidants and vitamin E to strengthen their immune systems and fight off infections. It also promotes healthy skin and hair due to its vitamin E content. 

The high-quality protein helps maintain your furry feline’s muscle mass. Hair coats of older cats often show signs of damage caused by a lack of protein and antioxidants. 

A can of this cat food contains 90 kcal, which is sufficient energy for a senior cat. Wet cat food is a great choice for adult cats as it has a compelling mix of nutrition, taste, and calories. 

Purina ONE Hairball Formula Adult Dry Cat Food

Salmon, tuna, chicken, and turkey are among the high-quality proteins found in Purina cat food. Unlike gravy, your cat will enjoy great taste without the side effects of artificial flavors.

Pet Naturals of Vermont – Hairball, Daily Digestive

Designed to support the health of the skin, coat, digestive system, and urinary tract, Pet Naturals Hairball provides a natural solution for hairball management. The veterinary-formulated Hairball formula is free of mineral oil and herbals, which help hydrate skin and promote gastrointestinal health.

Various fatty acids, zinc, and biotin are combined to help skin health, digestion, and hair shedding to help minimize the formation of hairballs.

Best Cat Food For Shedding Control 

Despite some cats shedding excessively, excessive shedding has been identified as a sign of allergies, stress, and poor diet.

Bring your cat to your veterinarian for a diagnosis if she sheds a lot. To control shedding, your veterinarian may recommend a change in diet.

A cat may also have a problem with hairballs. Furballs can obstruct the digestive tract causing fatal blockages.

Nature’s Variety Instinct Grain-Free Recipe

Designed to mimic your cat’s ancestral diet, Nature’s Variety Instinct is the perfect food for your feline. Contains plenty of protein and is grain- and gluten-free. In essence, it contains wholesome foods that cats naturally eat, like meat and healthy fibers, in nature.

Hill’s Science Diet Wet Cat Food, Adult

Designed for pets with kidney health issues, this cat food could be a great choice if your cat is suffering from urinary tract issues along with shedding. 

Senior cats require antioxidants and vitamin E to strengthen their immune systems and fight off infections. It also promotes healthy skin and hair due to its vitamin E content. 

The high-quality protein helps maintain your furry feline’s muscle mass. Hair coats of older cats often show signs of damage caused by a lack of protein and antioxidants. 

A can of this cat food contains 90 kcal, which is sufficient energy for a senior cat. Wet cat food is a great choice for adult cats as it has a compelling mix of nutrition, taste, and calories. 

Purina ONE Hairball Formula Adult Dry Cat Food

Salmon, tuna, chicken, and turkey are among the high-quality proteins found in Purina cat food. Unlike gravy, your cat will enjoy great taste without the side effects of artificial flavors.

Pet Naturals of Vermont – Hairball, Daily Digestive

Designed to support the health of the skin, coat, digestive system, and urinary tract, Pet Naturals Hairball provides a natural solution for hairball management. The veterinary-formulated Hairball formula is free of mineral oil and herbals, which help hydrate skin and promote gastrointestinal health.

Various fatty acids, zinc, and biotin are combined to help skin health, digestion, and hair shedding to help minimize the formation of hairballs.

Buying Guide For The Best Cat Food For Shedding Control

Check several different types of foods before making a purchase. Since there are so many different diet types out there, if you spring for the first one you find, you may not have as much success with controlling your cat’s shedding. 

Factors Causing Hair Loss Or Shedding 

Several factors can contribute to hair loss in your cat. Before making the switch to a new diet, ensure that the problem is indeed nutritional. Other factors that can impact hair loss include: 

• Parasites
• Hormonal imbalances
• Allergies
• Fleas
• Dry skin
• Poor grooming habits or overgrooming
• Pregnancy 

A good way to narrow down if one of these options may be impacting your cat is to bring them to a veterinarian. You can run some simple tests to determine if they have any external problems like fleas or dry skin. In this case, you’ll just need to give some medicine or topical creams to solve the problem. 

If you think your cat has an internal problem, it’s a good idea to give them a deworming pill to get rid of any potential parasites. This will be more common in outdoor cats since they more commonly eat animals that can have parasites, like rats.

Always be sure to observe your cat to ensure they have proper grooming habits. Pay attention to if they’re constantly grooming one spot or groom more than necessary. In this case, they likely have some kind of stress or psychological issue leading to overgrooming. Your veterinarian should handle this with medication.

If you’ve been able to rule out all of these other factors, your cat’s issues are likely stemming from a lack of proper nutrients. This can be due to an unbalanced diet, in which case changing the diet is necessary. 

Critical Nutrients

Assessing the nutrients in food is crucial before purchasing. If your cat is suffering from hair loss due to lack of nutrition, their food must have the proper amino acids and protein levels. These are the most important factors in your cat’s food, and without them, they won’t be able to maintain a healthy coat. 

Omega Fatty Acids

It is vital for the skin and coat of your cat to consume omega fatty acids. It is best to select a cat food that contains an ample supply of omega fatty acids. This essential nutrient should be listed on the label of the food.

Protein

Look for a shedding control food with protein above 30% per serving to ensure your feline is getting enough protein. Check the ingredients as well to ensure that the first ingredient is always high-quality animal protein. 

Allergens

Request an allergy test from your veterinarian before making any changes in your pet’s food. Allergies aren’t uncommon in pets and can impact them through hair loss, itchy skin, and digestive health troubles. You can avoid these kinds of problems by checking for allergies to grains and other common allergen. 

Fillers and Preservatives

Feeding diets with high quantities of fillers or preservatives may result in more hair loss. Check the ingredients in your cat’s food to make sure there aren’t any grain fillers like corn or wheat. 

If you’re buying wet food, check what kind of preservative is used to keep the meal fresh. It’s best to buy the most natural diet possible to reduce any incidences of shedding. 

Price

Finding food within your budget doesn’t need to be complicated. Depending on whether you’re opting for wet or dry food, you’ll find various price points available. When determining your budget, always consider how many servings are in each container of food. 

Many foods can seem more expensive but have many more servings per purchase than others. This makes the price more comparable and will be more convenient because you won’t have to shop as frequently. 

What Causes Cat Shedding?

If your cat’s constant shedding isn’t caused by a serious health condition, you’ll find that there are many common causes for shedding. 

Hormonal Imbalances

Cats who have an imbalance in their reproductive hormones can suffer from dermatitis (skin disease) and alopecia (hair loss). This is something your veterinarian will be able to diagnose. It can be resolved with reproductive hormone therapy.

Parasites

Cat parasites may be external or internal. Cats can also exhibit some of these parasites in their fecal matter or on the body. The parasites may even burrow into the skin or into the hair follicles. The presence of parasites can result in heavy shedding and poor coat quality.

Unbalanced Diet

Cats need a balanced diet to maintain healthy coats. A shiny coat relies on adequate nutrition, including essential vitamins and minerals. It is possible that cats will shed and lose hair constantly if their nutritional needs aren’t met. 

They need high-quality cat food specifically designed to promote a healthy coat.

Allergies

Some humans can suffer from cat allergies or allergies in general and cats are no different. There are many types of allergies and they could be as simple as a seasonal allergy or a food-borne allergy. 

Bald spots, rashes, and itches are common symptoms of both types of allergies. You need to make sure the cat food you give your feline won’t trigger allergies. By doing this, you can limit cat shedding.

Fleas

Infestations of fleas can cause chronic shedding in cats. Your kitty is scratching herself more than usual and could be losing hair as a consequence. Hair loss caused by fleas is especially noticeable on the hindquarters of cats. The flea itself does not cause shedding, but rather the saliva, which she would lick in order to get rid of fleas.

Dry Skin

Dry skin is further aggravated by saliva. Patchy flaky spots on the coat can indicate dry skin. Almost the same as human dandruff causes hair loss, your fur baby can experience similar results. There are some cat shampoos available that can help fight against dandruff and dry skin. 

Poor Grooming Habits

Shedding can result from both infrequent and excessive grooming. If your cat’s nutritional needs are not met, they will shed more triggering them to groom themselves. The condition of shedding cats will be exacerbated if this is done. 

Hair loss can also be caused by poor grooming and infrequent cleaning. Hair coats that are untidy are also prone to more skin infections and flea infestations.

Pregnant Or Lactating

It is possible for your cat to shed excessively during pregnancy and lactation. If you look closely, there may be bald spots on her belly where the kitten’s nurse. After the kittens have weaned, this shedding acceleration should cease.

Controlling A Cat’s Shedding

The amount your cat sheds is impossible to completely prevent, but you can have a great deal of control over excessive shedding. 

You should be able to see a significant reduction in your cat’s shedding when you combine these techniques with a good cat food shedding control. 

Bathing – If Possible

In some cases, your cat might not be resistant to getting a bath. Keep the coat clean and free of dead hair by giving her a thorough bath fortnightly. Your cat might throw a temper tantrum when she sees a bathroom, so use treats and go crazy with wet wipes to win her over. To moisturize her coat, you can use a leave-in conditioner.

Brushing, A Must Do

The dead undercoat that gets trapped in your cat’s fur can be removed by brushing the fur every day. As a result, there will be less constant shedding during the day. 

Combs with soft bristles are best for cats with short or medium coats. Wire-bristle brushes are ideal for cats with long hair. You can check out the best cat brush here.

Supplements

In order to ensure that she is receiving the proper nutrition, you can try cat supplements. In order to maintain healthy skin and a luscious coat, fatty acids are crucial. Hairballs can be reduced by cat supplements that can also control shedding fur.

How To Track Shedding Control Success

You must have a way to compare before and after to see if the shedding control food is working. If you don’t note exactly how much hair your cat is shedding before the transition, it’ll be challenging for you to identify if it was effective or not.

Set Baseline

You must set a clear baseline of shedding before making any transitions. Without this, you won’t distinctly be able to tell if your cat is shedding less with the new diet. This can be done in several ways. 

If you brush your cat frequently, you can note how much hair is coming off of your cat before the transition. You can do this by taking photos of the hair, measuring weight, or keeping it in a bag/jar to refer to later on. 

If you choose to take a photo, always remember to put the hair fall next to a ruler or specific item to have a scale reference. These before pictures or measurements will need to be referred back to later on so you can make sure the food you choose is doing what it’s meant to do. 

Track Hair Fall 

Always remember to transition your cat onto new food slowly. You’ll start with mostly giving their old food with just a small amount of the shedding control food. As you make the slow transition, continue to measure the amount of hair your cat is shedding every day. 

Track this in the same way you took your initial baseline measurement. This way, you’ll keep your method consistent, which provides the best results. Keep track of this every day or every week while you’re transitioning to new food. Continue to keep records after a month of feeding the shedding control food solely.

By keeping track for this length of time, you’ll best be able to see if there’s been any progress made with the new food. 

Consult Veterinarian 

Whenever you switch to a new food, you should consult with your veterinarian after a few weeks. This ensures that your cat receives all the necessary nutrients and doesn’t have any bad reactions. 

It’s imperative to consult an expert when you’re putting your cat on a specialty diet. Show your veterinarian the data you’ve tracked, and they’ll be able to determine if the food you’ve chosen is as effective as it should be. 

When consulting, be sure to inquire about any additional supplementation your cat needs to reduce shedding further. See if the veterinarian thinks your cat’s shedding could be even more controlled with a different food brand or formula. 

Last update on 2023-10-04 at 15:39 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API