10 Best Cat Foods for Nursing Mother Cats in Canada – 2024 Reviews & Top Picks

A nursing mother cat needs all the energy and nutrition that she can get to nourish her kittens. A quality diet in the post-partum phase will help the mother cat maintain a good milk supply and have enough energy to keep up with her young ones. It will also ensure that her kittens get the best possible start in life.

The general consensus is that nursing mothers should be fed high-protein, high-calorie kitten food¹, but not all kitten foods are created equal. Many brands claim that they are good for nursing mothers, but how true that is will vary. Here, we examined many different foods to bring you reviews of the best cat foods for nursing mother cats in Canada.

A Quick Comparison of Our Winners (2024)

The 10 Best Cat Foods for Nursing Mother Cats in Canada

1. Royal Canin Mother & Baby Cat Food — Best Overall

Royal Canin Feline Health Mother & Baby Cat is the overall best cat food for nursing mother cats in Canada. It’s the only food designed specifically to meet the needs of nursing mothers, but it also meets the needs of weaning kittens. It’s soft textured for tiny kitten mouths to handle and contains a large volume of water to keep nursing cats hydrated. Many cats prefer wet food to dry, and it’s a great way to get water and nutrients into your nursing mom without having to feed her high volumes of food.

The downside of wet cat food is the cost. It’s more expensive than dry kibble, but it may be worth the extra expense while your cat is supporting her litter.

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2. Purina ONE Healthy Kitten Cat Food — Best Value

The best cat food for nursing mother cats in Canada for the money is Purina ONE Healthy Kitten. This food has slightly lower fat and protein content than most other kitten foods, but it is half the price and widely available. This makes it cost-effective and easy to get if your nursing mother cat eats more than you expected.

Since this is a low-calorie food, you may find that you have to feed your cat more of it. It also contains high quantities of chicken by-product meal, which some owners dislike being in their cat’s food. This is primarily an owner preference, though, as chicken by-products are a healthy, safe, nutritious protein source for cats.

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3. Hill’s Science Diet Kitten Food — Premium Choice

Hill’s Science Diet Kitten Food has high-quality ingredients. It is a nutrient-dense kibble, so it has more calories per cup than other foods but a lower overall protein content. It’s designed to provide as much energy as possible in a small amount of food but is still easily digested to avoid stomach upset.

The downside of Hill’s Science Diet food is that it’s hard to find. You’ll have to order online or visit a pet store to purchase it, as it’s typically not available in big box retail or grocery stores.

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4. IAMS Proactive Health Kitten Food

Iams Proactive Health Kitten Food is an affordable, quality food for nursing mother cats. Real chicken is a quality source of protein that keeps your cat in top condition, while omega fatty acids help support digestion, skin, and coat health. The Iams kibble is small, which is ideal if you also want to use this food for weaning kittens.

This food does contain corn filler products, which is a negative factor for some owners. While these filler ingredients don’t offer the same quality of nutrition as many other ingredients, they won’t harm your cat in the tiny amounts that they are present in this food.

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5. Purina PRO PLAN Kitten Food

Purina PRO PLAN Kitten Food is great for nursing mothers. This kibble has a high-calorie volume per cup, making it ideal for a nursing mother that needs to get as much nutrition as she can out of every bite. This food has a higher protein content than most kitten foods and contains probiotics to help with digestion. Cats that are normally picky eaters also tend to love it.

The only downside to Purina PRO PLAN food is the cost. It’s more expensive than most other brands, but it is easy to find and may well be worth the extra cost for its quality.

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6. Blue Buffalo Wilderness High Protein Kitten Food

Blue Buffalo Wilderness High Protein Kitten Food is packed with real meat and is grain free. It contains LifeSource bits that are exclusive to Blue Buffalo. These small pieces contain high levels of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to support a healthy immune system. All Blue food is free from any artificial ingredients, so you can feel good about what you’re feeding your cat.

The downside of Blue Buffalo Wilderness food is the cost. It’s fairly high priced compared to most other foods and even to Blue Buffalo’s other lines of cat foods. However, it is high protein, so your mother cat won’t need to eat much of it to feel full.

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7. Nutro Wholesome Essentials Kitten Dry Food

Nutro Wholesome Essentials is made with the same quality ingredients as premium brand cat foods but is available at a lower price. This company only uses non-GMO ingredients, which appeals to many owners, and it always uses real meat as the first ingredient.

Since Nutro food has a low caloric density, you may need to feed large quantities to your nursing mother. Unfortunately, this makes it less cost-effective. This food also has a different texture than many other brands, and not all cats like how hard it is to chew.

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8. Blue Buffalo Healthy Growth Natural Kitten Food

Blue Buffalo Healthy Growth Natural Kitten Food is a cheaper option of Blue Buffalo food if the Wilderness line isn’t an option for you. This food contains Blue’s exclusive LifeSource Bits that offer quality nutrition and immune support. It is guaranteed to never contain any by-products or artificial ingredients, and it has more than enough calorie and protein content to support nursing mothers.

The downside of Blue Buffalo Healthy Growth is that some cats don’t like the flavor. This may not be the best option if you have a particularly picky kitty on your hands.

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9. Wellness Complete Health Natural Kitten Food

Wellness Complete Health Natural Kitten Food is a grain-free kibble option for your nursing mother cat. It’s a nutritionally complete food made with non-GMO ingredients. It is a good choice for picky cats that turn up their noses at other foods.

This food is more expensive than many other brands, and it’s difficult to find. You’ll want to stock up on this food if you need to feed it to your nursing mom around the clock, as you won’t be able to just run to the store to get more.

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10. Lily & Jax Protein Rich Kitten Food

Lily & Jax is a Canadian premium cat food company. The ingredients in its food are locally sourced, and the company has exceptional quality-control measures in place. All Lily & Jax Protein Rich Kitty are designed to be nutritionally complete for all life stages. While this one is labeled as kitten food because of the higher protein content, it is appropriate to feed your cat at any age.

While this food has the highest protein content of any Lily & Jax food, it is still significantly lower in protein than many other brands of kitten food. This may result in your nursing mom eating a large amount of food to meet her nutritional needs. Many cats also turn up their nose at the flavor, with many customers saying that their cats don’t really enjoy the food.

Buyer’s Guide: Choosing the Best Cat Food for Nursing Mother Cats in Canada

There are a few things that you should take into consideration when choosing a food for a nursing mother cat:

Ingredients

Reading the label on a bag of food will tell you what ingredients are contained in the recipe. Competition between cat food brands is significant, as many brands claim that they offer the best nutrition, but you shouldn’t take these claims at face value.

While many cat foods follow trends, such as being grain-free or using non-GMO ingredients, this doesn’t mean they are the best foods. There isn’t enough science-backed evidence to show that there is a downside to feeding your cat food with grain, and GMO-based ingredients can still provide high-quality nutrition. It’s fine to follow your personal preferences when buying food; just know that the trendy option doesn’t always have the best nutrition.

Availability and Bag Size

Most of us have busy lives, and it’s not always convenient to order cat food exclusively online or visit a specialty store to purchase it. Some of the brands on this list are easy to find at the grocery store, while others are not. If you choose a brand that requires delivery, make sure you are stocked up ahead of time, as nursing mother cats can consume a large amount of food in a short period of time.

Most nursing mother cats can consume about two to three times the amount of food that they normally would when they are not pregnant or nursing. Large bags of cat food are usually more cost-effective than small bags, and canned food is more expensive than dry. If you are working with a budget, consider the availability of the food that you choose before making your decision.

Food Allergies, Sensitivities, and Special Needs

Some cats have genuine allergies and sensitivities to ingredients in certain food recipes. These must be considered when choosing a food. While chicken is the most common flavor of kitten food, there are many options in fish flavors if your cat can’t tolerate chicken.

If your mother cat has special health concerns that require a veterinary diet, it is best to speak to your vet about what to feed her during this time. They will be able to guide you on how to best meet your cat’s nutritional requirements while maintaining her health and that of her kittens.

Nutritional Requirements for Nursing Mother Cats

Nursing mothers use up a great deal of energy to produce milk and support their growing litter of kittens, so they need a large amount of food to replenish that energy. The larger a mom cat’s litter is, the more energy she expends and the more stress it places on her body. Nursing mother cats will not be able to sustain themselves on their regular maintenance diet, as it won’t provide the energy that they need.

Protein

While protein should be a key component in any cat’s diet, it’s even more important for nursing mothers. Proteins offer the building blocks to support your cat’s biological functions, so a high-protein diet will keep her body going and aid in milk production.

Whenever possible, choose high-quality animal protein over plant or by-product proteins, as they are more easily digested.

Fat

While most of us steer away from foods that are high in fat, fats are an essential source of energy for nursing mother cats. High fat levels ensure that there is readily available energy when her body needs it and that she can maintain an adequate milk supply for her kittens.

Calories

The more caloric density a food has, the better it is. Caloric density refers to the number of calories in a cup of food. Since nursing mothers need large amounts of calories in a day, the more there are in a cup of food, the less food that they will need to eat. Low-calorie foods don’t provide enough energy because cats often can’t physically consume enough pure volume to sustain themselves.

Antioxidants

Nursing cats need extra help maintaining their immune systems because their bodies are under extreme stress, and they are more prone to becoming sick. Antioxidants in cat food can help build up your cat’s immune system, which also helps the kittens’ immunity while they adjust to the world.

While many cat foods will simply say “antioxidants” on the label, ingredients like vitamin E and beta-carotene can also provide an immune system boost, along with real fruits and vegetables, like cranberries, kale, or blueberries.

Kitten Food for Nursing Cats

The high quantities of protein, fat, and calories required by nursing mother cats mean that most adult maintenance food won’t meet their needs. Kitten food is better able to meet the energy requirements of nursing mothers. It’s also typically fortified with extra fatty acids and nutrients needed to support growth and development, which can help promote milk production.

How Much Food Does a Nursing Mother Cat Need?

Cats are good at self-regulating their food intake. While many people feed their pets specific amounts at certain times, nursing mother cats should not have their intake restricted. They should be given constant access to food so they can meet their energy demands as necessary. Mother cats usually eat a few bites at a time but frequently throughout the day.

As kittens age and start to eat solid food, you may wish to remove their constant access to food. However, this is less important if you intend to feed your kittens the same food that their mom eats. Sometimes, kittens can benefit from exploring their mother’s food bowl at their own pace.

Reducing your mother cat’s food intake will also decrease her milk supply, so make sure the kittens are old enough to receive adequate nutrition from solid food before doing this.

Final Verdict

We recommend Royal Canin Feline Health Mother & Baby Cat as the best overall cat food for nursing mother cats in Canada. It provides complete nutrition and is the only food designed specifically to meet the needs of both mothers and babies. The best cat food for nursing mother cats for the money is Purina ONE Healthy Kitten. It provides mom with all the energy and nutrition that she needs, and it’s readily available and is about half the cost of other kitten food brands. Purina PRO PLAN Kitten Food has a high caloric density, so you won’t have to feed as much volume to provide your cat with all the nutrition that she needs.

Hopefully, these reviews of the best cat food for nursing mother cats in Canada have given you an idea of what to look for and helped you find the best food for your new mother and her kittens!

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Featured Photo Credit: Sarah Dietz, Pexels