10 Best Canned Dog Food in 2024

There are hundreds — if not thousands — of dog food brands on the market. Making the right choice for your dog can be a daunting one. Every dog has to eat, right? So how do you decide which dog food is right for yours? Suppose you are choosing a canned dog food brand for your dog. In that case, there are a lot of factors to consider: dietary needs, allergies, age, and even breed can come into play when choosing the best canned dog food for your canine.

Our Top Picks: Best Canned Dog Food

Choosing the best wet dog food isn’t an exact science and may take a few tries, especially if you have a picky pup. We have chosen the top 10 best canned food brands and why each selection is the top of its kind:

• Best Overall: Purina Pro Plan Savor Adult Classic Chicken & Rice Entree. This timeless formula has chicken as its main ingredient, and moreover includes 23 vitamins and minerals for complete nutrition.
• Best Organic: Evanger’s Organics Turkey with Potato & Carrots Dinner Grain-Free. Made from organic proteins and vegetables, this grain-free choice is free from fillers and preservatives.
• Best for Puppies: Forza10 Nutraceutic Legend Puppy Icelandic Salmon & Lamb Recipe Grain-Free. Perfectly formulated for puppies, this wet food features tasty Icelandic salmon and all the nutrients your puppy needs.
• Best for Seniors: Hill’s Science Diet Adult 7+ Senior Vitality Chicken & Vegetable Stew. Designed to promote vitality and mobility in dogs ages seven and older.
• Best for Weight Loss: Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight Hearty Vegetable & Chicken Stew. Get your pup in shape with extra walks and a lower calorie, lower fat diet.
• Best for Weight Gain: Merrick Backcountry Grain-Free Alpine Rabbit Stew. High energy breeds and underweight dogs do well on a food with tasty, fatty meats!
• Best Hypoallergenic: Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Sweet Potato & Venison Formula Grain-Free. Using a safer protein like venison makes this diet safe for dogs with allergies.
• Best for Sensitive Stomachs: Royal Canin Digestive Care. Scientifically-backed canned dog food for delicate GI tracts.
• Best for Coat and Skin Health: Nutro Ultra Grain-Free Trio Protein Chicken, Lamb & Salmon Pate with Superfoods. This succulent entree contains salmon, chia seeds, and tons of other superfood ingredients that give your pup a shiny, healthy coat.
• Best Exotic: Walk About Grain-Free Wild Kangaroo Recipe. We said exotic, didn’t we?! This unconventional canned dog food is- most importantly- full of omega-fatty acids and vitamins.

Purina Pro Plan is one of the top brands recommended by veterinarians for the simple fact that their diets are backed by science and decades of expertise. Each can of this best rated canned dog food includes high-quality ingredients, and as always, the top ingredient is real chicken. Most importantly, this delectable dog food has a minimum of 9.0% protein- appropriate for the average adult dog.

Each can of wet dog food is 437kcals. Most dogs need 20 to 30 calories of food per pound of body weight to maintain their weight. Therefore, if you have a 30-pound dog, they would need 600-900 calories per day. If your dog is more active, the higher end of the range would be ideal. Meanwhile, a more sedentary pup would require far fewer calories.

Even dog food brands are getting in on the organic trend! Our dogs deserve the very best. For some, that means switching to organic wet dog food. You cannot guarantee the quality of most dog food products, but with Evanger’s, you know exactly what is in the can. The top ingredients in this grain-free canned food are organic turkey, organic chicken, and organic potatoes. Sounds delicious!

This limited-ingredient organic diet is free from soy, corn, wheat, artificial ingredients, preservatives, and by-products. By definition, by-products are acceptable and appropriate to create balanced nutrition in dog food, but Evanger’s calls out the fact that theirs contains none. Each can of Evanger’s turkey dinner contains 8.0% minimum crude protein and a whopping 384kcals.

You don’t have to travel to the ends of the earth to find the best ingredients for your dog. Forza10, an Icelandic brand, has created delectably nutritious wet food your puppy will love. The diet consists of salmon and lamb proteins in a stew sauce along with “phytotherapeutic extracts of rose hips, linden flowers, and thyme for added developmental support.” In addition to several all-natural ingredients, this canned puppy food is also grain and soy-free. Each can includes 8.5% minimum crude protein and is 366kcals.

Geriatric dogs require different nutrients than puppies or adults. As a vet tech, I reccomend taking your older pup to the vet to have blood work performed before switching foods. If your dog has any issues with their liver, kidneys, heart, bladder, mobility, or they just aren’t as springy as they used to be, your vet can suggest and even prescribe diets for your elderly dog.

A great over the counter choice is Hill’s Science Diet for seniors. This is truly one of the best non-prescription canned dog foods for seniors because it contains easy-to-digest ingredients as well as proper nutrients and vitamins to promote mobility and activity. Each can of senior dog food contains 3.0% minimum crude protein and is 287kcal.

Your chonky buddy sure is cute, but it’s likely you don’t need a veterinarian to tell you that your dog is fat. Add some more walks and playtime to your dog’s routine and switch them to a weight management food they’ll enjoy eating. Hill’s Science Diet is a research-back formula that promotes healthy weight loss. This type of canned dog food is a great option for dogs who lead a more sedentary lifestyle and certainly for dogs who need to lose a little weight.

Hill’s claims that 70% of dogs lose weight within the first 10 weeks of being on the formula. Each can of wet dog food includes 4.0% minimum crude protein and is 247kcals.

Most dogs don’t need to gain weight, but some breeds are so active and athletic that it is hard for them to maintain a healthy weight. If you have a high-energy breed, you can either feed them burgers every day (no, don’t actually do this), or you can feed them a quality high-protein diet. Merrick Backcountry offers a tasty rabbit stew that also includes chicken and turkey and tons of vegetables.

Merrick recently updated its formula, so if you haven’t tried one of the best canned dog food brands on the market, you should. Each can of Merrick Backcountry Grain-Free Alpine Rabbit Stew contains 9.0% minimum crude protein and is 345kcals.

If your dog suffers from allergies, you know it can manifest in different ways: red itchy skin, hair loss, constant chewing/licking/scratching. Some pups are allergic to things in the environment, but some also suffer from food allergies. Imagine being a dog biting into a tasty bit of kibble, and then suddenly, your skin feels like it’s on fire. Diet trials are expensive, time-consuming, and don’t always end with a solution.

Common food allergens in dog food are:

• chicken/poultry
• lamb
• beef
• and eggs

Proteins cause 90% of food allergy reactions in dogs. Therefore, it’s best to choose a canned dog food containing a less-reactive protein and limit ingredients. Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets are great for dogs with food allergies and include all of the nutrients your pup needs. Each can contains a minimum of 6.0% crude protein and 376kcals for a 13-oz can.

Nothing is worse than the search to find the perfect diet for your sensitive pooch. An excellent place to start is with Royal Canin. Their Digestive Care blend will help maintain your fur baby’s gut flora and promote healthy digestion. Royal Canin Digestive Care has 7.1% minimum crude protein consisting of both chicken and pork. One can of tummy sensitive dog food is 354kcals.

Even your dog deserves soft skin and beautiful hair! However, with the wrong food, your pup’s coat can look dull, dry, and be brittle to the touch. Short- and long-hair breeds alike can be prone to a dull coat, but a delicious wet dog food containing omega-3 fatty acids can make them shiny from the inside out.

Firstly, Ingredients like salmon and safflower oil will promote healthy hair follicles and make your pup’s skin soft and healthy. The small trays of pate are a great kibble topper or solo meal. Furthermore, Nutro Ultra Grain-Free Trio Protein pate contains 8.0% minimum crude protein and is 171kcals per 3.5-oz tray.

Take a walk on the wild side with Walk About Grain-Free Wild Kangaroo Recipe. This top 10 best canned dog food will be a treat to your dog, especially if your pooch cannot handle other proteins. Kangaroo is a terrific alternative protein source and pairs with green beans and sweet potatoes for a completely nutritious Aussie feast. Since it contains no grains, it is highly digestible even for sensitive tummies. Each can contains 8.0% minimum crude protein and is 215kcals.

Before Switching to the Best Canned Dog Food

There are a number of factors to consider when selecting the best canned or best wet dog food for your canine. We broke the top 10 best canned foods into categories to help owners see that there are variables to take into account like age, overall health, level of activity, and sensitivities.

It’s best to consult with a veterinarian when making a diet switch to ensure that the transition goes smoothly. Whether you get the sign-off from your vet or not, the key to switching foods is to do it gradually.

If your dog rarely suffers from gastrointestinal issues, you should take no fewer than seven days to transition to the new food. Gradually combine your dog’s new canned food with their current food and slowly change the ratio over the course of a week. Doing this reduces the risk of tummy upset when switching foods.

If you are transitioning from dry to wet, this will be quite a treat for your pup! However, if you are going from one wet food to another, it is unnecessary to mix the two wet foods while transitioning.

If your dog is switching to a therapeutic diet prescribed by their veterinarian, you do not have to transition to the new food unless otherwise instructed. Dogs with sensitive stomachs should be given upwards of two weeks to transition to a new diet.

There is no one perfect food for each dog, but you can take our suggestions and try a new diet that will benefit your BFF!

Our Process

Compiling a best-of list can be challenging: deciding on criteria and rating metrics, weeding through hundreds of products, and then articulating the list from a place of knowledge and experience.

This reviewer has several years of veterinary experience and education and can speak intelligently on the topic of dog nutrition. Even so, we read hundreds of reviews (both positive and negative) from multiple sources in order to compare data and create our list of the top 10 best canned dog foods available for purchase.

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