Does this scoring system apply to wet food or raw diets?
No - the methodology was built specifically for dry cat food and doesn't translate to wet, raw, freeze-dried, or semi-moist formats.
Cat Food Central currently covers dry cat food only. Wet food, raw diets, freeze-dried, and semi-moist products are not scored or listed.
Why dry food only?
The 9-rule methodology was built around the nutritional benchmarks and ingredient patterns specific to dry (kibble) cat food. Three key reasons it doesn't extend to other formats:
Wet food has a fundamentally different moisture baseline, which affects how protein and carbohydrate percentages are interpreted - even when converted to dry matter basis. The same thresholds that work for kibble would produce misleading scores for wet food.
Raw and freeze-dried foods have completely different ingredient profiles and processing methods. Applying the same rules would be like judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree.
The baselines - 50% dry matter protein, 5% dry matter carbohydrates - reflect what's realistic and achievable in dry cat food specifically. Applying them to wet or raw food would make almost everything score near-perfect, which wouldn't help anyone compare products.
Many cat nutrition experts recommend incorporating wet food into a cat's diet for added hydration. If you feed both wet and dry, use Cat Food Central to find the best dry food component - and talk to your vet about overall diet balance.
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Last updated Feb 15, 2026
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