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What to Look for in a Quality Pet Food

What to Look for in a Quality Pet Food

Choosing food for our dogs and cats can be a source of stress for some pet parents. With such a variety of options on the market today, it might seem easiest to just go with whatever your childhood pet ate, grab whatever strikes your eye at the grocery store or simply stay loyal to whatever your current pet has been eating for years now. According to one study, 95 percent of pet parents believe diet and nutrition is essential to their pet’s overall health and wellness (a good thing, since this is true!), yet more than half (56 percent) say finding healthy products for their pet is confusing, with another 47 percent reporting that finding healthy products for their pet is difficult.

When it comes to our pets’ food, there may be a better, healthier option out there—and these options are often available at reasonable price points. Knowing what to look for and how to compare can help you find a quality food that won’t break your budget. 

Switching your pet's food for the first time? Petco can help you find the right formula to slowly introduce to your dog or cat's routine.

What to consider when purchasing dog or cat food

There are a number of different things to consider when shopping for food for your dog, cat, or small pet. Some of the important ones include:

1. The complete nutritional makeup

A nutritious pet food is considered “complete” when it includes all of the necessary elements to keep our pets healthy, including essential vitamins, minerals, fats (and fatty acids), proteins (including amino acids), and a good combination of functioning fibers to help support metabolism and overall health. The complete nutritional makeup for dogs and cats differs. Keep in mind that dogs need 40 essential and nonessential nutrients in a complete diet. Cats, on the other hand, require 42. It’s important to note the differences between these types of nutrients when finding a complete meal for your pet.

  • Essential nutrients: Essential nutrients are those that are required by an animal that either the animal cannot produce at all or only in small amounts. For optimal health,  these essential nutrients must be part of your pet’s meal.
  • Nonessential nutrients: Still vital to your pet’s overall health, nonessential nutrients don’t necessarily need to be included in large amounts in food because a healthy pet can produce them on their own. Vitamin C is an example.

2. A balanced nutritional makeup

A nutritious pet food is one that is balanced in a way that assures certain nutrients don’t interfere with the absorption of other nutrients and that adequate quantities of each are provided. “The main priority when choosing food is finding one that maintains a balanced diet for your pet,” says Vetco Total Care regional medical director Dr. Shelly Ferris. A few things to consider when it comes to a balanced nutritional makeup include:

  • Macronutrients: These are the nutrients that your pet needs in their diet in large amounts. Macronutrients that should be included for optimal pet health include proteins (which provide energy and amino acids, including 10 that dogs cannot produce on their own and 11 that cats cannot produce on their own), fats, carbohydrates and water.
  • Micronutrients: These are the nutrients that your pet needs only in small quantities within their diet. Important micronutrients include vitamins and minerals that help support physiological functions.

The combination of both micronutrients and macronutrients is what makes a well-rounded, balanced diet.

3. Ingredients

According to a 2018 survey, 59 percent of veterinarians agree that pet parents should actively seek out foods without artificial flavors, artificial colors and artificial preservatives. When it comes to ingredients like preservatives, Dr. Ferris recommends that pet owners look for natural options rather than synthetic ones. “Natural preservatives such as vitamin C, vitamin E and oils of rosemary, clove or other spices, are better alternatives to chemical preservatives such as BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin, which are often added in dog foods,” says Dr. Ferris. 

4. Nutritional adequacy statements

Certain companies help pet parents pick healthier food options for their pets by offering statements right on the food labels to help describe what they’re buying. The Association of American Food Control Officials, for example, is one such agency. AAFCO outlines nutritional adequacy statements that should be included on pet food bags, making it easy to determine if a pet food was formulated to meet the specific nutritional needs of a dog or cat in varying life stages.

5. The right formula based on your pet’s needs

As things change throughout our pets’ lives, their particular nutritional needs change, too. When these changes occur—like when your dog ages out of the puppy stage or into the senior stage, if their activity level changes, if they have needs specific to their breed or other healthcare concerns—it’s important to consider how the nutrition they receive from their meals will help them maintain optimum health.

The form your pet's food takes will also effect the nutritional content of their meal. Take the following forms of dog food, for example:

  • Dry dog food: Comes in a variety of formulas, including grain-free, life stage, raw, weight management, breed-specific and more to meet your pet's specific needs. It is also easier to store, leaving less chance for a mess, and can be left out for hours with little risk of spoiling.
  • Wet dog food: Wet foods contain higher levels of moisture because of the nature of its processing, making it a great choice for pups who need more hydration in their diets. Wet dog food is available in a large variety of flavors to satisfy the pickiest eaters.
  • Raw dog food: Cooked at lower temperatures and quickly cooled to retain natural vitamins and nutrients. They contain high percentages of fresh meat, poultry or fish as well as vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables. Frozen or ready to serve, these healthy dog foods have fewer preservatives and must be kept frozen or refrigerated for freshness prior to serving to your pet.
  • Dehydrated dog food: This food is heat-processed to remove 98% of the moisture for preservation. Dehydrated raw kibble is available as meals and treats and can be added as a topper to other food for variety.
  • Freeze-dried raw dog food: Makes a raw food diet more approachable and available to pets since it does not need the refrigeration of a fully raw diet. Freeze-dried raw foods are processed through rapid freezing to remove 98% of the moisture for preservation and can be served as a full meal or meal topper.

6. Price

Although we’d love to say that our budgets are limitless when it comes to caring for our pets, most pet parents do need to consider price. Although the overall price of your pet’s food is a good place to start, it can be difficult to perform a direct comparison this way, since things like different densities and feed amounts across different brands and formulas can come into play. It’s also very hard to compare wet versus dry food options, because of the amount of the water in wet food compared to dry. Your best estimation will include factors like how much food of each type your dog needs to eat as well as how long a certain package of food will last based on how much your pet needs to eat per serving. Although feeding guidelines use ranges to get you in the ballpark when it comes to estimations like these, you can figure out more specific costs using simple math if you so desire. Take into account:

  • Your pet’s caloric needs: Every pet needs a certain amount of calories based on their specific needs, including their overall activity level and whether they need to gain or lose weight. Consult your veterinarian for more specific information about your pet’s caloric needs, or try this healthy weight calculator.
  • Measuring styles of brands: Every bag of pet food should have kcals per cup (in volume) listed, as well as kcals per kg (in weight). As a consumer, you can use this information to do some quick measuring of your own:
    • How many days will a bag of food last? If brand No. 1’s lamb formula comes in a 24-pound bag and contains 3520 kcals per kg (found on the bag) and 1600 kcals per lb, then 1600 kcals x 24-pound bag of food = 38,400 kcals per bag. If you know that your dog needs 800 kcals per day, then this bag of food should last approximately 48 days. Caveat: This comparison is useful in some cases, but food is all over the place when it comes to measuring calorie density by weight. So while this might be a decent comparison for dry kibble brand to dry kibble brand, a comparison between wet and fresh food and dry food wouldn’t work this way, since wet and/or fresh food would weigh more due to the water content.
    • How many cups to feed a day? One other way to figure out food costs is to determine how many cups of each food you would need to feed your pet in order for them to reach their caloric needs each day. Of course, you can look at the feeding instructions on the package, but you can get more specific if you want. While food is also shown in kcals per cup on a package, depending on the kibble size that takes up an actual cup, that would factor into the volume that determines how much you scoop for each serving. Smaller breed kibble, for example, may have a higher density since the kibble size is smaller and there is less open space between each piece. Using a similar system to that listed above for bags of food, you could run the same numbers for a lamb formula in a 24-pound bag that’s 345 kcals per cup (which you’ll find on the bag). If your dog still needs 800 kcals per day to maintain their optimal health and weight, then they would need to be fed 2.3 cups a day of this particular food.

Keeping our pets at their optimal health and weight is a lifelong pursuit for pet parents. Your veterinarian is an excellent source of information for questions regarding meal planning. When you’re ready to stock up on your pet’s favorite standby or try something new, you can shop for quality nutrition at a great price at Petco, either online or in store.

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