The Animal Care Center - Diet Information

There are three levels of nutrition generally available for cats and dogs. Two of these are acceptable; the other is not.

Generic and Store Brand Diets

These are the Safeway and similar grocery and pet store brands, as well as other generics like Kirkland by Costco and Wal Mart's in-house brand.

In independent studies undertaken several years ago, it was found that up to 85% of these diets do not deliver good nutrition. The quality of ingredients is often so poor that malnutrition is caused by the diet. Although they may meet the chemical ingredients for nutritional labeling and the label looks like the others, many of the cheaper grains used for carbohydrate and protein are poorly absorbed. They also actively bind trace minerals and vitamins, preventing their absorption.

These diets typically are about 50% digestible. This means that half of what you buy ends up in the pooper scooper.

We do not recommend these diets under any circumstances.

Nationally Advertised Brand Names

Stepping up to these diets does bring your pet to a higher plane of nutrition. In this category you will fine names such as Waynes, Gaines, Alpo, Purina, NutroMax, Nature's Recipe, Friskies, and most of the diets found in the grocery and pet stores. These diets are typically 60-75% digestible, leaving only 25-40% on the ground for the poop patrol. These companies do have a vested interest in maintaining an adequate plane of nutrition for your pet. Even though they may cost a bit more, they generally represent a better buy than the generics.

A warning: The FDA lets dog and cat food manufacturers to vary ingredients by as much as 25% from what the label says. What you see is not always what you get -- even with the national brand names.

The law requires that the label and ingredients must agree once every six months. The other 363 days of the year the label can vary at least 25% from the ingredients. What you see and what you get are not the same. The bottom line is that these brand name products do maintain good nutrition, but comparing labels becomes almost meaningless. When you are in a pet store and the employee starts comparing labels, your job is to realize that such comparisons are often not valid. Please note that the store employees are not lying to you; they just don't know what you now do.

Super Premium Diets

Diets in this category are 75-85% digestible. This means a lot less poop to scoop. It also means that there is a lot more value in the bag.

There are seven diet brands that fall into this category: Science Diet/Hills, Purina Pro Plan, Iams, Eukanuba, Waltham, and Innova.
In addition to being much more digestible, these diets are committed to less than 2% variation from that the label says. Within this small group of diets, what you see is what you get. This is very important for that small number of dogs and cats that respond to diet changes with vomiting or diarrhea. Only within this small group of diets are label comparisons valid.

The previously mentioned studies also looked at the cost of feeding. In those studies, the cost of feeding was within pennies per day at all three levels of nutrition. The higher digestibility of the better quality diets made up for the difference in cost. Your pet will eat less but achieve the same or better level of nutrition with higher quality diets. The $35 bag of food really is worth 4 of the $10 bags!

Ultimately, you are the one who will choose what your pet eats.
Just remember: Don't pay premium prices for non-premium diets!