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Pet food
Introduction
We analysed the energy content and cost per year of 50 dog foods and 38 cat foods.
Discolure of energy content is soon set to be mandatory on all pet-food labels. But in the meantime - because this important information is missing from some brands - we contacted manufacturers and distributors to find out the energy content of their products.
Update: we've now included a Pet food FAQs section, with answers from pet-food experts.
About our survey
It's difficult to compare pet food prices because there's no requirement to list the energy content on the packaging, and so many brands don't bother. But it’s the energy content that determines how much to feed your pet, which makes it a vital clue in calculating value for money.
The good news is that this is changing. In 2005 the American College of Veterinary Nutrition put forward an amendment to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) to make energy content mandatory on pet-food labels. Progress has been slow but the amendment has been accepted (although not formally announced). There’ll be a transition period for manufacturers to comply.
But in the meantime – because this important information is missing from some brands – we contacted manufacturers and distributors to find out the energy content of their products. Disappointingly, Progressive Enterprises was unable to give us information for its Signature Range and Home Brand pet foods: this isn’t good enough.
Energy content
Energy content refers to the number of kilocalories in a given amount of food. It determines how much food should be eaten each day: as the energy content of a food increases, the total volume of food eaten should decrease. So a pet food’s energy content must be known before you can work out how much to feed your pet.
Feeding trials are the most reliable way of determining the energy content of a pet food. Foods that have been tested in feeding trials developed by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) can make a claim on their labelling along these lines: "Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that Product X provides complete and balanced nutrition for all life stages."
Energy content can also be calculated from analyses of carbohydrate, protein and fat content. These analyses are useful – but because they’re based on a chemical or computer analysis they don’t provide the same accuracy.
If foods are meeting AAFCO nutrient requirements, they’ll carry a statement something like: "This formula meets the nutritional levels established by AAFCO."
Wet versus dry
Wet food is considerably more expensive than dry food. Dry food has a higher energy content than wet – so your pet doesn’t need to eat as much of it.
Dog food
Depending on the brand, a 20kg dog needs between 175g to 230g of dry food a day. Purina Dog Chow, Pams Chase Dog Biscuits and Budget Dog Biscuits were the cheapest in our survey – they cost around $200 a year.
With some brands of wet food (Budget, Fido, Gourmet and Pams) you’ll need to feed your dog around 1kg per day to get the same energy content. And there’s a huge range in prices: using My Dog will set you back $2480 a year compared with Fido at $800 a year.
Lavishing small tins or pouches on your pet will hit your wallet hard – and nutritionally there’s nothing special about these products. Feeding your pooch Gourmet Classic meals or Purina Beneful Prepared Meals will cost you more than $4000 a year.
Dog roll is cheaper than tinned wet food. Feeding your dog Bruno (the cheapest dog roll in our survey) only costs around $340 per year.
Cat food
It's a similar story for cats. Budget (the cheapest supermarket wet food for cats) will cost you around $200 a year. But Budget cat biscuits will cost only $65 a year. See Cat food compared for more information.
Tip: If you feed your pet solely on wet foods make sure you supplement these with a bone, rawhide chew or chewable toy several times a week for dental health. Bones should be big enough to be chewed on but not swallowed. Never feed your pet cooked bones.
Premium brands
Although some premium brands sell a limited range of wet food, their main focus is on dry foods. These are sold mostly through vet clinics, pet shops and online (although supermarkets also stock some premium brands). They usually have a higher energy content than standard dry food, so you’ll need to feed your pet less per meal.
Supermarket cheaper?
In most cases it still works out cheaper to buy your pet food at the supermarket. Optimum Adult Biscuits (the most expensive supermarket dry food for cats) was cheaper than all the vet and pet shop premium products, with the exception of Diamond Naturals Active Cat. Feeding your moggy on Optimum will cost $243 a year compared with most premium brands (these cost between $260 and $396 a year). Diamond Naturals Active Cat will cost you $189 a year.
Most supermarket dry foods for dogs are cheaper than premium products – but the Diamond Naturals and Advance products we surveyed were cheaper than some of the more expensive supermarket brands. Most premium products come in larger pack sizes and this can reduce the cost per year.
So why buy a premium brand? Their manufacturers claim that a key difference between premium and standard pet food is the ingredients. They say premium brands are more likely to use “real” muscle meat as their main ingredient. Supermarket brands may use less muscle meat and make up the difference with meat by-products such as organs, blood and bones – although there’s no problem with this because meat by-products are nutritious too. Other cheaper brands may have cereal rather than meat or meat by-products as their main ingredient.
Labelling problems
The problem is that working out the main ingredients isn’t straightforward. Ingredients are listed by weight and in descending order. So if chicken is listed as the first ingredient, it’ll be the single largest ingredient. However, many ingredients lists itemise the individual cereals used in the product (this is called ingredient splitting). So it can look like meat is the biggest ingredient when it isn’t.
Some brands also claim their products have higher protein digestibility or protein biological value – this means they can be used by the body more easily and can lead to a reduction in faecal volume.
As a rule, a high-quality diet will have high protein digestibility. However, Nick Cave, Senior Lecturer at Massey University's Institute of Veterinary Science, says it's almost impossible to predict the digestibility of the protein content of a diet from the ingredients list. "Dietary fibre can interfere with protein digestibility and the ingredient list usually doesn’t tell you how much protein is contributed by each ingredient."
What's new?
Since we last looked at pet food in 2008, four new brands have entered the market: K9 Natural, Orijen, Taste of the Wild and ZiwiPeak. All four say their products are based on what an animal would hunt and eat in the wild - so they’re convenient for people who don’t want the hassle of handling and preparing raw meat.
These pet foods also say they contain no grains or other fillers - and they claim that grains have no place in a pet’s diet (K9 Natural says that grains are believed to be the leading cause of allergies). But Nick Cave disagrees: "the most common food allergens are commonly fed proteins and there’s no basis for the claim that grains are worse than meats." He points out the most important consideration when choosing a pet food is whether it’s been formulated to AAFCO standards to be "complete and balanced" (see Energy content).
Dog food compared
Guide to the table
- Dog food calculated on 737 kilocalories a day (20kg dog).
- Energy needs vary depending on your pet’s size, breed, age, activity level - and whether it's summer or winter.
- Pack size uses similar pack sizes where possible. Buying larger packs will reduce the cost per year.
- Energy content is the usable energy content claimed by the manufacturer.
- Amount per day is based on usable energy content.
- Cost per year is for listed pack sizes.
- Energy content on packaging "ns" = not specified by the manufacturer.
Cat food compared
Guide to the table
- Cat food calculated on 200 kilocalories a day (4kg cat).
- Energy needs vary depending on your pet’s size, breed, age, activity level - and whether it's summer or winter.
- Pack size uses similar pack sizes where possible. Buying larger packs will reduce the cost per year.
- Energy content is the usable energy content claimed by the manufacturer.
- Amount per day is based on usable energy content.
- Cost per year is for listed pack sizes.
- Energy content on packaging "ns" = not specified by the manufacturer.
Pet food FAQs
We've asked pet-food experts to answer Consumer members’ questions and share their advice on feeding your cat or dog. We also give you tips on how to tell if your pet is healthy and the right weight.
Should I spend extra money on “premium” specialist food?
Unless your pet has dietary problems, is struggling to maintain its body weight or is very active (such as a working dog), you probably don’t need to buy a premium pet food.
Premium products tend to have a higher protein and energy content (so you’ll feed your animal less). They’ve often been evaluated through multiple or continuous feeding trials and so it’s easier to see whether they offer a complete and balanced diet. The downsides are that they’re usually more expensive than supermarket products and it may be easy to overfeed your pet on these energy-dense foods.
Pet food labels – what should I look for?
The first thing to look for is whether the food has undergone Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) feeding trials to prove it provides a complete and balanced diet. If it hasn’t, at least look for a statement such as “formulated to meet or exceed the nutritional requirements established by AAFCO.”
Second, read the ingredients list. It gives information about what’s in a product: ingredients are listed in descending order, by weight. But be aware that many lists itemise the individual cereals used in the product (this is called ingredient splitting). So it can look like meat is the biggest ingredient when it isn’t.
Does the name of a product help me work out what’s in it?
A pet food can’t be labelled “beef” unless beef is the main ingredient and the product contains at least 25 percent beef. If beef isn’t the main ingredient but still makes up 25 percent, it can be labelled “beef dinner” or “beef casserole”. If a product has between 5 and 25 percent beef, it can be called “dog stew with beef”. But if it just says “beef flavour”, the product is unlikely to contain any beef.
Wet or dry?
Wet foods contain about 75 percent water so you’ll need to feed your pet more of it to get the same number of calories that dry food has – so it’s more expensive. One concern with a solely dry diet is that your pet (especially if it’s a cat) may not drink enough water to make up for the lack of water in its dry food – instead it’ll increase its urine concentration to conserve water. A New Zealand study is looking at whether this has any long-term detrimental effects.
How important are age-specific foods?
AAFCO recognises that animals go through two life stages. The first is growth. Kittens, puppies, and pregnant and lactating pets have extra nutrient needs and a special food is recommended. The second stage is simply “adulthood”, when pets need to maintain their “complete and balanced” nutrient intake. Don’t be seduced by claims about older pets. Check with your vet first, to see whether your older pet needs age-specific food.
What do “premium”, “super-premium”, “gourmet” and “natural" claims mean?
There’s no legal definition for these terms, so the product may be no better or different from other products on the shelf.
What’s the best way to keep my pet’s teeth healthy?
A soft-food diet has been linked to dental disease, which is common in cats and dogs. While daily brushing of your pet’s teeth is the most effective treatment, an easier way is to supplement your pet’s diet with a regular supply of bones. Bones require gnawing and chewing which scrapes their teeth and prevents the build-up of plaque.
Never give pets cooked bones: these can splinter and get stuck in the mouth or digestive system. Make sure bones are big enough to be chewed but not able to be swallowed. Chewable toys, rawhide chews and dry food also help.
Some dry foods have a proven effect on aiding dental health. But vague claims such as “for healthy teeth” are usually unsubstantiated. Ask your vet if a diet that makes a dental claim is backed by evidence.
Can I make my own food?
Home-prepared diets aren’t generally recommended for the regular feeding of your pet. The main concern is that they’re often nutritionally inadequate because of deficient recipes, owner ignorance, and the tendency for “recipe drift”. They are also complex and difficult to prepare – most properly formulated home-prepared diets have up to nine ingredients. If you want to feed your pet a home-prepared diet, ask your vet for a suitable recipe.
Some vets will prescribe a home-prepared diet if your pet has a nutritional need (such as restricting its fat intake) or chronic kidney disease. A home-prepared diet may also be prescribed in the short term for non-specific gastroenteritis or as a way of diagnosing food sensitivity.
Are raw food diets better?
A raw-food diet contains the meat, bone, organs and stomach content of an animal, plus green non-starchy vegetable matter. Advocates for it claim the jaw structure of cats and dogs is designed to tear, rip and swallow chunks of raw food, not crunch their way through dry food. They also claim cats and dogs are primarily carnivores and should be fed accordingly.
There are arguments for and against feeding a raw-food diet. One of the obvious benefits is that raw bones are good for pets’ dental health. The protein digestibility of raw-food diets is often claimed to be higher than cooked meat. But according to Nick Cave, Senior Lecturer at Massey University Institute of Veterinary Science, the digestibility of premium commercial diets is still very high and “digestibility” is no reason to abandon them.
Like any home-prepared diet, some raw-food diets may not be nutritionally adequate – so it’s important you get advice from your vet before going down this track.
Lyn Thomson, vet and owner of Raw Essentials (a company that sells raw food products), says if you’re preparing raw food at home be aware of food safety – clean all utensils and surfaces with warm soapy water and always wash your hands after handling raw meat.
How can I tell if my pet is healthy?
A healthy dog will be alert and responsive with good stamina, and will have a clean glossy coat and clear eyes. It’ll also have a cold and damp nose when it’s outside, and a dry and warm nose when inside. A healthy cat will be alert and responsive (yet calm and contented most of the time), have a good appetite, and have a clean glossy coat and clear eyes.
Your pet is a healthy weight if:
- You can easily feel its ribs (but you shouldn’t be able to see them through its coat).
- It has a tucked abdomen and no sagging stomach.
- You can see its waist from above. The torso should resemble an hourglass.
How can I tell if my pet is overweight?
Your pet may be overweight if:
- You have difficulty feeling its ribs.
- It has a sagging stomach and you can grab a handful of fat.
- It has a broad flat back and no visible waist.
- It’s reluctant to exercise or is breathless after exercise.
Podgy pets have a higher incidence of arthritis, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and skin disease. If you’re concerned about the health or weight of your pet, talk to your vet.
Report by Belinda Allan.