A Pet Parent’s Guide to Choosing the Right Pet Food

Most of us who have pets consider them part of the family. We all want our pets to live the longest, healthiest, and happiest lives they can. We mostly treat pets like family out of a need for companionship and an innate fondness for animals that most pet parents share. This love may be in addition to our regular human family or a substitute for the empty-nester or younger generation who either aren’t having children or aren’t yet ready to make that commitment. No matter what the reason, pets are part of our families now more than ever.

Over the past few decades, as pets have moved from living outside to sharing our homes to sharing our beds in some cases, we want to care for them as we would a human member of our family. This includes the food we feed them.

It is no secret that the pet food industry in the U.S. is large and continues to grow. In fact, a little over half of U.S. households have at least one dog and almost 40% have a cat. That adds up to a very large consumer market for pet food companies.

Traditionally, pet diet categories have been dry kibble and wet canned food but other formats are also becoming more popular.  Pet food is unique among manufactured foods in that almost all types of pet food are formulated to provide all the daily macronutrients (protein, fat, fiber, carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) to meet nutritional needs and keep a pet healthy when fed only one specific diet over long periods of time.

Look Beyond the Label Claims

Historically, some ingredients used in pet food may not otherwise be used in the human food supply chain. This includes organ meats, livestock parts, as well as ingredients from the grain industry that would otherwise go to waste. The pet food industry keeps a significant share of livestock and crop agricultural products that otherwise aren’t used in human food out of our landfills, helping make the pet food industry part of a more sustainable supply chain than it would be without these ingredients.

Having said all of this, it is important for pet parents to remember that it is their choice to opt for a “human-grade” pet food or a “real meat” diet over more traditional dry or canned diets. However, as in any consumer category, marketing sometimes outpaces the truth.

Some brands or product formats may even use what we call "fear-based marketing,” which tries to make pet parents feel guilty if they aren’t feeding the advertised product. The truth is our pets’ nutritional needs do not come from product formats such as raw, gently cooked, freeze-dried, or air-dried. These nutritional needs are not driven by feeding human-grade meat, vegetable, or fruit products, either. The health needs of pets are met by sound nutrition and formulation, controlled manufacturing, a robust quality and food safety system, and transparency by the pet food manufacturer to pet parents and veterinarians.

Evaluate the Company Behind the Food

No matter what type of pet food format or brand a pet parent chooses, the most important thing they should do is research the pet food company. The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) has published guidelines for selecting a pet food written by veterinary nutritionists. Even though the details of these guidelines can be questioned, they do form the basis for pet parents to use to make food decisions for their furry friends.  

The first item WSAVA lists is whether the company employs a nutritionist. In addition, they state that consultants may have less influence than employees. As someone who has worked for one of the world's largest pet food manufacturers and as a consultant, I find this statement to have little to no validity. Whether a nutritionist or other expert is employed or consulting depends on the pet food company’s commitment to the expert’s work. Most veterinary nutritionists are trained to help diagnose and treat individual pets with nutrition and prescription diets. This is very different from formulating pet food for the general pet population.

WSAVA also states that board-certified veterinary nutritionists may be cross-trained in pet food formulation or work with experienced pet food formulators. That is an interesting statement to a pet food industry veteran. Why would an expert in formulating pet food need help? The take-home message here is that broad, sweeping statements from a small group of academicians who make general recommendations to pet parents may also need to be scrutinized a little more. Each pet food company is different and needs to be treated as such. General statements serve no real value to the pet parent.

 

Ask Better Questions Before Choosing

The real-world criteria pet parents should use when choosing a pet food is to contact the company they are interested in. Find out how they actually do their product formulations and who does them. It really doesn’t matter whether they are an employee or a consultant, but what matters is the experience of the formulation and nutrition team. Just as important is finding out whether the company routinely conducts product nutritional testing. If so, do they make that available to the public? Also, does the brand conduct feeding studies with its diets? Research like AAFCO feeding studies and digestibility studies shows that a pet food company is committed and invested in seeing how their diets really perform when fed to pets.

There is a saying in the pet food industry: If a pet food company isn’t doing research feeding studies with their products, then they are doing their research on their customers’ pets. There is some validity to this, as valuable information about how diets perform can be collected and shared with veterinarians and pet parents. WSAVA also states that pet parents should ask about a pet food company's quality and food safety plan and practices. We definitely agree with that statement.

Finally, pet parents should ask whether the pet food company offers science-based specific recommendations for a pet's nutritional or physiological needs on a special diet. Some companies may have internal resources, such as veterinarians, for this, but many pet food companies use external expert veterinary consultants who offer a broader view of the pet food industry as a whole and aren’t limited to recommendations from one company about what might be right for their pet. Expert consultants, such as those at BSM Partners, help more pet food companies than anyone in the industry with product formulation, research, manufacturing, quality, and food safety. They allow smaller companies to compete on the same level as large pet food companies in the race to earn pet parents’ trust and business.

Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter which diet format is chosen, as long as a pet parent does their homework on the company that makes it and isn’t confused by outrageous or fear-based marketing. Look for the right information, ask the right questions, and you’ll be equipped to make informed decisions for you and your furry friends.

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About the Author

Dr. Bradley Quest, DVM, is the Principal Veterinarian at BSM Partners. Dr. Quest is a leading innovator in the pet dental health products, having several decades of experience formulating in this category. He has practiced clinical veterinary medicine, developed and tested hundreds of pet food and health products, performs extensive animal health research, and helps navigate pet food ingredient approval for clients.