Feeding Your Pet: Portions, Labels and Condition

Pet food is a large and heavily marketed industry, and the packaging is designed to appeal to owners rather than to inform them.

Meanwhile the practical questions — how much, how often, and is my animal the right size — are ones most owners answer by guesswork.

Here is a straightforward guide. Anything specific to your animal's health should go to your vet.

Complete and complementary are different.

The most useful thing on any pet food label is whether it says complete or complementary.

A complete food contains everything the animal needs and can be fed as the sole diet. A complementary food does not, and is intended to be fed alongside something else. Many treats, toppers and some pouches fall into this category.

Feeding a complementary food as a complete diet over time produces nutritional deficiencies, and it is an easy mistake to make because the packaging looks similar.

Foods are also formulated for life stage — puppy or kitten, adult, senior — and these differ meaningfully in nutrient content rather than being marketing distinctions.

Ingredient lists are ordered by weight.

Ingredients appear in descending order of weight as included, which is why fresh meat can appear first while contributing less to the finished product than a dried ingredient further down, since fresh meat contains a great deal of water.

Terms such as meat and animal derivatives are legally defined but broad. Named ingredients tell you more than category terms.

The analytical constituents panel gives protein, fat, fibre and ash percentages. Comparing wet and dry foods directly using these figures is misleading because of the difference in moisture content.

Price does not perfectly track quality, and the most expensive food is not automatically the best choice for a particular animal.

Feeding guidelines are a starting point.

The quantities printed on packaging are averages based on weight, and individual requirements vary considerably with age, neutering status, activity level, breed and metabolism.

A neutered indoor cat needs substantially less than an entire outdoor one. A working dog needs more than a companion of the same weight.

Start at the guideline for your animal's ideal weight rather than its current weight, then adjust based on body condition over subsequent weeks.

Measure rather than estimate.

Scooping food by eye is the most common source of overfeeding, and studies of owners consistently find estimated portions vary enormously from intended ones.

Weighing food on kitchen scales is the accurate method. A measuring cup is better than a mug or a handful, but weight is more reliable than volume, particularly across different kibble shapes.

If several people in the household feed the animal, agree the amount and write it down, since double feeding is extremely common.

Judge condition by feel, not by looks.

Body condition scoring is the practical way to assess whether an animal is the right size, and vets use it in preference to weight alone because breed and frame vary so much.

Run your hands along the ribs. You should be able to feel them easily under a thin layer of covering, without pressing hard. Looking from above, there should be a visible waist behind the ribs. From the side, the abdomen should tuck up rather than running straight.

Coats disguise a great deal, particularly in long-haired and fluffy breeds, which is why feeling rather than looking matters.

Your vet or a veterinary nurse will happily assess condition and show you how, usually without charge, and many practices run free weight clinics.

Excess weight causes real problems.

Carrying too much weight is associated with joint disease, reduced mobility, diabetes in cats, breathing difficulty, and reduced life expectancy.

Changes should be gradual and supervised, particularly in cats, where rapid weight loss can cause serious liver problems. This is a conversation to have with a vet rather than something to attempt aggressively at home.

Increasing activity and using puzzle feeders and slow feeders helps, and treats need counting as part of the daily total rather than treated as extra.

Cats have particular needs.

Cats are obligate carnivores and have specific dietary requirements that differ fundamentally from dogs, including a need for taurine. Cat food is not interchangeable with dog food.

Cats also have a naturally low thirst drive, having evolved to obtain moisture from prey. Cats fed exclusively on dry food may take in less water than ideal, which is relevant to urinary tract health.

Including wet food, providing multiple water sources away from food bowls, and using a wide shallow bowl or a fountain all encourage drinking.

Change foods gradually.

Sudden dietary changes commonly cause diarrhoea and vomiting.

Transition over about a week, mixing increasing proportions of the new food with decreasing proportions of the old.

If a vet has prescribed a therapeutic diet for a specific condition, feed it as directed rather than supplementing it, since the whole point is the controlled composition.

Share your thoughts.

Do you weigh your pet's food, or judge it by eye?