Have you just brought your new pup home and trying to decide on what food to feed them? Or maybe you’re thinking about switching your furry feline onto a different diet? Then there are some things that you might want to consider. As there are so many different food types and brands to choose from, making the right choice can be a little overwhelming.

We’ve put together a list below of the top five things you as a pet parent might want to consider when deciding on the right food for your pet.

1. Species

First things first, and it may sound obvious, but you need to choose a food that is formulated for the animal you have, that being a cat or a dog. We all know that most dogs will eat just about anything they can get their chops on, but just because they will quite happily consume cat food, this doesn’t mean that it’s appropriate to feed them cat food, and vice versa.

Although much of the ingredients may look similar, cat food and dog food have rather different nutritional compositions, this is largely because cats and dogs have different nutritional needs. As obligate carnivores (rely on the nutrients in animal tissues to survive), cats have a higher dietary protein requirement than dogs and require higher levels of fat as well as the inclusion of the essential amino acid, taurine.

Read more on Cat Nutrition and Dog Nutrition.

2. Life Stage

Secondly, what stage of life is your pet in? A growing puppy or kitten has quite different nutritional requirements to that of their adult equivalents. And so, it is important to ensure that you feed them a food that has been formulated specifically for puppies or kittens, or alternatively, a food that has been formulated for ‘all life stages of cat or dog’, since they require higher levels of dietary protein and energy to support muscle development and growth.

On the other hand, if you have a senior dog or senior cat, although not essential, you can consider choosing a senior specific diet which has been formulated with your ageing pet in mind.
For example, senior diets are commonly formulated with easily digestible proteins to support a healthy weight and the maintenance of lean muscle mass. As well as this, senior diets may contain nutritional supplements that can be helpful for pets experiencing certain age-related conditions, such as arthritis.

3. Breed

You may think a dog is a dog, right? However, considering breed is especially important when picking out the right food for your puppy. Large or giant breed puppies have different nutritional requirements from medium (or regular) sized breed puppies, due to their rapidly growing bones. Small or toy breed puppy diets can also be balanced for slower growth.

Also, considering the breed of your dog will help you to choose a food that’s better suited to them in terms of the size and shape of the kibble. For example, small or toy breed dogs have much smaller mouths in comparison to medium or large breed dogs, and so choosing a food that has been designed with a smaller kibble size will make it much easier for your tiny pup to consume their food.

The breed of your dog also determines what age they will reach maturity or become a senior. In other words, the age at which you transition your Yorkshire Terrier puppy will differ from the age that you transition your Great Dane puppy onto adult food.

4. Lifestyle

Whether you have an indoor cat or an active dog, you should consider choosing a food that suits their lifestyle. Like us humans, how active your pet is will determine how much energy they need to consume to maintain a healthy weight. For example, a working farm dog will generally have much higher energy requirements than a less active dog that sits at home on the sofa most of the time.

Alternatively, if your pet needs help to reach a healthy weight, then choosing a diet that is formulated with less energy could be the way to go. Most 'light' foods for dogs and cats are formulated with a reduced fat content (and therefore reduced calories) to help your pet achieve and maintain a healthy weight; as well as having a high protein content, dietary fibres, and complex carbohydrates to help keep them fuller for longer!

5. Food Quality

Last but certainly not least, you should consider the quality of the food you choose for your pet. Pet food quality is quite hard to determine by just looking at the brown, round kibble in the bag.

Therefore, it is important that you do a bit more digging to understand what exactly those kibbles are made up of. That’s where the label comes in handy. Many pet owners don’t read into pet food labels too much, however, pet food labels contain insightful information about the food’s quality, in particular the ingredients list.

Ingredient lists that contain meat as the first ingredient are a sign of a higher quality food, in comparison to those where a carbohydrate, such as cereals or grains, is taking first place. Higher quality foods also generally contain fewer fillers (ingredients that contain little to no nutritional value), and no artificial colours or flavours.

You also should make sure that the food you’re considering meets the standards set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). A pet food’s label can only state “complete and balanced” if it meets or exceeds AAFCO’s minimum nutritional requirements and therefore, if the label contains this statement, then you can be confident that the food will support your pet’s nutritional needs.

There are many more factors that you might want to take into consideration when deciding on the right food for your pet, including their personal preferences or even potential intolerances. Still, the above five things are a good place to start!

As always, if you’re thinking about switching your pet onto a different food, you should do so gradually over a period of up to 10 days to help avoid any digestive upset.

Written by: Lucy Shockledge, Pet Nutritionist

Lucy has a BSc Honours degree in Animal Science from Newcastle University, UK. She's worked as a pet food nutritionist and pet food research and development technologist both in the UK and NZ.

If you need advice on choosing the best food for your pet, feel free to contact the Pet Direct's Customer Service Experts on 0800 200 240.