What Should I Feed My Dog or Cat?
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Credit: Liz Climo
Here’s a simple guide (from our vets at Gaia) to help you navigate the avalanche of choices, diet recommendations, and well-meaning advice etc.
This article is meant for healthy pets with no known health conditions. If your pet has a disease or chronic condition, please follow special diets prescribed by your vet.
If you have a senior pet, do check out this article on senior dietary needs.
To start, you should know that there are only 4 types of food out there for cats and dogs:
Dry Food
Canned Food
Home-cooked Food
Raw Food
Regardless of the type of food you have decided to feed your pet, you should try to understand their pros and cons, and follow that wise adage - “Everything in Moderation” (it’s an oldie but goodie).
1. Dry Food
So many brands with different prices and quality. How do I decide?
Without getting into technicalities, the key consideration for dry food (or kibbles) is the type of preservatives used. You should go through the ingredients list of the dry food before purchase.
Look out for:
Artificial preservatives e.g. ethoxyquin, BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). These are added to increase shelf-life. We recommend that you avoid any pet food which lists ethoxyquin as an ingredient as studies have linked ingestion of high levels of ethoxyquin with health problems.
Natural preservatives e.g. Vitamin E, Vitamin C and plant extracts (e.g. rosemary). While they are better than artificial preservatives, note that the shelf life of such products tend to be shorter. So don’t go overboard with buying in bulk online.
Don’t be fooled by the labels on the front of the package, e.g. “All Natural”, “Wild” etc. These are usually marketing buzzwords that do not necessarily mean anything.
2. Canned Food
I hear canned food is not good. Are they really bad for my dog/cat?
Not necessarily. The canning process itself helps to preserve pet food without the use of any artificial preservatives. Canned food (if stored properly) have long shelf lives but they are more expensive.
It also seems that lower carbohydrate content in canned food (compared to kibbles) is better for your pets.
Some important points to note:
Refrigerate opened cans and throw away within 48 hours
Throw away any uneaten canned food in your pet’s food bowl after 1 hour and wash the bowl. This will prevent bacterial growth.
For dogs or cats that are fussy eaters or grazers, avoid feeding canned food
Feeding pure canned food diet? Do brush your pet’s teeth after every meal or else...
3. Home-cooked Food
Ahh… it already sounds good and warm doesn’t it? The great thing about this diet is that you get to control the ingredients, it’s preservative-free and your pets can enjoy all the nutrients from fresh food.
How would I know what to cook to make sure they get a balanced diet? And it is so time-consuming to plan and prepare!
It doesn’t have to be. Planning is easy if you follow recipes for nutritionally balanced home-made meals here.
You may still need to supplement your pet’s diet with vitamins/minerals. Not sure how? Talk to us or have a chat with your vet to get recommendations based on your pet’s diet plan.
4. Raw Food
This includes fresh, dehydrated and frozen raw food, and BARF (biologically appropriate raw food).
I hear raw food is better because it is natural and anyway, that’s what dogs or cats in the wild eat right?