What follows is a “quick and dirty” pet food evaluation checklist. If you don’t have the time or desire to review the specifics in this section, you can use this as a general guideline.
Apply this set of criteria to each pet food you consider. It will give you a surprisingly good comparative view of quality.
If you’re unsure what some of these points mean, refer back to the corresponding section on this site.
- What is the main protein source? Meat or meal, general or specific, whole or by-products, single source or mixed?
- What are your first 5 ingredients? Check for inclusion and position of meat, meal, by-products, grains, splitting.
- What type of preservative system is used?
- What are the recommended feeding guidelines?
- What is the ME?
- Does the manufacturer guarantee the food and is there a toll free number on the bag?
- Any mention of ingredient sources, or ingredient grade/ testing?