Nutrition Guide For Dogs And Cats

Weclome to Web-DVM’s canine and feline nutrition center. With all of the new foods hitting the pet industry every day, it is difficult for even animal health care providers to keep up with which pet foods are the among the better diets available for dogs and cats, and which ones are down right poor choices to feed one’s pets. What complicates matters further is the pet food industry still lacking reasonable government regulation and scrutiny as compared to food prepared for for human consumption. Therefore, the purpose of this web page is not to tout any one particular brand of pet food, nor is it to condemn. The mission of the Web-DVM’s canine and feline nutrition page is instead to offer general trends in the pet food industry and discuss nutrition for dogs and cats in terms of life stage and nutrient break down.

Generally speaking, supermarket brand foods are of poor quality, often consisting mostly of fillers and poorly digestible unwholesome ingredients, not to mention being loaded with preservatives. Pet owners are often fooled into thinking that many of these foods are good for their pets, because so often dogs and cats find these diets quite tasty. Owners should be cautioned, however, that this is by design, and akin to why people find fast food so appealing. We all know full well, however, that living on a diet strictly consisting of fast food, has a high probability of leading to poor health and disease in people.

Another tactic that often misleads honest pet owners into buying a particular supermarket diets is label trickery, by placing claims that their diets are recommended by breeders and veterinarians. Regarding breeders, anyone with experience in the pet
industry knows full well that aside from only a small percentage of breeders that breed responsibly and ethically, as well as make a concerted effort to keep up with the latest in pet care and husbandry, most breeders have little more knowledge of pet health care and nutrition than the average pet owner.

Regarding veterinarians that endorse these foods, our only answer to this is that like in other areas of industry, even in as noble a profession as veterinary medicine, some can be corrupted for the right price.

The better foods to choose for your pets are those sold exclusively in pet stores. However, just because a food is sold at a pet store does not mean that it is necessarily a good quality food. Further down on this page, we will present you with ideal nutrient guidelines to help you choose appropriate foods for your pets.

Another good source for information on the best available diets is your veterinarian.

If one wishes to take one’s pet’s nutrition a step further, companies like Solid Gold, Canidae, Felidae, and Fromm offer preservative free organic foods for dogs and cats. These cannot be found in supermarkets nor in pet stores, but only through individual distributors. This fact unfortunately can lead to the drawbacks that they can often be difficult to find as well as expensive.

Whatever level of food you choose for your pets, our nutritional guide below offers general nutritional guidelines based on species and life stages to help you in your search for an appropriate, nutritious diet for beloved pet.

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Life Stages Canine/Feline Nutritional Guide BACK TO TOP

[button_square color=”blue” url=”#puppies”] Puppies (Up to one year of age) [/button_square]
[button_square color=”blue” url=”#adult_dogs”]    Adult Dogs (Age 1-6 years)      [/button_square]
[button_square color=”blue” url=”#mature_dogs”]    Mature Dogs (Age 7+ years)    [/button_square]

[button_square color=”orange” url=”#kittens”] Kittens (Up to one year of age)   [/button_square]
[button_square color=”orange” url=”#adult_cats”]     Adult Cats (Age 1-6 years)       [/button_square]
[button_square color=”orange” url=”#mature_cats”]     Mature Cats (Age 7+ years)    [/button_square]

Puppies (up to one year of age)

Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 %
Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 %
Carbohydrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 %
Crude Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%

Below are in mg/100 kcal

Calcium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.4
Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0
Sodium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.5
Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.75
Magnsesium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.13

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Adult Dogs (age 1-6 years)

Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 %
Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 %
Carbohydrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 %
Crude Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3%

Below are in mg/100 kcal

Calcium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.62
Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.59
Sodium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.28
Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.76
Magnsesium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.12
Taurine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.13

Below is in ppm
Carnitine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282

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Mature Dogs (age 7 + years)

Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 %
Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 %
Carbohydrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 %
Crude Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5%

Below are in mg/100 kcal

Calcium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.62
Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.52
Sodium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.16
Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.76
Magnsesium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.1
Taurine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.12

Below is in ppm
Carnitine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

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Kittens (up to one year of age)

Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 %
Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 %
Carbohydrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 %
Crude Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3%

Below are in mg/100 kcal

Calcium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3
Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.0
Sodium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.42
Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.83
Magnsesium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.09
Taurine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.30

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Adult Cats (age 1-6 years)

Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 %
Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 %
Carbohydrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 %
Crude Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1%

Below are in mg/100 kcal

Calcium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.84
Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.71
Sodium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.38
Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.80
Magnsesium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.06
Taurine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.24

Below is in ppm
Carnitine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

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Mature cats (age 7 + years)

Protein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 %
Fat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 %
Carbohydrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 %
Crude Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2%

Below are in mg/100 kcal

Calcium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.88
Phosphorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.70
Sodium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.40
Potassium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .0.89
Magnsesium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.08
Taurine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.26

Below is in ppm
Carnitine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476

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