Selecting ‘THE BEST’ pet food: A guide from WSAVA

Pet food companies love being asked ‘Which is the best food?’ The answer is: theirs of course!

With this reality in mind, it’s useful to have a way to move the commercial bias aside and have a reliable way to assess one pet food against the other… to put the many brands competing for our dog’s bowl or cat’s saucer to the test.

Representing more than 200,000 veterinarians worldwide, WSAVA works to enhance standards of care for companion animals.  It has developed Global Guidelines for vets to adhere to, and one of these guidelines are based around nutrition.  The world’s experts in this area have come together to give us not only the guidelines on selecting foods, but some other useful, unbiased instructions to tackle ‘Nutrition on the Internet’, ‘Nutrition Label Guidelines’ and general FAQs .

One reliable tool is the World Small Animal Veterinary Association’s (WSAVA) ‘Selecting a Pet Food’, downloadable here. The Selecting a Pet Food guide tells us what to look out for.

Using these questions in “Selecting a Pet Food’ as a starting point, you’ll likely find yourself thinking differently about what you put into your pet’s bowl.  It will reinforce your confidence in making informed choices and assessing the true value of one product over the next.

Educated research into the dos and don’ts of pet food and choices based on fact are really important, but let’s not lose sight of the interests of the most important critics: our pets.

Good pet food is one that’s well and responsibility made, that is well accepted and palatable to your dog or cat, and that is digestible, to ensure they’re getting the nutrients they need to survive every day.

As we move further into the realms of choice and preference, we think about measures of ‘performance’, taste and ingredient profiles and company ethos, for example.  But does my dog think it’s good; will my cat find it delicious; and is there a lot of smelly waste after eating? Answers to these questions will guide our choices too. Let’s remember, good food is ultimately about health!