How we choose foods

Every comparison on this site follows the same rules.

What a food needs to make the list

• The maker publishes a guaranteed analysis (protein, fat, fibre and moisture), the full ingredient list and an AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement.
• You can buy it in the US without a prescription.
• It's made for the need the page covers, or its label data fits the guidance we cite on that page.

Prescription diets are left out of our picks because they need a vet's sign-off. We mention them where they matter.

Where the numbers come from

• Nutrients, calories, ingredients and AAFCO statements come from the maker's own product page or bag label. When the maker leaves a value out online, we use a retailer page that prints the label, and the product's data links show which.
• Prices and bag sizes come from a US retailer's product page, using the regular one-time price rather than a sale or subscription price. Each product names the retailer.
• Each product shows the pages we used and the date we checked them. Prices change often, so check the current price before you buy.

Why we show dry matter

A label percentage includes water. A canned food with 8% protein and 78% moisture works out to about 36% protein once the water is removed, which is more than a kibble with 26% protein and 10% moisture (about 29%). We divide each nutrient by the share of the food that isn't water (100 minus the moisture percentage) so dry and wet foods compare fairly. Labels give minimums for protein and fat and maximums for fibre and moisture, so these are estimates, not lab results.

What we don't do

• We don't feed the foods to test dogs or cats, and we don't claim to have.
• We don't accept payment from pet food makers to include a food or to rank it higher.
• Affiliate commissions don't decide which foods we list. Some foods we include may earn us nothing.

Corrections

If a maker changes a formula or we get a number wrong, we update the page and its checked date.