Diet Types
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There are three diet types used in the pet food industry:
In the U.S. dog and cat foods are generally sold as complete and balanced products.
Dogs and cats have complex nutritional requirements: dogs are known to
require 38 nutrients daily, while cats require 40. A label indicating
that a food is “complete and balanced” means that the food not only
contains all of the known nutrients required by the animal but that
those nutrients are in proper balance with the energy density of the
food and with each other.
Unlike human nutrition where we are encouraged to eat a variety of foods
because no one food contains all the nutrients we require, pet food
products do contain all of the known nutrients required by cats or dogs.
There are advantages and disadvantages to the three different diet types.
Pet food quality and nutritional profile is independent of diet form;
however, there are owner and pet preferences for diet type.
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