Is your pet getting enough protein from pet food? – The truth about pet food

Complete and balanced pet foods in the United States are required to meet the AAFCO nutritional profile. It's good that nutritional profiles exist, but our pets certainly need all the nutrients they need at the right levels. What AAFCO's nutritional profile is missing is that it does not take into account that many pets consume fewer calories than existing complete and balanced nutritional systems. Allow.

AAFCO nutritional profiles are based on nutrients per calorie. For example, the AAFCO nutritional profile requires adult dog food to have a minimum of 45 grams of protein per 1,000 kcal and adult cat food to have a minimum of 65 grams of protein per 1,000 kcal. The level of each nutrient that your pet receives from pet food is based on the amount of food (kcal) your pet ingests.

Unfortunately, the AAFCO system is one-size-fits-all and only takes into account the caloric needs of active cats and dogs. But what about sedentary pets (couch potatoes)? Sedentary pets require fewer calories, but AAFCO's fully balanced system only applies to active pets who burn more calories, which can be a problem.

Pets that are fed fewer calories per day than a complete and balanced pet food requires may be deficient in nutrients. Importantly, pets that eat fewer calories each day may be deficient in protein. This potential concern is not limited to any particular style of pet food. Protein deficiency can occur in dry, cooked, canned, and raw foods, depending on the amount your pet consumes each day (kilocalories of pet food that your pet consumes each day). Day).

Thanks to pet food formulator Steve Brown, below are the minimum protein requirements for cats and dogs in grams.

For adult cats, the minimum protein requirements are:

For adult dogs, the minimum protein requirements are:

How do you know if your pet's food provides this minimum amount of protein?

Steve Brown is here to help again. Steve has developed a calculation to determine the amount of pet food you need to feed to meet the minimum protein requirements.

All you need is two very basic pieces of information provided by your pet food.

Percentage of protein in pet food.
Where to find: Listed in Guaranteed Analysis.
Calories per kilogram (kcal/kg) or calories per pound (kcal/lb) information.
Where to find it: Usually provided with guaranteed analysis information, but can also be provided separately with calorie information.

Armed with the above information, TruthaboutPetFood.com used Steve Brown's calculations to develop an easy-to-use form that allows pet owners to enter the necessary information and the calculations are done automatically.

click here Calculate protein in cat food.

click here Calculate protein in dog food.

A big thank you to Steve Brown for working with us to provide this important information to pet owners.

We wish you and your pet all the best.

Susan Thixton
pet food safety advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-author Dinner PAWsible
The truth about pet food.com
Pet Food Truth Association

Become a member of the Pet Food Consumers Association. The Pet Food Truth Association is a stakeholder group representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and the FDA. Membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns to regulators. Click here for more information.

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