That old saying, you are what you eat, is as true for our animals as it is for us. The variety of food on offer in shops today is so much greater than 40 years’ ago, mirroring the bewildering expansion in the pet food market. So what should we feed? Raw meat and bones? Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding? I cannot recommend either as the former has picked up bacteria in processing; the latter makes a rod for the owner’s back and neither are balanced for minerals and vitamins. So what should your pet’s diet look like?

The development of high quality dried foods for cats and dogs has made feeding pets affordable and reliable. Of course, no one food suits all and so a little trial and error is usually necessary. One guideline for your pet’s diet that I do give, is to go up-market for young animals during their growth and development. The difference in daily cost between a high quality food and a mediocre one is minimal, providing you are not feeding a donkey!

The trouble is, there is just too much choice. Some animals have specific nutritional needs and require special diets but most need good, digestible food appropriate for their age and breed with reliable consistency between bags and batches. And it’s that which is lacking in the cheaper brands, along with digestibility and palatability.  So instead of throwing a bag of supermarket special into your weekly shopping basket, check out your veterinary practice for quality and value for money… there are also walk-on scales for weighing and staff to give advice on all aspects of feeding your pet to maintain its health and your peace of mind.