Diet Quality Ranking*
#1 THE “NATURAL DIET”
If you owned a wolf or a tiger, it would do nicely by hunting and foraging. Dogs and cats might do well on this diet, too, but it isn’t practical, and may not be right for certain animals due to generations of line breeding and genetic alterations.
#2 BALANCED HOME COOKING
Balanced fresh food. The correct proportions (and it may include healthy left-overs) are:
Dogs - 1/3 - 1/2 Meat, eggs, dairy, 1/2-2/3 grains + vegetables plus calcium and vitamin/mineral supplements. Cats get - 1/2 -3/4 meat, eggs, dairy, 1/4-1/2 grains, and vegetables plus calcium and vitamin/mineral supplements. Commercial raw diets may also fall into this category.
#3 GOOD QUALITY COMMERCIAL FOOD
There are a few very good commercial foods which contain clean, human grade meats, sometimes organic grains, some “whole food nutrition” (using whole apples, carrots, etc to provide the necessary nutrients), and few preservatives (avoiding BHA, BHT, sodium nitrite or ethoxyquin). Some of these foods are Innova, Pinnacle, California Natural, Wysong, Precise, Flint River and the occasional professional prescription diet (IVD brand).
#4 OTHER PREMIUM BRANDS
These also have smaller amounts of artificial preservatives and are made with fewer by-products than the categories below. Some are fairly good quality, but change in formulation every time the company is sold, and some are actually not as good as we used to think. They can be found at some pet stores and healthfood stores - Lick Your Chops, Cornucopia, Sensible Choice, Fromms, Nutro, Natural Life, Nature’s Recipe, Iams, Eukanuba, Hills Science Diet, Waltham and some professional prescription diets.
#5 POOR QUALITY COMMERCIAL
All "grocery store" brands and some others. Some professional prescription diets. These might include Dr. Ballard's, Cycle, Purina, Friskie's, Alpo, Authority, Gaine's, 9-Lives, Kal-Kan, Tuffy's, Bil-Jac, Tender Vittles, Crave, Mighty Dog, Gaines, Happy Cat, Kasco, Etc.
#6 GENERIC
Generic brands - these are insufficient for health preservation, and are NEVER recommended! - Ole Roy, Super-America, Kroger, Kirkland, Etc.
# 7 UNBALANCED HOMEMADE
Junk food is even worse for our pets than it is for us! These include excess fat, ice cream, candy, sugar, white flour, etc.
* This ranking represents the opinion of Dr. Wynn only, and is based on clinical experience.