Pet food labels provide basic and limited information. The labels focus on ingredients, nutrient levels (known as "guaranteed analysis") and nutritional adequacy or a statement by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which verifies the testing method for nutrient guidelines.

At Hill's Pet Nutrition, we believe other considerations must be recognized when deciding on your cat's food to enrich her well-being.

Nutrient Needs

• Your cat's nutrient needs can vary with:
  • Age
  • Activity, lifestyle or special needs
  • Reproductive status
  • Health
  • Environment
  • Breed
• Nutritional deficiencies are harmful. As a cat owner, you should know that nutritional excesses can be as harmful and are more common than nutritional deficiencies.
• It's important to know that excess fat can result in diabetes and heart, joint or respiratory disease. Excess protein can cause liver or kidney disease. Excess calcium can result in urinary bladder stones and skeletal disease.
• Lifestage nutrition, which is designed to meet a cat's needs at a specific age and physical state, helps protect against nutritional excesses. Hill's adheres to the lifestage nutritional practice for cats from the growth phase to the adult and mature phases of life.

Guaranteed Analysis

The guaranteed analysis can be confusing and somewhat misleading. It provides minimum and maximum levels of some of the nutrients, four of which are required on every label. Those required nutrients are:

• Protein (shown as a minimum %)
• Fat (shown as a minimum %)
• Fiber (shown as a maximum %)
• Moisture (shown as a maximum %)

The minimum amount guarantee provides the lowest amount of the nutrient in the food, not the actual amount. For example, the minimum fat guarantee may be 8 percent, but legally the product can contain 15 percent fat or more. Similarly, a product with a maximum guarantee of 5 percent fiber may actually contain only 1 percent. Additionally, because moisture levels will vary from product to product, it makes it difficult for consumers to compare products.

To further evaluate the product, we advise you to obtain the actual nutritional content from the manufacturer through the product information toll-free number on the product packaging.

Nutritional Adequacy Statement or "AAFCO Statement"

Every pet food label must contain a statement and validation of nutritional adequacy. AAFCO regulations allow two basic methods for pet food manufacturers to substantiate claims.