How do I recognize good wet food?

Many dog owners are faced with the question: Which wet food is really good? More and more people want to feed their dog healthily without having to switch to fresh feeding. Wet food is a practical alternative, but not every dose is automatically high quality. In this article, you will find out what you should look out for.

Why is wet food a good choice?

✅ High moisture content: Dogs absorb more water through wet food, which is particularly beneficial for kidneys and bladder.

✅ Better ingredients than dry food: Many wet foods contain fewer fillers, artificial additives, and grains.

✅ Better digestibility: Due to its soft consistency, wet food is often easier to digest than dry food.

✅ Natural diet: Dogs are descended from wolves and are carnivores – wet food is closer to natural food than dry food.

🚫 Attention: Not every dose is good! There are also inferior wet foods with a lot of grain, poor quality meat, or artificial additives.

How do you recognize good wet food?

High-quality wet food should be based on the natural diet of a carnivore.

The optimal composition is as follows:

✅ 45% marbled muscle meat 🥩 (the most important source of protein)

✅ 20% stomachs (e.g., tripe, omasum) – can also be replaced by muscle meat

✅ 10% offal (e.g., liver, kidney, spleen, lung) – for vitamins and minerals

✅ 20% fruit & vegetables 🥕🍏 – for fiber and phytochemicals

✅ 5% other ingredients (e.g., bone meal, fish oil, herbs)

Alternatively, wet food can also contain up to 10% grain, as long as it is high-quality and easily digestible (e.g., brown millet, buckwheat).

🔴 Stay away from cans with these ingredients:

❌ "Meat and animal by-products" without exact specification

❌ Sugar or caramel – absolutely unnecessary!

❌ Vegetable by-products – this can be anything

❌ Preservatives, colorants or flavorings

The declaration – Open vs. closed statements

A manufacturer can declare its ingredients in three different ways:

1️⃣ Open declaration (optimal) ✅

Here, the ingredients are listed precisely, e.g.:

📌 40% beef, 16% chicken necks, 12% beef tripe, 8% carrots, 5% spinach, 5% apple, 4% beef liver, 4% beef kidney, 4% beef spleen, 1% salmon oil, 0.8% parsley, 0.1% Ascophyllum Nodosum (seaweed), 0.1% cod liver oil.

👉 This way you immediately know what is included!

2️⃣ Semi-open declaration ⚠️

Here, only a rough indication of what is inside is given, e.g.:

📌 64% beef (e.g. lung, tripe, liver), 16% chicken, 18% vegetables and fruit, 2% oils, herbs and algae.

👉 Problem: You don't know exactly which parts of the beef are included.

3️⃣ Closed declaration 🚨 (Avoid!)

Here, only a general list is given, e.g.:

📌 Meat and animal by-products (4% beef), cereals, minerals, vegetable by-products, oils and fats, meat broth.

👉 Absolutely imprecise! You don't know whether high-quality ingredients or waste products were used.

Complete food or complementary food?

🔹 Complete feed: Covers the complete nutritional needs of a dog.

🔹 Complementary feed: Must be supplemented with other components, e.g., fresh meat or oils.

💡 Attention: Even with complete food, it's worth taking a look at the ingredients – not every composition is truly balanced.

Myth: Dry food cleans teeth - Is that true?

❌ No! That's a myth!

🚫 Dry food promotes tartar instead of preventing it!

📌 High carbohydrate content (starch, grains) causes plaque and tartar.

📌 Dry food crumbs stick to teeth and promote bacterial growth.

📌 It crumbles in the mouth without providing real mechanical cleaning.

✅ What really helps against tartar?

✔ Raw bones (e.g., beef brisket)

✔ Natural chews (e.g., beef scalp) as little processed as possible

✔ Regular teeth brushing with a dog toothbrush

Interpreting analytical values correctly

📌 Protein content: Should be between 12–17% – too little protein indicates low-quality ingredients.

📌 Moisture content: Over 70% is normal – however, high values can indicate added water.

📌 Fat content: 8–12% is optimal – too little fat can make the dog lethargic.

📌 Crude ash content: Should be below 3% – high values indicate bone meal or low-quality ingredients.

📌 Crude fiber content: 0.5–1.5% is good – too much indicates too many plant-based ingredients.

💡 Tip: Don't be fooled by the price alone – the declaration gives more insight into the quality.

Conclusion: How to recognize good wet food

✔ Open declaration – You should know exactly what is included.

✔ High meat content (at least 50%) – no waste or low-quality by-products.

✔ Little to no grain – no unnecessary fillers.

✔ No artificial additives – no colorants or flavorings.

✔ Correct fat and protein values – for a healthy diet.

💡 In short : The more natural the food, the better!

🔍 Do you have questions or would you like to recommend a good wet food? Write it in the comments! 😊🐶