Many dog ​​owners are faced with the question: Which wet food is really good? More and more people want to feed their dogs healthy food without having to switch to fresh food. Wet food is a practical alternative, but not every can is automatically high-quality. In this article, you'll learn what to look for.

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Why is wet food a good choice?

✅ High moisture content: Dogs absorb more water through wet food, which is particularly beneficial for the 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 nutrition: Dogs are descended from wolves and are predators – wet food is closer to natural nutrition than dry food.

🚫 Warning: Not every can is good! There are also inferior wet food varieties with lots of grains, low-quality meat, or artificial additives.

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How do you recognize good wet food?

A high-quality wet food should be based on the natural diet of a predator.

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 with muscle meat

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

✅ 20% fruit & vegetables 🥕🍏 – for fiber and secondary plant substances

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

Alternatively, a 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 precise specification

❌ Sugar or caramel – absolutely unnecessary!

❌ Vegetable by-products – this can be anything

❌ Preservatives, colors or flavorings

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The declaration – open vs. closed information

A manufacturer can declare its ingredients in three different ways:

1️⃣ Open declaration (optimal) ✅

The ingredients are listed here in detail, 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.

👉 So you can immediately see what's included!

2️⃣ Semi-open declaration ⚠️

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

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

👉 Problem: It is not known exactly which parts of the beef are included.

3️⃣ Closed declaration 🚨 (Avoid!)

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

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

👉 Absolutely inaccurate! It's impossible to know whether high-quality ingredients or waste were used.

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Complete food or supplementary food?

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

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

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

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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 the teeth and promote bacterial growth.

📌 It breaks in the mouth without providing any real mechanical cleaning.

✅ What really helps against tartar?

✔ Raw bones (e.g. beef breastbone)

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

✔ Regular brushing with a dog toothbrush

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Interpret analysis values ​​correctly

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

📌 Moisture content: Over 70% is normal – but high values ​​may indicate added water.

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

📌 Crude ash content: Should be below 3% – high values ​​indicate bone meal or inferior ingredients.

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

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💡 Tip: Don’t be fooled by the price alone – the label provides more information about the quality.

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Conclusion: How to recognize a good wet food

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

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

✔ Little to no grain – no unnecessary fillers.

✔ No artificial additives – no colors or flavors.

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

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

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