The guaranteed analysis panel

Every complete pet food sold in the EU must carry a guaranteed analysis. This lists minimum or maximum percentages for crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, and moisture. It tells you the chemical composition, not the quality — a food can pass minimum standards with low-grade ingredients.

The most useful number here is moisture. It lets you convert to a dry matter basis to compare wet and dry foods fairly.

"You should not need a nutrition background to feed your cat well. The fact that you do is a design flaw in how pet food is marketed — not a failure on your part." — Nine Lives Club

Dry matter basis: the only honest comparison

A wet food with 8% protein and 78% moisture actually has more protein on a dry matter basis than a dry food with 30% protein. Here's the calculation:

  • Dry matter protein = (crude protein ÷ (100 − moisture)) × 100
  • Wet food: (8 ÷ 22) × 100 = 36% DM protein
  • Dry food at 10% moisture: (30 ÷ 90) × 100 = 33% DM protein

Always convert to dry matter when comparing across formats.

Ingredients list decoded

Ingredients are listed by weight before processing. Key terms:

  • "Chicken" — whole muscle meat, high moisture weight. Check where it falls after cooking.
  • "Chicken meal" — rendered, concentrated protein. Higher protein per gram than whole chicken.
  • "Poultry by-product meal" — includes organs, feet, heads. Variable quality. Not inherently bad, but vaguer.
  • "Meat and animal derivatives" — EU catch-all term. Can change batch to batch.
  • "Natural flavours" — can be almost anything derived from a natural source.

The AAFCO vs FEDIAF question

In the UK and EU, pet food is regulated by FEDIAF guidelines. AAFCO is the US equivalent. Both set minimum nutritional standards for "complete" foods. Neither is a mark of quality — they're floors, not ceilings.

Why we do this for you: Every product in a Nine Lives Club box is complete, named-protein-first, grain-free, and FEDIAF compliant. We have already done the label reading.

The five-second test

A quick assessment: look at the first five ingredients. If you see a named protein (chicken, salmon, turkey) in positions one and two, limited grain content, and no vague derivatives in the top five — you're looking at an above-average food. This isn't a complete picture, but it eliminates most poor-quality options quickly.