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What truly defines a high-quality premium diet for my dog or cat?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

What is high quality premium diet, means?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Catherine Stecyk

Veterinarian

Published on November 17th, 2018

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. My top recommendations of veterinary diets include Hill's Science Diet, Purina, and Royal Canin. These are well-known brands that are stocked in veterinary hospitals, and are AAFCO formulated to be balanced and appropriate. I recommend avoiding grain-free, boutique diets from other brands, as these are not regulated and often are do not have balanced nutrients. I hope this is helpful!

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT
Licensed Veterinary Technician
Published on February 19th, 2017
The premium and super premium brands typically use higher quality ingredients (named protein sources, no meat meals, etc.) and have less fillers or additives. The discount or store brands frequently use lower quality ingredients as well as grains in addition to more fillers and additives. These ingredients may contribute to allergies and increased inflammation in a pet.
That said, if a pet won't eat a premium brand or suffers GI upset from them, then all those positives won't matter. I always recommend feeding the best quality food you can afford, is easy to buy and that a pet will eat and does well on. If that happens to be a lower quality diet, so be it.
The website www.dogfoodadvisor.com an excellent resource for researching and comparing diets.
2Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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