Food for Thought
Explore our top tips and nutrition advice to keep you pet happy and healthy throughout their lives.
With the exception of some reptiles, we all feed our pets every single day.
We know how important what we eat is to human health, but did you know what you feed your pet is just as important? 1.3 million tonnes of pet food is sold in the UK every year, and with hundreds of options to choose from, it can be a minefield for pet owners.
Just like in human health, we know the nutrition in the food we give our pets support every part of their bodies, allows them to grow and develop, and can even support management of many health conditions.
What food should I feed my...
Select your pet type below to see our handy guide on what to feed your pet
Dog
Choosing a food suitable for your dog is one of the first decisions you will have to make. Is wet or dry food better for your dog? Home-cooked or raw diets? How often should I feed my dog?
Cat
There are so many factors to consider when feeding your cat - where should I feed my cat? How often should I feed my cat? Can I give my cat milk? What if my cat is being fed elsewhere?
Read our handy guide on feeding your cat for more information.
Rabbit
Nutrition is important in any species, but in none more than the rabbit.
Most of the common rabbit health problems can be avoided, or at least the risk reduced, by good nutrition and it is actually very easy to provide! Read our advice on what to feed your rabbit.
Small furry
Getting nutrition right for our smallest pets is as important as for our biggest.
Nutritional health can be overlooked for some small pets, so check below to make sure you’re providing your littlest family member with everything they need.
Fish
Food provides the building blocks for everything that happens in your fish’s body and is also important for water quality.
Reptiles
Reptiles are an amazing and diverse group. This means that they have a large range of requirements when it comes to their diet. Some, like tortoises, are vegetarians – a world away from the sporadic, meat-only dietary pattern of a large boa snake!
Bird
Getting the right nutrition is a key part of keeping our birds feeling chirpy. There are many species of captive bird in the UK, all with their own individual needs. We have outlined the basic dietary requirements of some of the most common pet birds
Your pet's body condition
Just like people, dogs and cats come in all shapes and sizes, and weight alone is not a good measure to see if your pet is healthy. By looking at your pet’s overall shape, and getting ‘hands on’, you can get a much better idea of whether your pet is doing well, needs to put weight on, or if they might be carrying a few extra kilograms.
Pet obesity
Just like in humans, overweight and obese pets are more susceptible to a range of associated medical conditions, including osteoarthritis and certain types of cancer. Obese pets typically have a lower quality of life and die younger than healthy-weight pets.
