While the amount may differ between dogs and cats, and between adults and seniors, all pets have a minimum requirement for protein to make muscle in the body and help in many important body functions.
All pets have a minimum amount of total fat that they need in their diet and there are also some specific types of fatty acids that are also required for different lifestages.
Minerals, some of which are also called electrolytes, are critical to keeping fluid balance, growing and maintaining bones, and helping to regulate many processes running in a pet’s body, such as movement of muscles.
Cats and dogs require many of the same vitamins as we do (except for Vitamin C, which they can make themselves!),
amounts can be very different. One example is Vitamin D, where dogs need less than 1/10th the amount that humans do.
we have to be very careful about using human products (or any supplements for that matter!) in pets to avoid toxic amounts of vitamin D.
Vitamins perform many functions in the body from supporting the immune system to breaking down food for energy.
The essential vitamins for dogs and cats are listed below with common alternate names that you may see on your pet food ingredient lists.