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Reading a guaranteed analysis

Short answerThe guaranteed analysis is the small panel listing minimum protein and fat, and maximum fiber and moisture. Two traps: the numbers are minimums and maximums, not exact amounts, and they're stated "as fed" - so a wet food at 10% protein and a dry food at 30% protein can actually contain similar protein once you remove the water. To compare foods, convert to dry matter: divide the nutrient by (100% minus moisture), then multiply by 100.

Sources: the FDA's pet food labeling guidance and AAFCO, linked at the end.

What each line means

Crude protein (min)Total protein measured by nitrogen content. "Crude" refers to the method, not the quality. It's a floor: the food must contain at least this much.
Crude fat (min)Also a floor: the food must contain at least this much. Fat carries energy and fat-soluble vitamins.
Crude fiber (max)A ceiling on fiber content: the food must stay under this amount.
Moisture (max)The water content ceiling. This is the number that makes wet and dry foods impossible to compare at a glance.

The dry-matter conversion, with a worked example

The FDA's labeling guidance explains the moisture problem directly. Say a wet food guarantees 10% protein and 78% moisture, and a dry food guarantees 30% protein and 10% moisture:

  1. Wet food dry matter: 100 - 78 = 22%. Protein on a dry-matter basis: 10 / 22 x 100 = about 45%.
  2. Dry food dry matter: 100 - 10 = 90%. Protein on a dry-matter basis: 30 / 90 x 100 = about 33%.

On paper, the "low protein" wet food's guaranteed minimum works out higher once the water is removed. These are still guarantees - minimums and maximums, not the exact composition of what is in the can - but the conversion is what makes two labels comparable at all. The same conversion works for fat and fiber.

What the panel doesn't tell you

The guaranteed analysis says nothing about ingredient quality, digestibility, or whether the protein comes from chicken or corn gluten. Two foods with identical panels can be very different products. That's why the panel is a starting point: pair it with the AAFCO statement (is the food complete and balanced for your cat's life stage?), the ingredient list, and - when it matters - the manufacturer, who can tell you actual typical nutrient levels. Our comparing two foods guide walks a full side-by-side, and the label decoder turns this into a checklist you can use in the aisle.

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