Read time: 2 mins
08 Apr 2021
By Sarah Connell-Sait, our Vet Nurse at Butternut Box
You may have noticed when researching different food options for your puppy that there are lots of different categories of dog food. The most popular categories tend to be based on your dog's age or life stage. We do things a little bit different here at Butternut; we've worked alongside leading veterinary nutritionists and made sure all our meals are carefully crafted to be suitable for dogs of all life stages, which is why you won't see labels such as 'puppy', 'adult' or 'senior' on our food.
But, what's the difference?
If you pop into a pet shop and pick up two bags of dog biscuits, one for adults and one for puppies, and then take a look at the nutritional information on each bag, it's likely that you'll notice the following differences between the two:
Calorie density
- puppy food is generally more calorie-dense than adult food because puppies need a lot of energy to grow. This means that each individual biscuit will likely contain a higher number of calories compared to adult food.
Kibble size
- young puppies tend to have a smaller mouth and teeth than an adult. For this reason, it's likely that the individual puppy biscuits will be smaller in shape and size to make it easier for little ones to chew and swallow.
Calcium
- this is where things get a little scientific. Calcium is an important nutrient for growth and development. Puppies need to have 1-1.8g of calcium in every 100g of food, compared to adult dogs who need between 0.5-2.5g/100g. Despite there being an overlap here, some companies opt to use a different amount of calcium in their puppy food compared to their adult food.
Calcium:phosphorus ratio
- this ratio is vital for healthy bone health and development. Puppies must have a calcium:phosphorus ratio between 1:1 to 1.6:1, whereas adult dogs must have a ratio of between 1:1 to 2:1. Again, this means that some companies might formulate their meals to have a different calcium:phosphorus ratio in their puppy food compared to their adult food, despite there being an overlap.
Enough about everyone else! When it comes to Butternut, we don't need to worry about making our meals easier to chew or swallow for your pup because the consistency of our meals (similar to the filling of a shepherd's pie) is perfect for little mouths.
Rather than changing the calorie density, we'll send your puppy a larger portion to provide the extra calories they need during growth. As your puppy gets older and their weight changes, let us know and we'll adjust their portion size to make sure they're getting the perfect amount of calories.
When it comes to calcium, our meals contain roughly 1g/100g which means our calcium level sits perfectly in the overlap, providing the ideal amount for both adults and puppies.
