Frequently Asked Questions
Our quality and food safety systems are state-of-the-art and we continually invest in new technology to ensure this remains the case. All our food is made to the strictest quality requirements to ensure absolute safety.
We manufacture every pet food we sell, in plants that we own; our plants are ISO 9001:2008 certified for Quality Management and ISO 22000 certified for Food Safety.
Because cats and dogs deserve the best nutrition to remain in the best of health, ROYAL CANIN® is committed to:
- Selecting the suppliers of raw materials in accordance with very strict specifications. This rigorous selection process doesn’t end with our first purchase.
- Testing the quality of every ingredients before they are accepted for use in ROYAL CANIN® foods - we monitor every load delivered to our plants to verify the safety and quality of the ingredients we use to make pet food.
- Only using meat from animals which are declared fit and healthy for human consumption
- Quality control from the moment the raw materials enter the factory tight through to the packaging stage, thanks to systematic measures and analyses at all key stages. Rigorous testing is done on every batch of finished product in order to validate safety, nutrient composition, and quality, before our products are shipped to our customers
- Providing complete traceability and identification of all ingredients
It is important to remember that pets, particularly cats, may be occasionally sensitive to subtle variations in diets. For a smoother, more gradual transition from one bag to another, remember to buy your new bag a week in advance to enable mixing of the current bag and the new bag together. If your pet used to like our food and refuses to eat it unexpectedly despite a gradual change between bags, please contact one of our nutritional advisors by phone or email to advise you further. If your pet is unexpectedly refusing their normal Royal Canin diet, please contact our Nutritional Helpline via Contact Us
DAYS 1-2 25% new diet with 75% of the previous diet
DAYS 3-4 50% new diet with 50% of the previous diet
DAYS 5-6 75% new diet with 25% of the previous diet DAY 7
100% new diet You may need to extend these transition stages depending on how well your individual pet responds.
For any further questions, please contact our Nutritional Helpline via Contact Us and they will be happy to tailor the guide specifically for your pet.
Ingredients for ROYAL CANIN® products are selected based on multiple different factors, including the suppliers’ compliance with our quality and food safety requirements, consistent availability and nutrients available.
Grains are an excellent source of amino acids, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fibre, and fatty acids that are essential for the health of dogs and cats. Not only do they support the health of our pets helping to provide complete and balanced nutrition, but they can also be very sustainable. Grains used in pet foods are an excellent source of energy, helping to provide complete and balance nutrition. The only poorly digestible portion of a grain is usually the hull, which is why Royal Canin removes the hull and grinds the grain very finely before it’s added to any of our formula to make sure it becomes digestible.
At ROYAL CANIN®, We never use artificial colourings in our foods to keep to a conformed colour. There will be a natural variation in the raw ingredients which will be reflected in the colour of the final product. This is comparable to different colour variations you see when you purchase meat, fruits and vegetables.
“Meat” claims in pet food can be confusing.
It is common for suppliers of cat and dog food to market their products by claiming the amount of “meat” or “fresh meat”, particularly placing them as the first ingredient. According to current feed legislation, each ingredient / ingredient group in a pet food must be listed on the package based on weight before cooking in descending order. This means that “fresh meat” that naturally contains large amounts of water (approximately 75%) receives a high position on the ingredient list. This may give the impression that “meat” is the primary source of the nutritional content of the pet food. When reading an ingredient list, we should take into account that “fresh meat” contains 70-80% water. During the preparation of a “processed animal protein” as “dehydrated poultry protein” or “chicken meal”, most of this water is removed. For example, this means that 1 kilogram of fresh poultry will provide approximately 250 grams of nutrients, compared to 1 kilogram of dehydrated poultry protein which provides more than 900 grams of nutrients. A list of ingredients containing raw materials with very different water content becomes difficult to understand. Overall, you should consider moisture content whenever reading a pet food label making diet comparisons. We also recommend looking at the ‘guaranteed nutrient analysis (protein, fat, carbohydrate…) and at the nutrient digestibility when comparing diets.
Please contact our nutritional advisors team if you would like to discuss nutrition any further.
Meat and animal derivatives is a labelling category that describes animal based ingredients used in pet foods (not including dairy which has it's own category). Animal derivatives are by-products of the human food industry from species typically used in the human food chain such as beef, chicken, pork and fish.
By-products can be simply defined as materials that we have an excess of in society such as offal, which is a highly nutritious ingredient enjoyed around the world, but that's less popular to eat in the UK.
In all ROYAL CANIN® products we only use high quality by-products - listed as animal derivatives in our ingredients list. Our high-quality by-products are not only safe and nutritious, they are also more sustainable as they do not compete with human food production.
Meat and animal derivatives is a labelling category that describes animal based ingredients used in pet foods (not including dairy which has it's own category). Animal derivatives are by-products of the human food industry from species typically used in the human food chain such as beef, chicken, pork and fish.
By-products can be simply defined as materials that we have an excess of in society such as offal, which is a highly nutritious ingredient enjoyed around the world, but that's less popular to eat in the UK.
In all ROYAL CANIN® products we only use high quality by-products - listed as animal derivatives in our ingredients list. Our high-quality by-products are not only safe and nutritious, they are also more sustainable as they do not compete with human food production.
All our food is made to the strictest quality requirements to ensure absolute safety.
Because cats and dogs deserve the best nutrition to remain in the best of health, Royal Canin is committed to:
Selecting the suppliers of raw materials in accordance with very strict specifications
Testing the quality of the ingredients before they are accepted for use in Royal Canin foods
Only using meat from animals which are declared fit and healthy for human consumption
Quality control from the moment the raw materials enter the factory tight through to the packaging stage, thanks to systematic measures and analyses at all key stages
Complete traceability and identification of all ingredients
We put our suppliers through a rigorous selection process that doesn’t end with our first purchase.
We monitor every load delivered to our plants to verify the safety and quality of the ingredients we use to make pet food.
We preform tests on finished pet foods before they are shipped to our customers.
We manufacture every pet food we sell, in plants that we own; our plants are ISO 9001:2008 certified for Quality Management and ISO 22000 certified for Food Safety.
Royal Canin is making strides towards sustainability by attempting to obtain raw ingredients as close to each manufacturing facility as possible. Find out more about our sustainability efforts.
If your pet is experiencing health issues, please refer to your veterinarian for more information. They will consider multiple factors when recommending an appropriate diet.
For a smoother, more gradual transition from one bag to another, remember to buy your new bag a week in advance to enable mixing of the current bag and the new bag together.
Use an appropriate weighing scale and/or the specific measuring cup as annotated on the bag. Always ensure that you measure food very carefully. A small measuring variation when feeding cats and small dogs can significantly increase their calorie intake.
Mix 25% of your new diet with 75% of your pet’s previous diet for 2 or 3 days
Then mix the two diets 50% and 50% for 2 or 3 days
Then mix 75% of the new diet with 25% of the previous diet for 2 or 3 days
You can now try feeding with 100% of the new diet.
This guide is also useful for an easy transition of the same product from current bag to new bag.
The bags are designed to maintain the nutritional profile and freshness of the product throughout its entire shelf-life. Currently a recyclable option that meets these requirements does not exist. We are still searching for packaging that will maintain the freshness of the product, and our goal is to improve our impact on the environment when an acceptable option becomes available.
To access a ROYAL CANIN® website in a different country, click on the words "United Kingdom" located at the bottom right of every page of our website. This will bring you to a world map where you can chose your country of interest.
Click on the country of your choice and you will be automatically directed to the associated ROYAL CANIN® website.
If you wish to return the product, your retailer will ask for written details of the issue, along with your name, address and the original sales receipt.
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