Field guides
Dry-matter basis, explained
The single most useful trick in pet food math: take the water out before you compare. Without it, wet food always looks weak and kibble always looks strong — and both impressions are wrong.
Why the label number misleads
Guaranteed-analysis percentages are 'as fed' — they include moisture. A typical canned food is around 78% water; a typical kibble around 10%. Comparing their protein numbers directly is comparing soup to powder.
The formula
Dry-matter % = nutrient % ÷ (100 − moisture %) × 100. That's the whole trick: divide by what's left once the water is gone.
A worked example
A canned food lists 10% protein at 78% moisture: 10 ÷ 22 × 100 ≈ 45% protein on a dry-matter basis. A kibble lists 30% protein at 10% moisture: 30 ÷ 90 × 100 ≈ 33%. The 'weak' canned food actually carries more protein per bite of real food.
When it matters
Any time you compare across forms — wet against dry, raw against kibble — and it applies to fat and fiber exactly the same way. When a label doesn't state moisture, an assumption has to be made, and an honest comparison flags it as one.
What Bowlmark does with this
Every Bowlmark product page shows the guaranteed analysis both ways — as fed and dry matter — and flags any assumed moisture instead of hiding the assumption.
Read the methodology