9 Best Dog Foods for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in 2024 – Reviews & Top Picks

Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are affectionate, loveable dogs that are well-known for their soft coats. They combine the gentleness of a toy breed with the athleticism of a sporting dog. Even though they aren’t often used for sports purposes today, these dogs still need quality dog food to thrive.

They don’t have particular dietary needs when compared with other dogs. However, the right mix of macronutrients and micronutrients is still required to ensure they don’t develop diet-related health problems.

Choosing the proper dog food for your canine can be difficult, however. Below, we’ll help you choose the best dog food for your dog.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024

The 9 Best Dog Foods for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels

1. The Farmer’s Dog Fresh Dog Food Subscription – Best Overall

One of the best things about The Farmer’s Dog is how easy it is. Once your box is delivered, you can store most of the food in the freezer and store the remainder in the fridge then let them thaw. Don’t worry about how much to serve your dog, The Farmer’s Dog will let you know exactly how much to feed, and then all you have to do is squeeze the food into your dog’s bowl. Easy peasy!

The only downside is you do need to sign up for a subscription service, but you are free to cancel at any time and we don’t think you’ll want to cancel after you see how much your dog loves his new food. Overall, the high-quality ingredients and the ease of delivery outweigh any of the cons (not that there are many) making this the best overall choice for Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

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2. Rachael Ray Nutrish Natural Dry Dog Food – Budget Buy

We like that Rachael Ray Nutrish Natural Dry Dog Food is made with real, farm-raised chicken as the first ingredient. It is designed to be a complete and balanced meal for your pooch. It contains a slew of veggies and a variety of added vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in fiber, thanks to the brown rice and beet pulp included. This prebiotic mixture can help your dog’s stomach if they happen to have stomach problems. Poultry fat is a natural source of omega fatty acids, helping with your dog’s skin and coat.

This food is also much cheaper than most options. It has a moderate amount of protein and fat. Protein is at 26%, while fat is at 14%. This isn’t as high as other options. However, it isn’t the lowest on the market, either.

One factor we didn’t like about this food was the inclusion of dried peas as the third ingredient. Peas may be associated with certain heart diseases in dogs, according to the FDA. Furthermore, they contain a lot of protein in them, which can throw off the protein percentage of the food. While this food is moderately high in protein, not all of this protein is from animal sources. Overall, this is the best dog food for Cavalier King Charles for the money.

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3. Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula – Best for Puppies

Puppies require a special kind of nutrition to develop properly. Because of this, you must feed your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel appropriate puppy food. Out of all those on the market, we recommend the Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula. This puppy food contains real buffalo as the first ingredient and a variety of other types of meat. It is grain-free and contains all the vitamins your growing puppy needs to thrive. It also contains a decent amount of omega fatty acids, which can help keep your dog’s coat and skin healthy.

All ingredients are sourced from sustainable farms, and this food contains no grain, corn, wheat, filler, artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. A probiotic blend helps support your dog’s digestive health. It is also made in American factories that follow strict food safety protocols.

Furthermore, this food is also decently high in protein and fat. It contains 28% protein and 17% fat, which is relatively higher than other dog food currently on the market.

Our only gripe with this food is that it includes pea protein and peas. This means that it doesn’t contain as much animal protein as the percentages make it out to be. A decent amount of the protein in this food is from veggies.

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4. Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

The Blue Buffalo Wilderness Grain-Free Dry Dog Food isn’t bad by any means; it just wasn’t our favorite. It is a high-protein formula that contains approximately 34% protein and 15% fat. While fat could be a little higher, this high protein content is something we appreciate. This food also contains deboned chicken as the first ingredient, which is a high-quality option. It includes omega fatty acids for your dog’s coat and skin, as well as antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.

It includes LifeSource Bits, which is just a mixture of minerals and vitamins. While this feature sounds nice on paper, it isn’t incredibly unique. Most dog foods contain antioxidants and vitamins. They just don’t put them into specific pieces of food.

We liked that this food contains all-natural ingredients and does not contain any by-products, corn, wheat, soy, or artificial ingredients. However, this food does contain peas and pea protein, which is likely one of the reasons it is so high in protein.

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5. Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

The Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream Grain-Free Dry Dog Food is a grain-free dog food made with real salmon. This makes it suitable for some dogs with allergies, as long as your pup isn’t allergic to salmon. It also includes fruits and veggies full of antioxidants to support your puppy’s immune health. It even includes things like chelated minerals to help your pup absorb the nutrients in the dog food. Omega fatty acids are included as well, which can support your dog’s skin and coat.

Most of the ingredients included in this dog food are from sustainable sources. It also includes no grain, corn, wheat, filler, artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. It is made in the US by a family-owned company. The factory follows strict food safety protocols, which is always an added plus.

The 25% protein and 15% fat content of this food are moderate. Both could be a bit higher. However, it isn’t as low as some of the other options on the market. We also found the ingredient list pretty decent as well. However, there are quite a bit of peas included, which may be related to certain heart conditions in dogs.

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6. Natural Balance L.I.D. Grain-Free Dry Dog Food

If your Cavalier King Charles has allergies, your best bet may be Natural Balance L.I.D. Grain-Free Dry Dog Food. This food is limited-ingredient, which means that it is made with very few ingredients. Because of this, it may be suitable for dogs who are allergic to many different things.

The first ingredient of this food is salmon, with the second being a menhaden fish meal. Both of these are high-quality ingredients that are also rarer in dog food. Because it is rarer, dogs are less likely to be allergic to it. The other ingredients include things like sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, which dogs are rarely allergic to. This food does not contain peas, pea protein, lentils, legumes, corn, wheat, or soy.

One of the reasons this food is rated so low, however, is because the fat and protein content is relatively low. Protein is only at 24%. This isn’t awful, but there are better options available. At the same time, fat is low at only 10%.

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7. Diamond Naturals Adult Dry Dog Food

For what it is, Diamond Naturals Adult Dry Dog Food is relatively inexpensive. It is half the price of other options on this list. However, it isn’t necessarily the best bang for your buck. Still, it may be a good option for those on a budget.

It includes real lamb and fish protein, both of which are high-quality options for most canines. However, it does include a lot of low-quality grains in the ingredient list. For example, the second ingredient is ground white rice. While whole grains can be relatively healthy, refined grains aren’t. We recommend avoiding them whenever possible.

The protein content of this food is also relatively low. It is only 23%, which is lower than most options on the market. Fat isn’t much better at 14%. Both of these percentages could be much higher!

We did like that this food includes plenty of added vitamins and antioxidants, including omega-3s and omega-6s. These two fatty acids can help support your dog’s coat and skin.

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8. Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight Dry Dog Food

Hill’s Science Diet Adult Perfect Weight Dry Dog Food is not our favorite dog food out there. This food is specifically designed for dogs who are overweight or struggle with maintaining a healthy weight. In this case, it might be useful. However, there are also better weight-loss dog foods out there, so we only recommend this one in specific instances.

The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken, though a variety of different grains follow it. These grains are whole grain, which means it contains some nutrition. However, this dog food does contain quite a bit of grain in it. We would have rather seen more meat products.

The protein and fat content of this food isn’t bad, but it could be better. Protein is at 24%, while fat is at a measly 9%.

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9. Royal Canin Cavalier King Charles Adult Dry Dog Food

We do not recommend Royal Canin Cavalier King Charles Adult Dry Dog Food for every canine. There are only particular circumstances that would call for your dog to need to eat this food. While it does state that it is designed for Cavalier King Charles, this is mostly a marketing ploy. This breed does not have special dietary requirements and does not need specific food.

Furthermore, this dog food’s ingredient list is questionable. The first ingredient is brewer’s rice. It doesn’t even contain any whole meat at all. Chicken by-product meal appears as the third ingredient, but this is a low-quality option. Overall, we cannot get behind the ingredient list of this dog food.

The protein and fat content of this food isn’t awful. Protein is at 25%, but, likely, this is mostly plant protein. Plant protein is not necessarily complete protein and may not contain all the amino acids your pet needs to thrive. Fat is only at 12% and could be higher.

Practically the only good thing about this dog food is that it contains added taurine, which helps support your dog’s heart health.

Buyer’s Guide – Choosing the Best Dog Food for Your Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

There is a lot that goes into choosing the best food for your pup. You have to consider the ingredient list, the macronutrient content, and added vitamins and minerals. For the average pet owner, this can be a lot to consider.

To help you make the best purchasing decision, we wrote this complete buyer’s guide. It contains all the information you need to know about choosing the best dog food.

Grain-Free vs. Grain-Inclusive

There is a lot of propaganda nowadays persuading pet parents that grain-free food is the best option for all dogs. However, this isn’t true. Dogs have evolved next to humans to eat grain. Because of this, almost all dogs can eat it perfectly fine.

Whole grains contain a lot of nutrition, making them the right choice for most canines. You may want to choose grains over some veggies, like peas, simply because they’re healthier. However, refined grains are a different story. They have had most of their nutrition removed, which means you should preferably avoid feeding them to your dog.

The only dogs that should avoid eating grain are those that are allergic to gluten. This is somewhat rare—so the odds are that your dog can eat grain just fine. However, if your dog gets itchy after eating grain-inclusive food, it might have a food sensitivity. This is the only circumstance where grain-free food is needed.

Meat Meals and By-Products

Everyone knows that whole meat is a good option for your pup, but meat meals and by-products are more complicated.

Generally, meat meals are an acceptable option for all dogs. You do want to ensure that the source of the meal is named. For instance, you want to choose “chicken meal” over “meat meal” or “poultry meal.” This is because the last two options are vague. You don’t know what the meat is. Unless you want to feed your dog mystery meat, you should avoid vaguely-described ingredients.

The meal is just meat that has been boiled down to remove most of the moisture content. It is like making a broth—only you keep cooking until it turns into a powder. It is more nutritious than whole meat because whole meat contains a lot of moisture.

By-products are a slightly different story. However, they’re okay for most dogs as well. By-products are cuts of meat that humans usually don’t eat like the snouts and ears. But our dogs would naturally eat these things in the wild. Furthermore, some of these parts are very nutritious and packed full of nutrients like collagen.

Peas, Lentils, and Potatoes

While peas and lentils are very healthy for us, this might not necessarily be the case for our dogs.

The FDA is currently investigating a link between canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and diets containing peas. The investigation is still ongoing, so we don’t have any concrete answers yet. However, preliminary findings have found that the rise in DCM cases is likely diet-related. Furthermore, the dogs who have DCM seem to eat diets that are high in peas. However, lentils and potatoes have been mentioned, as well.

All the dogs seem to be eating grain-free diets as well, which may be one reason to avoid grain-free diets for now.

With all that said, it isn’t easy to find dog food that is free of peas on the market today. Because of that, you may want to instead switch your dog’s food often. DCM is likely to be caused by a nutritional deficiency or too much of a particular nutrient or chemical, which seems to have something to do with peas. By switching your dog’s food often, you avoid a deficiency or buildup of a potentially harmful ingredient.

Fat and Protein

Dogs evolved to live off of fat and protein. Studies have shown that, when allowed to choose their diet, dogs eat a diet low in carbohydrates but high in fat and protein. Typically, animals consume a diet that is best aligned with their needs, so this is a good indicator of their natural diet.

Therefore, we should aim to feed our dogs as much protein and fat as possible. This is why we paid particular attention to the fat and protein content of all the foods we reviewed. You want to feed your dog a diet that is as high in fat and protein as possible.

Many diets on the market today contain many carbohydrates, precisely what you don’t want to feed your dog.

Final Verdict

What you feed your Cavalier King Charles spaniel is a big decision. We hope our guide helped you find the best option for your beloved dog.

For most canines, we recommend The Farmer’s Dog. This food is high in protein and fat and is made with quality ingredients and is delivered right to your door.

If you need to stick to a budget, we recommend Rachael Ray Nutrish Natural Dry Dog Food. It is much less expensive than the competition, but it still has a moderate amount of protein. Furthermore, farm-raised chicken is the first ingredient, and extra omega fatty acids are included.

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