Best-for · PetScored desk
Ranked on the combined Ingredient Clarity and Brand Trust sub-scores. These brands publish more about what is in the bag, where it came from, and how it is made.
Transparency is the cheapest signal of trust a brand can give and the one most brands skimp on. PetScored credits named animal sources, named grains, disclosed manufacturing, ownership clarity, and a public recall record.
This list is not a quality ranking. It is an honesty ranking. A transparent 7.0 tells you more than an opaque 8.5.
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Our pick
Hill's Science Diet
Ingredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 8.8.
Source-backed adult maintenance dry food with AAFCO feeding-test language and clear calorie data. Watch-outs are chicken and wheat sensitivity exposure plus a historical Hill’s canned-dog-food recall/warning-letter record that remains disclosed as brand-level regulatory history.
Runners-up
Ingredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 8.8.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 8.7.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Ingredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.6.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.6.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.6.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 6.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 6.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Ingredient Clarity 6.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Ingredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 6.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 6.0 · Brand Trust 8.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.5.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.1.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.0.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.0.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 6.0 · Brand Trust 8.0.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.0.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.0.
Buy on AmazonIngredient Clarity 7.0 · Brand Trust 7.0.
Buy on AmazonHow this list is built
Ranking sums Ingredient Clarity and Brand Trust, tie-broken on overall composite. We do not credit “veterinarian-formulated” or “holistic” - those are claims, not disclosures.
Cuts
FAQ
Ranking sums Ingredient Clarity and Brand Trust, tie-broken on overall composite. We do not credit “veterinarian-formulated” or “holistic” - those are claims, not disclosures.
35 picks cleared the rubric bar for this list. 128 other scored brands were considered and didn't make the cut. We surface both for transparency.
No. PetScored takes no manufacturer money. The list is computed deterministically from the rubric and the public product data. The same inputs produce the same ranking every time. See /trust for the full posture.
Yes - but in defined ways. Adding a new scored product can change the ranking. A rubric version bump (see /methodology/changelog) can change it. A source-confidence update on an existing product can change it. We publish every change.
