Life-stage × jurisdiction fatty-acid matrix (dog & cat adult maintenance)
Minimum essential fatty-acid levels for adult maintenance, compiled from the parsed cross-standard index and the NIAS 2024 standard. Two acids carry explicit cross-standard minimums in these adult-maintenance slices: linoleic acid (ω-6) and arachidonic acid (ω-6).
Units differ by standard and nutrient, so the tables below state each value in its native unit and — where the scales differ — give the reconciled mg/kg DM figure used for comparison:
- linoleic acid is expressed as
% DM(AAFCO) /g per 100 g DM(FEDIAF, NIAS) — identical
scale, directly comparable.
- arachidonic acid mixes
% DM(AAFCO) withmg per 100 g DM(FEDIAF, NIAS); the mg/kg DM
reconciliation is mg/100 g DM × 10.
Every numeric cell is a verbatim value of the named source JSON. Cells not set by a standard are honest gaps, never interpolated.
Dog — adult maintenance
| Fatty acid | AAFCO 2026 (US) | FEDIAF 2025 (EU) | NIAS 2024 (KR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linoleic acid (ω-6) min | 1.1 % DM | 1.32 g/100 g DM | 1.1 g/100 g DM |
| Arachidonic acid (ω-6) min | ND (no minimum) | not listed | not listed |
For the adult dog, none of the three standards sets a minimum arachidonic acid (it is not an essential nutrient for dogs). Linoleic acid minimums agree tightly (AAFCO/FEDIAF/NIAS ≈ 1.1–1.32 g/100 g DM).
Cat — adult maintenance
| Fatty acid | AAFCO 2026 (US) | FEDIAF 2025 (EU) | NIAS 2024 (KR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linoleic acid (ω-6) min | 0.56 % DM | 0.5 g/100 g DM | 0.50 g/100 g DM |
| Arachidonic acid (ω-6) min | 0.02 % DM (=200 mg/kg DM) | 6.0 mg/100 g DM (=60 mg/kg DM) | 2.0 mg/100 g DM (=20 mg/kg DM) |
Arachidonic acid is an essential nutrient for cats. On the reconciled mg/kg DM basis the three standards diverge sharply: AAFCO 200 vs FEDIAF 60 vs NIAS 20 mg/kg DM — a 10× spread between the US and KR figures. This is a real minimum-setting difference, not a units artefact (once both are converted to mg/kg DM the gap remains).
Method & honest-gap notes
- Source of truth:
pdf-parsed/cross_standard_nutrient_index.json—aafco_us_2026
(linoleic_acid_min_pct_dm, arachidonic_acid_min_pct_dm for dog/cat adult maintenance) and fediaf_2025_summary.lifestages (dog adult nutrients_110kcal, cat adult nutrients_100kcal, linoleic_acid_min_pct_dm, arachidonic_acid_min_mgkg_dm); plus pdf-parsed/kr-2026/korea_nias_nutrient_standard.json tables 표 2-17b (dog 성견) and 표 2-17f (cat 성묘) — linoleic acid (omega-6) g/100g DM, arachidonic acid (omega-6) mg/100g DM (dog 성견 sets no arachidonic minimum; cat 성묘 sets 2.0 mg/100g DM).
- FEDIAF basis: the FEDIAF 2025 nutrient tables are "per 100 g dry matter" — the
arachidonic_acid_min_mgkg_dm key name is a label artefact; the verbatim value 6.0 (dog/cat) is mg per 100 g DM, reconciled to 60 mg/kg DM by ×10.
- Omega-3 (alpha-linolenic acid, EPA + DHA): none of the three standards sets a minimum in
these adult-maintenance slices (AAFCO = "ND (no minimum)"; FEDIAF/NIAS list no value) — recorded as an honest gap, not zero.
- Growth / reproduction life stages are out of scope here (focus: adult maintenance).
- Reproduce: re-read the named index keys / NIAS table cells; each quoted number is a
substring/value of the source JSON, with the arachidonic mg/kg DM figure labelled as ×10 of the verbatim mg/100 g DM value.
Cross-references
life_stage_nutrient_matrix— AAFCO-vs-FEDIAF protein / fat / calcium / phosphorus matrixlife_stage_nutrient_matrix_amino_acids— 12 essential amino-acid matrixlife_stage_nutrient_matrix_vitamins— fat-soluble vitamin matrix/api/v1/cross_compare— programmatic cross-standard nutrient comparison (same source index)