Building a Long-term Food Supply for Your Pet
Our goal for our pets is the same as ours - start building a three-month supply and expand from there. There are some practical steps you can take to grow your pet's food supply safely and methodically.
Stock Up on Food Your Pet Eats
The simplest and most reliable approach to pet‑food storage is to store the food your pet already eats. Begin by building a three‑month supply, which is both affordable and easy to rotate. From there, you can increase your storage to six months if space and budget allow.
Maintaining a 3‑to‑6‑month supply is an excellent preparedness goal for most families. This range provides a strong cushion against supply chain disruptions, unexpected expenses, or short‑term emergencies. If you choose to work toward a year supply, continue using and purchasing pet food as usual so your storage stays fresh through regular rotation.
Remember to store water for your pet as well!
Most Common Types of Pet Food
Most commercial pet foods for cats and dogs fall into a few familiar categories. Kibble is the most common dry option, designed for convenience, long shelf life, and easy portioning. Canned or wet foods offer higher moisture content and tend to be more palatable for many pets. Beyond those, some owners choose fresh or refrigerated foods, which are minimally processed and often sold in sealed rolls or containers, while others use commercially prepared raw diets that come frozen or freeze‑dried for safety and storage.
Because kibble and canned foods are by far the most widely used - and the most practical for long‑term storage - here we'll focus on how to store these two types safely and effectively. They’re the formats most households rely on, and they offer the best balance of convenience, affordability, and stability when building an emergency supply for dogs and cats.
Dry Kibble
Here are some helpful tips in building a successful storage of dry food for your pet. Learning how to shop smarter, store wisely, and rotate correctly will all make your pet's food last longer.
Tips When Buying Kibble
Always take from the back
Most unopened dry pet foods have a shelf life of 1 to 2 years. In pet food stores, as in grocery stores, the newest stock is placed in the back or on the bottom. If you take it from the front or top, you may be knocking off months of storage time that you really don’t want to lose. So, just as you do when buying milk at the grocery store, always grab it from the back.
Buy the same amount but in smaller bags
Bigger dry food bags are more cost-efficient, no doubt. But if you can afford it, the smarter strategy is to buy more of the smaller bags. Why? Because the minute the bag is opened, food oxidation begins, and the timer starts on the quality of the bag’s contents. Once the bag is open, some experts say the clock expires in 4-6 weeks. Once exposed to air, light, and humidity, the fats in the food begin to oxidize which starts the clock ticking.
Size consideration
Buy the size of the bag that contains just enough food that your pet can eat in 4-6 weeks. But, with short-term food storage in mind, buy enough of these bags to always have 3 months of food on hand. This works out to be 2.5 bags per pet.
Exceptions to bag size and storage amounts
You can store less dry food if you plan to store canned or freeze-dried food as well. If you have two cats or two dogs, then you can take advantage of the price breaks of the larger bag while they consume the contents within 4-6 weeks so work out your math accordingly.
Building a one-year food storage for your pet
Building a one-year food storage for your pet
When finances allow, work your way up by having enough bags in storage to have a consistent one-year supply, rotating through each bag, and buying another one, once each bag is consumed or, better yet, when opened. See Tips for Rotation below. This works out to be about 8 to 9 bags per pet. Of course, breed sizes can change some of these calculations, but you get the point.
Storage Tips
Keep food in its original packaging
- It is not recommended that you repackage dry pet food for short or long-term storage.
- Always store dry food, even if opened, in its original packaging.
- High-quality pet food packaging has been designed to keep its contents dry, keep damaging amounts of oxygen and humidity out, and to maintain freshness for as long as possible.
- If you want an added level of protection once the bag is opened, look for airtight plastic containers. But remember, keep the food in the original bag.
- If you pour kibble directly into a container, wash and fully dry the container between refills to prevent fat residue buildup and mold.
Storage requirements
- Store kibble in a cool, dry place away from sunlight and heat. Heat accelerates nutrient loss and can cause fats to go rancid.
- Temperature swings shorten shelf life, so avoid garages, sheds, and attics unless they stay consistently cool.
When to discard
Regardless of the date, discard any kibble that shows signs of compromise, including:
- smells rancid or sour
- shows visible mold
- has insects or webbing
- has been exposed to moisture or humidity
- has been stored past the best‑by date in poor conditions
Rotating Kibble Food
Set up a rotation system
Once you have more than one bag of your pet’s favorite food, start rotating through each one, using the oldest first. Pay attention to the due dates and rotate through them accordingly.
Mark the date as you open each bag
As your pet uses the food, remember, the “use by” (or “best used by”, etc.) dates apply ONLY to sealed bags. They don’t apply once the bag is opened. Once opened, dry pet food oxidation starts to occur at a rapid pace and most commercial pet food will only stay fresh 4-6 weeks max. When you first open a bag of food, write the date on the bag with a marker and count 4-6 weeks. That is the new expiration date, regardless of the date on the bag. Then, after each feeding, squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible and reseal it tightly with a clip.
Understanding use-by date
"Use-by" and "best-by" are primarily quality indicators, not strict safety deadlines. It’s okay to have pet food bags in storage that extend beyond the “use-by” date (within limits) if the bags have never been opened. Rotating through your bags will help you from storing bags that go well beyond the expiration date. But safety first! Always keep an eye on the food’s appearance and smell. When in doubt, throw it out.
- Required for Quality: "Best if used by" or "Best if frozen by"
- Required for Safety: "Use by" or "Use or freeze by"
Freezing Kibble Food
Taking advantage of bulk pricing
Some shoppers opt for buying larger amounts of food at bulk pricing. If this is you, go ahead and buy the bigger, better-valued bags. But there is a trade-off when going this route if pet food storage is truly the goal. You must prepare the kibble correctly if you want it to last in the freezer. This means you will need to use airtight containers or vacuum-sealed bags to protect the food until it is used by your pet. Properly packaged kibble can stay good in the freezer for about 6–12 months.
Tips for freezing dry pet food
- Take out what your pet can eat in 4-6 weeks and freeze the rest. You must be careful to do this right because the freezer can add moisture to the food if you do it wrong.
- Divide the food into weekly feedings and place the food into an airtight container or vacuum sealed bag.
- If using a vacuum sealer, expel the air and seal properly.
- Write three dates on the container (using a freezer label) or sealed bag: purchase, seal/freeze date, and original best by date.
- Take out one container or bag and use within 4-6 weeks, just like freshly opened kibble.
Optional best practice: use smaller bags for simpler freezing
If you buy kibble in bag sizes your pet can finish within 4–6 weeks, you can freeze the unopened bags as‑is with no extra steps. The original packaging already provides an excellent barrier against moisture and oxidation, and freezing unopened bags makes rotation straightforward.
This approach eliminates the need for portioning, vacuum sealing, or dividing into weekly containers. Just freeze the extra bags, thaw one at a time, and use it like any freshly opened bag.
Keep the barcode
Keep the Barcode
Keeping the pet food bag also has the added benefit of retaining the food’s barcode and batch number – all of which are important information to have in the event of a recall. If you do repackage the kibble using a vacuum sealer or an airtight container, be sure to either cut the barcode and batch number from the bag and file it away or at least take a photo of this information for easy reference.
Canned Food
Canned food is a bit simpler to deal with and is extremely easy to store. Here are some good tips to follow if you want to preserve canned food for as long as possible.
Tips When Buying Canned Food
Always take from the back
When buying, always take from the back as that is where the newest stock is placed. If you can’t reach back there, don’t be afraid to ask for help. This practice helps ensure that your pet food maintains its maximum shelf life.
Look for dents
If you are used to buying canned food for your pet, you have undoubtedly noticed how common it is to see dented cans. A dented can is harmless if the seal has not been broken, however, you may not be able to tell if it has. Even a tiny break in the seal is enough to breed bacteria and that can is toast. If you see a dented can, play it safe and choose another can.
Storage Tips
Storage requirements
Store canned pet food the same way you would store any shelf-stable canned goods:
- Keep in a cool, dark, dry place.
- Avoid direct sunlight and temperature swings.
- Do not store in garages, sheds, or attics unless they remain cool year‑round.
- Keep cans off concrete floors to prevent rusting
- Never allow cans to freeze, as expansion can damage the seal.
Meeting these conditions helps maintain both safety and nutritional quality over long-term storage.
Rotating Canned Food
Understanding best-by dates
Most canned pet foods carry a best‑by date about two years from the manufacturing date. This date reflects how long the manufacturer guarantees full nutritional quality, not the point at which the food becomes unsafe.
When stored correctly, unopened canned pet food often remains safe and usable for 2–5 years, though nutrients may gradually decline over time. As with any canned product, safety depends on the integrity of the can.
Use the FIFO method
We've all found that can stuck in the back of the pantry. Using the "first in, first out" method avoids this. By placing newly purchased food to the back and taking from the front, your pet's canned food will maintain peak freshness.
Food Safety
When not to use a can from storage
Regardless of the date, discard any can that shows signs of compromise, including:
- bulging or swelling
- leaking
- rust, especially near seams
- dents on or near seams
- spurting or foul odor when opened
- unusual texture, mold, or discoloration inside
These signs indicate the seal has failed and the contents may be unsafe.