Any Keto Pets?

(Nicole Silvia) #1

Pets get a lot of diabetes and thyroid conditions. I used to work with animals and even cooked my former dog’'s food. Cats are strict carnivores and I spend a fortune on prescription cat food for their sensitive bladders. Probably full of corn and wheat. Anyone have a keto pet? I know dogs whose entire diets are raw chicken. Thinking of cooking for my pets again.

(Short224) #2

I know Dr Berry only feeds his pets meat as well I think it’s a great idea .

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

unfortunately, it’s very difficult to get rats into ketosis (and the ketogenic rat diets I know about are all very unhealthy). Chinchillas and rabbits are obligate herbivores, so there is no way to keep their carbohydrate low. Apparently human beings are one of the few species able to get into ketosis easily and regularly.

#4

I feed my dogs a meat only diet. Basically a raw diet, but my one dog doesn’t like raw meat so I do cook their food. Your not supposed to feed cooked bones (because they can become brittle and splinter), but we do. Just being honest.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

My understanding has always been that it’s cooked poultry bones that splinter like that. I’ve never had dog get into trouble with a beef or ham bone.

#6

Yes, chicken is the biggest culprit but no cooked bones are recommended. The intention is for the dog to eat the bone, not just knaw on it, so any of them can splinter (eg pork ribs). Unless you pressure cook it to the point of being pablum mush. Its been a while since I’ve been on the raw forums but I know many people wont feed any kind of weight bearing bones (or recreational bones) either, raw or not, because it might be hard on their teeth (they call them wreck bones)

That being said I am a horrible person and will get lynched for saying this but I feed all cooked bones including chicken (I might pick out the ribs and anything else that seems sharp). I also don’t feed the recommended amount of offal. I would never give an inexperienced dog cooked bones though. I find my dogs spit out anything they can’t handle. Of course bad things can always happen so I like to be upfront about the general recommendations.

Sorry for the long post: I used to be on dog forums like I am on the keto forum now

(Allie) #7

My dog has raw meat only.
Cats lick at it but mostly aren’t impressed.

(rabia) #8

Since you’re looking for certain specific percentages of meat and organ and bone, the bone doesn’t have to come from the same source as the protein…the only reliable way I get raw bone into my guy is with whole freeze dried duck necks. He LOVES them.

I feed raw, but some times my guy will get picky and require a bit of cooked meat to jump start his appetite, so I don’t do whole prey (plus he is a cacher so I don’t want to find a raw carcass stuffed in the couch) just portion out the individual bits as needed.

#9

Very true, and good points. I’ve tried turkey necks and that was an utter failure. I’ve gotten a couple good boxes of scraps from the butcher with lots of raw bones I could add to their cooked meat. My dog who doesn’t like raw will still chew on raw bones if they are pretty “clean”.

We just found mouldy pork under our couch yesterday. Another reason I don’t do raw, they like to take their food all over the house, show it off, posture, act like idiots. Just didn’t want to admit that they are so poorly trained lol.

(Nicole Silvia) #10

I would think rats are fine off keto. Some animals are evolved for a more varied diet :slight_smile:

(Nicole Silvia) #11

Large bones are ok, it’s cooked bird bones that are the worst danger.

(Nicole Silvia) #12

I think I’m going to switch my cats to meat. There’s a lot of corn and gluten in my very pricy prescription cat food. Cats are carnivores and this diet is salty to make them drink more.

One of my guys is skinny because of congenital kidney disease, so I will have to do some research.

I found a lot of information on how to switchange cats to raw meat. I started thinking of this because a patient of mine was talking to me about her diabetic cat.

My dog is eating chicken now. He is quite thrilled with the change. I guess I can IF him as well.

(Nicole Silvia) #13

Your dog is handsome . Wish I could see him better :slight_smile:

(Allie) #14

@Silvian thank you, here he is :heart:

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#15

2 dogs on raw. A variety of meats. A little raw veg. No grains (one dog gets colitis with grains, which is an awful experience for everyone, poor love).

They do get some cooked, dried treats, but these are grain free, low carb and in small quantities. They get raw bones, usually lamb or chicken wings.

They are astonishingly bright eyed and in superb condition. People keep thinking they are only just fully grown (they are 5 and nearly 4)

Can’t imagine ever switching to cooked/processed.

(Heather~KWOL for life!) #16

LOL sounds like me with my furry kids :joy::joy::joy: I am interested in this keto for pets. What do vets say? I would love to provide better meals for my girl.

#17

I would find a good forum like this one and learn all you can. I was on a boxer forum because I originally had boxers and learned a lot there. Feel around though, make sure it’s a place you feel comfortable and it’s not full of crazies.

Vets are like doctors. They are not trained in nutrition and can be swayed by dog food companies to sell their product (I’m looking at you science diet). Some will be more knowledgeable than others, but I found it I wanted to feed a raw or home cooked diet I had to do the research myself.

(Heather~KWOL for life!) #18

Ok, good advice. I will definitely look into it. Is it just as cost effective as opposed to buying a better dry food? My girl is 1/2 husky and 1/2 chocolate lab, she gets mistaken as a white german sheppard all the time… but I do really want to give her the best overall diet and I am not convinced dry dog food is the way to go. Agree about the Vets, my vet is awesome but I do get encouraged strongly to use the prescription diets (Yep, still you Science diet). I will definitely start researching this.

(Nicole Silvia) #19

My old neighbor had a pit/lab mix. She ate 2 raw chicken quarters a day. She was very healthy as far as I know. I’ve also heard of breeders feeding raw chicken quarters and nothing else.

I also heard that the dogs won’t get fleas from the diet. Sounds too good to be true, but healthier animals are less susceptible.

#20

The suggestion is 2-3 lb per lb if body weight. So my dogs are each about 100lbs I feed them 2-3 lbs of food per day.

If you can source your meat cheap (I can get pork breast bone for $1.02 /lb ) it’s about the same as a high grade dry dog food. We do spend more because our dogs seem to get sick of eating the same thing every day (they will leave it sit in their bowl until it goes “off”).

Cheapest food by far is butcher scraps, but sometimes you get a lot of fat. Even if we throw half of it away it’s still super cheap ($10/30-50 lb box here). If you have an Asian market near by you might get some cheap variety as well. Chicken feet are good for dogs, lots of glucosamine.