Keto for dogs and cats

(Alison) #59

IMG_20170904_145456_037
IMG_20170904_145456_037.jpg1768×1768 1.54 MB

Just started these two on a raw food Keto diet this week… the slimmer one, Gabe, is 2 years old, and the rounder one, Gia, is almost 10… she eats only 2 cups of food a day and gets regular exercise, yet has maintained her round physique for 3 years now… Anway, we’re transitioning off of the dry food to a raw meat/organ diet and I’m going to be researching whether or not they need any added fat or salt… does anyone know for sure? I had been feeding them Open Farm Human Grade Grain Free Dog food at $90 + a bag, but when I finally read the label, of course it was filled with chick peas and other filler vegetables… I feel so bad I’ve been giving this to them, especially her, when I assumed because it was grain free it was 100% meat all along! They REALLY like the new food, especially Gabe who was always very disappointed in kibble… he LOVES this, cleans the bowl, and sneaks around looking & begging for more.

*I do wonder if I should cook the raw food too, just because they ate it in the wild doesn’t mean they never became sick from it, and they are a long way from wild today

(Khara) #60

I thought that looked too much like home.… Gorgeous dogs, gorgeous location. Which water body is that? Good luck with the doggie diet, I hope you’ll notice they are feeling better.

(Jodi) #61

I wouldn’t cook the food. I don’t know what you are feeding them, but there might be small bits of ground up raw bone in it, which are completely fine vs cooked. I believe they get more benefits in raw vs cooked overall.
I fed my dog raw for years, I truly believe it added years to his life. I mostly gave him raw chicken leg quarters and actually got a kick out of hearing him chomp up the bones. :blush:

(Allie) #62

Raw feeding is the best for dogs.

#63

I feed my dogs raw chicken and beef with the bones. A couple times a day I’ll give them a mini milkbone which is their daily ration of junk food. They’re happy and healthy.

#64

I feed my dogs a completely raw diet following the whole prey model:

80 – 85% Muscle meat
10 – 15% Raw meaty bones
5- 10% Organs & Offal (with half of this amount being liver)

I don’t make it myself though, I buy it pre-made and frozen in 10 pound bags from texas tripe. If you live in texas you can get it that way, makes things so much easier. But I know there are other companies that do the same in other places.
I also feed them whole fresh fish if we have them (when we go fishing), they love them and there is no mixing or defrosting.

I have been feeding them like this for a while now and they are thriving. They are shedding less, and their coats are shinier. They poop less and it has almost no smell, making the pick up so much easier. And the little one that was one the rounder side is losing weight. So if you ask me, I would completely recommend this type of diet for dogs, I have seen absolutely no negative effects from it.

DSC05144
DSC05144.JPG3072×2304 2.62 MB

(Brian Ernst) #65

Partial bullshit. If someone feeds their dog only the meat people normally consume and not organs, then yes, the dogs will not get necessary nutrition. If you’re feeding your dog liver, heart, and other organs with the meat, they should get the nutrition they need. They don’t need a lot of organ meat, just think about how small the organs are compared to the meat on an animal. Also don’t forget to feed your dogs raw bones, not just the meat.

See this answer for a good percentage breakdown.

(Alison) #66

Thank you! That’s ‘Rattlesnake Lake’ east of Seattle, and no, there are no actual rattlesnakes there! :slight_smile:

(Alison) #67

Hi Jodi - Yes, I think I do see bits of bone in the food… good call! Thanks for sharing your previous experience, it’s scary to start the raw diet with so little reliable research out there, so I think real life experiences will be what I base it on.

(Alison) #68

Thank you, Carina… this is super helpful! How long have you had them on the raw diet would you estimate? How quickly has your rounder pup’s weight loss progressed?

#69

Full raw diet for 4 months, I was doing a mix before, which didn’t help anything, i should have just ditched the kibble completely in one go, but you live and you learn. He is losing weight slowly, every now and then we see him walking around in the yard and say “look, his stomach is further from the ground today” haha, maybe we should measure that distance as a non scale victory for him. The real answer is that he is still losing weight now, he had a long way to go, but I did notice he has more energy to run around with the other two, even with his short legs and all.

(Sheri Knauer) #70

That is great. I have been thinking about feeding my dogs raw. I have 4 of them (3 are in the 70lb range and one is in the 50lb range) so I was thinking it would be expensive to do so. I need to crunch the numbers and figure out if it really would be cost prohibitive for 4 dogs. Better health for them though would be a win win and worth the extra cost, if indeed there is an extra cost.

(Allie) #71

Raw fed dogs tend to need less food because of the drastically improved quality.

#72

Hi, if you are interested in a very good raw diet for you dog, check out KetopetSanctuary.com. They are pros and will help you build the perfect meal plan for you dogs. I found them after my dog was diagnosed with Melanoma and I researched it to death! I can tell you making the food myself has been an adventure over the last 4 months, but she is cancer free still, her activity level has increased a hundred fold (she’s a 13 year old lab) and LOVES her food.

#73

Yes indeed - biologically appropriate diets for all!!!

Have been feeding my feline friends grain-free and no by-products for many decades - then went raw in the late 90s due to the good fortune of living in a town where one of the earliest commercial producers had her shop. Making your own is awesome - if you’ve got the storage space/process down. Back then I was a vegetarian, but very faithful in buying the raw and serving the bloody juices with panache.

Fast forward to now - due to the necessity of convenience/practicality have been also incorporating Acana free-range/grassfed/wild grain-free/good fats kibble, which I presoak for 5-10 minutes to hydrate them more. I get it from an independent feed store (remember those? They still exist in many cities - they also sell tons of raw food brands in the freezers.

I also feed the felines Primal raw dehydrated nuggets for snacks (used to by the frozen raw, but not practical at the moment).

And, on Sunday it’s “Sardine Sunday” and they each eat a half-tin of sardines for breakfast… which really helps with furball preventions, along with occasional butter and pig fat!

sardine

What’s amazing is that their fur is as silky as when on total raw - and their liveliness too. Being that I’ve previously had indoor/outdoor cats that lived to over 20 in the past due to grain-free+fats+nutritional powders and a few years on raw - I fully expect these ones to do the same. I do believe raw food is ideal - and hope to get them back on it more down the road.

Once I helped a friend sustainably switch their 11 year old frail and arthritis/pain-ridden spayed female tortie cat who had an unknown history before she was adopted at the pound at around age 3 - to all raw… and within two weeks she’d gone through her detox and reverted to kittenhood - started running around the house, climbing on top of the fridge, breaking into stuff just for fun. It was like she was given a second lease on life - and it amazed everyone who knew her.

Here’s to animal kinship ~ they are such blessed companions in our homes and hearts.

(Stan Brooks) #74

I don’t have a dog or a cat. My family has a ferret. He, and all his ken, are obligate carnivores.. He lives off of chicken thighs.

All commercial ferret food has grains. Makes no sense to me.

#75

Actually, there are lots of commercial brands now that do not have grains - but are mainly sold at independent feed stores or online. Acuna, Blue Freedom, Honest Kitchen, Whole Earth Farms, and Origins/Instinct. Because it’s what more and more people want - even PETCO has started to carry grain-free. And, some of the brands even include a raw coating, or raw freeze dried bits mixed in.

However, the quality of the meats in many of the large store brands is still not human-grade or wild - still is Grade 4, which includes diseased parts/tumors etc. For fish, the large store brands have only farmed salmon rather than wild caught.

There are even prey-based dietary suppliers. For cats, you can buy whole frozen mice nowadays… but can get messy if they eat indoors :smiley:

(Trish) #76

I raw feed my dogs. They eat better than I do sometimes. They eat beef, pork, chicken, duck turkey fish tripe offal lamb rabbit beaver elk venison and a few other things.

#77

Wow, they sure are fortunate to have you as their Guardian-parent - a fabulous menu at your house!!!

(Trish) #78

They deserve it. They both had a rough go of it before finding their way here. My bichon was rescued from a huge puppy mill in Missouri and was so beaten and starved. I did a lot of research years ago and learned about dog anatomy etc and what they should be eating. People say they are omnivores but they’re really not. They’re only opportunistic omnivores. Just because they can survive on nonmeat foods doesn’t mean they thrive on it.