Keto pets ~ anyone have one?

#149

omg, yes, that thing smells sooo bad, I don’t know how they like it.

(Cathy) #150

I came across this series on youtube today through my raw feeding facebook group today and thought it would be interesting to this group. Would love to hear comments.

When my Maddie was very ill, I was told by 3 vets that she most likely had diabetes. I ended up getting in discussions with them, trying to explain that she was highly unlikely to get that because she was on a raw diet. They wouldn’t listen. Finally a vet tech did a pin prick and tested with a meter and sure enough, her blood sugars were ‘low’. According to those sources, dogs always have a higher b.g. than humans. Still not sure what all that might mean but she certainly did not have diabetes. Had I been better informed I might have been a better advocate for her…

(Ken) #151

I’ve been feeding my dogs keto/paleo for over a decade. They are healthy and long lived, usually living longer than 15 years. One of my Springers made it to 18.

I usually feed raw. A local butcher sells me his saw trim and beef fat. I also add about 10% raw beef kidney I buy by the case.

(Cathy) #152

It is really nice to hear from people who have been feeding raw for a long time. I am hoping for a long and healthy life for my wee puppy. So far she is doing really well.

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(Doug) #153

Massively cute, Cathy. :slightly_smiling_face:

(Mark Rhodes) #154

I talked about this here

My dog Herakles has a mouth tumor that I can not afford to have treatment done on, about 10K. Although they ate pretty good from the start, all organ meat I did mix in rice and oatmeal. We went strict keto with advice from the Ketopet Sanctuary. So far so good as well as giving him CBD oil. We have not measured any growth and they don’t seem to mind.

(Athena) #155

Hi everyone,

I have a question. We switched our pug, Ziggy, to grain-free dog food not long ago. (I really want to go raw, but not quite ready yet.) It seems as soon as we made the switch he started drinking tons of water. Before the grain-free food he rarely drank water.

I know that suddenly drinking lots of water can be a sign of diabetes or thyroid problems. The tests for these costs a lot of money, but I’m willing to pay for them if I have to. But before I do I’m just wondering if anyone here knows if the switch to grain-free can cause a sudden increase in water consumption?

Thanks!

(Cathy) #156

Does he seem well otherwise? In humans, going from a carb rich diet to a keto diet has a diuretic effect in which water consumption goes up and so does urination. That should taper off over a week or 2. If there are other symptoms, I would consider the vet visit.

(Athena) #157

Yes, he is fine otherwise. We switched well over a month ago, but the heavy drinking persists.

(Cathy) #158

I would want to have him checked out.

(Athena) #159

Yes, we decided to have the blood work done. His appointment is Tuesday.

(Cathy) #160

Hope it all comes out just fine.

(Athena) #161

We took Ziggy to the vet yesterday for his blood work. We will get the results today or tomorrow.

I am really upset about our visit. The vet was a real jerk to me because I had switched Ziggy to grain-free dog food. He questioned me like I was on a witness stand: “Why did I switch to grain-free?” “Who recommended to me that I make this switch?” He didn’t like my answers. Then he went on to tell us that it’s very bad for dogs to eat only protein, that they require carbohydrates in order to make protein. I didn’t know what to say to that but I did interrupt him to say that the dog food does have carbohydrates, it has peas and other fruits and vegetables…to which he replied: “peas have carbohydrates?”

It was a horrible visit and I’m still thinking about it today. This vet is the cheapest vet in our area and we don’t have money, which is why we see him. I am just hoping Ziggy’s blood work comes out fine.

(Cathy) #162

I like my vet but she is very against raw feeding and has tried scare tactics with me. Vets are no different than doctors in they don’t question what they learned in training. I have chosen to continue with her but not to discuss diet. Your vet displayed a real lack of knowledge by questioning that ‘peas have carbs’. I would have been embarrassed for that person.

(Athena) #163

Ziggy’s blood work came back normal, so that’s good. I’m thinking that now that he’s eating a more appropriate diet, maybe he’s finally drinking an appropriate amount of water. Before this he never drank any water on his own and we would add water to his kibble just to get him to drink some.

(Cathy) #164

Well that is good news! You now can rest easy and enjoy your Ziggy!

(Michelle) #165

Happy to say that I’ve switched my dog to LCHF!! He’s not completely Keto, but he’s very near. I switched to completely raw food from a great supplier (mypetcarnivore.com). I give him a variety of meats, bones, offal, and compliment it with broccoli, coconut oil, cheeses, grass fed butter, and sometimes he’ll get blueberries. Here are things I’ve noticed since getting him off commercially prepared food:

  • his coat is so soft
  • he’s not shedding nearly as much
  • he’s peppy and playful
  • his “output” is so little - only goes once a day (as opposed to 3x a day with kibble)
  • his stool is always firm

I do think this was the best thing I could do for my dog - getting him off kibble and now going low carb.

(Lorena Zorrilla ) #166

One of my Belgian Shepards has convulsions at night. I am thinking her blood sugar may be dropping while sleeping. She is with anticonvulsant meds but I think the real cause is not solved.
Maybe a ketodiet would be a better option for her as has no carbs.
Let me know how you do it.

(Jack Brien) #167

Dogs don’t really do ‘keto’, it’s more of a human thing. The equivalent is a raw food diet aka barf or species appropriate

(Cathy) #168

Jack, this discussion has come up in this thread and it is true that keto in dogs is a bit more difficult but not impossible. I would refer you to the work of ketopetsanctuary who are treating cancer with canine keto.

My goal is not necessarily ketosis for my dog but rather a keto ‘type’ diet which is biologically appropriate. That is raw meat, bone, organ meat, fats, eggs, and a bunch of other wholesome foods. It does resemble a keto diet and most dogs will be producing ketones albeit a low level.