The ketogenic diet, popularly known as keto, is a rage these days. Celebrities, athletes, and people just like you and me are swearing by it as a means to lose weight, get in shape, and feel great. But what about our furry friends? Can the keto diet be good for them too?
In this article, we’ll explore what you need to know about ketogenic dog food. We’ve got you covered, from the basics of the diet to potential benefits and drawbacks, and even some ketogenic dog food brands.
What Is Ketogenic Dog Food?
There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about ketogenic diets for dogs. Some people believe that ketogenic diets are unhealthy for dogs, while others think that they are the best way to provide dogs with the nutrients they need.
A ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that forces the body to use ketones for energy instead of glucose. The goal of ketogenic diets for dogs is to put the dog into ketosis, a metabolic state in which the body burns stored fat for energy instead of glucose.
According to Healthline, a ketogenic diet provides 70% of calories as fat, with 20% of calories from protein and 10% of calories from carbs.
Benefits Of Ketogenic Diets For Dogs
There are a number of reasons why ketogenic diets may be a better choice for some dogs, including weight management, seizure control, increased energy, reduced inflammation, better skin and coat condition, and improvement in canine cognitive function.
Weight Management
Dogs that are overweight or obese can benefit significantly from a ketogenic diet because it causes dogs to burn fat for energy, thus losing weight in the process. In many cases, the weight reduction can be 50% or more.
Increased Energy
The metabolic state that occurs when there is a lack of sugar and carbohydrates in the diet is called ketosis. When the body is in ketosis, it burns stored fat instead of glucose for energy, resulting in increased energy levels.
Seizure Control
The change in energy source from carbs to fat causes a decrease in seizures in both humans and dogs with epilepsy. And the ketogenic diet is a century-old epilepsy treatment.
Reduced inflammation
By starving the body of glucose, a keto diet helps to reduce inflammation in the body. So if your dog is suffering from obesity, cancer, arthritis, or other chronic inflammatory conditions, a ketogenic diet will be of much benefit to him.
Better skin and coat condition
If a dog’s coat doesn’t have enough protein quantity and quality, hair may fall out or become dry, weak, and brittle. The Keto diet provides your dog with an adequate amount of protein needed to have healthy and shiny skin and coat. For insights on products for your dog’s skin, you can read Derma-iONX For Dogs: A Quick Product Review
How To Start Your Dog On A Ketogenic Diet
Here are some tips to help you get your dog started on a keto diet.
Know Your Ratios
As a pet parent who wants to get your dog started on a keto diet, it is important for you to understand the percentage of nutrients that a keto diet contains. A keto diet contains 70% fats, 25% proteins, and 5% carbs.
Having this in mind helps you know what to look out for, and also helps those who want to prepare homemade meals to know how best to schedule a meal for their dogs. Remember, the highest should be fats, proteins come next, and keep carbs to the barest minimum as possible.
Prepare A Schedule
A carefully prepared schedule helps keep you in check, and to an extent, ensures your consistency in keeping your dog on a ketogenic diet. It also helps you know what to give your dog, and when.
According to the American Kennel Club, a ketogenic dog food pyramid would have fresh muscle meat, fatty fish, and organ meat for its base, eggs, cheese, and oils for its middle, and then vegetables like carrots, leafy greens, and broccoli, with a few nuts and berries as a topping.
This should give you an idea of the meal schedule for your dog. You can carry out more searches on the internet for sites that suggest keto recipes and meal plans for dogs.
Start And Monitor
Once you’ve got the recipe and schedule sorted, you can go ahead to start your dog on the keto plan. Your dog is probably used to its usual dog food, and the recipe might seem new to it.
So I’ll suggest you monitor your dog even as you introduce the keto diet to it, to observe its acceptance level. This can help you look out for better recipes and plans.
Ketogenic Dog Food Brands
If you’re not quite sure about starting a keto meal from scratch, there are several reliable brands that specialize in producing ketogenic dog food for your pets.
KetoNatural Pet Foods
KetoNatural is responsible for the wide range of Ketona Dog Food available in Chicken Recipe, Salmon Recipe, Zero Carbohydrate Chicken Liver Treats, Daily Mobility Chews, and Daily Calming Chews with Hemp.
The brand believes that Mother Nature knows best, and that’s why only good things happen to your pet when they are fed their natural meal – for dogs and cats being carnivores, a natural meal consists mostly of proteins and fats.
This results in minimal blood sugar impact, minimal pancreas release of insulin, the release of stored body fat for energy, and balanced energy levels after fat cells shrink.
Ketogenic Pet Foods™
Ketogenic Pet Foods™ offers a variety of keto food for your pets, including Keto-Kibble™, Keto-Kibble™ Fat Boost, Keto-Foundation™, Keto-Treats™ Quail, Keto-Treats™ Rabbit, Ketogenic Pet Foods ™ Beef Heart & Liver, and Keto-Mega™, amongst others. Ketogenic Pet Foods™ can be given as a singular food or as supplemental food.
The brand’s foundation is built on returning pets to their natural diet – natural protein and fat-rich meats and organs, excluding starch ingredients. They incorporate healthy micronutrients for maximum nutritional value and enhanced metabolic balance.
Visionary Keto Pet Foods
Formerly Valiant Pet Nutrition, the brand offers a variety of premium keto low carb food for dogs, including Beef Dry Food, Chicken Dry Food, Freeze-Dried Keto Medallions, Flame-Grilled Beef Treats, and Raw Frozen Keto Patties.
Many pet parents who feed their dogs with food from this brand report that they observed softer and shinier dog coats, lasting relief from allergies, skin and digestion issues, more solid and less frequent dog poop, zero bloating, increased endurance and energy, amongst other benefits.
Conclusion On Ketogenic Dog Food Brands
As pet parents, we are all working towards ensuring that our pets eat and live healthy, so we are constantly on a journey to provide them the best. This is what ketogenic dog food does easily.
With carbs levels kept at minimal and increased protein and fat levels, ketogenic dog food offers weight management, seizure control, reduced inflammation, increased energy, and enhanced coat and skin condition.
If you are taking that step towards starting your dog on a keto diet, we would love to read about your experiences and recommendations in the comment section below.
What can I feed my dog on keto diet?
When starting dogs on keto diets, you should abstain from feeding your dog plant-based carbohydrates such as potatoes. Increase the consumption of fatty meats such as beef, fish with eggs, and accompanied by vegetables.
Is keto food good for dogs?
Feeding a ketogenic diet means you are increasing the fat content and decreasing the carbohydrate content of your dog's diet. The dog's body, therefore, burns stored fat for energy instead of glucose. Keto diets in dogs control weight, promote a good skin coat, and reduce inflammation.
How many carbs should a dog eat?
30-70% of a dog's dry food contains carbs. These mainly come from grains and other plants. It is however, hard to believe that a "no carb" meal is essential for a dog's health. A low carb dog meal should contain 5-15% carbs while promoting the consumption of protein and fat.
Can dogs live on meat alone?
Your dog needs a ton of vitamins and nutrients that meat alone cannot provide. It is true that dogs need a lot of protein but placing a dog on just meat as a meal is not advisable.
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