ATKINS FOR DOGS

Posted on May 9, 2004 by Dave Pollard
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Chelsea has been on hypothyroid medicine since we adopted her, and despite that, three 1-mile walks a day, and a careful diet, she’s still overweight. When Rob Paterson visited last month he suggested we try her on a low-carb diet instead of a low-fat diet, since the former is richer in protein and contains principally meat, while most ‘diet’ dog foods contain principally corn. We thought it was worth a try, since it seems to work for people, so I did some research. I discovered that most high protein, low carb dog foods (like most high protein, low carb human foods) are also high in fat, which may be why Atkins dieters who pig out on bacon not only don’t lose weight but endanger their health at the same time.

I discovered that there is a new high-protein, low-fat dog food called Pedigree Two-Step, but it’s not available in Canada and their US website only accepts e-mails from US addresses. Anybody tried it in the US, or hear anything good or bad about it?

In the meantime, we’ve calculated the dog foods that come closest to the Two-Step protein/fat/carb balance, and put Chelsea on a combination of a couple of these. Here are the top 10, in protein-minus-fat order, with canned dog foods converted to dry weight equivalent, in case you want to try one of them out on your canine companion. I’ll report on results in a month or so.

Protein minus fat % Protein/Fat/Carb % #1 ingredient
1. Pedigree 2-step loss formula STEP 1 (dry) 48% 57-09-29 chicken by-product meal
2. Pedigree lean (canned) 26% 38-12-45 meat by-products
3. Iams maturity/Eukanuba senior maintenance (canned) 25% 41-16-38 chicken broth
4. Pedigree choice cuts (canned) 23% 36-14-45 poultry
5. Dr Ballard (canned) 23% 36-14-45 poulty, beef, lamb
6. Pedigree dog chow loss formula (dry) 22% 28-06-61 corn
7. President’s Choice Nutrition First weight control (dry) 21% 30-09-56 chicken
8. Pedigree 2-step maintenance STEP 2 (dry) 20% 28-08-59 corn
9. Pedigree dog chow senior (canned) 19% 28-09-58 corn
Most maintenance/low fat/senior dog foods (dry) 11% 24-13-58 corn
Most regular dog foods (dry) 14% 31-17-47 corn

To convert to dry weight equivalent you need to multiply fat and protein % by 100/(100-moisture %). So a dry dog food that is 12% moisture and 22% protein would be 25% protein on a dry-weight equivalent basis, while a canned dog food that is 78% moisture and 8% protein would be 36% protein on a dry-weight equivalent basis. To calculate approximate carb % (since carbohydrate % is never shown on the bag) I took 100% minus computed dry weight protein % minus computed dry weight fat % minus 5% for trace elements. From what I’ve read, the Protein-minus-Fat percentage should be a better predictor of weight-loss potential than either low fat or low carbs alone, or simply relying on the first-listed ingredient. Most of the ‘top 9’ above also have Omega fatty acids and other ingredients said to be good for balanced health. You can get premium brand dog foods that are organic, preservative-free, and/or corn-free, but their Protein-minus-Fat percentages are lower than the ‘top 9’ above, and they’re generally much more expensive.

What do you think? Is this a scientific way to go about selecting a diet dog food? We’re using a mix of #4 (because it’s Chelsea’s favourite, and it smells a lot better than other canned dog foods) and #7 (because it’s quite inexpensive, is recommended by the Canadian Veterinary Association, and has chicken as the first ingredient). It’s also very close to the second (maintenance) step of the Pedigree 2-step, but it’s only available in Canada.

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4 Responses to ATKINS FOR DOGS

  1. mscandide says:
    May 10, 2004 at 19:54

    STOP looking at cans and bags and pick up one of these:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1561706361/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/104-2977329-0519116?v=glance&s=books&st=*http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0875962432/qid=1084243531/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2977329-0519116?v=glance&s=bookshttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0813821495/ref=pd_sim_books_5/104-2977329-0519116?v=glance&s=books(hope they show up as links). I fed two dogs a home-prepared diet from birth to … now (10+ years) and NO vet visits or illnesses or deficiencies — just high energy and perfect health. I make one big batch every 5 days, divide it up into single-serving containers, and freeze what I won’t use immediately. Take it out of the freezer in the morning, feed it when it’s thawed at the end of the day (fivish) (when I occasionally forget, I nuke to thaw). It would be so easy to create a hi-protein low-fat (low-hassle) diet for Chelsea that would be a thousand times better for her than anything you could buy.

  2. Rayne says:
    May 10, 2004 at 21:15

    I’m with Ms. Candide on this one, Dave. I used to feed my cats and dog a recipe of ground meat( mixture of chicken and beef), cottage cheese, steamed green beans and grated carrots mixed with a high-fiber/high protein kibble. Add a little garlic powder and olive oil along with the occasional egg. There are quality canned pet foods which are 100% meat; just mix with the veggies and other ingredients. If I run across the recipe I’ll forward it to you.

  3. Dave Pollard says:
    May 10, 2004 at 22:20

    Sam/Rayne — Thanks, this is useful. We’ve fed Chelsea a mix of lean ground beef and rice when she’s sick, and she certainly likes that. Sam, the first book on your list proposes a raw-meat diet, while the 3rd proposes an all-cooked, natural food diet. Which did/do you use? I’ve also been told by some vets that dogs are ‘naturally’ carnivores, and you shouldn’t feed them vegetables, and by others that dogs have now been domesticated for so long that their digestive systems can no longer handle an all-meat diet, and they need more balance. And some vets warn that dogs’ gastric juices are no longer able to handle bacterial infections in raw meat, the way wolves can. I’ll certainly read some of these books, but I hope they’re less confusing and contradictory than what I’ve read on the various online sources.

  4. Rob Paterson says:
    May 14, 2004 at 05:42

    Hi Dave just an update on Mildred, our fat tendency Lab Cross. No science just very little kibble. The issue is less carbs per se than corn. Corn is emerging as the great villain in the obesity epidemic.It is fed to cows to ‘finish” them = marbling and high fat meat as compared to grass fed cows whose meat is closer to game. You want a fat cow = feed them corn. Why because it is so high in simple sugar.Corn syrup is now the key sweetener in factory food and pop. This trend began in the 1970’s and so has the obesity epidemic.Kibble is mainly corn.

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