Choosing the right dog food can feel like navigating a minefield of conflicting advice. Pet store employees, veterinarians, and online communities often offer passionate, yet contradictory, opinions. Traditional kibble, often packed with starchy carbohydrates that the body processes into glucose, can lead to health issues. A low-carb diet, such as keto, may offer a range of benefits by altering metabolic processes. This article explores the science, benefits, and considerations of ketogenic pet food for dogs, providing a comprehensive guide for pet owners.
Understanding the Ketogenic Diet for Dogs
A ketogenic diet for dogs is characterized by high fat, moderate protein, and very low carbohydrate levels. This dietary approach shifts the body's primary energy source from glucose (sugar) to ketones, which are produced when fat is metabolized. Diets with a significant contribution of energy from fat are commonly referred to as being ketogenic, facilitating a switch from using primarily carbohydrates for energy to fats.
The Science Behind Ketosis
Normally, cells convert carbohydrates into glucose, which is then either used immediately for energy or stored in the liver as glycogen. However, when carbohydrate intake is drastically reduced, the body depletes its glycogen stores within a few days and seeks an alternative fuel source. This metabolic shift leads to ketosis, where the liver begins to break down fat into ketones, which the body then uses for energy.
Nutritional Composition of a Keto Diet for Dogs
A well-formulated keto diet for dogs should be carefully balanced to meet their nutritional needs:
- High Fat (60-80% of calories): Healthy fats, such as coconut oil, fish oil, and animal fats, serve as the primary energy source.
- Moderate Protein (20-30% of calories): Protein should come from high-quality animal sources like chicken, turkey, or beef.
- Low Carbohydrates (<10% of calories): Carbohydrates should be limited to non-starchy vegetables like zucchini, spinach, or broccoli.
Potential Benefits of Keto Pet Food
The ketogenic diet for dogs can be a powerful tool in specific situations, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Read also: Starbucks Keto Drinks & Snacks
Weight Management and Obesity
Carb-heavy kibble is fueling a silent canine obesity epidemic. A staggering 30% of American dogs are obese, and an additional 20% are overweight. High-carb kibble causes blood sugar to spike as excessive amounts of glucose enter the bloodstream. A low-carb diet like KetoNatural Pet Foods Ketona enhances canine weight loss by altering metabolic processes. When your dog eats minimal carbs, they enter ketosis. Fat cells actively release harmful hormones called adipokines that can wreak havoc on bodily functions. A ketogenic diet shrinks fat cells and decreases adipokine production.
Diabetes Management
Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how a dog’s body turns food into energy. A dog on a typical carbohydrate-based diet breaks down a significant proportion of the diet into sugar (glucose) and releases it into the bloodstream. Thereafter, as blood glucose goes up, it signals the pancreas to release insulin, acting as a key, allowing blood glucose into cells for use as energy. This ongoing elevated blood glucose can lead to the development of type two diabetes, a result of a dog’s body not having enough insulin to deal with this constant increase. Unfortunately, if this continues, the cells responsible for producing insulin become incapable of producing sufficient amounts and stop functioning. Research has demonstrated that the blood glucose levels of dogs fed high fat, low carbohydrate diets, remained much lower than high carbohydrate fed dogs, both before and after a meal. Indeed, high fat fed dogs, showed very little, if any increase in blood glucose after consuming a meal. As discussed, with a low dietary carbohydrate intake, insulin levels remain low and ketogenesis takes place. These conditions promote breakdown of excess fat stores, sparing of lean muscle, and improvement in insulin sensitivity.
Epilepsy and Seizure Control
Research in humans and animals suggests that a ketogenic diet can reduce the frequency and severity of seizures. During a seizure, nerve cells fire when they are not supposed to. This can happen because the brain cells are releasing lots of excitatory neurotransmitters (which act as chemical messengers), like glutamate or can’t inhibit them using gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA. A good example of this involved a six month randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled cross-over dietary trial using twenty-one dogs fed either a ketogenic or placebo diet in chronically antiepileptic drug-treated dogs with idiopathic epilepsy. Seizure frequency, clinical and laboratory data were collected and evaluated for dogs completing the study.
Cancer Management
Cancer cells thrive on glucose, so a keto diet may help "starve" cancer cells by depriving them of their primary energy source. Most cancers share features such as significantly increased glucose uptake and reliance on glycolysis (which converts glucose into pyruvate, occurring in the fluid part of cells). This process, known as the Warburg Effect, has been studied comprehensively for many years. Supporting this, studies have demonstrated that ketogenic diets in healthy dogs induces gut and serum metabolic changes suggestive of anti‐tumourigenic effects. Moreover, research has highlighted that the feeding of a ketogenic diet can result in the resolution of malignant canine mast cell tumors using ketogenic metabolic therapy alone.
Improved Digestion and Stool Quality
Dogs eating high-carb diets with fillers often have large, soft stools. You can improve your dog’s stool quality and protect your lawn by feeding a low-carb kibble.
Read also: Enjoy Chinese Food on Keto
Enhanced Coat and Skin Health
Dogs in optimal health typically have a shiny, sleek coat free of skin disorders.
Considerations and Potential Risks
While the keto diet can be beneficial, it’s not suitable for every dog.
Pancreatitis
The high fat content can exacerbate pancreatitis or other fat-sensitive conditions. If your dog suffers from pancreatitis, or is even just more sensitive to fat, keto dog food is not the best choice for their bowl. A true keto diet will increase triglycerides in the blood, leading to pancreatitis. This is due to the body utilizing fat for energy rather than carbohydrates.
Digestive Upset
Some dogs may experience diarrhea or soft stools when transitioning to a high-fat diet.
Nutritional Imbalances
Without proper formulation, a keto diet can lead to deficiencies in essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
Read also: Ultimate Keto Blog Resource
Kidney Issues
Another conflicting condition is issues with their kidneys, as this requires a low-protein diet and keto dog food is high in protein. A keto diet may overload the kidneys with protein, giving the already-struggling organs too much work.
Implementing a Keto Diet for Your Dog
Consulting with a Veterinarian or Nutritionist
A ketogenic diet must be carefully formulated to ensure it’s nutritionally complete and appropriate for your dog’s specific needs. We know navigating disease with your loved furry friend can be overwhelming and scary. Our team is here to help dig through their history & their present symptoms to find the perfect diet for them.
Monitoring Ketone Levels
Use urine or blood ketone testing strips to ensure your dog is in ketosis. Most dogs can enter ketosis within 1-2 weeks after carbs are restricted and fats are increased. However, this varies by metabolism, activity level, and overall health.
Transitioning Gradually
Most dogs can enter ketosis within 1-2 weeks after carbs are restricted and fats are increased. However, this varies by metabolism, activity level, and overall health.
Incorporating Supplements
Digestive enzymes and probiotics can support gut health during the transition.
When Keto is Not Appropriate
- Puppies: Puppies need steady energy from balanced proteins, fats, and carbohydrates to support growth.
- Senior Dogs: Senior dogs may have unique health challenges (like kidney or liver issues) that make a high-fat diet unsafe.
- Dogs with Certain Health Conditions: As mentioned earlier, dogs with pancreatitis or kidney issues may not be suitable candidates for a keto diet.
Keto Dog Food: Separating Fact from Fad
Navigating the nutritional space for dogs can seem overwhelming at times. When it comes to choosing the right food for our dogs, there is so much conflicting information out there. "Grain-free is good”, "grain-free is bad," "vegetables are good", "vegetables are bad". It's hard to tell what the truth is among all these conflicting messages.
We always recommend doing your own research (that's why we include links to scientific sources!) when it comes to your dog. We don't want you to take our word for it. We want you to find out the truth about dog food for yourself. We are so passionate about a ketogenic lifestyle for dogs, because we know that it's a highly researched science, not a fad. That's why we're not afraid to talk about the keto diet. We know that we have history and science on our side, and want to share what we know with pet parents.
Keto is a Lifestyle
Eating food that induces ketosis (i.e. a ketogenic “diet”) has been occurring naturally in humans’ and dogs’ bodies for thousands of years. That’s because this “diet” is a bodily process and not a fad. Humans have even been using ketogenic food as a therapy since the 1920’s: “The ketogenic diet has been used since 1921 to successfully treat several forms of epilepsy in patients who don’t respond to anti-seizure medications. Made up of high-fat foods and very few carbohydrates, the diet works by triggering biochemical changes that eliminate seizure-causing short circuits in the brain’s signaling system..Anecdotal evidence also suggests the diet may be useful in the treatment of brain tumors, Alzheimer’s, stroke and Parkinson’s disease, and several human and animal studies have found tumor reduction after treatment with the ketogenic diet. The suspected mechanism is that cancer cells require glucose for survival, and the ketogenic diet deprives them of this essential fuel.” - John Hopkins Medicine (source)When people talk about keto as a current trend or fad that has just recently become popular, this just simply isn’t true. Scientists have been discussing the benefits of ketosis for almost a hundred years now. In reality, dogs have been eating meat and bones (and going into ketosis) for much longer than they have been eating dry kibble. The true fad is feeding dogs biologically-inappropriate carbs through highly-processed kibble.
What Bones & Co. Is Doing with Ketogenic Dog Food
Yes, Bones & Co. is doing something huge for dogs by introducing a raw, ketogenic dog food to the world. We are:
- Pioneering a new wave of dog food that optimizes a dog’s metabolic system from metabolically appropriate food
- Bringing a voice to the ketogenic raw movement and lifestyle for dogs because we know the power that keto dog food has to positively impact a dog’s overall health
We are not:
- Inventing something completely new without a scientific or historical precedent
- The first people to talk about ketogenic food for dogs! See Dr. Becker and Rodney Habib’s work.
Ketogenic food for dogs is not a fad or a trend but a metabolically appropriate nutritional model for dogs. By advocating for this “diet”, B&C hopes to educate people about dog nutrition in the hopes of changing the way we feed our dogs.
Practical Tips for Implementing a Keto Diet
- Work with a Vet or Nutritionist: A ketogenic diet must be carefully formulated to ensure it’s nutritionally complete and appropriate for your dog’s specific needs.
- Monitor Ketone Levels: Use urine or blood ketone testing strips to ensure your dog is in ketosis.
- Incorporate Supplements: Digestive enzymes and probiotics can support gut health during the transition.
Alternatives to Commercial Keto Dog Food
Raw Keto Diet
Some people believe cooking dog food might damage the fats and increase the risk of pancreatitis. They believe a raw ketogenic diet is closest to how your dog would eat in the wild. Dogs are apparently around 99.9% genetically identical to wolves, so they believe a raw diet or meat, organs, and bones is likely the most species-appropriate meal for dogs.
Home-Cooked Keto Diet
It’s difficult to get some dogs to consume raw food, especially all the time, and if they aren’t accustomed to it. If you choose to implement home-cooking for your dog, keep it simple with ingredients like:
- Meat (turkey, chicken, beef, etc.)
- Leafy green veggies (broccoli, spinach, etc.)
- Salt (not too much)
- Optional added fat source like coconut oil
Cook the meal just like you would for a human. Balanced meals contain these nutrients along with folate, taurine, omega-3 fatty acids, choline, and vitamins A, E, and B.Liver is a nutrient-dense superfood containing most nutrients on the planet, including small amounts of vitamin C. Chicken livers can be affordable, and you could mix it in with your dog’s meaty dish.For a little fiber and water-soluble vitamins, add in some leafy green veggies like kale or spinach.