Audrey R.

Ultra Low Carb Feeding for Skin and Weight Improvements

The Whole Low Carb Concept in One Go:

Low carb feeding gives better skin than most “Limited Antigen” diets.

Low carb feeding results in extremely effective weight loss for people who can:

  1. Resist the urge to give carbs as extras to, or with, ultra low carb foods.
  2. Stick it out when the dog enters fat burning mode and rejects everything except sugary / carb rich foods for days.

To grasp this concept:   

Start with this video: https://youtu.be/SbG02pxC9JkCarbohydrate Intolerance” By Dr. Erik Johnson

Or this video which is a succinct, “condensed version”:

Probably the best current literature (Textbook) on canine diet trends: http://amzn.to/2BAhoqg

Suitable diets that meet criteria for ultra low carb / higher fat

That’s 60% Protein, 30% fat, and 10% carbohydrate.

To calculate this:

100% diet

  • -minus % Protein
  • -minus % Fat
  • -minus % moisture

Equals % carbs.

A) Wysong Epigen 5lb 60:30:10 Ratio Food – http://amzn.to/2BUR7yY

Note on Wysong Epigen:   This diet is the best for ultra low carb feeding but it has three problems:

  1. It’s the hardest to “get used to” and the longer a dog has been on the carby-dog-foods, the harder it is to adjust.
  2. Appetite falls off the hardest on Epigen once a dog starts burning fat. This diet is very low in carbs and provides no appetite stimulation once fat starts to burn. They may fast for a couple days.
  3. While on ultra low carb food of any kind, dogs will eat carbs ravenously. It’s in their DNA to prefer simple sugars, just like you and me.

Ketona BRAND NEW with less than 10% digestible carbohydrate. Perhaps the most advanced ultra low carb diet on the market right now. (Read about it) (Buy It)

B) Orijen Senior for similar benefits to low carb. http://amzn.to/2B6vcI3

C) Bark at the Moon – Low carb, high protein / fat. http://amzn.to/2kl4ilM

D) EVO Red Meat diet – Small Bite formula: http://amzn.to/2AMskhq

E) Stella and Chewy’s Chicken Toppers:   Fed alone. Mixed with nothing. Has the advantage of being balanced nutrition with much less effect on bowel habits.  GOOD CHOICE

Soluble Fiber is all but absent in meat diets.

To Get Fiber into Raw Diet (Very Low Carb) Dogs:
FOS Chicory Root Inulin Fiber Supplement Economical High Quality: http://amzn.to/2z3IpQs

Why a Drop In Appetite on Low Carb?

Appetite drops after the dog adjusts to “low carb” feeding, as the glucose roller coaster stops driving insulin. Appetite depression stems from the fact that the diet is probably three times more calorie dense than regular dog food. To meet their needs for calories (in the absence of carbs) they only need a little bit each day. It’s high in fat. But in the absence of carbs, they don’t get fat on it because they USE the fat, not storing it.

Additionally, appetite drops off because the brain starts to function normally, and appetite is driven by the hypothalamus / hippocampus and these two organs drive appetite for a good body weight to escape predators and catch prey. The body naturally seeks a healthy level of weight to keep it fit for survival. Um, except when it’s getting sugars and stuff far more tasty than anything found in nature. (Just like us) See johnsonvet.com/picky for thorough coverage of this.

Appetite can drop off (even to zero) until the most excess of fat on the dog, the really large-surpluses are burned. This can be a day or three. Possibly more for the morbidly obese.

DO NOT GIVE IN.

Dr Erik Johnson is a Marietta, Georgia Veterinarian with a practice in small animal medicine. He graduated from University of Georgia with his Doctorate in 1991. Dr Johnson is the author of several texts on Koi and Pond Fish Health and Disease as well as numerous articles on dog and cat health topics.