Calories vs. Low-Fat
My vet is constantly harping on me
about my dogs' weight. Glindy is only about 10 pounds overweight,
but Spencer is more than 25% past any reasonable limit. Anyway,
they're always telling me to cut down on the meat and fat, and up
the veggies, but it doesn't seem like the math really works out.
For example, taking some premium freeze-dried and kibbled food from
Wysong:
287 Kcal/cup (Archetype and Archetype Burger)
376 Kcal/cup (Archetype Buffet)
452 Kcal/cup (Nurture)
Archetype is a freeze-dried raw diet, containing mostly meat and
bone, has only 16.7% carbohydrates, and has no grains as far as I
can understand the ingredients (it does contain some sprouts,
though). Archetype Buffet, another freeze-dried product, is 56%
carbohydrate, including a number of whole grains and starchy
vegetables. Nurture, the kibbled food, has even more carbs than the
other two.
The point of all this is that my vets, who as a group vehemently
object to the raw diet, keep trying to tell me that the weight
problem is too much fat in the diet, but it seems like the calorie
count of the lower-fat, higher-carb products are much more likely
to pack on the pounds.
While I'm a big proponent of high protein, moderate fat, and low
carbs, I'd certainly consider alternatives for weight management
for the dogs. It just doesn't seem like my vets have it together on
this one.