| This month I am going to compare pre-made raw diets and commercial cooked diets for dogs to help you better understand and assess the quality of these pre-made products. Much of the following are approximations, but it should tell you how much protein, fat, moisture and carbohydrate/fiber are in each of these diets. As for the ingredients, the raw diets needs to have enough bone in them to balance the meat proteins with calcium. Raw diets do NOT need any other carbohydrates/fiber/vegetables.
Cooked diets need two ingredients. The first is animal products, which include fats and this should make up about 75% of the diet. The other ingredient is non-starch carbohydrates which should make up about 25% of the diet. While carbohydrates don’t provide any nutrition for dogs, they help keep the stools firm. Starchy carbohydrates contain too much sugar and create larger, often fluffier stools with more odor.
When buying pre-made frozen raw food, there are a few things to consider. I prefer to buy frozen food that only contains meat, organs and bone. It is preferable to avoid pre-made raw food that contains carbohydrates, especially starches such as grains, rice, potatoes, peas or carrots. These are higher in sugars and totally unnecessary in a raw diet. I completely avoid pre-made raw diets with flax seed oil, as it does NOT contain the omega 3 oils dogs can use. Flax seed oil can also cause inflammation and lower fertility. I also don’t feed foods with rosemary, as this can promote seizures in some dogs. Lastly, I don’t feed foods containing coconut oil as it is totally useless internally for dogs, as are plant oils.
In commercial cooked diets, look at the percentages of protein, fat, moisture, and carbohydrates/fiber. If the website doesn’t show what is in the food, or the percentages, RUN, do not walk, away. To me that spells something fishy.
Here is an example of how to calculate how much percentage of fat, animal protein, carbs and fiber and moisture are in the food.
Protein 8%
Fat 4%
Fiber 1%
Moisture 77%
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