High Protein Diets

I think the different types of protein are the key here. A food that is high in *animal* protein is much more digestible than one beefed up with plant protein. Dogs are evolved to digest animal matter. The more animal matter, the better. This is also why I think grain free, lower protein foods are weird. I'd rather see animal protein rather than potato or other starch.

Also remember that cooked animal protein digests differently than raw. So a dog who is "allergic" to chicken based on reaction to kibble may not have a chicken allergy, it may be a processing issue. My Collie and beef is a good example of this.

 

I have really enjoyed reading this thread this morning. I went to my 3 different types of foods to read the ingredients only to discover that one of them was cat food! The Acana cat version looks the same as the dog version and she has been eating it for 2 or 3 weeks! I could see the kibble was smaller but am used to changes being made in processing. Needless to say I am on my way down to talk to the people that sold it to me as they took me over to show me where it was - they had rearranged the store. I'm also thinking to go to Wellness Super 5 Whitefish and Potato as it is one of the few grain free AND yeast free diets. Thanks for the interesting and informative reading as well as the incentive to relook at the nutritional info. I would have fed cat food to nearly 11 year old Phoebe for at least two more weeks!

 

None of the Wellness Super5 Mixes are grainfree, I used to feed my dogs Wellness. The Wellness Core line are all grainless though.

 

Oh I see you are right Melissa. I just got back from running down to exchange the cat food for the dog food and pick up a bunch of pamphlets on other foods. This is not going to be a fun exercise.

 

Barb that was a very good post and really explains thing well. Thanks

 

Please tell me this was not a Pet Valu store?

That being said, I found out something interesting just the other day, but haven't had a chance to confirm it as real or not.

I've been unable to get Nature's Variety Feline Instinct Canned Rabbit Food for about 6 weeks. But I still have have a few cans of the Canine version. I'm told its the same food! Just smaller cans for cats! This many end up being true for many foods. Something worth looking into....when you've got nothing better to do!

 

Thanks for the reminder about the different types of proteins and some being more digestible than others. For some dogs, different meat proteins might be more digestable than other meat proteins.

But it still begs the question....if the protein was digestible, no matter the source, wouldn't the liver and/or kidney be able to deal with it? Isn't high protein, high protein - no matter the source - meat or vegetable? And perhaps some dogs just cannot, should not even try?

 

From page 17 of my favorite nutrition book:

"The quality of a protein is determined by how many of these essential amino acids it contains. The more amino acids a protein includes, the more "digestible" or available it is for your dog. Animal proteins that contain all the amino acids are considered complete. Plant proteins are considered incompete because they are missing l-carnitine and taurine."

Digestibility chart:

1.00 egg white (the measure of digestibility)
.92 muscle meat
.90 organ meat
.89 milk, cheese
.78 fish
.72 rice
.66 oats
.64 wheat
.54 corn

 

BarbV No, not a Pet Valu. I can't really blame the store too much. The packaging is so close that I can see making that mistake when putting away an order. Heck, I didn't notice when I put the bag in Phoebe's bin. They were quite apologetic and helpful but it is a lesson learned. Check the label every time! Hope Phoebs doesn't end up with any effects from nearly 3 weeks of cat food. Good news is that it doesn't have yeast in it or we would have had problems for sure. I'll be taking her in next week for bloodwork to make sure her kidneys and pancreas are okay and watching her carefully in the meantime.

 

Yes! The packaging in the Acana and Orijen lines are all ridiculously close! And the scary thing is that the packaging has improved!