Keto for pets? Keto strips for cats?

100_PROOF_
100_PROOF_ Posts: 1,168 Member
in Food and Nutrition
A friend recommended that I put my dogs on a keto diet. She said that it's the newest trend and that her cat is now in ketosis ( confirmed through strips)
https://www.dog-nutrition-naturally.com/ketogenic-diet.html

I'm well aware of all the myths and bunk that surrounds the keto diet in humans. I know it can't magically cure athletes foot and grow new limbs for amputees but I'm wondering if there's any benefit for pets? I know there's some benefits for humans with certain medical conditions but would it be the same for pets? Fwiw my pets don't have any known medical condition and neither do her cats.

She just said that an online doctor told her all these amazing qualities of the diet for pets. Anyone have any experience or knowledge on this topic?
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Replies

  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    I once had a dog with seizures. Maybe we should have put her on keto?
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited March 2018
    ladyhusker39 wrote: »
    How do you get a cat to pee on a stick? And why on earth would you ever want to?

    I was wondering this too. LOL

    cmriverside wrote: »
    Cats are not only carnivores, they're obligate carnivores

    Exactly this. Cats eat meat.when they eat greens it seems to be to induce vomiting.

    Dogs are supposed to eat mainly meat, but they do better with higher protein and lower fat than people do (as I understand it). I really think the rice or wheat or soy in many dog foods is not something that dogs were made to harvest and eat. Meat with a bit of veggies or occasional fruit seems pretty ideal. Flour based treats like a milk one cookie are probably not.

    ETA I think the most obvious benefit is tooth care. No flour or sugar = fewer or no cavities. I imagine that it would also be a good diabetes treatment.

    I have seen one pre clinical study on using it as part of a cancer treatment in dogs that was showing some promise.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Read up on knuckling under and bowing of legs in puppies from malnutrition.

    I just can’t even. Dogs and cats are natural carnivores, and dogs are better off with some carbs.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    edited March 2018
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Read up on knuckling under and bowing of legs in puppies from malnutrition.

    I just can’t even. Dogs and cats are natural carnivores, and dogs are better off with some carbs.

    A ketogenic diet has carbs, just not a lot. In humans it is usually under 15% of total calories. I doubt dogs need more than that.

    ... Now I have a mental picture of dogs grazing in a field or picking berries. LOL My dog has never gone after the veggies or fruit in my garden. He has eaten birds and squirrels. He has played with a potato, but it was more to use as a toy to fetch.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    My dogs ate grass, though. I think they find what they need, carb-wise. My one dog loved carrots and oranges.
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    edited March 2018
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    Aren't predators, even domesticated predatotor like dogs and cats, but especially cats, natural carnivores?

    Cats are (they need taurine and vitamin a -- they can't synthesize vitamin a from carotene). However, dogs are omnivores, and not carnivores.
  • 100_PROOF_
    100_PROOF_ Posts: 1,168 Member
    She told me that she waits at the litter box with the strips and sneaks it under the cat when he goes to make pee pee.

    I'm not a cat owner though so don't have a litter box and don't have keto strips. Lol!

    My dogs like potatoes too much for a keto diet but it did peek a curiosity when I heard about people doing this. I was wondering just how popular it was amongst pet owners. Apparently there's many people who think the keto diet is the saving Grace for humanity so I guess it trickled down to their pets diets as well.
  • 100_PROOF_
    100_PROOF_ Posts: 1,168 Member
    newmeadow wrote: »
    I think if you release your pets into the wilderness, the menu in the natural habitat will not include ice cream, hydrolized vegetable protein or modified corn starch. They might swing by once a month or so if they're within walking distance to say hello. But the rest of the time they'll be paleo and feeling great.

    Now this is an idea too ! They'd miss getting ice cream from the ice cream truck though and probably would miss the lovely D&G perfumes that they like to wear so often. @newmeadow
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    100_PROOF_ wrote: »
    She told me that she waits at the litter box with the strips and sneaks it under the cat when he goes to make pee pee.

    Yep, that's how you do it! You have to wait for kitty to start peeing though, once they start they won't stop, but they will look at you with horror and indignation. I've also heard of people sticking a ladle under kitty's butt mid-stream (my Goo would never have allowed that!). The easier way is to replace the litter with something non-absorbing, such as aquarium gravel (unpopped pop corn kernels work well too), then just test once kitty has done their business (my cats are indoor/outdoor, so stalking Goo in the garden was my only option). Also useful if you need to collect a specimen for the vet if you suspect your cat has a UTI, though of course not as good as a sterile sample collected via cystocentesis at the clinic.

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