Concern #1: WILL EATING FAT MAKE MY DOG FAT?
In our experience: NO.
When a dog (or human) eats a regulated diet of 1:1 healthy fats: adequate protein + nutrients with very few carbs/sugars, paired with healthy exercise, they can go into a state of Ketosis (fat burning).
When eating Keto raw food, a dog’s metabolism is encouraged to use fat for fuel instead of using glucose (aka sugar) for fuel. [What is Keto?]
OF COURSE, if a dog is eating unbalanced food (NOT Keto formulated), loaded in sugar/carbs (kibble), a dog won’t go into Ketosis + will store excess fat. The obesity epidemic in dogs (largely eating kibble) speaks to how carbs make dogs fat, not fat.
The point: in our experience, an unhealthy, unexercised dog eating a diet high in carbs/sugars is far more likely to become overweight than those eating an optimally balanced Keto food.
#1 – Avocado
Its ok!!!! Its not going to kill your dog, I promise. Unfortunately a misunderstanding due to a single report of toxicity lead to people believing avocados were unsafe for dogs but the great news is that Proctor and Gamble did a study to put this myth to bed and proved that it is perfectly safe. Feed your dog the flesh of the Avocado just the same as what you would eat yourself, this is the yummy and beneficial part. Rodney Habib and Dr Karen Becker put out a lovely easy to understand video explaining this topic – fast forward to around 1 minute into the video.
If youre feeding a kibble based diet, 1/2 a teaspoon for a small dog, 1/2-1 teaspoon for a medium dog, 1-2 teaspoons for a large+ dog would likely be well tolerated, increase/decrease based on your dogs individual constitution (how their handle different foods). Remember to reduce your dogs kibble on the days you are adding other foods to it so you dont end up with a porky dog. For fresh food feeders, include it in your plant matter ratio at whatever portion of that you feel is appropriate for your dog. Learn about more health benefits of Avocado here
Pet Wellbeings own Dr. Jan has been in veterinary practice for over 30 years. Since receiving her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, shes founded two veterinary clinics and lectured extensively on pet herbal therapy, nutraceuticals, acupuncture, rehabilitation and pain management. Dr. Jan has studied extensively in both conventional and holistic modalities, helping us to formulate all of our supplements. She is an essential part of Pet Wellbeing. And lucky for us, shes only one of the great team of people who make Pet Wellbeing so special. PREVIOUS POST