“Dogs should have one gram of protein per pound of “ideal” body weight per day. Cats need two grams per pound per day. Some medical conditions, especially liver or kidney failure, call for reduced-protein diets, although this has become a somewhat controversial topic.”
This is inaccurate advice. According to AAFCO, the minimum protein requirement for adult maintenance is 18%, regardless of weight. So, if you go up a few percentage points higher than that, a normally active dog should have more than enough of its protein requirements met.
Protein content can affect behavior in some dogs, but this mostly pertains to fear aggression; I honestly don’t know if it would help alleviate such issues from a brain injury, however, since most dog foods are overloaded with meat protein anyway, it probably couldn’t hurt to lower it down to somewhere around 21% or less.
Also, just FYI to the OP, but I am dealing with a brain damaged dog who had violent seizures for 3 years, caused by an acquired liver shunt. He’d stopped responding to his name and was really becoming a walking vegetable. Protein content, lower or higher, had really no effect on his brain functionality, but going with a brand that added sweeteners made a dramatic difference in cognition.
5 months ago
