[jcosler]

This ratio is often listed in your reviews. What ratio should one be aiming for? what is the significance of this ratio?

[theBCnut]

You should aim for approximately 2:1. That has the calories from protein about the same as the calories from fat. If you get too high in fat, the dog can get all the calories it needs before it gets the nutrients it needs. Also, some dogs have issues handling too much fat.

[jcosler]

i guess you actually state it as fat-to-protein ratio. so, you would want this to be <=50%? is that correct?

[crazy4cats]

Ok, so I’m not a rocket scientist, but that tells me that fat has approximately twice the calories of protein. I hadn’t paid that much attention to the calorie weighted analysis before. Interesting 🙂

[pugmomsandy]

crazy4cats,

That’s why I had such an issue with one brand of canned food which severely understated the fat content on their website. Their Duck formula originally stated 8% protein and 6% fat, but now their updated info says 8% protein and 10% fat which is 125% fat-to-protein. No thanks. Not for my indoor, lazy, house dogs!! Unfortunately, consumers must ask the pet food company for more accurate info since they only have to list minimums.

[Duke The Boxer]

Other way around. 2 calories of protein to 1 calorie of fat if I understand Patty correctly. I know she has told me before that for moderate amount of fat in the food it is if the fat is half the % of protein. So if the protein % is 42% and the fat % is 21% then that is half the amount of protein and a moderate amount of fat.

[theBCnut]

Nope, 2 grams of protein to 1 gram of fat. Protein has 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram. So if you have 50g of protein, it would be 200 calories, and 25g of fat would be 225calories, so the dog is getting almost the same amount of calories from protein as from fat. 25/50 = 50% fat to protein ratio.

Fat has slightly more than double the calories.

[Duke The Boxer]

ohh gotcha okay yeah makes more sense. IM such a fool i should have known that haha But Patty comin in clutch as always 😀

[jcosler]

but, this site uses the minimum fat % that is listed by the company.
It might me much more than this, couldn’t it be?

[pugmomsandy]

Yes it could. That’s why I suggest contacting the food company directly for more info on the canned foods you might feed.

[theBCnut]

In some cases, you can be sure that it is much higher fat. They are not likely to underreport protein by much, so you can assume it is very close. So if the food doesn’t have much in the way of carbs, but the numbers don’t add up, you can bet it is much higher in fat. Many canned foods do just exactly that.

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