Chelsea has been on hypothyroid
medicine since we adopted her, and despite that, three 1-mile walks a
day, and a careful diet, she's still overweight. When Rob Paterson
visited last month he suggested we try her on a low-carb diet instead
of a low-fat diet, since the former is richer in protein and contains
principally meat, while most 'diet' dog foods contain principally corn.
We thought it was worth a try, since it seems to work for people, so I
did some research. I discovered that most high protein, low carb dog
foods (like most high protein, low carb human foods) are also high in
fat, which may be why Atkins dieters who pig out on bacon not only
don't lose weight but endanger their health at the same time.
I discovered that there is a new high-protein, low-fat dog food called
Pedigree Two-Step, but it's not available in Canada and their US
website only accepts e-mails from US addresses. Anybody tried it in the
US, or hear anything good or bad about it?
In the meantime, we've calculated the dog foods that come closest to
the Two-Step protein/fat/carb balance, and put Chelsea on a combination
of a couple of these. Here are the top 10, in protein-minus-fat order,
with canned dog foods converted to dry weight equivalent, in case you
want to try one of them out on your canine companion. I'll report on
results in a month or so.
7. President's Choice Nutrition First weight control (dry)
21%
30-09-56
chicken
8. Pedigree 2-step maintenance STEP 2 (dry)
20%
28-08-59
corn
9. Pedigree dog chow senior (canned)
19%
28-09-58
corn
Most maintenance/low fat/senior dog foods (dry)
11%
24-13-58
corn
Most regular dog foods (dry)
14%
31-17-47
corn
To convert to dry weight equivalent you need to multiply fat and
protein % by 100/(100-moisture %). So a dry dog food that is 12%
moisture and 22% protein would be 25% protein on a dry-weight
equivalent basis, while a canned dog food that is 78% moisture and 8%
protein would be 36% protein on a dry-weight equivalent basis. To
calculate approximate carb % (since carbohydrate % is never shown on
the bag) I took 100% minus computed dry weight protein % minus computed
dry weight fat % minus 5% for trace elements. From what I've read, the
Protein-minus-Fat percentage should be a better predictor of
weight-loss potential than either low fat or low carbs alone, or simply
relying on the first-listed ingredient. Most of the 'top 9' above also
have Omega fatty acids and other ingredients said to be good for
balanced health. You can get premium brand dog foods that are organic,
preservative-free, and/or corn-free, but their Protein-minus-Fat
percentages are lower than the 'top 9' above, and they're generally
much more expensive.
What do you think? Is this a scientific way to go about selecting a
diet dog food? We're using a mix of #4 (because it's Chelsea's
favourite, and it smells a lot better than other canned dog foods) and
#7 (because it's quite inexpensive, is recommended by the Canadian
Veterinary Association, and has chicken as the first ingredient). It's
also very close to the second (maintenance) step of the Pedigree
2-step, but it's only available in Canada.
Here's a few news stories from the past week that didn't get much attention, that should have:
Tyson Meat Packers CEO headed to Canadian prison?:
Canadian Parliament finds the Big 3 Canadian meat packers in contempt,
for failure to turn over records connected to the parliamentary
investigation into the use of funds given out to help farmers affected
by the Mad Cow scare. There are allegations that the funds were almost
entirely 'diverted' into the coffers of these 3 companies, Cargill
Foods (owned by US giant Cargill Inc.), Lakeside Packers (owned by US
giant Tyson Foods), and Levinoff Meats. If they don't comply quickly,
the government says the CEOs and other executives will be arrested and
could face major jail sentences. The entire North American meat packing
industry is widely reputed to be one of the most corrupt oligopolies in
the world.
Right-Wingers in the US Government block morning-after pill:
Despite recommendations to the contrary from its medical advisors and
the FDA, the Bush Administrating has prohibited the manufacturers of
morning-after pills over the counter in the US. The pill, called 'Plan
B' and issued by Barr Labs, was approved by a vote of 23-4 for
non-prescription use by the FDA's advisory board, but the Bush
Administration intervened, overruled the approval and strong-armed the
FDA to prohibit over-the-counter sale of the pills. The advisory group
immediately complained of 'political interference' that was not in the
best interests of consumers.
Genocide continues unabated in Sudan:
UN agency Human Rights Watch again warned that government genocide
against non-Arab tribes in Southern and Western Sudan is accelerating,
and called for humanitarian intervention. The situation, where whole
villages are being razed, community members systematically raped and
murdered, and over a million left homeless, with tens of thousands
fleeing to neighbouring countries, is every bit as bad as the situation
in Saddam's Iraq, and as dangerous as the situation in Rwanda just
before nearly a million were slaughtered in 1994.
9/11: The story of what really happened remains buried:
Flemming Funch, like me, is no conspiracy theorist, but he reminds us
that, in searching for the truth about whether Bush did know, or should
have known and prevented, 9/11, we seem to have forgotten that the
circumstances of how the
attack occurred remain as implausible and unexplained as the
explanation of why it wasn't stopped. The mystery of the third
collapsed building, the inexplicable collapse of both towers in their
entirety, the strange movement of airline stocks in the days before
9/11, and other mysteries still cry out for explanation.
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
