How much Protein is recommended in my EB's food?

[iggypiggy]

I am new to this site. So thankful for all the great articles and info about English Bulldogs! My Iggy is a year and four months. We have him on "GO!", a Canadian brand which is grain free. He has had no health issues, no gas, and his coat is soft like velvet. Just recently I am noticing his one eye, a bit runny. When I wipe it is brownish, but does not smell. I was told yeast would smell, so I am not sure. I am wondering if the protein content is high? I believe it is 34%. I have been told by other dog owners to be careful of protein, but others say he needs it to gain muscle. He is currently about 48 lbs and not fat at all, more on the lean side. Any ideas????

 

[2BullyMama]

Hello and to EBN!

I am not that good on the nutrition end of the stick here, but will tag a few member to help out

 

[RescueMe]

I have fed that to my bullies with no problems. If it doesnt smell then I wouldnt think its yeast. Maybe an inverted eyelash? or entropian started. Most of the petcurean go foods are 22 and 24 percent which is fine.

 

[bullmama]

Go! Is a great food, and if he's doing well on it I wouldn't be concerned. He may have a mild infection in his eye, you can use some eye wash to refresh his eyes ( I use the Bausch and Lomb) followed by a lubricating eye drop. Next time he's at the vet you may want them to check his eyes. How old is he? It could also be teething causing the watery eye.


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[iggypiggy]

Thanks so much! What is a percentage of protein I should avoid?

 

[iggypiggy]

Thanks for the tip! I have been putting some Witch Hazel in the crease, I was told it was good for inflammation and soreness. Have you heard of this?

 

[bullmama]

Yes witch hazel is good, if there is an existing infection it may need something stronger though.


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[Sharon Mitchel]

Our vet suggested Charley might have allergies. He's battled chin pimples/redness, loose stool and a few ear infections with yeast that come back shortly after finishing meds. I changed his food from Blue Buffalo to Acana. Stools firmed right up! Since the ears and chin are yeasty and Acana has potato, I changed yesterday to Orijen adult which is grain and potato free. Now I'm reading that might have too much protein. How do I reduce the quantity of protein without adding carbs? What is the danger of the higher protein? What should I be on the lookout for? Thanks!


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[nycbullymama]

It's a good food and I wouldn't change if there are no other issues.

His eye could be irritated, could be allergies, or could be infected. If it hasn't gone away, and his other eye is fine- I'd take him to the vet just to be on the safe side.

Regarding high protein- I don't subscribe to the school of thought that believes a higher protein diet is bad for your dog. They're dogs, that's what they eat- protein and fat. It's natural for them.

Unless they have a condition that requires a low protein diet, I wouldn't change anything.

 

[anatess]

High protein is GOOD. Unless your dog has a medical condition that is protein averse.

Now, about protein on nutritional labels:

When Protein is shown as a PERCENTAGE - you have to ask - what are the other components that make up that percentage?

In wet (canned) dog food, WATER is a big percentage of the food. So, if you look at the GO canned food, you'll see something like: 8% protein, 4% fat, and 82% water, with the rest carbs and other minerals (referred to as ash).

In kibbles, water (moisture) is a very low percentage. So, if you look at the GO puppy kibbles, you'll see something like 36% protein, 18% fat, and only 10% water (moisture), with the rest carbs and other minerals (referred to as ash).

Now, some of the ash is noted in the bag - phosphorous, calcium, etc... all very small percentage. Ash can be guesstimated at 8% of kibble. But what is missing from the label on the label is CARBOHYDRATES because it's not FDA required to be put on there. So, we are going to use mathematics to logically extrapolate how much carbs is in the food:

Wet: 8% protein + 4% fat + 82% water = 94% which leaves only 6% for carbs and ash (100% - 94% = 6%)

Kibble: 36% protein + 18% fat + 10% water + 8% ash = 72% which leaves 28% carbs (100% - 72% = 28%)

Which makes sense because you need breading (carbs) to form the tiny kibbles.

So, you can see that in the percentage of protein does not really tell you how much protein by weight is in the food. It only tells you for each can/scoop of kibble how much protein as compared to all the other components there is...

Now, tons and tons of research has shown evidence that CARBS is not a necessary component in dog nutrition. A dog can successfully thrive with ZERO carbs. But, a dog cannot survive without Protein. A dog is also not as efficient at processing carbs but very efficient in processing proteins, therefore, high protein intake is just fine for a dog but high carbs intake is bad for the dog. Any dog.

So, when you are looking at dog food labels and see PERCENTAGE... what are you saying when you say Low Protein? If you are lowering the PERCENTAGE then all you are doing is increasing the other components... which would mean HIGHER CARBS percentage.

Go kibble having only 28% carbs is GOOD. Anything close to 50% is bad with anything higher than 50% being very bad.

So, let me give you another example of a Low Protein kibble (Fromm is good brand):

Fromm Reduced Activity Senior Gold = 24% protein + 11% fat + 10% moisture + 8% ash = 53% which gives 47% carbohydrates

As you can see, a lower protein percentage means a higher carbs percentage. So, unless there is a medical necessity to lower protein percentage, there is no good reason to prefer CARBS over PROTEIN.

Now, dogs are highly efficient at processing protein... so high protein means high digestibility - that is, more of the food is used by the dog instead of getting pooped out. So, if your dog is getting too fat from all that protein, what you do is LOWER THE SERVING SIZE, instead of lower the protein percentage because then you'll have a lower protein by weight not lower protein percentage. So you're not exchanging protein with carbs. Make sense? Because, although lower percentage of protein results in higher carbs which is not as efficiently processed by the dog so you get more of it pooped out which results in the dog getting skinnier, you really don't want to put stress on the dog's digestive system just so he can poop bigger poops. Make sense?

Hope this helps.

 

[bullmama]

High protein is GOOD. Unless your dog has a medical condition that is protein averse.

Now, about protein on nutritional labels:

When Protein is shown as a PERCENTAGE - you have to ask - what are the other components that make up that percentage?

In wet (canned) dog food, WATER is a big percentage of the food. So, if you look at the GO canned food, you'll see something like: 8% protein, 4% fat, and 82% water, with the rest carbs and other minerals (referred to as ash).

In kibbles, water (moisture) is a very low percentage. So, if you look at the GO puppy kibbles, you'll see something like 36% protein, 18% fat, and only 10% water (moisture), with the rest carbs and other minerals (referred to as ash).

Now, some of the ash is noted in the bag - phosphorous, calcium, etc... all very small percentage. Ash can be guesstimated at 8% of kibble. But what is missing from the label on the label is CARBOHYDRATES because it's not FDA required to be put on there. So, we are going to use mathematics to logically extrapolate how much carbs is in the food:

Wet: 8% protein + 4% fat + 82% water = 94% which leaves only 6% for carbs and ash (100% - 94% = 6%)

Kibble: 36% protein + 18% fat + 10% water + 8% ash = 72% which leaves 28% carbs (100% - 72% = 28%)

Which makes sense because you need breading (carbs) to form the tiny kibbles.

So, you can see that in the percentage of protein does not really tell you how much protein by weight is in the food. It only tells you for each can/scoop of kibble how much protein as compared to all the other components there is...

Now, tons and tons of research has shown evidence that CARBS is not a necessary component in dog nutrition. A dog can successfully thrive with ZERO carbs. But, a dog cannot survive without Protein. A dog is also not as efficient at processing carbs but very efficient in processing proteins, therefore, high protein intake is just fine for a dog but high carbs intake is bad for the dog. Any dog.

So, when you are looking at dog food labels and see PERCENTAGE... what are you saying when you say Low Protein? If you are lowering the PERCENTAGE then all you are doing is increasing the other components... which would mean HIGHER CARBS percentage.

Go kibble having only 28% carbs is GOOD. Anything close to 50% is bad with anything higher than 50% being very bad.

So, let me give you another example of a Low Protein kibble (Fromm is good brand):

Fromm Reduced Activity Senior Gold = 24% protein + 11% fat + 10% moisture + 8% ash = 53% which gives 47% carbohydrates

As you can see, a lower protein percentage means a higher carbs percentage. So, unless there is a medical necessity to lower protein percentage, there is no good reason to prefer CARBS over PROTEIN.

Now, dogs are highly efficient at processing protein... so high protein means high digestibility - that is, more of the food is used by the dog instead of getting pooped out. So, if your dog is getting too fat from all that protein, what you do is LOWER THE SERVING SIZE, instead of lower the protein percentage because then you'll have a lower protein by weight not lower protein percentage. So you're not exchanging protein with carbs. Make sense? Because, although lower percentage of protein results in higher carbs which is not as efficiently processed by the dog so you get more of it pooped out which results in the dog getting skinnier, you really don't want to put stress on the dog's digestive system just so he can poop bigger poops. Make sense?

Hope this helps.

Excellent info


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