How Much Fat Is Low Fat?

If you ask How much fat is low fat, a rough estimate would be that dog foods containing less than 10% fat (on a dry matter basis) can be considered low fat dog foods.

Foods with 10-16% fat are considered moderate fat, and foods containing more than 20% fat are considered high fat. With dry dog foods, the as fed percentage on the bag and the dry matter percentage will be very similar since kibble typically contains only 10% moisture, but with canned foods there will be a big difference.

How Much fat is Low Fat on Dry Matter Basis?

To calculate the percentage of fat in your dog's food on a dry matter basis, first subtract the percentage of moisture from 100. That's the dry matter. Then divide the as fed percentage of fat listed on the can or bag by the percentage of dry matter.

For example, let's say you have a canned food with 78% moisture and 6% fat. Subtracting 78 from 100 gives us 22. We then divide 6 by 22, which equals 0.27, so this canned food contains 27% fat on a dry matter basis.

Dry matter percentages, however, only serve as a general guideline. In order to be certain that your dog is not getting more fat than intended, you need to know how many grams of fat are present per 1000 calories of food.

That's because the amount of calories determines how much of the food your dog needs to eat.

A low fat dog food with 7% fat and 2900 calories per kilo of food is actually slightly higher in fat than a low fat dog food with 9% fat but 4000 calories per kilo of food.

How Much Fat is Low Fat on As Fed Basis?

To calculate the number of fat grams per kilo of food, divide the percentage of fat (as fed, not dry matter) by the amount of calories per kilo of dog food and multiply by 10,000.

For example, let's assume your kibble has 8% fat and 3,400 calories per kilo of food. 8 divided by 3400 and multiplied by 10,000 is 23.5, so this kibble provides 23.5 grams of fat in every 1000 calories of food your dog eats.

You can also use this formula to determine the amount of fat in a homemade recipe.

Foods providing less than 25 grams of fat per 1000 calories are considered low fat dog foods. Note that there are some low fat dog foods providing less than 10 grams of fat per 1000 calories, but it is very rarely necessary to restrict fat content that much.

Foods that low in fat not only tend to be unappealing in the taste department, but they may result in difficulty absorbing fat soluble vitamins and a deficiency in important fatty acids. Moreover, in commercial dog foods, fat levels that low are invariably the result of using high amounts of grain or starchy vegetables and very little meat.

Low levels of protein are contraindicated in hyperlipidemia, EPI, and pancreatitis and can actually increase the chance of flare-ups. It is, however, important to use easily digestible protein sources with a high biological value. In other words, protein should come primarily from lean meats, not grains. Avoid the many low fat dog foods that are also low in protein.