Are You Really Feeding 80-10-10?

Question: When is FAT considered MEAT? 

Answer: When it’s included in the 80% part of the 80-10-10 raw feeding ratio. 

Many raw feeders are following the general recommendation to build their dog’s diet around 80% “meat,” 10% bone and 10% organs. But what nobody touting this feeding method is telling dog owners is, how much of that 80% should be meat, and how much should be FAT? 

Feeders of premade commercial grinds should be particularly alert to this question. You may think you know how much fat the food contains by looking at the “guaranteed analyses” (GA) on the label. But those numbers are deceptive because they are based on weight. The problem with using weight instead of calories, ESPECIALLY when you include the water in the product (“as fed”), is that fat is twice as dense in fuel value as the other macronutrients (protein and carbohydrate). So, when calculations are based on weight, fat content looks deceptively low. I’ve covered this problem in other blog articles here and here. You may want to have a look if you want to know the real fat content of the food you’re feeding.

WHY So Much Fat? 

Because fat is an extremely cheap and abundant WASTE PRODUCT of the agricultural animal industry. Much more is produced than humans care to eat, no matter how much the misguided ‘Keto’ crowd would like to change that. Saturated fat has long been known to be a very hazardous food for humans to overconsume or even consume. This means there’s a gigantic river of it flowing out of the industry to be had very cheaply by pet food processors. Fatty parts that don’t sell well on the human market (think turkey tails, chicken backs, duck feet, etc.) form the basis of most of the commercial raw grinds.  Did you know there is NO legal maximum for the amount of fat a producer can include in a product?

How much fat should dogs be eating?

You may be under the impression that this is a controversial or debatable question. I can assure you, it’s not. Nature has given us a pretty rigid guideline.  Dogs have ended up with a physiological and chemical blueprint that reflects their long history of consuming extremely protein-rich, LEAN prey animals. Dogs produce digestive enzymes in a fairly universal ratio of 60% proteases (for digesting protein) to 30% lipase (for digesting fat) to 10% amylase (for digesting carbohydrates). This can ONLY mean that by FUEL VALUE, their diets should reflect a similar ratio: 60% protein, 30% fat and 10% carbohydrate. Again, bear in mind, this is BY CALORIE, not WEIGHT.

Deviating AWAY from this 60/30/10 biological blueprint at least partially accounts for why some raw fed dogs are still sick and getting sicker. All while raw feeding owners think they’re feeding “optimally.” 

Agricultural vs. Wild: Case in Point

Recently in one of the Rotational MonoFeeding Facebook groups, there was a post from a member lamenting how fatty the quail was that she was getting.  I commiserated, because I’ve noted the same. For purposes of comparison, I also shared a photo of a defeathered suburban wild bird I found a few years ago. I have no idea what kind of bird this was, but it was similar in size to an adult quail. I’d seen lots of fat on the agricultural birds I’d been feeding to my animals, so I expected to see a lot more fat on this little bird when I removed its feathers. But as you can see in the photo below, there’s very little.

Also shown below are some photos of an agricultural quail. Notice the difference in fat between the wild bird and the agricultural bird. And bear in mind that quail is by far the leanest whole prey mammal we can get on the commercial market.

Remember that, unlike farmed birds, this wild bird was extremely active, spending much of the day flying. Nevertheless, nature does not imbue it with a great deal of stored fuel in the form of fat. And, this bird lives in quite a cold climate that requires insulation of some kind. The problem with birds using FAT for insulation is that it would impair their ability to fly. That’s why nature invented feathers.

A farmed quail has no need to fly or move much at all. And they are probably either housed or raised in a warm climate, so they would require neither stored fuel nor insulation. They are fattened for the sole purpose of creating extra weight, which creates profit for producers. 

The bodies of dogs adapted to LEAN prey over millions of years, and this is STILL reflected in their baseline enzymatic output. Now they’re suddenly being asked to process, store and eliminate 3 or 4 times the amount of fat that they are adapted to. It’s FAT that is causing the epidemic of chronic disease in dogs, from lipomas and bile vomiting to pancreatitis and cancer.

Nobody’s talking about this problem …

… least of all the vet industry or their partners in the pet food business. If your dog is still having problems despite being fed a raw commercial grind, FAT consumption is most likely your culprit. ALL of those pet food labels that say “balanced” are A LIE. These foods are extremely UN-balanced because they contain far too much fat for a species that is not set up to digest or use it. The industry made up its own definition for “balance” so they can claim a monopoly on this criteria. Just the fact that they use WEIGHT to measure the percentage of fat in their “guaranteed analyses” should tell you they know they’re hiding something.

Industry shenanigans

Recently I was made aware of a company that was making extraordinary claims about their “low fat” raw commercial grind. Judging by the ingredients list I suspected they were not being honest, so I ordered some so I could have it tested. The product is called “Bridget’s Blend Low Fat” raw dog food made by Midwest Legacy Beef. The package label and the website claim that the product is an impressive 18% protein and 3% fat, which converts to an even more impressive 72% protein and 28% fat by CALORIE. The test results I got back showed the product was actually 13.95% protein and 18.72% fat, which converts to a much less impressive 57% protein by calorie and 43% fat by calorie. In order for buyers of this product to know what they’re feeding their dogs, THOSE are the numbers that need to appear on the label. Only with those numbers can we see whether the food meets the criteria established by our dog’s very own biology.

How to get to the truth

Running the GA numbers through a converter will get you closer. But it will tell you only part of the story, because very often they do not add up to 100%. Remember, some of these GA percentages are MINIMUMS. That means even once you convert the percentages into caloric values, you still don’t know the ACTUAL percentage.

Interestingly, when I ran the GA numbers for this “Bridget’s Blend” product through the converter, there was 2.5% missing from the final percentage. When I added this missing 2.5% to the percentage of FAT, the percentages ALL lined up precisely with the test results I’d gotten. And the test I had performed is the industry gold standard “acid hydrolysis” test which measures fat much more accurately than the “crude fat” testing used by these companies. It sure looks suspiciously like the company just misrepresented the numbers. I don’t have any other way to explain it.

The bottom line

There is no reason to continue to entrust the health of your beloved dog to the pet food industry. It is just too easy and affordable to feed pets properly. We owe it to them to feed them foods that will allow them to live their healthiest, fullest life.

Above: The agricultural quail I feed to my cat.  Note excessive fat and pale tone of the musculature.