The Aussie - Spring 2019

Time to rethink fats
Dietary fat has been given a bad rap as it’s associated with heart
disease and strokes in humans. As a result many believe
wrongly that we should restrict fat in our dog’s diets.
Dogs naturally have more good cholesterol (HDL) than bad
(LDL), meaning that dogs will not develop high blood cholesterol
or thickening of the arteries from fat in their diet.
In fact, we should ensure that our dogs in-take a regular dose of
species appropriate essen?al faUy acids daily.
Fat v Carbohydrates
To fully understand why, we need to think about a wild dog with
its wolf heritage. They would catch a rabbit and eat it with all its
faUy skin. Dogs are programmed to eat this type of diet and
metabolise the fat for energy, the protein to re-build muscle.
They don’t have any need for carbohydrates. As an in-built
safety mechanism a dog’s body will store energy for a rainy day.
If a dog’s diet is fat deficient, but there are carbohydrates in the
diet – well it will store the carbs for energy instead.
Types of fat
There are 2 types of dietary fats – facilita?ve and
func?onal. What do we mean by Facilita?ve fats? – well
these are the saturated fats found in meats, cheeses and
eggs and these should feature as part of your dog’s diet.
BY contrast the func?onal fats are also known as
‘Essen?al FaUy Acids’ and are needed as part of your
dog’s diet. These cannot be produced naturally by your
dog, so whatever diet you feed your dog, it is important
these are included in the mix.
How many of you have seen Omega-6 and Omega-3 fats
listed on products for us as well as our dogs? These are
the ‘Essen?al FaUy Acids’. The dog requires a good
balance of both, but the Omega-3 has extra benefits
when it comes to trea?ng a wide range of health
condi?ons.
To get the same amount of energy storage, a dog must store
twice the amount of carbohydrates in terms of weight when
compared to fat. Think about it. The chubby dog is not the fat
that is being eaten, but the excess amount of carbohydrate that
is being stored for that rainy day. Which doesn’t come so o\en
in the domes?c home. Today’s processes pet foods are high in
carbohydrates and the weight gain can be related to the
increase in this component in the food being fed.
What does fat do?
Fat provides dogs with a vital extra layer of subcutaneous ?ssue
under the skin. This they use as a thermostat to regulate their
body temperature. Also it pads out the muscles and bones to
protect them from injury.
Fish is a great source of Omega-3