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Originally Posted by Cherie6446  I would really prefer to feed Stella & Chewy's freezed dried instead of "wet" raw but I was afraid of the high fat content. I read the post about converting dry to wet but isn't 18% fat too high for our yorkies? Would really appreciate someone confirming that that amount of fat is ok. It would be much easier because I hate feeding cold food to my Zoey. |
If you take Prey Model as an example, you will see that no carbs are being fed at all; no vegetables, no fillers, no preservatives, no adding back in of lost vitamins or minerals. Therefore, you are left with: meat (protein + fat) totaling ~80%, bone totaling ~10%, and organ totaling ~10%.
The dog uses fat for their energy source, as opposed to carbs in processed dog food. So, I feel, it is not necessarily a parallel comparison to use high quality raw fat content versus cooked processed fat content. You may wish to do research in the way the dog processes and metabolizes raw fat as compared to cooked fat.
The amount of fat content will depend upon which meats are being fed. The ultimate extreme being rabbit (extremely low fat) versus pork, for example. So, fat content will vary in ratio to type of protein being fed.
The 18% fat cited on the NV page, to me, does not seem overly high at all, however, I have no experience feeding commercial raw. After reviewing the rest of the formulas, both the chicken and organic chicken are the lowest. The fat percentage shown would be affected by the following:
1. Type of protein and amount of fat allowed to remain.
2. Amount of bone.
3. Amount of vegetables. In this case, 5%.
So, either NV is using more meat and less fat or more bone (or a combination thereof) to result in that 18% figure. If your Yorkie's coat feels silky soft, has a velvety texture, skin shows no signs of dryness, energy level is normal, and poo's are normal, then I would expect the fat content to be ok.