When evaluate Dry food (kibble, airdried, etc) it’s pretty easy
100 - % of protein - % of fat - % of fiber - % of moisture - % of ash.
Moisture is usually at about 10% in kibble, may be lower to zero in airdried.
Ash not always listed but is usually roughly 8%
If you’re trying to figure out carbs on moist food (canned, prepackaged, etc) usually moisture is very high and you must do some conversion to Dry Matter Basis (that is remove the moisture)
100-Moisture % converted to a decimal
example 100-78 = 22 converted to .22
Now Calculate the following:
Protein divided by .22
Fat Divided by .22
Fiber Divided by .22
Add these #'s together and subtract from 100
One interesting consideration though is are those “carbs” also in some way contributing to your protein – we know they do, but we’re not going to calculate that. You just need to understand that peas, beans, lentils, quinoa, grains, oats, gluten, etc influence your protein % – so these are not meat proteins! Making many of these foods still quite high in carbohydrates. Plant matter protein is certainly a less expensive ingredient in these products and they have to do so to keep prices down.
If you are getting to choose your protein, rotate them around, vary the proteins, shop the sales, etc you’re almost certain to come out ahead. In a homemade slow cooked recipe – you can even choose leaner “tougher cuts” of protein because the slow cook will tenderize it a bit… and honestly you dog won’t care even it’s raw.
You will probably not see “Ash” listed in a homemade recipe --since ideally, the v/m nutrients are in the food. While you may add some supplements – the components of the food haven’t been cooked to death integrity of nutrients should remain and we add for example a V/M supplement which is also balanced.
