As fed vs dry matter

[Cindy loves Tansi]

Hello all

As a quick reference, do we base our decision of carbs under 5 % on the "as fed" or "dry matter" on wet food,?

 

[JaxBenji]

Neither. you're looking for metabolized energy profile (ME Profile) - which tells you the % of calories that are carbohydrates. Most pet food companies don't provide this value though may if you ask (though some do post it - weruva is one that I know does). One can also use As Fed (AF) or Dry Matter Basis (DMB) and calculate a the % of calories that are carbs using this post - https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/calculating-calories-from-carbohydrates.204051/

Dr. Lisa also has (A LOT lol) of info on this topic too - she warns her post may give a headache - https://catinfo.org/commercial-cat-foods/#Calculating__Percentage_of_Carbohydrates:

If you have the AF and/or DMB values for a food, I'm happy to help calculate the % of calories that are carbs - just let me know!

 

[Cindy loves Tansi]

Thank you so very much
That was just what I was missing!

 

[Elizabeth and Bertie]

do we base our decision of carbs under 5 % on the "as fed" or "dry matter" on wet food,?

Water has no calories, so it doesn't matter which we use to calculate the percentage of calories from carbohydrate.

There are a couple of calculators that can be used to calculate the percentage of calories from carbs really easily. The greater challenge for those folks using foods made in the US is getting good enough data to do the calculation with in the first place...
US foods only show a 'Guaranteed Analysis' of minimum or maximum values for protein, fat, etc. And this is not good enough to do a calculation with. To do a calculation you need to know the 'typical analysis' or the 'current as fed' values. Dry matter is also fine as long as it reflects the current values and not just the 'guaranteed analysis' values.
As Susanne says above, it can be necessary to contact the manufacturer and ask for the data you need. Occasionally it will be on the manufacturer's website.

Assuming you can get the data you need, here's a calculator that makes calculating the carb values super easy. You just enter the percentages for protein, fat, ash, fibre, and moisture. Then click 'calculate' and the percentage of calories from carbs is shown in the turquoise box on the bottom right.
https://secure.balanceit.com/tools/_gaconverter/index.php?

Eliz

 

[Cindy loves Tansi]

Thank you so much for that very helpful information.
I really appreciate it.