Help calculating % calories from carbs, protein, fat

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lenistar

Member Since 2012
Hi!

I haven't posted here in awhile, but I trust this community so much and wanted some help. My sweet kitty does not have diabetes, though at one point had borderline high blood sugar (we were able to get it back to normal with a change in diet), so I make it a point to feed him low/no carb food. I just reached out to Tiki Cat (I like to check back periodically as I know formulas can sometimes change) and was given the following dry matter percentages for the food I give him (the Koolina chicken & egg):

Protein: 73.5 %
Fat: 16.3 %
Carbs: 0.476190476 %

Can someone help me calculate the percentage of calories from each? I've been looking here:
https://catinfo.org/commercial-cat-foods/#Calculating__Percentage_of_Carbohydrates, but I'm having some trouble.

And should the dry matter values above be adding up to 100%, or is that not how dry matter values work?

Thank you!
Leni
 
If you are talking about the Tiki Cat Koolina Luau, the cat food database has the info for that, and it is already the actual percentage of calories from each.

TIKI CAT - Chicken (no fish) Koolina Luau: Protein = 84; Fat = 16; Carbs = 0
 
Thank you! Though I'm not certain that info. is the most up-to-date. The woman I emailed with said that their formulas were updated at the end of 2016. I just today received as fed/dry matter carb figures, and many of their foods have carbs. (I think maybe they all used to be no carb?)

I was communicating with two separate women in a chain of emails - one sent fat and protein and the other sent carbs, so I'm just trying to make sense of it all.

Though I'm thinking that if the dry matter carb value is correct (but should they be adding up to 100%?), then 0.476190476 % as dry matter still sounds pretty low?, but then again I know that calculating the percentage of calories from protein, fat and carbs is really what we're supposed to look at. So confusing and stressful. I love my little guy and just want to give him the best as I know we all do for our fur babies!
 
lenistar said:
Thank you! Though I'm not certain that info. is the most up-to-date. The woman I emailed with said that their formulas were updated at the end of 2016. I just today received as fed/dry matter carb figures, and many of their foods have carbs. (I think maybe they all used to be no carb?)

I was communicating with two separate women in a chain of emails - one sent fat and protein and the other sent carbs, so I'm just trying to make sense of it all.

Though I'm thinking that if the dry matter carb value is correct (but should they be adding up to 100%?), then 0.476190476 % as dry matter still sounds pretty low?, but then again I know that calculating the percentage of calories from protein, fat and carbs is really what we're supposed to look at. So confusing and stressful. I love my little guy and just want to give him the best as I know we all do for our fur babies!
Click to expand...
The cat food database was updated in early 2017: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/dr-pierson-new-food-chart.174147/

Did you ask them to give you the percentage of calories that come from protein, fat, and carbohydrates? Make them do the work! :)
 
I'll keep pressing them! What they told me was that they only have the as fed and dry matter values.

I see that the chart lists all of their foods as 0 carbs, but that's not the info. they sent me today. Though they had in the past told me the formulas were 0 carbs. I don't believe they were trying to be deceptive (they apologized for any miscommunication), but I just wonder if the figures in the chart are based on 100% accurate info. from the company. Again though 0.476190476 % as dry matter still sounds pretty low if that's correct? But do you have any ideas as to why the figures wouldn't add up to 100? I know there are some other things missing (potassium, sodium, etc.)...

Sorry if I'm rambling! I just get nervous :/
 
lenistar said:
Hi!

I haven't posted here in awhile, but I trust this community so much and wanted some help. My sweet kitty does not have diabetes, though at one point had borderline high blood sugar (we were able to get it back to normal with a change in diet), so I make it a point to feed him low/no carb food. I just reached out to Tiki Cat (I like to check back periodically as I know formulas can sometimes change) and was given the following dry matter percentages for the food I give him (the Koolina chicken & egg):

Protein: 73.5 %
Fat: 16.3 %
Carbs: 0.476190476 %

Can someone help me calculate the percentage of calories from each? I've been looking here:
https://catinfo.org/commercial-cat-foods/#Calculating__Percentage_of_Carbohydrates, but I'm having some trouble.

And should the dry matter values above be adding up to 100%, or is that not how dry matter values work?

Thank you!
Leni
Click to expand...

% calories:
Protein - 64.72%
Fat - 34.86%
Carb - 0.42%
 
Thank you! How did you do that? And does it sound okay that the dry matter carb, fat and protein only add to roughly 90.28 %?
 
lenistar said:
But do you have any ideas as to why the figures wouldn't add up to 100?
Click to expand...
This is the Guaranteed Analysis info from their site:
Crude Protein (min) 17%
Crude Fat (min) 2.9%
Crude Fiber (max) 0%
Moisture (max) 79%
Ash (min) DM 1%
If you subtract all of that from 100, it's 0.1% carbs.

If I convert that to dry matter basis per Dr. P's formula, I get this (which is 100%):
Protein = 80.95% (80.952380952)
Fat = 13.81% (13.809523809)
Ash = 4.76% (4.761904761)
Carbs = 0.48% (0.476190476)

The bottom line is that this food is very low carb no matter how you look at it. So, you are good! Relax! :)
 
lenistar said:
Thank you! How did you do that? And does it sound okay that the dry matter carb, fat and protein only add to roughly 90.28 %?
Click to expand...

From Dr. Lisa's formula:

For every gram of protein, you get 3.5 calories
For every gram of fat, you get 8.5 calories
For every gram of carb, you get 3.5 calories

Find out how many calories from DMB:
Protein: 73.5% * 3.5 = 257.25
Fat: 16.3% * 8.5 = 138.55
Carb: 0.48% * 3.5 = 1.68
Add these values together = 397.48 calories

Now find the percentage of each item from total calories:
Protein: 257.25/397.48
Fat: 138.55/397.48
Carb: 1.68/397.48
Then you get % calories!

The DMB values are not adding up to 100% because there are also fiber and ash values.
 
You can use either dry or wet values if you just want to calculate the % of calories from carbs.

Dry matter calculations are particularly useful if you want to compare certain values across different foods. For example, phosphorous is always calculated using dry matter calculation. And some folks who have pancreatitis kitties sensitive to fat have used dry matter calculations to compare fat content, as they've found that easier.

See also this post from the Health Links / FAQ's forum:
How to Calculate the Nutrient Content of Commercial Cat Foods
.
 
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