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Just been looking around for some new food to feed our small dogs, the one in question is about 6kg (13 years), and have found Bestie Kitchen, which looks interesting.

The ingredient list is below (which you add to your choice of meat protein):

Apple powder, bone broth powder, carrot powder, sweet potato powder, MCHA bone meal powder, cod liver oil, organic wheat grass powder, organic pumpkin powder, organic shiitake mushroom powder, kale powder, green lipped mussel, nutritional yeast, probiotic(bacillus coagulans), kelp powder, organic nettle powder, organic chicory root powder, kakadu plum powder, manuka honey powder, iodised salt.

Now, I was doing some reading into chicory root as I didn't know much about it, and found that it is quite high in Inulin, which obviously isn't a bad thing.

We have our dog on a moderate fat diet because her stomach used to grumble constantly when we used to feed her higher fat foods such as kibble, and the vet thought she could potentially progress to pancreatitis if we kept going.

Now, regarding Inulin; reading about that led me to another page, which stated it may help increase fat absorption, and makes special mention about dogs with sensitive stomach's in that section (which our girl has):

https://petkeen.com/dog-inulin-benefits-uses-effects/

Helps Dogs That Have Difficulty Absorbing Fat

Some dogs with sensitive digestive systems can have problems digesting food with high-fat content. Eating foods with a lot of fat can cause your pet to have diarrhea. The Inulin fiber can help your pet’s digestive system manage the fat better. It can also help reduce how much water is in the digestive system, relieving diarrhea symptoms.

Now, I'm not sure of this is a good thing or a bad thing in our situation, or even something we need to worry about as chicory root powder is quite low on the ingredient list.

The stated fat of the product at 9% is also a bit higher than we would usually feed her (3.5% - 7%).

Does having a food that is very high in Inulin pose a risk to a dog trying to remain on a moderate fat intake (or absorption?)?

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  • I assume, this you need to ask your vet. Because we do not know, and you also seem not to know, what cause the sensibility of your dog for fat. Is it the amount of fat absorbed, or is it the lack of the ability to absorb fat?
    – Allerleirauh
    Sep 27, 2021 at 18:57
  • @Allerleirauh I was just trying to get a measure of what connection fat intake has to fat absorption? I'm guessing both play a part, and something that is given that helps fat absorption will likely end up with her absorbing more than she normally would at that fat %. She did used to occasionally get diarrhea as well, so maybe she just needed to "manage" fat better, as is stated above. But I know this may be a more individualised case, but thought these questions may be better answered by someone in a more specialised area than a general vet.
    – Brett
    Sep 27, 2021 at 22:17
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    I am a little experienced in biology. There are different points of interest here: First there are dogs who eat fat, but can not absorbe it. This cause then belly grumble in plain words if they eat too much fat. Second there are dogs who absorbe fat normaly, but have some issues after this with too much absorbed fat in the body. This issues can be caused by different things also. Both would get a diet with low fat to avoid health risks. So you need to clearify first, if your dog belongs to the first group or the second. (First: Inulin good, Second: Inulin causes problems)
    – Allerleirauh
    Sep 28, 2021 at 5:20
  • @Allerleirauh Great, thanks very much for that help. Do you know how this is tested for? Based on our dogs grumbling stomach it sounds like she may belong to the first group; but she also gets a grumbling stomach these days if she hasn't eaten for a long time; which only happens occasionally.
    – Brett
    Sep 28, 2021 at 11:39
  • The grumbling stomache was not a diagnosis. It was a simple wording for every kind of problem with the digestive system. Please let the vet decide to which group your dof belongs :)
    – Allerleirauh
    Sep 28, 2021 at 16:35

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