🐾 The Truth About Carbs in Dog Food: Why Net Carbs Matter — And Why Visionary Pet is Different

May 23, 2025

In a pet food world full of vague claims like “low carb” or “keto-friendly,” Visionary Pet Foods stands alone with full transparency, scientific backing, and unmatched nutritional precision.

Many brands use buzzwords. We publish our numbers.

🧠 What Are Carbohydrates in Dog Food?

Carbohydrates include starches, sugars, and fiber, which are a significant energy source in many commercial pet foods. But dogs are natural carnivores. They don’t need carbs to survive or thrive. Excess carbs are linked to:

Obesity
Inflammation
Diabetes
Certain cancers

Yet most kibble is over 40% carbohydrate, because carbs are cheap and easy to produce.

➗ What Are Net Carbs — and Why Do They Matter?

Not all carbs affect your dog the same way. That’s why “net carbs” are the key to understanding a food’s metabolic impact.

Net Carbs = Total Carbs - Fiber - Sugar Alcohols

Only net carbs raise blood sugar, drive insulin response, and contribute to fat storage or inflammation. That difference is crucial for dogs with cancer, diabetes, or obesity.

🧪 The Problem with “Low-Carb” Labels

The new craze is pet food companies claiming “low-carb” on some formulas, but do they tell you how many net carbs are in each serving?

❌ No clear carb content.
❌ No mention of net carbs.
❌ No clinical validation.

Marketing is not Science.

✅ Visionary Pet: Less Than 1g Net Carbs Per Serving

At Visionary Pet, we don't play the low-carb guessing game. Every serving of our food contains less than 1 gram of net carbs. Period.

We’re proud to share what no other company does:

Product	Net Carbs (per cup)
Keto Beef Freeze-Dried	<1g
Keto Chicken Freeze-Dried	<1g

🧬 Backed by Science, Not Just Marketing

Visionary Pet’s formulas were not created in a boardroom — they were forged in the fields of fundamental research.

We are the only dog food company in the world to launch after:

7 years of clinical trials
Millions of dollars in metabolic research
Direct development at our nonprofit, KetoPet

KetoPet worked with veterinary oncologists, biochemists, and nutrition experts to study how nutrition impacts cancer outcomes in dogs. That work validated our formulas, and Visionary Pet was born to bring them to all dogs.

No other company has done this.
No other company ever will.

🎯 Why Net Carbs Matter for Your Dog

✅ Better blood sugar control
✅ Weight loss or weight management
✅ Lower risk of cancer or diabetes
✅ More stable energy
✅ A diet evolution — backed by data

❗ Why You Can’t Figure Out Net Carbs from the Label

Pet food labels are required to show what's called a Guaranteed Analysis, including crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, moisture, and sometimes ash. But there's a big problem:

There is no line on the label for carbohydrates.
And certainly not for net carbs, the only carbs that matter metabolically.

Even if you try to estimate carbs by subtracting known components from 100%, you're only getting total carbs, not net carbs — and here’s why that matters:

🧠 Net Carbs vs Total Carbs:

Total carbs include all digestible and indigestible carbs (like fiber).
Net carbs = total carbs minus fiber and non-impact carbs.
Only net carbs affect blood sugar, insulin, and cancer cell metabolism.

And the big issue?
Fiber content on labels is only a maximum.
That means you can’t subtract accurately.
Ash isn’t required either. You’re left guessing.

🔍 The Label Doesn’t Tell You the Whole Story

Even if a product says it's “low carb,” there’s no way to confirm it from the label. That's how brands can:

Use high-carb fillers like pea starch or tapioca
Still shows high protein and fat on the label
Claim “low carb” without revealing actual numbers

You’re doing math on a guess, not on science.

✅ Visionary Pet Does What Labels Don’t

At Visionary Pet, we don’t expect you to guess.

We publish net carbs per serving.
Our <1g net carb per serving is lab-verified.
We don’t just claim “low carb” — we prove it.

And we can do that because our formulas were developed at our nonprofit KetoPet Sanctuary

🐶 Make the Smart Switch

Don't settle for vague claims if you want actual low-carb, keto dog food.

Choose a company that:

Tells you the net carbs
Proves its formulas in real studies
Puts your dog’s health before profit

In health and science,
The Visionary Pet + KetoPet Team

Paul Raybould