[Robert A]

We have a 22 lb, 7 year old shih tzu. He is large frame and not overweight. Recent blood work showed his triglycerides very high at 1300. Following that he had blood work after 12 hour fasting and the count was even higher at 1900. He is currently on Kirland Adult dry food and home made chicken, vegetables and brown rice.

We have been advised to change to a low fat dry food and need recommendations on premium brand. Would appreciate any comments and advice.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Robert-
Have you checked out the suggested low fat foods on the review side of this site? There is a pretty good list. Above, click on reviews. Then choose best dog foods. There you will find suggested low fat foods. Two that I hear often recommended on this site are Wellness Core weight mgmt and Anament Lean grain free. Good luck.i didn’t know dogs could have high triglycerides.

[ken r]

I am skeptical that this is caused by dietary fat. For one thing, a high fat diet, if its increasing triglyceride levels, should be increasing them more pre-fast than post fast. For another, a dog thats just eating so much fat in his diet that its screwing with his triglyceride levels that much should be obese too.

What did the rest of the lipid panel look like?

First off, i would make sure that this is a dietary issue, not a secondary issue to another condition. Ask for a thyroid panel and a test for diabetes (an under or an overactive thyroid both cause elevated fasting triglycerides, as does diabetes).

If this is a diet issue, its far more likely to be caused by carbs than by fat. Dietary fats do increase triglycerides after a meal for a pretty simple reason — dietary fats _are_ triglycerides… and right after you eat them before your body figures out what to do with them theyre sitting around in the blood stream. This is precisely why triglycerides are tested after a 12 hour fast.

However, If your dog has a very high _fasting_ triglyceride level, and that is caused by his diet, fat is not the most likely culprit. Carbs are. Though a high fat diet causes triglyceride levels to spike, it actually lowers fasting triglceride levels. A high fat diet can cause obesity. And obesity causes high triglyceride levels. But in non obese people (and dogs), a high fat diet causes lower fasting triglycerides.

If obeisity isn’t an issue, you should be looking for a low carb, not a low fat, food. First of all because a low carb diet is proven to lower fasting triglyceride levels, and second of all because a low carb diet is better overall.

In order of preference, you should be looking for

1. a grain free, low carb food,
2. a whole grain only low carb food (note — brown rice is better than white rice, but it is not a whole grain)

Also, 2 things to potentially add to your dogs diet —

1. Marine (not plant) derived Omega 3 fatty acids — these have a profound effect on triglyceride levels. I broke open a full fish oil capsule daily for my boy, but he weighed 150 pounds. I have no idea what the appropriate dose for a 22 pound dog would be..

2. Soluble Fiber — metamucil is probably easiest. I used a tablespoon. But again, that was for a person-sized dog.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 10 months ago by ken r.

[Linda H]

I have an 8 year old Sheltie whose fasting triglycerides were almost off the charts. My vet put him on the Royal Canin Low-Fat GI dry kibble and that has brought down his triglycerides significantly. This food has 5% fat which is lower than almost anything else I’ve found. He is thriving well on this food.

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