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I recently posted about a new addition to the Lugaru K9 family, Milo.
Milo is previously a client dog whose owners’ living situation found them unable to keep him, and he has been living with me and polishing up his training for the last month or two.
When Milo came in to live with me, he was on a grain-free kibble diet, and I fully intended to transition him to eating the same homemade food I’ve been feeding my other personal dogs, which you can read more about in my article, How I Easily Make Healthy Homemade Dog Food.
However, Milo is significantly larger than my resident dogs, and there was a level of preparation I needed to do before putting him on a full homemade diet, as batches were about to become a lot larger.
In addition, Milo’s previous owners warned me that he had a grain allergy that gave him nasty skin rashes, which meant I would need to take some time to test out which ingredients were going to work for him and which ones weren’t going to make the cut.
I decided that I was going to put Milo on a high-quality kibble until I could sort out his homemade meal plan, and track his progress throughout his time eating a higher quality food than the grain-free diet he’d been on previously.
This is going to be a longer post (really, this is going to be a ride) with plenty of detail, so you can find a table of contents below to help navigate for specific information:
Why Ketona Dog Food by Keto Naturals?
I’d heard about Ketona dog food after reading a book called Dogs, Dog Food, and Dogma: The Silent Epidemic Killing America’s Dogs and the New Science That Could Save Your Best Friend’s Life.
The author, Daniel Schulof, proposes an interesting hypothesis regarding the role of a starchy, high-carbohydrate diet (typical of most commercial dog foods) in the obesity epidemic in pet dogs, and how a reduced-carbohydrate diet may improve not only the weight of our pets, but also their overall health and lifespan.
I definitely plan on writing up a review of Mr. Schulof’s book in the future, but if you’re interested, it can be found below on Kindle (including for free on Kindle Unlimited) and via the KetoNatural Pet Food Website in EPUB and MOBI format.
A few years later, Daniel Schulof also founded a dog food brand that sought out to act on the studying he did while writing his book: a low-carb kibble called Ketona Dog Food.
I was excited to finally have an opportunity to try out Ketona Dog Food and do an experiment of my own to see just how well a dog can do on a low-carb kibble compared to the “regular” kibble diet that the diet of most dogs in the United States consist of.
Ketona dog food also seemed like the perfect kibble for Milo, a beautiful and athletic dog who already showed issues with a grain-inclusive diet. Ketona is both low-carb and grain-free, a potentially great combination for a dog with issues on other kibble.
Also, I was specifically enthusiastic about the idea of helping Milo put on a few pounds of muscle mass, and was hopeful that a high-protein diet like the formulas from Keto Naturals would help him put on some lean mass and help fill him out a little more.
From my background in exercise science (for humans), I have a decent understanding of energy systems, how different macronutrients provide animals with energy, and how we metabolize that energy. Being so, I had my own hypothesis that a reduced-carbohydrate diet with more fat and protein might help give Milo steadier energy throughout the day as well, and was looking forward to testing that during our outings.
Lastly, Milo had some visible skin problems even on a grain-free diet, and came in with a few red spots and areas where his coat was remarkably thin. I was optimistic that a diet rich in amino acids and a little higher in dietary fat would help improve his skin and coat.
What was most enticing is that Keto Naturals is a “small brand,” which is kind of a big deal in kibble. It means that they aren’t owned by a big conglomerate that also has stakes in the veterinary game and other segments of the pet industry, which creates a massive conflict of interest when it comes to keeping our pets healthy.
And Ketona’s founders certainly seem to be walking the walk, as they’ve used their success to continue to fight Big Kibble on the legal scale and push for transparency in the pet food industry. Whether you are pro-ketogenic for dogs or not, I think that is something we can all get behind.
Needless to say, I was excited to be giving them a try.
Trying Ketona Dog Food
For full disclosure, during his trail of Keto Natural’s Ketona Chicken Recipe, there were a few other factors and variables that could impact his results. I won’t claim to be conducting a perfect experiment, but I do think the results are still going to be helpful for informational purposes.
While trying Ketona dog food Milo was also:
- Exercising regularly. Exercise consisted of regular walks, hiking, and play sessions of mostly chase and tug. Exercise did increase when he came to live with me and therefore is its own uncontrolled variable.
- Having healthy treats from Raw Paws Pet Food or made from scratch, for use in training. All treats are single-ingredient treats and also low/no-carb. Namely, I mostly used the chicken liver and green tripe treats from Raw Paws, and you can read my review of those in my article, A Review of Raw Paws Pet Food.
- Starting a joint supplement, also from Ketona. Joint supplement intake begins at around the midway to three-week mark.
Milo is a large-breed dog, most likely a Doberman-Pit mix (Embark test is coming soon), and weighs roughly 75lbs at start.
Purchase Experience
I purchased my first bag of Ketona dog food from the KetoNatural’s website. The website is very nice, informative, and clean. I especially loved the macronutrient comparison chart on the main page, which allows you to select a number of popular dog food brands to compare the ratios of digestible carbohydrate, fat, and protein.
I was surprised to find that the Merrick Milo had been on was a fairly even split in macronutrients, creating a stark difference between the two’s individual composition.
I also appreciate Keto Natural’s free resources, which compiles various research papers, books, and studies on which they base their dog food recipes.
Checkout was easy and I didn’t run into any issues at all. The bag of dog food was shipped the day after my order was placed, and the package arrived on my doorstep two days later, a total of three days after ordering. It was all very quick, convenient, and easy.
Inevitably, I ended up needing to purchase a second bag of Ketona near the end of our trail and to use as a transition base for Milo’s homemade food, and the purchase experience was very similar. During that order, I also added their duck-flavored joint supplement.
How Much Does Ketona Cost?
For Milo, I purchased the Chicken recipe in the largest size they had available. The 24.2lb bag of chicken recipe dog food costed $112.62, but there is also a subscribe-and-save option which knocks the price down to $106.99.
There’s no shaking it, Ketona is an expensive kibble. In my opinion, however, that price may well be justified for the added protein content and better ingredients than your average kibble. Ketona makes a solid point about low-quality carbohydrate (and other low-quality meals and ingredients) as a filler for many popular dog food brands, and I can certainly see why a brand that refuses to cut corners would simply be more expensive to produce, and therefore more expensive to purchase.
Milo is a large dog weighing roughly 75lbs, and the 24.2lb bag of Ketona chicken recipe lasted him about three weeks. I fed him three or four cups of the Ketona food per day, the higher end of the recommended amount for his weight group (the higher end because our goal was not weight loss, but lean gain).
The Ketona Dog Food Diary
Day 0: The day before Milo starts the new Ketona chicken recipe kibble. Currently on Merrick chicken and sweet potato recipe.
Day 1: Started feeding Milo the new Ketona food. Keto Naturals indicated that there was no need for a gradual transition, so we are trying a full day of just Ketona. Milo loves it; on Merrick he would always leave a little at the bottom of the bowl, but with Ketona he makes sure to get every bit. Leaving a clean plate at both meals. Taste must be 10/10.
Day 2: Should have done a transition period despite the brand recommendations. Milo woke me up early whining because he’d made a messy poop in his crate. Took him out and he had more very liquid-y poops in the yard. He also came in and drank a ton of water, so I think I’ll be adding a little moisture to his food as soon as I can, most likely bone broth.
After an unpleasant deep clean of his crate and cleaning up his paws, I can start the rest of my morning. He didn’t seem to be in any distress after going outside and having a drink of water, and his system seemed to do better after the initial mess in the morning. Still, he was passing some dank gas throughout the day that could choke an elephant. All part of the process, I hope.
Fed him slightly less and later in the day to give his gut a chance to rest, but he still gobbled up every bite when given his meals.
If you’re reading this, do a transition period. I feel that we’re too far in to “cold turkey” to turn back now, so I’m planning on continuing feeding just Ketona unless it doesn’t clear up fully in a day or so.
Day 3: Milo slept comfortably through the night, and his poops are back to normal. Turnaround was way faster than I’d anticipated; I’d thought he might need a day or two for his gut to be better, but on day three he is having normal potty breaks.
His gas is still vile and a little more frequent than they had been, but I’m happy with the progress.
His energy levels seem good. I was concerned he might get some temporary sluggishness drastically reducing carbohydrates so suddenly, but he seems to be doing well in that regard and I haven’t noticed him showing any signs of lethargy or discomfort.
He’s still eating enthusiastically and devouring the Ketona kibble like nobody’s business. It seems that he’s not cooling on the food itself any time soon.
Day 4: Milo is doing great. Not much has changed on day four. Energy levels are great, and his gut seems to have settled completely. I am glad I got him a slow feeder bowl recently, because he is eating the Ketona with gusto still.
In addition to his two meals, I’ve also started giving Milo a Kong toy mid-day. For the purpose of the experiment, the Kong is filled with the Ketona kibble and capped with frozen natural peanut butter to keep the micronutrient ratio in line with ketona’s low-carb recipes.
Day 5: Milo’s coat is starting to look really nice; shinier and a little fuller maybe. He seems to have also filled out a little; maybe from the increase in protein in his diet.
I set up Milo’s new FitBark GPS, and today was the first day of tracking his activity. We were also a little more active in general today due to the day’s schedule. Milo seemed to have good steady energy throughout, and I’m happy so far with how he’s responding the the new food.
Day 6: Not a whole lot has changed since day 5, but I am enjoying seeing Milo’s daily activity on his FitBark and tracking his progress with his food.
Day 7: The one-week mark.
Milo’s previous owners came over for a visit and seemed pleased at his physical progress. They remarked about how much he has filled out, how muscular he looks, and that his coat looks much darker. I think he appears darker in color because his coat is filling out, as I’ve also noticed his thin patches are also less noticeable.
I told them a little bit about my Ketona experiment, and they seemed to be of the opinion that it is working well for him. We also discussed his possible grain allergy, and how his skin seems to be responding well to the higher-protein diet.
A week in, Milo seems to be doing really well on the new kibble.
Day 8: Milo went in to our local groomer for a bath, nail trim, and to have his ears cleaned. He’d been to the same groomer before, so they were very happy to see him.
When the groomers remarked about his skin looking a little better than they’d remembered, I mentioned he was on a new diet which was likely contributing. The salon owner assumed I was adding fish oil to his diet based on how he looked, but I’m not really supplementing him at this point yet. I take that comment as a good sign in favor of Ketona.
Day 9: I got a delivery from Raw Paws Pet Food containing some amazing freeze-dried raw treats. Given that the treats are training-sized and made of either liver or green tripe, I do plan to start giving them to Milo to some extent; they shouldn’t negatively effect his macronutrient ratio, and I know how healthy the ingredients in the treats are.
Because I’m looking to train Milo with some new commands, something enticing and stinky like tripe and liver is a blessing, especially because it’s grain-free as well. I go into my full review on the Raw Paws Pet Food freeze dried treats in my article, A Review of Raw Paws Pet Food.
Milo seems to like them, and with his energy levels being so good lately (probably from eating better food in general) I think we’re both ready to do some training.
Day 10: I think at this point we are almost halfway through the bag of Ketona. I’ve been feeding Milo four cups per day, technically overfeeding from the recommendations on the bag. Milo’s FitBark is showing that he needs 2000 calories per day for maintenance at this point given his size and activity level: more than a lot of humans.
Now that Milo has gained some muscle, though, I’m probably going to reduce his intake a little and ease off to a slower growth. He’s stayed remarkably lean over the last week or two on Ketona, despite packing on some noticeable muscle growth. I’m pleased with the initial spurt and I think easing down to three cups per day plus a stuffed kong once per day will be perfect for a slower gain.
This also means that I will likely have to get a second bag near the end of the month to finish strong. This is fine, because I will have enough left over to fulfill my eventual plan of transitioning him to a homemade diet like my other personal dogs are on.
I am starting to wonder if I should cut the digestible carbohydrate down a little in my homemade food, however, based on how strong and lean Milo has been getting on the Ketona. Perhaps another experiment for another day.
Day 11: Starting to do sport-specific play/exercise sessions to help Milo target some good muscle growth. I like that his food is high protein and should help him continue to build a stead base fitness level.
Day 12: During a play session in the yard (energy levels still awesome, by the way), my neighbor next door saw Milo from her porch and remarked at how his coat had changed. She said that he used to look “silvery” and now he has a very rich, lush brown coloring.
I told her it must be from his coat filling out more, and was pleased to be getting a random compliment from someone who didn’t even know about my quality kibble experiment. It was very validating to have someone comment on his appearance, because any chance I had about chocking up my observations to wishful thinking became instantly dispelled.
Milo really is making significant improvements in his skin health, so much so that people are noticing and pointing it out.
Day 13: Nothing of significance today. Energy still good, enthusiasm for the food still good, digestion still good!
Day 14: Exactly two weeks in and I ordered a second bag of Ketona for Milo. I expect the first bag to last maybe one more week, and want to make sure I order soon enough to not have to give him different food during the experiment period.
This time I also decided to order some of their duck-flavored mobility chews, since it was already on my list to get Milo set up on a joint supplement. With him being a larger dog and being pretty active physically, I’m happy to support his joint health while he is young to prevent premature issues as he gets a little older.
Day 15: I looked through some pictures of Milo before beginning the experiment two weeks ago and saw a dog that is noticeably skinnier than the one I have now! Made a note to take some progress pictures.
Day 16: I had a friend over who hadn’t seen Milo in a week or two, and they went on and on about how great his coat looks and how muscular he’s been getting.
They also played a game of tug with him and remarked about how he’s gotten physically much stronger since the last time they played with him.
Day 17: Milo is still enthusiastic about the Ketona food and consistently finishes every bit during his mealtimes. From how much food he used to leave in the bowl when I was feeding him a different grain-free dog food, I’m surprised that he hasn’t tired of the Ketona kibble at all over the last 2-3 weeks.
Day 18: I noticed that the “bald spot” on Milo’s shoulders (pictured above) is completely gone. While it’s still slightly more sparse than the rest of his coat, I have to go out of my way to look for it to even find a difference. Even the thinnest part of his coat is thicker than his best when he arrived. It’s been an absolutely gigantic improvement.
His coat also feels smoother and healthier to the touch. His coloring appears much “darker” because there is less of his light skin peeking through his brown coat.
Day 19: Milo’s second bag of Ketona was delivered, five days after ordering. I remember receiving our first bag a little sooner than five days, but still not a bad delivery time. Just know that if you opt to order Ketona manually from their website, allow maybe a week to make sure you get it in time.
Day 20: Milo got his first dose of the Ketona Daily Mobility Chews. Today I gave them to him as treats to make sure he liked them, but starting tomorrow I will be using them as part of packing his kong toy.
He adores the duck-flavored supplements and I’m happy to finally have him on a dedicated joint health supplement. For a dog his size and with his activity level it’s practically a necessity.
Inspecting the label of the chews I noticed that they contain not only the basic Glucosamine-MSM-Chondroitin combo, but also other anti-inflammatory and collagen-support ingredients like turmeric and egg shell. Knowing this is great because I can adjust his homemade food in the future so as to not have too much of these things in his from-scratch dog food.
I do find it odd that there is no macronutrient content information on the chews, especially with KetoNatural’s emphasis on a low-carb ideal for dogs.
Day 21: Milo is noticeably more muscular than when he started out. I think it all just kind of hit me at once this morning how much he has filled out while staying so lean. If he were not such a happy-go-lucky dog, he would be straight-up intimidating to look at.
Today we will be using up the last of the bag of Ketona Chicken recipe.
I also prepared a batch of homemade food for Milo, and decided to forego adding rice to it because of how well he’s been doing so far on a low-carbohydrate diet. His first batch of homemade food consisted of a whole ground chicken frame, ten eggs with the shell blended, a couple handfuls of “power greens” (spinach, kale, and chard), and a little bit of chicken liver.
This batch of homemade food is going in the freezer and will be used to help transition him to homemade food. Since the second bag of Ketona should last longer than the experiment itself, I’ll mix them together and monitor him over a couple weeks.
Day 22: Nothing of significance today, but I do continue to notice the mass Milo has put on in muscle so far. He’s really becoming an imposing figure.
Day 23: I’m now really starting to notice Milo’s coat texture changing. Not only is he appearing darker, as I noticed before, but his individual hairs seem longer and thicker, down to the individual strand. Usually, this means a reduction in shedding, which allows the individual hairs more time to grow before being shed.
That “bald spot” on his hackles is also completely gone. There’s really no trace of it at this point, his coat has filled out completely.
Day 24: I took a picture of Milo that just absolutely floored me when it came to his progress. Because I see him every day, progress can be more difficult to track; the day-by-day changes are so small, but over a period of a few weeks, the changes are truly noticeable. Here is the before and after for what is at this point around the three week mark. I’ll let it speak for itself.
Day 25: Posted the above progress picture to my personal socials. I’m admittedly proud of his progress and delighted in getting to show it off. Got a lot of support for his progress and some questions about how we got there. Told those interested to keep an eye out for this post! Again, nice to see that others notice the difference as well!
Day 26: Did some supervised play in the yard with Milo and noticed how much more agile he has become. He’s getting much better and changing direction while in movement, and seems to have a lot of control over his body. This is a huge contrast to before; his last home described him as “clumsy,” which I happened to agree with! I think his increase in agility is much more due to the types of physical activity I have him doing, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless!
Day 27: Made another batch of homemade food for Milo to prepare for his new diet, and it is really sinking in how much I will need to prepare for him. I’m already looking into purchasing a turkey slow roaster to replace my crock pot. Based on his weight, I’ll be needing to go through at least two batches in the crock pot just to feed Milo (that’s without the batch I do to feed my current pets…)
With this realization, it kind of sunk in how great it is that there’s a healthy food that comes in kibble form. While I still prefer making homemade and will continue to make it for my dogs, I think the fact that Ketona exists is so awesome for the everyday dog owner who might not have the time or energy to commit to preparing food from scratch for their dogs.
Day 28: Not a whole lot has changed aside from getting everything ready to transition Milo to a homemade diet. I still have plenty of the Ketona kibble left, so transitioning should go very smoothly.
Day 29: A friend came by who had seen Milo about a week or so ago. After a quick training session, I asked them if they’d like to tug with Milo again, which they enthusiastically agreed to.
They were really sweating during that session. Where once the friend could handle a tug game with Milo on just one hand, they were now holding on for dear life and rooting into a deep squat just to stay in the game. And this friend is a really physically strong person!
Not only has Milo gotten physically bigger, he’s also gotten functionally stronger. In terms of athleticism, Milo is really thriving on his new diet.
Day 30: The last day, and I have mixed feelings about stopping. I know that Milo will enjoy homemade food more, but I do appreciate that there is less room for error in a high-quality kibble. And it will be a lot of work!
Milo has also made a great deal of progress on Ketona. While I know there will be diminishing returns from any fitness program (including diet) I would very much like to build on what we’ve done with the KetoNaturals food and continue to see progress in different areas.
Today I’m wondering if another experiment post to go over the results of homemade food would also be a good idea…
Epilogue: Milo has officially finished his 30-day Ketona experiment with absolutely fantastic results. As promised, I’ve started topping his meals with homemade food to help him transition to a homemade diet.
I’ve decided that because Milo has done so well on a low-carb diet, I’ll be giving him a homemade low-carb diet for the foreseeable future, which just means foregoing the brown rice and starchy vegetable (carrots or sweet potato, usually) from his batches. Trace amounts might sneak in here and there, but not enough to impact the overall macronutrient ratio. Vegetable content for his food at the moment is usually spinach (or “power greens” mix, broccoli, cauliflower, and other fibrous vegetables.
The Conclusion
All in all, my experience with KetoNatural Pet Foods has been stellar. I tried their chicken recipe kibble and their duck-flavored joint supplement chews for my new dog, Milo, as I prepare to make homemade food in the quantities he will need.
During this period, Ketona gave me a very convenient way to feed a healthy diet to my dog that he actually enjoyed eating, and I saw huge improvements in his body composition, energy, coat, and skin.
Milo showed huge improvements in overall muscle mass, but remarkably also seemed to lean out further; his body composition seems to have become leaner despite putting on a good amount of weight. This was the goal, so I’m pleased with Ketona in this corner!
His coat is also very visibly improved. Not only are his individual hairs longer (a sign of reduced shedding), but his coat overall appears much darker, an indication that less of his light skin is showing through. He’s come through with a much richer coloring and a shinier appearance.
All of this took place using a bagged food, which is the most exciting part to me about this experiment. I’m ecstatic to have a commercial kibble that I have got to use hands-on and see such stellar results that I’m willing to recommend it to clients.
While I myself have a career that allows me to dedicate time and energy to making homemade dog food, the truth of the matter is that many dog owners understandably just don’t have the time to do that! I’m delighted, after trying it out for a month, that Ketona exists: there is finally a kibble that delivers awesome health and fitness benefits for dogs that also fits into the lifestyles of most dog owners.
Of course, my experiment is far from academic quality; if you’re looking for peer reviewed research with large test groups and a strict control, this isn’t your experiment. But anecdotally and from years of experience working with dogs, I have to say that the results still speak for themselves!
Ketona delivers on all fronts, and I’m beyond delighted to recommend them to my clients and readers. If you’d like to find out more about KetoNatural Pet Foods, check out their website, and maybe give them a try for yourself!
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