Carbs, which are popularly known as carbohydrates, are scientifically the molecules which contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. These carbohydrates form an essential portion of the nutrient intake for the living beings, be it humans or animals.

While choosing the food for your beloved pets, all the masters need to do is to follow proper pet grooming tips and opt for items that have a balance of all the essential nutrients viz. Proteins, Carbohydrates and Fats etc.

In this too, the food of your dog could include a carbohydrate content of about 30 to 70%. Therefore, it could be said that carbohydrates hold much importance for the energy, growth and development of your pets.

Significance of Carbohydrates For Your Pet:

As other easily attainable nutrients, carbohydrates too hold much of importance in carrying out the regular functioning of the pets’ body. Carbohydrates may serve the following imperative functions:

Quick Body Energy: As they do for the human beings, carbohydrates performs the main function of providing quick energy to the body of pets. The body of dogs is capable enough to break the simple carbohydrate molecules into sugars early, while the more complex ones may be broken at later stages.

As the intestines of their body convert the carbohydrates to glucose, it becomes one of the main sources of the body cells to derive energy. Apart from cells, glucose is also imperative for normal functioning of the brain and nervous system.

This glucose if taken in excess could be converted to fat deposits which could be used at later deficient stages.  

Offering Structure And Texture To The Food: Carbohydrates serve the purpose of offering the dog kibbles their structure and texture which makes it easy to store it for a long time. Additionally, the starchy carbohydrate foods help in filling the stomach of dogs and also provide assistance in cleaning of their teeth (preventing the building of tartar).

Essential Fibers: Some carbohydrate-rich foods such as grains, oat bran, brown rice and beet pulps contains essential dietary fibers which help the digestive tract of the dogs in various conditions.

Though these fibers do not form to be one of the most imperative parts of your pet’s diet, they could help in certain body troubles such as obesity (make the stomach filled easily and persist for long, so that the pet does not crave for food too often), high blood pressure, blood sugar and kidney troubles.

Source Of Carbohydrates For Pets:

The essential sources of carbohydrates for the body of pets are the cereals and grains. It is to be made sure by the pet owners that either these grains are well grounded or offered in cooked form so that apart from increasing their ability to digest, these could also taste better.

Other sources of carbohydrates include:

·         Barley

·         Whole wheat

·         Whole corn

·         Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes

·         Millets

·         Oats

·         Brown Rice, etc.

It is always essential to select the best quality items for the food of your dog as this is what forms its body. Offer them all the healthy sources of carbohydrates, but keeping in mind to forbid any extra amount and prohibited sources. Any extra amount would add up a layer of fat in their body which could make your dog obese.