DOG FOOD: PAWS OFF THE CARBS

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By Newsweek Editors

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Dogs tend to look like their owners. So what to do when you've Atkinsed down to a size 4, but your pooch is still enormous? The pet-food company Pedigree has a solution: low-carb dog food. "We saw the trend in human food and said, this is something we need to look at for our pets," says Chris Jones, a Pedigree spokesman. The resulting diet, Pedigree Weight Loss, contains 50 percent protein and is designed to slim down Fifi by 10 percent within 12 weeks. To keep it off, the company's also introducing the Pedigree Maintenance Formula, a low-fat 27 percent protein mix.

There's definitely a need--the American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 30 percent of dogs are overweight --but is Atkins the answer? The theory's sound, says Bonnie Beaver, the AVMA's acting president. "Dogs in the wild would exist on Atkins, so there is certainly a good strong basis for it," she says. "But it's also probably a marketing ploy." Some think that's all it is. "Although it's the lowest-carbohydrate diet out there, it's probably not low enough to lead to ketosis [a metabolic state that causes weight loss in low-carb diets]," says Diane Levitan, an internal-medicine specialist at the Center for Specialized Veterinary Care in Westbury, N.Y. In the end, Pedigree's weight-loss secret might not be low carb, but good old-fashioned low cal: the new products contain 20 percent fewer calories than the brand's regular dry food. Effective, but not nearly as trendy.

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