Guest guest Posted August 29, 2003 Report Share Posted August 29, 2003 OK, the word from the vet. Tigers are not normally in ketosis. -------------------------------------------------------- Dear Ms. Schuppenhauer, Who says a " carnivores breath smells bad " ? I like the smell, myself. No carnivore, in captivity or in the wild, is on a " all protein diet " ; meat proteins are a percentage of the animal's overall food consumption. True, " a carnivore is well-adapted to a high protein diet and therefore does NOT go into ketosis from that diet " . Urine testing for ketones on a normal, healthy tiger would be negative for ketones. Thanks for asking! Dr. Darin Associate Zoo Veterinarian ======== My letter: ======== I have heard low-carb diet books say that the reason a carnivore's breath smells bad is that they are in a constant state of ketosis, from an all protein diet. Other people say that a carnivore is well-adapted to a high protein diet and therefore does NOT go into ketosis from that diet. Is there any hard data on that? Most household carnivores eat so much grain in their food that they wouldn't make a good test case. Has anyone dipped any ketostix in tiger urine???? Thanks very much for your time! Heidi Schuppenhauer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 30, 2003 Report Share Posted August 30, 2003 On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 16:32:01 -0700 Heidi Schuppenhauer <heidis@...> wrote: > > OK, the word from the vet. Tigers are not normally in ketosis. > > -------------------------------------------------------- > Dear Ms. Schuppenhauer, > > Who says a " carnivores breath smells bad " ? I like the smell, myself. > > No carnivore, in captivity or in the wild, is on a " all protein diet " ; meat proteins are a percentage of the animal's overall food consumption. True, " a carnivore is well-adapted to a high protein diet and therefore does NOT go into ketosis from that diet " . Urine testing for ketones on a normal, healthy tiger would be negative for ketones. Must be the grass, berries and seeds that keep this from happening: http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Tiger/diettiger.html ###### A. Diet 1. A tiger's favorite prey is deer and wild boar. Deer species may include sambar, chital, sika deer, swamp deer, and hog deer, among others. Depending on the habitat, tigers may also eat antelope, buffalo, guar, domestic livestock, peafowl, monkeys, civets, porcupines, fish, frogs, crabs, large monitor lizards, pythons, and young elephants or rhinos. Grass, fruits, and berries are also eaten. (2) 2. Prey living in dense, forested areas (where tigers are found) tend to be more scattered in distribution. Because of this, tigers will attack most any animal that places itself in a vulnerable position. Tigers kill animals of all ages and physical conditions, including animals in their prime. (6) ######## Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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