Which nutrients does my dog use first: carbs, protein, or fat?

Question

If a dog food has 20% protein, 10% fat and over 50% carbs and another dog food has 32% protein, 16% fat and under 50% carbs will feeding the second one result in her getting more protein, or will she only store the amount of protein she needs? For example would her body use the carbs or protein first? Pet's info: Dog | Cavalier King Charles Spaniel | Female | spayed | 5 years and 2 months old | 17 lbs

Rodrigo Roca, DVM · Accepted Answer

Hello again, Carbs are used first since they are the easiest to metabolize and turn into glucose which is the main source of energy for all the cells in the body except the heart cells. Proteins are metabolized second for energy, and Fat is metabolized third. Any extra energy that is not used, wether is from carbs, protein or fat, is stored in the body primarily as fat. Feeding her the second food may ultimately result in more energy being metabolized from protein and fat after all of the carbohydrates have been used. However the higher fat content may result in similar fat concentrations being stored in Chloe between both foods.

Which nutrients does my dog use first: carbs, protein, or fat?

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