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KIBBLE VS. RAW

There are several major ways that kibble and raw diets differ:

1. Kibble usually contains grain content (wheat, corn, barley, oats) that is more plentiful than the meat content. This is a problem for 2 reasons:

a. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for grain
b. Dogs do not produce enzymes to digest grain or obtain nutrients from it.

2. Kibble diets contain cooked meat and meat by-products which are also hard to digest and absorb nutrients from. Enzymes are destroyed in the cooking process.

3. The nutritional analysis information listed on every bag of kibble is based on laboratory test results. The food sources present in the kibble may contain the appropriate nutrients but the bioavailability (digestion and absorption) may be poor. There has never been a bioavailability test done on any brand of kibble. This means that no one knows if our dogs are actually absorbing adequate nutrients from the food they are eating. There are also no long term studies conducted for how dry foods affect dogs over their entire lifetime. Usually test trails are short, under 1 year and are conducted on younger animals.

4. Because the pancreas of the dog is so small, it must work hard to break down commercial dog food. This means that pancreatic enzymes are depleted quickly and used to break down food with inadequate nutritional content. In turn, the body uses an unfortunate survival tactic: it begins to absorb enzymes and other essential nutrients from its own tissues to maintain the equilibrium of the body. This can only remain and equilibrium for so long and may prove to shorten the life spans of our dear canine friends.

5. Kibble is systemically dehydrating to dogs, as their bodies are designed to absorb water from their prey. To compensate, they must drink large amounts of water to stay hydrated. This puts extra strain on the kidneys.

6. Kibble and canned dog foods often contain toxic fillers like preservatives and dyes. Sugar and other taste enhancers are also found in some commercial foods to entice animals to eat it. Eating these substances daily can pose health risks.

7. Often, synthetic vitamins are added to commercial canine diets. These vitamins are not molecularly/nutritionally equal to the natural source vitamins found in raw food sources. Kibble has only been formulated in the last 100 years. It is absurd to assume that dogs have evolved to eat kibble based diets in this short amount of time. Evolution of physiological and anatomical proportions takes hundreds of thousands, if not, millions of years.

In comparison, the raw diet is rich in fresh meat sources. Meat, tripe, bone, organ and a portion of pureed vegetation are filled with the enzymes needed to properly digest and assimilate nutrients. Nutritional analyses have been done on several types of raw prey items and they do contain all the essential nutrients required by the dog. Bioavailability of prey items has not been studied in a laboratory but it has definitely proven to make for resilient animals in the wild. Wild canines are capable of surviving in harsh conditions with few or no chronic health problems. Kibble has only been fed to dogs for approximately 100 years, whereas raw meat diets have fed the order Carnivora for 60 million years.

Grocery Store Kibble Comparison

Ingredients to Avoid

Kibble Ingredients & Rating

Mystery Meat?

Myths About Raw Feeding

Nutrition for the Carnivore

Protein Amounts/Puppies?

Raw Feeding

Raw Feeding....another good article

Science Diet (Hills) Scam

What's Really in Dog Food - Shirley's Wellness Cafe

Whole Dog Journal Kibble Recommendations for 2006: The Whole Dog Journal (the Consumer Reports of dog articles) is out with their yearly rating on dry dog food (kibble). The article that accompanies the list is excellent and explains thoroughly why some foods are chosen and why others are not. Some of the interesting facts are: It is hard for many people to believe that dogs have NO carbohydrate requirements. Carbs are inexpensive. Upgrade your dog's food and you will notice he/she stops licking his feet, ear infections go away, anal glands don't require squeezing, eyes clear up and coat gets thicker and shinier. If a food mixture contains more than 45% animal products goes through an extruder (kibble making machine) the machine literally gums up and grinds to a halt. Criteria for choosing the foods they did: They look for foods that contain a lot of high quality animal proteins. They reject any food containing meat by-products or poultry by-products. They reject foods containing fat or protein not identified by species. (ie animal fat or meat meal...) They look for the use of whole grains and vegetables. They eliminate all foods with artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. They eliminate all foods with added sweeteners. The list in alphabetical order: Artemis, Azmira, Back to Basics, Bench & Field/Holistic Natural Canine, Blue Buffalo, Burns by Nature BrightLife, California Natural, Canidae, Canine Caviar, Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul, Cloud Star Kibble, Drs. Foster & Smith (Lamb Formula), Eagle Pack Holistic Select, Evole, Firstmate Dog Food, Flint River, Foundations, Fromm Four Star Nutritionals (Performance Formula), G! Natural, Hund-N-Flocken, Innova, Innova Evo, Karma Organic, Lick Your Chops, Lifespan, Limited Diets, Merrick Pet Foods (Cowboy Cookout Formula), Mmillennia, Natural Balance Ultra Premium, Natural Choice Ultra, Newman's Own Organics, NutriSource, Organix, Performatrin Ultra, PHD Viand, Pinnacle, Prairie, Premium Edge, Prime Life, Royal Canin Natural Blend (Adult Formula), Timberwolf Organics, VeRUS, Wellness, Wellness Simple Food Solutions, Wenewe, Wysong, Zinpro

NOT RECOMMENDED KIBBLES:

- Abady Stress & Maintenance Formula
- APD Lamb Meal & Rice
- Bil Jac
- Cornucopia Super Life
- Diamond's Premium Adult
- Eagle Pack Natural Formula
- Eukaneuba Adult
- Iams Maintenance Adult
- Natural Life Adult Formula
- Nature's Receipe Maintenance Lamb & Rice
- Nutro Max Naturally Preserved
- Perfect Health Diet G&M Formula
- Precise Foundation Formula
- Purina ONE
- Science Diet Maintenance
- Sensible Choice Adult Dog
- Pedigree Prime