Kibble. I didn’t even really know what “kibble” was until Franklin got sick. We took him to an integrative veterinarian who told us, “No more kibble.” I remember thinking to myself, that’s what dogs eat. Kibble dog food, right?
My regular vet cautioned me against changing his food often. Is there another option?
Most of us have been trained to believe that our dogs should eat the same kibble dog food every day, and that the dog food companies have our dog’s best interest and health in mind.
Kibble dog food in a bag is healthy and balanced, and our dogs are happy to eat it every day. Our dogs shouldn’t eat any people food.
I think many dog lovers are beginning to wise up and realize that our best friends’ diets are an important part of their health and longevity. A 2017 Wakefield Research study found that Millenials, the highest age group of pet owners, are driving this change.
People want to know what’s in their beloved pets’ food. They want to know their pets aren’t eating 4D meats (meat from diseased, dead, dying, or down animals at the slaughterhouse) meat full of antibiotics, food nourished with loads of synthetic vitamins, and harmful preservatives.
Feeding strictly kibble dog food every, day, even if it is complete and balanced, doesn’t lend itself to health and longevity.
Kibble Dog Food History
In 1860, an English businessman named James Spratt introduced the first commercially created pet food. Mr. Spratt observed dogs being fed old, leftover biscuits from a ship in the harbor. He formulated the first dog biscuit, “Spratt’s Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes”, with a mixture of meals, vegetables, beetroot, and beef blood. People began to notice his products, and he quickly began marketing the biscuits to English country gentlemen for their sporting dogs, as the product was quite expensive and they were some of the only customers who could afford his biscuits.
Spratt began marketing to health conscious dog owners and quickly got the attention of the American consumer. Americans jumped on the “convenient dog food” train, and gave up the table scraps that most dogs had been eating at the time.
The first canned food called, “Ken-L-Ration”, was introduced in 1922. Maybe you’ve heard of it. The main ingredient was horsemeat, which was considered an appropriate source of protein for dogs at the time. By 1940, canned food was so popular, producers were breeding horses solely for the purpose of dog food, and more than 50,000 of them were slaughtered per year. Thankfully, Americans have developed a strong relationship with their equines, so horsemeat is no longer an acceptable protein.
During WWII, when the tin for the cans and the meat were rationed, pet food was considered “non-essential”. Several companies, including General Mills and Ralston Purina came up with a brilliant, shelf-stable idea.
In 1956, the first dry kibble dog food was created through a process called “extrusion”. This method easily produces large quantities of shelf-stable foods, like cereal.
The wet and dry ingredients are mixed together into a dough-like substance. The dough is then fed into a machine called an expander, where it is cooked under extremely high heat and pressure before it is “extruded” (pushed through) a die-cut machine that produces the kibble shapes we’re familiar with today. After food is extruded, cut, and dried, it is sprayed with synthetic vitamin and mineral coatings to replace the vitamins that were cooked away during the extrusion process, along with flavor enhancers so that it tastes yummy for your dog.
Mesmerizing, right?
In 1964, a powerful lobby, The Pet Food Institute, launched a series of aggressive ad campaigns to convince consumers that dry kibble dog food was the only option to feed their dogs. It worked! The campaigns were so successful that kibble was quickly established as the leading option for pet food, where it still stands today. For most dogs on the planet, kibble is their mainstay.
Kibble Today
As of today, there are over 15,000 pet food brands. These companies, both large and small, mainly produce their pet food through extrusion. All of the ingredients, even the fresh, higher- quality ingredients from the small companies, are cooked at extremely high temperatures multiple times and dried to remove moisture in order to create a long shelf life.
While kibble is super convenient, and stays fresh on the shelf for a long time, the cooking process kills off the benefits of whole-foods. Kibble has no live enzymes that benefit a living body. Many of the vitamins added to kibble are synthetic, so the body processes them differently than the natural version of the vitamin.
Also, probably the worst feature of kibble dog foods is that they are full of carbohydrates. Most kibbles are 30-40% carbs, which isn’t evident on the nutrition labels of kibble because the carb content is not listed! Carbs are the binder that hold the meat mixtures together and provide the shelf-stable feature that is so convenient.
Eventually, too many carbs (years of eating a processed, carb-heavy diet) allow pathogenic bacteria to grow in your dog’s microbiome, which causes inflammation, in-turn causing ill effects on the immune system. As you may be aware from your own lifestyle and eating habits, carbs aren’t all that bad-in their whole-food form, but processed carbs are a different story.
The pet food industry as a whole is also experiencing problems with quality control. These issues include recent recalls related to aflatoxin poisoning (a type of mold associated with vegetables sitting in corn silos), consumers (and even the companies themselves) not knowing where the protein was sourced from, instances of diseased animals, roadkill, and rancid meats making up raw ingredients, and even recalls due to phenobarbital (a euthanasia drug) poisoning in some foods.
Remember, our dogs can eat many of the things deemed unfit for human consumption. In and of itself, that’s not a bad policy because it does cut down on waste from the meat industry. Organs and things we think are icky are actually quite good for our dogs. One would think that if the meat was rancid, rotten or diseased, it would not be healthy for any living thing to consume though.
Are Whole Foods Better?
Think about what you like to eat. Think about how you feel when you eat certain foods, or when you’re lacking certain foods. I value my diet and health, and am so grateful for my husband Chris, who is a top-notch, stand-out cook. He enjoys cooking. We eat whole, fresh, unprocessed foods most of the time. There is no shortage of fruits and vegetables, along with lean, healthy proteins in our diets. I feel good when I eat many foods. Variety is the spice of life!
Kibble dog food; kibble of all kinds, even the good stuff, is processed. These processes lead to the nutrients in our best friends’ foods being leached out. In turn, this leads to our dogs getting sick, possibly being more susceptible to ligament injuries, and not enjoying the long life span that dogs of the past lived.
Eating kibble is akin to you or I eating cereal, day in and day out, for every meal. I really think I’d like to launch my own “cereal challenge” and eat nothing but cereal for a period of time, maybe a week or two, and document my health and mood. Since I’m used to a pretty healthy diet and don’t consume any cereal on a regular basis, I bet I’d be a wreck! I honestly don’t think I could make it for that long!
That’s what our dogs eat. Fortified cereal. Every meal. Day in and day out. Have you also ever noticed, most big dog foods were/are cereal companies? Formerly Ralston-Purina, now Nestle-Purina (Chex cereal) and General Mills (Cheerios), while other major players are owned by candy companies; J.M Smucker (Milk Bone, Rachael Ray Nutrish), Mars (yes, a candy company; Pedigree, Royal Canin). Pet nutrition is a BIG business, and many big companies want a piece of the pie. Go check the back of your dog food bag right now. See who owns the company that makes your dog’s food.
What Can I Do?
Sure, if candy and cereal companies own all the pet food companies, how am I supposed to know what to feed my dog? I get it. Kibble dog food IS super convenient. So is fast food. Or eating cereal for every meal. That doesn’t mean it’s good for you, like it doesn’t mean kibble is good for your dog.
If you are going to feed your dog kibble, follow a couple of guidelines. Focus on purchasing the best food you can afford. Buy kibble from smaller US or Canadian companies only. If you don’t know and can’t find out where the main protein in the food was sourced, call the company. If they can’t tell you, then you shouldn’t buy it.
Check over the ingredients in your dog’s food. If they’re questionable, try something different. There are so many schools of thought on feeding kibble dog food. On one hand, the big companies are heavily studied and supported by science. Unfortunately, many of the science partners and financial backers of the organizations that oversee our pets’ food are actually the big dog food companies!
Related: 15 Kibble Ingredients to Avoid at All Costs
I personally choose smaller companies and fully support a raw or gently cooked diet. That’s simply my choice though.
Add On!
Variety IS the spice of life! Most of our dogs don’t have much variety in their lives, especially in their diets. They don’t really mind. Who else do you know that is absolutely STOKED to eat the same thing for every meal, day in and day out? Guess what? If you do give your dog some variety, she’ll be OVER THE MOON! Most dogs can handle different foods being introduced slowly and carefully. Please consult your veterinarian before making dietary changes if your pet is in poor health.
Wally enjoys Greek yogurt (doggie ice cream), blueberries, homemade turkey food, and sardines added to his kibble.
Purdue University conducted a fresh-food add-in study in 2005. Researchers wondered how it would affect dogs’ overall health if they added green, leafy vegetables to processed kibble. They added the vegetables to the dogs’ kibble 3 times a week. There was a 90% DECREASE in the risk of cancer in these dogs! 90%!!!
We all know that we feel better when we eat fresh, whole foods. So do our beloved dogs. Take a few minutes today to grind up some veggies; broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, spinach, squash, carrots, peppers and add a little bit to your Best Friend’s kibble dog food. Our dogs deserve it. They add so much to our lives! They will thank you, and their health and longevity will thank you!
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