What to feed dogs instead of kibble
Dry Dog Food vs. Wet Dog Food: Which Is Better?
The number of dog food products on the market can make it very confusing for you to choose a diet that is appropriate for your pet. Not only are there tons of different brands and ingredients, but even the most basic choice of wet versus dry dog food can be overwhelming.
Its important to always consult your veterinarian for more specific recommendations that best fit your dogs lifestyle, but this article will go over the main differences between dry and wet dog food.
What's the Difference Between Wet and Dry Dog Food?
Both dry dog food and wet dog food can provide nutritionally balanced diets, but the major difference is in the way they are processed.
How Is Wet Dog Food Processed?
Wet food starts with grinding the protein sources, or meat ingredients. Then a gravy that contains vitamins, minerals, and grains is added. Once those are mixed, the food is cooked and sterilized to produce the canned product.
As a result, wet food has a much higher moisture content than dry food. You can see the percentage of maximum moisture on the label, under the Guaranteed Analysis section. A dry food might have around 10% moisture (max.) while a wet food might have something like 78% moisture (max.).
How Is Dry Dog Food Processed?
Dry food contains very similar ingredients, but instead of adding gravy and canning the product, the meat mixture is pulverized in order to create a consistent dough that can be cooked.
Once cooked, the dough is extruded through specifically shaped holes to form kibble. The kibble undergoes a drying process, and then is sprayed with fats, oils, vitamins, and minerals and packaged before the fats and oils can spoil.
Some dry dog food diets also add live probiotics to aid in digestive and immune health.
Is Wet or Dry Food Better for Dogs?
Both types of dog food are good choices, but each has their own benefits and drawbacks depending on the nutritional needs of your pet.
Benefits of Wet Dog Food Compared to Dry Dog Food
Wet dog food, or canned food, sometimes provides benefits that dry food doesnt offer, such as:
Higher moisture content: Wet food may be a good choice if your dog doesnt drink as much as they should, or if they have a medical condition that could benefit from proper hydration. One example would be a dog with a history of urinary or kidney disease.
Palatability: Canned dog food is often more aromatic and flavorful when compared to dry food. This may entice sick or older dogs to eat if their appetite is decreased.
Satiety: Wet dog food tends to create a longer-lasting feeling of being full. Increased satiety is useful in weight management, especially in dogs that seem to have a never-ending appetite.
Easier to chew: Dogs that have dental disease or other oral abnormalities may find wet food easier to chew than dry food.
Benefits of Dry Dog Food Compared to Wet Dog Food
Dry dog food, or kibble, often offers certain benefits that wet food doesnt provide, such as:
Dental health benefits: Dry food encourages dogs to chew their food, which aids in preventing tartar buildup and secondary periodontal disease.
Convenience: Compared to wet food, dry diets are much easier to pre-portion, and they wont spoil if left out all day. This can be beneficial for dogs that are grazers.
Financially feasible: Depending on the brand of food, dry diets may be less expensive to purchase and store long-term.
Food enrichment: Kibble is easier to integrate into food puzzles and slow feeders that may improve a dogs quality of life through cognitive stimulation.
What Dry Dog Food Do Veterinarians Recommend?
The most commonly recommended dry dog food brands, by veterinarians, are the same as for wet food: Royal Canin, Science Diet, and Purina Pro Plan. Here are a few dry dog food options for puppy, adult, and senior life stages:
Guide to Mixing Wet and Dry Dog Food
Mixing wet and dry dog food is another option that may provide the best of both worlds. However, it is very important to ensure you are still providing the properdaily feeding amountto prevent overfeeding.
The best way to do this is to have your local vet calculate your furry friends daily calorie requirements for maintenance. Then you can calculate how much dry and wet food your dog should have each day to reach that number of caloriesand dont forget to factor in any calories from treats.
Featured image: iStock.com/NickyLloyd
WRITTEN BY
Heather Hoffmann, DVMVeterinarian
Dr. Heather Hoffmann is a 2018 graduate from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a certificate in...
Benefits of Fresh Dog Food vs. Raw Food vs. Kibble For Your Dog
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Food glorious food. Food is an important aspect of the daily lives of humans and dogs. However, dogs dont get to choose what they eat. We choose what we think is best for the health, energy level, and enjoyment of our canine companions.
With the growing popularity of freshly prepared food for dogs (like Ollie, who makes human grade fresh dog food,) our options have increased, and choosing what is best can be challenging. The first step is to consult your veterinarian. Here are some points to consider when you choose a food for your dog:
- Health: A balanced, nutritional diet is critical to maintain good health.
- Activity level: Working dogs and service dogs have different caloric requirements than household pets.
- Age and size: Nutritional requirements differ between puppies and adults, large breed and small breed dogs.
- Food allergies: Some dogs are allergic to specific proteins or ingredients such as eggs, corn, wheat, soy, or milk.
- Taste: No matter what you think, dog food has to taste and smell good to your dog.
- Your lifestyle: How much time do you have available to spend cooking and shopping for your dog?
Fresh Food
Feeding dogs a diet made with natural, real ingredients, such as beef, chicken, lamb, peas, spinach, carrots, and blueberries, can do wonders for their overall well-being promoting heart health, increasing energy level, making coats shiny and breath smell better, improving eyesight, and even impacting a dogs stool.
However, cooking for your pet is a process thats demanding on your time, space, and finances. Merck Veterinary Manual warns, Most homemade diets do not undergo the scrutiny and rigorous testing applied to commercial complete and balanced diets. If pet owners wish to feed their pets homemade diets, the diets should be prepared and cooked using recipes formulated by a veterinary nutritionist.
Fresh dog food delivery services, such as Ollie, work with canine nutritionists to develop cooking methods and personalized formulas that include the vitamins and minerals that meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials standards for dog food. They calculate the exact number of calories needed based on weight, breed, age, activity level, and body composition and take any allergies your pup has into account.
Ollies food is made with human-grade ingredients sourced from reputable farms and approved by veterinarians. They never use fillers, by-products, artificial flavors, or preservatives. Each recipe is cooked by hand at low temperatures in small batches in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA)-regulated kitchen. All the prep work is done for you, and the food is pre-portioned and stored in the freezer. They even offer all-natural, single-ingredient treats that dogs love.
What to Look For in Fresh Food
Most fresh food services are offered by subscription and delivered to your door. The best ones work with veterinary nutritionists to formulate a plan customized for your dog. They offer options in recipe choices, portion size, and frequency of delivery. They also provide easy-to-understand information about ingredients, feeding schedules, and how to keep the food fresh.
Raw Diet
Raw dog food can be homemade, store-bought, freeze-dried, or dehydrated. A raw diet usually includes organ meats, muscle meat, whole or ground bone, raw eggs, dog-safe fresh fruits and vegetables, and a dairy product such as yogurt. Advocates of raw food diets site these benefits: shinier coats, healthier skin, improved dental health, increased energy, and smaller stools.
Some veterinarians warn that raw diets are not appropriate for dogs who share their homes with young children or people with compromised immune systems. Meticulous care is required in the handling, preparation, and sanitation of raw food. Dogs with pancreatitis, cancer, or other diseases may require cooked food. Puppies are also better off having cooked food.
The American Veterinary Medical Association opposes the unregulated feeding of raw foods and discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens, because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs, as well as humans.
What to Look for in Raw Food
Find a veterinarian who knows the health of your dog, is familiar with raw foods, and can help guide you in the proper handling and cleaning required to address possible health concerns.
Kibble
Dry food or kibble has ingredients that vary by brand, but all are required to be balanced and meet the nutritional needs of a dog. Under USDA regulation, all animal foods must be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.
The ingredients in kibble are processed together and cooked. Required ingredients include: protein sources such as beef, poultry, fish, and eggs; grains; cereals; and vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. All dry dog foods need preservatives to prevent the fat from becoming rancid. Some brands are heavy on carbohydrates or have low-quality ingredients and added sugar.
Those who feed their dogs kibble suggest the potential benefits to be: reduced dental plaque, healthier gums, reduced risk of bacteria, easier storage, less risk of spoilage, and cost-effectiveness. On the other hand, some dog owners choose to switch to fresh food like Ollie due to the risks of kibble.
What to Look for in Kibble
Read the label. Look for a food that has a protein as the first ingredient, not a grain. The best kibbles have a single source of protein, such as lamb or chicken. Grain-free diets exist, but carbohydrates are required for energy, and the choice of grain is important since some dogs have sensitivities to wheat, corn, or soybeans.
Help From the Experts
The food we give our dogs makes a huge difference in their health and well-being. So it makes sense to let the experts help us determine what is best.
Ollies veterinary nutritionists use the latest advancements in research to develop the best recipes for your dog recipes that include fresh ingredients to keep your pups brain function healthy, address allergies and gastrointestinal sensitivities, are proportioned for ideal weight, and use Omega-3 fatty acids to help reduce inflammation. All that delivered right to your door, for free.
Ollie has received rave reviews from both customers and industry leaders. Ollies customers have reported better weight management, shinier coats, and more. Ollie has received a 5-star rating from Dog Food Advisor and has named one of the best dog food brands by Forbes, and Readers Digest.
Canned or Dry Dog Food Whats the Better Choice?
Ever wondered whats better? A canned dog food or a kibble? For me, it took a trip away from home and a call from the kennel attendant that finally helped me solve that riddle.
Bailey hasnt eaten a bite in two whole days, she advised.What would you like us to do?
We had gone away for the holidays and had no choice but to leave our little guy with the vet.
And now we were worried.
Baileys recent favorite a chicken and rice kibble had been brought along with him to the kennel.But now he didnt want any part of it.
When I asked the aide if she had any suggestions, she quickly replied
Why dont you let me try something.It almost always works, especially with our finicky dogs who refuse to eat.
When I called back a few hours later I was relieved to find out Bailey had gobbled up every bit of it and even licked the bowl.
Want to know what it was?
An Overlooked Dog Food Option
Canned dog food. That was it. Bailey wouldnt eat the kibble. But he sure did love that wet food.
So, I decided to learn more about canned dog food.I knew Bailey liked it. And he liked it a lot more than he liked kibble.
But I had to be sure if it was OK for him to eat. After all, Id always heard that canned dog food wasnt as good for dogs as kibble.
Why Canned Dog FoodCan Be Better Than Kibble
In many ways, canned dog food can be superior to kibble. They typically contain more meat protein than their dry counterparts.
And theyre made with fewer carbohydrates, too.1
Plus, due to their air-tight packaging, canned dog foods contain no synthetic preservatives.So, fats and oils sealed inside cans dont easily become rancid.
And no artificial flavorings and colorings.
With cans, meat ingredients are closer to their natural state.So, canned products are more palatable and more appetizing.
Help for Dogs with Dietary Problems
Have an overweight dog that needs to lose weight?
The moisture content of canned dog food can make the same amount of nutrients (on a dry matter basis) occupy more volume. So, your dieting dog can feel fuller faster.
And what about older dogs?
Seniors are frequently afflicted with chronic dental problems that can make chewing dry kibble difficult even painful.So, canned dog food can be the perfect solution.
The Truth About Dog Foodand Dental Health
Now, I know it looks like Ive forgotten to mention how kibble can be better for your dogs teeth than canned food.
But my own professional background makes that silly rumor difficult to accept.
Find out for yourself. Be sure to read Dry Dog Food and the Myth of Cleaner Teeth to learn the surprising truth.
So, Which Is Better Canned or Dry?
To help answer that question, take a look at this table
From this chart it seems like canned dog food might be a better choice. But looks can be deceiving.
Where Kibble Wins
Now, when it comes to convenience, nothing beats kibble.Plus if youre on a budget (and who isnt these days) a quality dry dog food is almost always a better buy.
But one important warning
Never leave any canned food in your dogs bowl for more than an hour or two.Unlike kibble, wet foods exposed to the environment can easily grow bacteria and quickly become contaminated.
Of course, every open can must be kept refrigerated.Be sure to discard any unused dog food within two to three days.
Why You Should Consider Both
Now, I hope you dont think Im recommending canned food over kibble because Im not.
There are times when feeding either one or the other may be the better choice for you or your dog. However, there are also times when mixing the two together a feeding method known as topping makes an especially tasty choice.
