The Fibbles Behind Kibble
There’s so much information out there about dog food these days. Once upon a time, it seemed so easy - buy dry dog kibble at your local supermarket, scoop said kibble into your dog’s bowl a couple times per day, and repeat each day. Now, there are many more options available, and just like with the human nutritional landscape, new trends are popping up all over the place.
Are you confused about what the best option is for your pooch? Maybe you’re wondering if that big bag of dog food is really the best choice? What about raw? What is that all about? Do people really cook full meals for their dogs?!
These are all totally understandable questions to ask. The first step to coming to a reasonable answer for you and your dog, is to educate yourself on some truths about dog food, at a high level.
To keep things simple, here’s a list of need-to-knows as you begin to navigate the dog food landscape:
Dogs do not have a carbohydrate requirement and the average bag of grain-based food is often more than 50 % carbs.
Grain-free usually has the most starch of any pet food.
Veterinary students are not taught extensive nutrition in their eductation.
Every veterinary school has partnerships with one of the top 5 pet food brands i.e. profit-focused multinational corporations.
The only family members eating ultra-processed foods every meal, every day, for their whole lives, are our pets.
Human nutritionists recommend consuming less-processed foods, but most veterinarians still recommend only processed foods (i.e. kibble). How does that make sense?
If your bag of kibble says, “Prescription Diet”, know that there aren’t any medications or special substances included in these diets; they’re called prescription because they are only sold by veterinarians.
But how do I know how many carbs are in my dog’s kibble?
Here is a quick way to calculate the percentage of carbohydrates that make up your dog’s food:
Flip over your bag of kibble & find the Guaranteed Analysis.
Add up the protein + fat + fiber + moisture + ash (estimate 6% if you don’t see a value for ash, which is an estimate of the mineral content of food).
Subtract the number you get from 100. This is the amount of starch in your dog’s food.
A biologically appropriate amount is less than 10 percent.
You’re probably already overwhelmed by this info. That’s ok. Take it in, and take a deep breath. There’s more to come. Keep being a warrior for your dog !
