Is Kibble Good for Dogs?

Kibble has been one of the most widely used diets for dogs in the past few decades. However, this has not always been how humanity fed their furry friends in the past. Like any living being, they must eat species-appropriate diets if you expect them to thrive and grow properly. Species will die off if they are not fed correctly. Dogs have similarities with humans in that they are very resilient, and they can eat many things that their bodies are not meant to eat.

However, their bodies can become quite damaged from eating a diet like this in the long term. These are some issues that kibble might cause in your dog. However, keep in mind that some dogs might do well on certain types of food and kibble, whereas others might not.

Many individuals believe that kibble can be like fast food for your pet, especially if you do not pay attention to the ingredients found inside them. Here are some of the issues related to kibble:

Food-Grade Ingredients

The laws concerning what can or can not be put into kibble are very flexible, and in some cases, some pet feed can include animal ingredients that come from diseased sources without any requirement to disclose it. These inedible animal by-products go through rendering, processed using high heat levels. Many ingredients that go into kibble come from rendering plants.

Highly Processed

Many nutrients found in kibble are cooked away by being processed at such high heat. Because of this, many pet food brands add flavour enhancers and synthetic nutrients to replace them. During this process, carcinogens are also created, damaging your pet's health over time.

High Starch and High Carbs

Pet foods typically add in a high amount of grains and other carbohydrates high in starch, such as corn, wheat, rice or potato. These ingredients provide very little nutritional value for your dog's health. Despite their poor nutritional quality, these ingredients make up a majority of kibble. Grain-free kibble will replace these grains using legumes, peas and lentils. Eating high carb and high starch diets can stress your dog's metabolism, resulting in spikes in insulin, glucagon and cortisol during the day. The high carb content of kibble can also contribute to the high amount of obesity in pets today.

Low Moisture Content

Kibble contains low moisture, which puts your dog into a continual state of dehydration since it sucks up all the moisture content when in the stomach. Think about if you only ate salted crackers every day of your life. When dogs become dehydrated, it will result in the following harmful symptoms: