The Kibble Conundrum

Recently, a family member asked me what I thought about a specific ingredient in a dog food he was considering feeding his dog. Having previously spent two years in search of a food to relieve Toby’s allergies, I refrained from comment. Although I eventually found a kibble that did not wreak havoc on my dog’s fragile system, I never actually located the ‘perfect’ dog food, because, quite simply, it does not exist. 

Due to my research, I did weed out several ingredients that I will not feed my dogs, but am I one-hundred percent happy with all of the components of the food that I finally settled upon? No. So why do I feed it? Because it works for my dogs. Or at least, it works for Leah and Toby. (I recently learned that Meadow may need to change foods because of a pH imbalance, but that is a blog for another day.)

When I first embarked upon my journey, I too wanted to analyze every morsel that passed my puppies’ lips. Instead, I found myself sitting in front of my computer banging my head against my keyboard. I discovered that every ingredient is up for debate – starting with the main protein source. Whether it is lamb, chicken, beef, or something more exotic, (kangaroo perhaps?), you must first assure yourself that your chosen prey does not contain hormones, antibiotics, or some form of mad cow disease.

Let’s say you decide to feed farm raised, organic rabbit – should you pick plain old rabbit, rabbit meal, or rabbit by-products? At first, just rabbit sounds great, until you discover that it contains mostly water. If your food lists some type of meat as the first ingredient followed by four kinds of grain, there really isn’t much meat in that bag. It’s like buying Chinese food - you order chicken and vegetables, but what you get is a quart of Bok Choy with a few slices of chicken thrown in.

Having learned about water content and deceptive ingredient orders, you might decide that rabbit meal sounds the best. After all, by-products are the revolting parts that nobody in their right minds would feed their dogs. Yet if you check out a few more sites, you will discover that some manufacturers claim by-products are actually beneficial for your dog. They contain healthy organs like livers and hearts, which are bursting with essential vitamins and minerals. One company goes so far as to admit that by using by-products instead of meal, they can offer a food that contains much more animal product than it does grain, yet keep that food affordable for the average consumer.

And what of these grains? Rice. Oats. Corn. Wheat. Barley. Rye. While they all sound healthy, some people say that grains offer no benefits to dogs and that they are being used merely as a binder – a glue to hold the kibble together. If left to their own devices, do you think a free roaming dog would choose to devour a wheat stalk – or road kill?

In order to appease the consumer, some manufacturers are using potatoes and sweet potatoes in lieu of grain. However, potatoes often cause yeast infections, (which I learned firsthand with Leah), and sweet potatoes are another common allergen. But if you take away the grain and the potato, you still need an adhesive. To solve this potential problem, some are using tapioca instead. Did you know that tapioca comes from the root of the Cassava plant, which is poisonous if not properly cooked? Other companies are filling their foods with peas, a plant that is often cross-contaminated with soybean. This once beneficial species is now a scientific experiment gone awry.

As you make your way down that increasingly puzzling ingredient list, you begin to wonder about all the extras. Why are they in there? For every website that states beat pulp is a needless filler, another claims it is essential to proper digestion. Even the vitamins are questionable. Look up vitamin K. That should keep you reading for a while. Take a look at which calcium levels are best for a large breed puppy. Again to pacify the consumer, some companies are using dairy products instead of unpleasant sounding things like bone meal to increase the calcium levels in their foods. Let’s look at that vagabond dog in my former example - ever see one suckling on an udder?

Once you decode the ingredient list and decide on several that you deem ‘satisfactory,’ there are other issues to address, like those pesky percentages again. Try Googling which is better for your dog, a high protein food or a low protein food? Make sure you have some aspirin on hand.

While taking your tour of the internet, you may find a few self proclaimed food experts that warn you never to buy foods preserved with chemicals such as BHT or ethoxyquin. This may be sound advice, but did they also warn you about the hazards of mold in improperly stored foods?

Waded through the vast wasteland of websites and discovered a brand that contains the ingredients and percentages you desire? Great! Now research whether or not that company has had recalls in the past and how honestly they handled them. Then check to see if they do horrific experiments on animals and how often they’ve been caught lying about it. And if you find one that appears untouchable, you must dig a little deeper to unearth who really owns them.

After you have done permanent damage to your eyes from staring at your screen, you will eventually settle upon something to try. And ‘try’ is the keyword in that sentence, because now it is time to see if your dog does well on the food that you pick. More importantly, will he even eat it?

Since I’ve already returned from my quest to find the elusive ‘holy grail’ of dog foods with some of my sanity intact, my suggestion is this – if your dog is doing fine on the diet you are already feeding him, (meaning that Fido has a nice coat, normal stools, no allergies, and does not regularly emit noxious fumes from his rear), then don’t change a thing. Feed what works for your dog. However, if Rover is having issues, then go ahead and climb aboard the dog food roller coaster. Just be prepared, you’re in for quite a ride.