Many pet lovers often debate about whether raw food is more beneficial than the cooked food and kibble. Although dog food doesn't come in as many colors, shapes, sizes, and flavors as human food, there are still some varieties to choose from. No matter which type you choose for your canine companion, the most important factor in your decision should be finding a food that meets all of your dog's nutritional needs. In this article, we will understand the food habit of dog. We will also find which food is best for your dog with the help of nutrient value and scientific research on food.
- Understand food habit of dog
When we look back at the historical diets of dogs and their wolf ancestors, it is evident that they are carnivores. The gut, teeth, and digestive physiology of dogs strongly support this. Their jaws are hinged and powerful. The canines and triangular shaped carnassial teeth of dogs are used for ripping and tearing flesh and crushing of bone. Dogs do not have the typical molars that are used for grinding of plant material. They also lack in four chamber stomach for the slow digestion and fermentation of complex carbohydrates (starches from plants and grains). Canines have a short digestive tract, large stomach, and very small cecum, indicative of consuming large amount of high protein diet in a short time period.
| Kibble dog food | Raw dog food | Cooked dog food | |
| Definition | It is an inexpensive food; therefore, many dog owners chose it. It also lasts for a long time and doesn’t need to be refrigerated | It consists of raw meat, preferably with some bones (never cooked bones, only raw) | This diet allows the owner to know for certain what is in everything his dog eats and to be absolutely sure dog’s nutritional needs are being met |
| Main nutrients | Generally, it consists at least 60% carbohydrate, little moisture and minimal protein. Most of the proteins present in kibble diets are also plant based. | Bones are a natural source of phosphorus and calcium | |
| Raw Fish is a good source of vitamin D, protein and essential fatty acids | |||
| Organs contains large amount of protein, vitamins and carbohydrates | |||
| Eggs is a good source of albumin protein and fatty acids | |||
| Boneless Meat is an excellent source essential amino acids in your dog | |||
| Depending on ingredients, this food may contain: | |||
| Protein (animal meat, seafood, dairy, or eggs), | |||
| Fat (from meat or oil) | |||
| Carbohydrates ( from grains or vegetables) | |||
| Calcium (from dairy or an ingredient such as egg shells), | |||
| Essential fatty acids (from certain plant oils, oatmeal, egg yolks, and other foods). | |||
| Make sure to not use toxic ingredients for dogs. | |||
| Nutrient percentage | Protein- 18-32% | Nutrients of cooked dog food depend on the ingredients you used for making the food. | |
| Fat- 8-22% | |||
| Carbohydrates- 46-74% | |||
| Protein- 56% | |||
| Fat- 25-30% | |||
| Carbohydrates- 14% | |||
| Positive things | It is fed to a wide range of canines all over the world due to its convenience, easy availability and cheap price. | It works well for dogs, as dogs have short intestinal tracts and strong stomach acids that make it easy to digest raw food. | With cooked food, your dog gets a balanced diet that helps him to stay healthy and strong. |
| Benefits | Easy to store | Firmer stools | |
| Cheaper than any other food | Improved digestion | ||
| Good for dog teeth | Healthier skin and coat | ||
| Removes tartar buildup | Reduced allergy symptom | ||
| Easily available | Better weight management | ||
| Reduce the risk of dog allergies | |||
| Your dog get only fresh, healthy ingredients | |||
| Reduces risk of bloating and indigestion | |||
| Do not contain additives and filler ingredients | |||
| Downsides | Low quality protein | Lack of convenience | Costly as compare to other dog food |
| Less nutrients as compare to other food | Bacterial contamination of Salmonella and E. coli | Not convenient, as you have to do some efforts to prepare diet for your dog | |
| Some grains are often contaminated with molds that results in Aflatoxins | More acidic | ||
- Scientific research on kibble, raw and cooked dog food
- A study conducted by Dr. Kollath in Stockholm, Sweden showed that young animals fed a processed diet initially appeared to be healthy, but once these animals reached maturity, they began to rapidly age and develop several degenerative disease symptoms. Further, the control group that was raised on an uncooked, raw diet did not age as fast and showed no degenerative disease symptoms but remained quite healthy.
- A study at Belgium, “Relation between the Domestic Dog’s Well Being and Life Expectancy, a statistical essay”, utilized the data gathered from more than 500 domestic dogs over a consecutive 5 year time period (1998-2002). Its authors, Lippert and Sapy, were able to show statistically that the dogs fed a homemade diet, consisting of high quality foods used from their owner’s meals versus dogs fed a commercial pet food diet had a life expectancy of 32 months longer that’s almost 3 years!
- According to a recent scientific research, it is shown that fresh prepared, slightly cooked whole dog food is simply the best choice for your canine companion. Some studies also support that animals better digest whole food diets than kibble, however the these studies have unable to show any difference in the digestibility between the raw ingredients, and same ingredients when these are cooked.
- Scientists found that both cooked and raw diets have significantly higher digestibility for the proteins than the kibble (extruded diets). In addition to this, study on domestic cats found significantly higher digestibility of raw diets, compared to the kibble (extruded diets). In the same study, there was no significant difference in the digestibility between feeding the raw ingredients before and after it was cooked.
From all these studies, we can easily conclude that the raw and cooked diet is good as compare to the kibble diet. Now, let’s see what good raw diet or cooked diet.
The raw diets include a combination of uncooked meat from fish, animals, or poultry commonly used for food. When commercially made, the raw diets are made using ingredients that are not fit for humans, which means they could include medicated animals or rejected carcasses such as dead on farm, unwell, or removed from the human food chain. The ingredients also include internal organs, flesh (muscle), blended body parts and bones, and in some cases untreated milk, or uncooked eggs. There can be various possible health risks associated with the raw diet, such as:
- Various studies have revealed important concerns about nutritional imbalances when the raw diet is not formulated properly. This diet may include improper Ca/Phos ratios, and deficiencies in various important essential vitamins, including vitamin E.
- The raw diets may also contain contamination with pathogens that can harm both animals and humans. Most of the meats that are used in commercial raw diets may not be handled properly, thus these may acquire bacterial contamination from the feathers, hide, slaughter, evisceration, or processing and packing. Some common microbes that contaminate the raw food include Salmonella spp and E. coli which can cause many health problems.
- According to some nutritionists, raw diets may contain bones that have been implicated in hazards to the pets that eat them, including: tooth fractures, injury and perforation of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, or colon.
Conclusion:
Due to all the health risks of raw food, we can say that these are also not suitable for your pet. If you really care your pet, give him slightly cooked food. Branded pet food is an excellent alternative of cooked food, as it contains all the nutrients in exact proportion. Also, it does not contain any harmful pathogen like Salmonella, E. coli and Campylobacter because these are processed in state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities and using latest processing tools. Therefore, for better health of your pet, you should feed him slightly cooked or branded pet food.