2 – Mixing Raw and Kibble Together
I want to point out that mixing raw and kibble together isnt bad for all dogs. Many people do this with no issues, however, I believe that if you have a dog with a sensitive tummy, this diet combo may be too much. This was my experience with Rodrigo, my dog that has a history of digestive issues.
Here is what people say about mixing raw and kibble together:
Its a great way to add fresh food to the bowl; by swapping 20% of the kibble with fresh food (raw dog food or vegetables), you can decrease cancer rates in your dog.
While some people are encouraging pet parents to add fresh food to the bowl, including raw dog food, others believe that this is a bad idea. The idea of switching to raw is to improve our dogs health. If were still feeding kibble, then we may be offsetting the benefits that raw brings to the bowl. Kibble promotes inflammation, its difficult to digest, and the sourcing of the ingredients are questionable. Some feel that adding 20% fresh food to the bowl isnt enough to offset the downsides of feeding kibble.
Ive heard two stories of why raw and kibble dont belong in the same meal. Some believe that raw and kibble digest at different rates (raw is digested faster). When raw dog food is mixed with kibble, its held in our dogs digestive tract longer, causing it to decompose inside our pups, making them sick. Another theory is that raw and kibble require different pH in the tummy, which is what creates the digestive upset.
Can I add raw meat to my dogs kibble?
Yes, you can feed both kibble and raw. … This will help strengthen the digestive system and make it more capable of deriving the full nutrients out of a raw food diet. The true benefits of feeding raw are not as noticeable when feeding raw less than 20% of the entire diet.
Should dogs Mix dry and wet food?
There is no need to mix the dry food and the wet food in the one bowl when you feed your dog. … Of course, there are plenty of benefits in giving your dog a mixture of wet and dry food. One of these is that wet food helps to keep them hydrated. However, it only does part of the job.
Can I mix ground beef with dry dog food?
There are a bunch of reasons to feed both kibble and raw at the same time …
Maybe you’re trying to switch your dog to raw but you need to mix both together to avoid digestive upset. Or maybe a 100% raw diet isn’t in your budget … you give as much as you can afford, but you need to add a little kibble to make ends meet.
These are both really solid reasons to combine the two foods. And let’s face it … a little bit of fresh, whole food is better than none at all!
But mixing these two foods together can set your dog up for some unhappy (and even dangerous) consequences.
Fortunately, you can limit the downside with just a few tweaks … but the potential health risks are real and you should be aware of the risks and how to reduce them.
So let’s talk about the dangers of combining kibble and raw and the easy steps you can take to give your dog the health benefits of some raw food without any risk …
Inside your dog’s digestive tract are little proteins called enzymes – these enzymes are responsible for digesting the food your dog eats so it can be converted to energy. Protein will also be used to build structures in the body while fat will be used to build the walls of your dog’s cells.
Some digestive enzymes are found in the stomach, where food is predigested, and the rest of the enzymes are released from your dog’s pancreas … these pancreatic enzymes are released into the small intestine, where they complete the digestion process.
The dog’s stomach doesn’t just digest food … it also protects your dog from bacteria or other harmful organisms that might be eaten along with his food. And it does both of these jobs by secreting hydrochloric acid from its walls … this keeps the pH of the stomach around 2, which is very acidic (about the same pH of vinegar).
Here’s a cool experiment to try at home … take a bone (try a chicken leg bone) and place it in a bowl of vinegar. Let the bone sit in the vinegar for 2 to 3 days and then take the bone out. What you’ll find is that you can easily bend the bone, just like it was rubber.
Bones turn to rubber in vinegar because the acid dissolves the calcium (and other minerals) from the bone. Once the calcium is gone, the bone loses its hardness.
So that acidic stomach and intestinal tract helps your dog digest bone (and absorb all of the important minerals in his diet).