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  • 2 min read

Like Oil And Water: Mixing Kibble And Raw

In every industry there are combinations of products that just don’t make sense to combine. We are taught that oil and water don’t mix well. Some antibiotics are better taken with water rather than milk. Basic ingredients don’t mix well with acids, such as milk and grapefruit. The list goes on and on.

I point this out because a new innovative marketing gimmick has just been introduced in the dog food world that suggests the combination of freeze-dried raw food nuggets with kibble.

I have been teaching for years that combining a raw diet with kibble is a hard combination for pets to digest. This is because the digestive time frame of each diet is different. As such, you confuse the pancreas when generating the right combination of digestive enzymes. This often results in gastrointestinal upset (mainly diarrhea and vomiting) and in some cases, long-term depression of the digestive and/or immune system.

The question I would ask regarding this new combination food is: “What is the real benefit?”

It cannot be a reduction in price because using freeze-dried nuggets is an expensive alternative to a raw food diet. It cannot be to offer a better digestive advantage because of the aforementioned variance in the digestion cycle.

So what exactly is the benefit?

Perhaps it offers consumers a product that can be used while traveling. After all, a frozen, raw diet isn’t always as easy to store and manage while traveling long distances without proper refrigeration. Then again, pet owners that are true believers in the amazing benefits of a raw diet would use prefer to opt for a freeze-dried raw diet product during travel, forsaking kibble entirely.

Bulldog sticking its tongue out at a handful of food

Then there is the customer that chooses to use kibble in combination with a natural, raw food diet in order to reduce the cost of feeding large/giant breed dogs or multi-dog households. What I often tell these people is to split the raw and kibble feedings – feed the raw diet in the morning and the kibble at night – and under no circumstances should they combine these two diets into one meal. This usually eliminates any digestive issues and at least introduces an improvement in nutrition for the animal by feeding half raw.

I always question when a company promotes themselves as raw food enthusiasts and at the same time promotes kibble. It seems as if the desire for profit supersedes the desire to do what is best for the health of the animal?

As you all know, I am not a believer in feeding our pets a kibble diet. They are not naturally designed to ingest cooked diets, especially those that contain filler ingredients like corn and grains. But this new concept of combining raw and kibble is even worse because these two diets just don’t mix well. Mixing kibble and raw is like mixing oil and water.

Robert Mueller

Robert Mueller

Robert Mueller, BSc, Pharm. is a registered pharmacist, author of “Living Enzymes: The World’s Best Kept Pet Food Secret”, and co-developer of BARF World’s BARF diets patties, nuggets and supplements – the first company to make the Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods (BARF) diet conveniently available to animals everywhere. He and his wife love to travel around the world with their dog, Moxie – a Yorkshire Terrier/Maltese mix. For more articles like these and to learn more about the benefits of raw food for your pets, sign up for “The Intelligent Pet” monthly e-zine atwww.barfworld.com .

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