Posted on 02/04/2021 12:49:20 PM PST by Red Badger
Some types of human food might be easier for your dog to digest than dry pellets of dog kibble, according to a new study. Whether or not that more natural ancestral diet results in a healthier dog is another matter, but at the very least, it could get your pet to poop much less (up to two-thirds less, in fact).
The idea that human food is bad for dogs is relatively new, and is historically grounded in marketing, not science.
For thousands of years, humans have been feeding their scraps to canine pets who have slowly evolved to digest them. Commercial dog food, on the other hand, is only a century-and-a-half old and it probably arose as a way to make food waste more profitable.
Today, after decades of unsubstantiated marketing, many pet owners are under the impression table scraps are dangerous for their dogs, while kibble is full of all the nutrients their canines need.
In recent years, however, as the history of 'Big Kibble' has come to light, and certain pet foods have been recalled for safety concerns, homemade alternatives have become much more popular, and many pet owners have begun making the switch to healthy, fresh, organic, grain-free and minimally processed commercial options.
Those words certainly sound healthier, but does that mean they are the best choice? The truth is, we simply don't know yet.
Many commercial pet diets have not been rigorously tested or compared in great detail, even though they technically meet standards for 'complete and balanced nutrition'. It's also unclear how to determine what a dog's 'natural' ancestral diet actually contained and what impact modern food might have on their overall health.
That said, some of the first research on human-grade dog food has now found several perks of skipping the kibble. Feeding dogs a mix of meat and vegetables that we ourselves would enjoy appears to make dogs poop much less than dry food.
When a dozen beagles were given a standard diet of kibble for four weeks, the canines had to eat significantly more to maintain their body weight, the authors say, pooping up to three times as much as when they were given a diet of human-grade ingredients. Compared to fresh ingredients, kibble made dogs poop 1.5 to 1.7 times more.
This implies the nutrients in human food are easier for dogs to digest. What's more, the latter two diets also appeared to modify bacteria in the canine's gut in a way that kibble couldn't.
"As we have shown in previous studies, the faecal microbial communities of healthy dogs fed fresh diets were different than those fed kibble," says nutritional scientist Kelly Swanson from the University of Illinois.
"These unique microbial profiles were likely due to differences in diet processing, ingredient source, and the concentration and type of dietary fibres, proteins, and fats that are known to influence what is digested by the dog and what reaches the colon for fermentation."
The results largely align with previous research, which found fresh or raw meat diets can also alter a dog's microbiome, yet further research is needed to determine how this ultimately impacts a dog's health.
In 2018, Swanson and her colleagues fed eight beagles either a kibble diet, a grain-free roasted diet, or a raw diet. Analysing their physical activity, urine, stool, and blood, the authors found roasted diets were easier to digest than kibble, while both grain-free and raw diets resulted in lower blood sugar levels and higher levels of fat.
But that doesn't necessarily mean these foods are any healthier. A few years ago, some grain-free boutique dog foods were linked to a form of canine heart disease, leading the United States Federal Drug Advisory (FDA) to caution against that type of diet for dogs.
Besides, apart from the health of our pets, there's also an environmental impact to consider. If every pet dog is fed human-grade meat, fish, and vegetables, the consequences for carbon emissions and climate change would be immense.
As such, some scientists are advocating we swap kibble and human-grade food for insect-based diets, which can produce 25 times less greenhouse emissions per kilogram of farming than beef, while using 47 times less land, and using about 20 times less water.
In the end, Swanson says as long as a diet is shown to be safe and meets the nutritional needs of your dog, she considers it an acceptable option. If you want to pay more for premium ingredients, that's up to you.
"To me, the most important thing is testing these new diet formats and products before they are commercially available," she said in 2018.
Until we know more, that seems like a measured approach.
The study was published in the Journal of Animal Science.
https://academic.oup.com/jas/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jas/skab028/6123189?redirectedFrom=fulltext
That affectionate doggie look in their eyes ain’t saying what you think it is saying???
Farmers Dog = expensive food but great for our dogs.
>>dry pellets of dog kibble, according to a new study. Whether or not that more natural ancestral diet
How far back did their ancestors eat dry pellets of dog kibble?
About 50 years..............
I found I don’t function as well when I eat just dry kibble!
My dog will starve himself before he eats certain dry dogfoods, even very expensive ones..............
Well, ya gotta have a bowl of water with it!................
My American Bulldog is snarfing down some nice ground chuck as I type this. She gets beef or chicken, pork or turkey almost every day; no cooked bones, but she matters more to me than all but about 3 or 4 humans on the face of the planet.
I would love to figure out the best way to put my dog and cats on a raw diet. Short of buying their food from the grocery store I’m not sure the best way to do it.
Come on folks! As a Little girl I was sent to my Grandmas house every summer. What did her dogs eat? Whatever was left over from dinner with Bone meal mixed in. They were healthy as horses and I continue to feed my dogs this way. My dogs have lived to 15, 18 and My Current dog is 19 He will be 20 years old This April Lord Willing!!
My German Shepherd growing up ate groundhogs, cats, possums, and whatever he could find in roadkill and the neighbor’s garbage cans.
He died of old age at 14 with several bullets in him. Healthy as could be his entire life.
We got a toy poodle a little over 3 years ago. The puppy just would not eat any “dog” food. Not kibble, not the expensive canned stuff, nada. So, we were feeding him mostly stuff that we were eating. And, that he liked and he ate pretty much everything we ate. Then hubby found some raw dog food and he gobbles that up. He will also eat Costco canned chicken (or as hubby calls it “stinky” chicken). And, table scraps. I make yams for him to go with the protein. He seems healthy and energetic, so I guess he is doing okay.
I make sure my furred ones get 4 to 5 ounces minimum of fresh cooked pork sirloin or steak or lean ground beef and a couple ounces of chicken/pasta/rice boiled up fresh weekly. There is always kibble available, but they don’t eat much of it like they used to.
My sister had a poodle, and fed it cooked meat and lunchmeat, and it developed Pancreatitis.
I forgot, he ate the carcasses from my trap line and the butchering scraps too.
“Well, ya gotta have a bowl of water with it!.............”
Gravy Train!!!
A while back I was taking care of a dog, but I don’t own any dogs so don’t keep any dog food, so I just fed her stuff around the house that I thought a dog might like. Cans of Dinty Moore stew were a huge hit.
you need to be more careful when cleaning your firearms. :-)
Most dog food is made of meat that you couldn’t use to make a hot dog
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