The Debate on Kibble vs Raw for Dogs

I woke up this morning with this urge to write this article for all of you regarding the debate on kibble versus raw diets. I know I usually write about positivity, self-love, and other more personal topics on this site for you. The rest is usually left up on my other company websites, but I have a strong feeling I need to share this in as many places as possible.

After all, it’s not like loving dogs is something abnormal. If you have a dog, they’re probably your best buddy. At night, my dog moves the blanket and plops down with his head softly landing on the pillow. I proceed to cover him up with the blanket and that’s where he sleeps. All. Night. He will not move for anyone….. unless he hears a weird noise. Then, it’s off to the races.

Why Kibble Versus Raw

Back to the topic of this kibble versus raw ordeal. I don’t want you to panic if you feed kibble or feel like a bad pet parent. The purpose of this conversation is just to encourage you to look into this topic further. I wish I would have had someone introduce me to this world of health much sooner.

It wasn’t until many years into my career that I actually began learning about how harmful kibble actually is. After all, I had dedicated my career to dogs, particularly to cancer in dogs. I have taken TONS of courses, piled up some degrees, and attended an insane number of seminars regarding the topic. What they don’t talk about is nutrition.

What I’ve learned the past several years, and really took a DEEP DIVE into the past couple, is how kibble is a large contributor to cancer in dogs. And side note… it’s not just our dogs. Grain, AKA sugars, are a big contributor to cancer and other conditions in us, too.

The Scary Truth

My first dog EVER was my very best friend growing up. She went with me on adventures with my friends, followed me to college, and was even in my wedding! When she was 9 years old, she had a severe nosebleed. I spent thousands trying to get her bleeding to stop and find out what was wrong. Here comes the vet… “she has cancer.” My heart stopped. Two weeks later, she was gone.

Many years later, after receiving this list of credentials, I still wasn’t aware of how kibble could have played a role in her cancer development. It wasn’t until I started working with holistic-based veterinary/dog-specific organizations that I learned this key information. Now, I need to share it with you.

I could explain and go on and on for pages. But, I always go back to this video by Rodney Habib. He gives an excellent portrayal of how much sugar is in all kibbles. Check it out:

Getting Started Raw Feeding

My dog now eats raw. I know, it does sound a little gross and there are a lot of concerns that go along with it. My list of concerns when I first started working with raw feeding organizations was LONG. Little did I know, many of them were just misconceptions.

It’s really not that difficult to get started.

It’s not ridiculously expensive.

The risk of bacterial illness is low since the pH in our dogs’ stomachs gets lower when they are fed raw (kibble-fed dogs are usually around pH 4 whereas raw fed goes down to 2— acidity kills pathogens)

I won’t get into all the details on how to feed how in this article. But, if you are interested, I encourage you to at least explore the option. FeedReal has put together an excellent calculator that does all the work for you to get started and it’s free: www.feedreal.com/calculator

Something to Ponder

If you’re interested in learning more about the contributors to dog cancer, and dog cancer in general, check out dogcancerfoundation.org. If you have any questions regarding raw or kibble, leave a comment below! Or, if you already feed raw, it would be awesome if you would give our other readers some insight into how you got started!

Talk to you soon!

Hugs!