Randy DeBauch of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, wrote to say he has been considering changing from kibble to dog food made from fresh ingredients that is shipped to one’s home on a regular basis via subscription and then kept in the refrigerator between meals to preserve quality. The amount—and price—may be calculated according to your dog’s weight.
There are many brands out there, not just the one or two you may have seen advertised on television. But Mr. DeBauch wants to know if there’s any advantage to feeding his two dogs a fresh food brand over the dry kibble he has been giving his pets, or whether it’s just a marketing strategy. So do many others.
The short answer is probably not. We say “probably” because some dogs might prefer the taste of fresh food. Commercially prepared fresh dog is also a good alternative for those who prepare homemade meals for their dogs instead of feeding kibble or canned dog food. That’s because reputable fresh food dog manufacturers are going to have better quality control than people have in their own kitchens and will ensure that the food is nutritionally balanced according to the guidelines of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).
Fresh dog food is better digested than kibble, too, just as homemade dog diets are. In a healthy dog, that difference in digestibility is probably negligible in terms of better health. In dogs who have GI issues, on the other hand, it can potentially prove helpful. In still other dogs, fresh food proves too digestible—the dog needs more fiber in the diet for optimal GI health and stool quality.
But for the vast majority of dogs, feeding fresh food over kibble or canned food is simply a wash from the point of view of a pet’s health. A number of the brands say they only use human-grade ingredients, but animal feed-grade ingredients used in traditional dog foods are healthful and nutritious for our pets—and taste good to them, too. In fact, a lot of the meat in standard dog food already comes from USDA-inspected facilities for human-grade food even though legally, it doesn’t have to. It makes sense when you consider how many thousands of pounds of meat pet food manufacturers use in their products. That meat has to come from the human food chain to be consistently available at appropriate quality. Cows, pigs, and fowl are not at this time slaughtered specifically for pet food.
Bottom line: If a pet enjoys the kibble you feed and her body handles it well, there’s no reason to switch her to fresh food. This is especially true given fresh food’s cost, which could easily reach in the neighborhood of $5 a day for a 20-pound dog. For a golden retriever, it’s more along the lines of $10 to $20 a day—not an amount that everybody can easily slip into their budget.
