Monday, February 1, 2016

Can Kibble be 'Holistic'?

With the cold weather upon much of the world, there have been a lot of questions regarding dogs and cats with dry skin. To my surprise, many of the recommendations to combat this 'issue' in various 'holistic' Facebook groups, included incorporating grain free kibble.

In order to understand if kibble can be 'holistic' it is important to go over it's definition.

"incorporating the concept of holismor the idea that the whole is more than merely 
the sum of its parts, in theory or practice" 

This means that instead of treating single areas of a being's life, attention is paid to all aspects of the mind body and soul, with an emphasis on treating any underlying condition. That being said, is kibble holistic? 

 It has been widely accepted that nutrition plays a large role into whole health for both humans and animals. When eating mass amounts of biologically inappropriate food, the body has to work harder to maintain homeostasis, which can result in various health problems as time goes on.   

It should come as no surprise that cats and dogs are carnivores. This means their natural diet is meant to be meat. 

All kibble, whether 'holistic' and grain free or not, need carbohydrates in order to obtain the hard, pellet like consistency. The amount of carbohydrates used is variable, but many manufacturers use starches such as potato, sweet potato, and peas. These have an added bonus for the company of increasing the protein that is found in the guaranteed analysis on the bag of food. 

The amount of pure meat used in kibble is also variable upon the manufacturer, but there are tricks that are employed in order to make sure that meat becomes the first ingredient on their packaging. This includes protein splitting of carbohydrates and weighing the meat prior to cooking. The result is a higher amount of carbohydrate to meat than the consumer is led to believe. 

The process of creating kibble involves cooking the ingredients, which effectively removes all of the nutrients. A synthetic vitamin supplement is added to replace all the lost nutrients as the food itself is not nutritionally sufficient. 

Aside from the ingredients used to create kibble is the fact that kibble has a moisture content of just 10%. In cats this is often detrimental as they have a very low thirst drive. Both dogs and cats are naturally developed to consume whole prey, which is about 80% moisture. That being said, the lack of moisture in kibble is very dehydrating to an animal's body, which in itself can cause various health conditions, with dry skin being very common. 

Focusing back on the original comments on dry skin,the problems which cause this can often relate back to dietary sensitivities, a lack of essential fatty acids in the diet, and dehydration. All three of these issues can be tricky to eliminate with kibble of any type because all kibbles contain many of the same ingredients, with the lack of moisture being only one aspect. A dietary sensitivity is not limited to the meat protein added, and can stem from any carbohydrate used, not to mention the additives and preservatives used to keep the food from going bad.

Overall, a biologically appropriate, balanced raw diet makes it much simpler to track down sensitivities. It also contains the amount of moisture necessary for good health, and is free of unnecessary fillers.

If your dog or cat is suffering from dry skin, take a look at what you are feeding as the food itself may be contributing to the issue. 

It is always a good idea to consult a natural health practitioner when making large changes for your animal companion.