New Nature's Variety Instinct - Kibble and Raw?

[secondhandscottie]

I got an email from Nature's Variety that they have a new formula out with both kibble and freeze dried raw mixed together. But if I remember correctly, you shouldn't feed raw and kibble together because they digest at different rates. Is this right?

Seems strange that if that is true, that they would make this new product...

[M]

I think it's a myth that you can't mix it together. Every dog is different so some may have issues and others may not. Just like some dogs have issues with a brand of kibble and others do not.

[welder'swife]

Um, no, you can't mix kibble and raw together, due to the different rate of digestion.

I'm not sure if it applies to freeze-dried though. Hopefully Thirteenandcounting (is that Katelyn's new SN?) chimes in.

No, it is not a myth, M6. ::side eye::

[secondhandscottie]

Jun 7, 2012 10:59:21 GMT -5 welder'swife said:

Um, no, you can't mix kibble and raw together, due to the different rate of digestion.

I'm not sure if it applies to freeze-dried though. Hopefully Thirteenandcounting (is that Katelyn's new SN?) chimes in.

No, it is not a myth, M6. ::side eye::

Yeah, I knew it wasn't a myth, haha, but very curious about the whole true raw vs. freeze-dried...

[independencegirl74]

Freeze-dried might be slightly different, but you still shouldn't feed raw and kibble in the same meal. Most dogs require at least 12 hours after eating kibble before they should be fed raw to give the kibble time to get fully through their digestive tracts. Raw processes so much faster because, well, it's basically a single food item with no waste/fillers.

I DO know that "commercial" prepackaged raw products must meet certain ingredient requirements to be considered "complete and balanced" (they can't sell just meat/organ/bone and call it complete according to the powers that be) and that might mean NV's raw includes ingredients that would slow down the digestion of the raw. I'd suggest taking a look at what's in everything.

[hobs209]

When I was looking into freeze dried raw options for a friend, I realized that NV intends for their freeze dried to be fed as a supplement to kibble or raw. You can feed it as a meal occasionally, but it's not intended (by NV) to be the sole food. My guess is they want to incorporate freeze dried into kibble so that it's able to be fed daily and they're able to market it to a group that wants better quality but isn't ready to go raw.

Re: raw/kibble, while they do digest differently, I'm in the "dogs are individuals" camp on this one. The main book I read before switching to raw advocated combining the two to switch gradually (or for people to continue permanently if they wanted) and my vet had no problem with this. She suggested splitting them by meals but said I could try it either way. I did it plenty of times with no ill effects.

[M]

It's a myth because my dog's breeder has been breeding for 35+ years and does this for some of her dogs that need the kibble in their diet. She recommended that I feed my dog a mix of kibble and raw (among other things) for the first few weeks after I brought him home until I switched him to completely raw. Her dobie's also live 12-14 years each as opposed to the average 10 year life span. I'm sure that if they've ever had any issues then they wouldn't have told me to do this.

I now feed him some kibble so that he can get some of the nutrients that I don't have time to give to him and yes I do mix the two together and have never had any bad effects. So obviously it has to do with each individual dog and how they can handle the different foods. Similar to the different brands of dog food effecting each dog differently.

Plus, as hobs209 mentioned above, you should be gradually switching from kibble to raw or raw to kibble. Switching them cold turkey can cause diarrhea and vomiting.