Is wet dog food better than raw

Benefits of Fresh Dog Food vs. Raw Food vs. Kibble For Your Dog

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Food glorious food. Food is an important aspect of the daily lives of humans and dogs. However, dogs dont get to choose what they eat. We choose what we think is best for the health, energy level, and enjoyment of our canine companions.

With the growing popularity of freshly prepared food for dogs (like Ollie, who makes human grade fresh dog food,) our options have increased, and choosing what is best can be challenging. The first step is to consult your veterinarian. Here are some points to consider when you choose a food for your dog:

• Health: A balanced, nutritional diet is critical to maintain good health.
• Activity level: Working dogs and service dogs have different caloric requirements than household pets.
• Age and size: Nutritional requirements differ between puppies and adults, large breed and small breed dogs.
• Food allergies: Some dogs are allergic to specific proteins or ingredients such as eggs, corn, wheat, soy, or milk.
• Taste: No matter what you think, dog food has to taste and smell good to your dog.
• Your lifestyle: How much time do you have available to spend cooking and shopping for your dog?

Fresh Food

Feeding dogs a diet made with natural, real ingredients, such as beef, chicken, lamb, peas, spinach, carrots, and blueberries, can do wonders for their overall well-being promoting heart health, increasing energy level, making coats shiny and breath smell better, improving eyesight, and even impacting a dogs stool.

However, cooking for your pet is a process thats demanding on your time, space, and finances. Merck Veterinary Manual warns, Most homemade diets do not undergo the scrutiny and rigorous testing applied to commercial complete and balanced diets. If pet owners wish to feed their pets homemade diets, the diets should be prepared and cooked using recipes formulated by a veterinary nutritionist.

Fresh dog food delivery services, such as Ollie, work with canine nutritionists to develop cooking methods and personalized formulas that include the vitamins and minerals that meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials standards for dog food. They calculate the exact number of calories needed based on weight, breed, age, activity level, and body composition and take any allergies your pup has into account.

Ollies food is made with human-grade ingredients sourced from reputable farms and approved by veterinarians. They never use fillers, by-products, artificial flavors, or preservatives. Each recipe is cooked by hand at low temperatures in small batches in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA)-regulated kitchen. All the prep work is done for you, and the food is pre-portioned and stored in the freezer. They even offer all-natural, single-ingredient treats that dogs love.

What to Look For in Fresh Food

Most fresh food services are offered by subscription and delivered to your door. The best ones work with veterinary nutritionists to formulate a plan customized for your dog. They offer options in recipe choices, portion size, and frequency of delivery. They also provide easy-to-understand information about ingredients, feeding schedules, and how to keep the food fresh.

Raw Diet

Raw dog food can be homemade, store-bought, freeze-dried, or dehydrated. A raw diet usually includes organ meats, muscle meat, whole or ground bone, raw eggs, dog-safe fresh fruits and vegetables, and a dairy product such as yogurt. Advocates of raw food diets site these benefits: shinier coats, healthier skin, improved dental health, increased energy, and smaller stools.

Some veterinarians warn that raw diets are not appropriate for dogs who share their homes with young children or people with compromised immune systems. Meticulous care is required in the handling, preparation, and sanitation of raw food. Dogs with pancreatitis, cancer, or other diseases may require cooked food. Puppies are also better off having cooked food.

The American Veterinary Medical Association opposes the unregulated feeding of raw foods and discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens, because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs, as well as humans.

What to Look for in Raw Food

Find a veterinarian who knows the health of your dog, is familiar with raw foods, and can help guide you in the proper handling and cleaning required to address possible health concerns.

Kibble

Dry food or kibble has ingredients that vary by brand, but all are required to be balanced and meet the nutritional needs of a dog. Under USDA regulation, all animal foods must be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.

The ingredients in kibble are processed together and cooked. Required ingredients include: protein sources such as beef, poultry, fish, and eggs; grains; cereals; and vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. All dry dog foods need preservatives to prevent the fat from becoming rancid. Some brands are heavy on carbohydrates or have low-quality ingredients and added sugar.

Those who feed their dogs kibble suggest the potential benefits to be: reduced dental plaque, healthier gums, reduced risk of bacteria, easier storage, less risk of spoilage, and cost-effectiveness. On the other hand, some dog owners choose to switch to fresh food like Ollie due to the risks of kibble.

What to Look for in Kibble

Read the label. Look for a food that has a protein as the first ingredient, not a grain. The best kibbles have a single source of protein, such as lamb or chicken. Grain-free diets exist, but carbohydrates are required for energy, and the choice of grain is important since some dogs have sensitivities to wheat, corn, or soybeans.

Help From the Experts

The food we give our dogs makes a huge difference in their health and well-being. So it makes sense to let the experts help us determine what is best.

Ollies veterinary nutritionists use the latest advancements in research to develop the best recipes for your dog recipes that include fresh ingredients to keep your pups brain function healthy, address allergies and gastrointestinal sensitivities, are proportioned for ideal weight, and use Omega-3 fatty acids to help reduce inflammation. All that delivered right to your door, for free.

Ollie has received rave reviews from both customers and industry leaders. Ollies customers have reported better weight management, shinier coats, and more. Ollie has received a 5-star rating from Dog Food Advisor and has named one of the best dog food brands by Forbes, and Readers Digest.

Best and worst dog food brands

There are hundreds of dog food options available, from dry to grain-free to raw, but which ones will have your furry friend licking the bowl clean?

We surveyed 2,304 dog owners about the pet food they buy to uncover the brands that customers (and their dogs) love and which offer the best value for money.

See how brands such as Burns, Harringtons and Royal Canin are rated by customers, as well as supermarket options from the likes of Aldi and Lidl.

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Dog food brands rated

Our top-scoring dog food brand achieved an impressive customer score of 82%, and five-star ratings for how much pets liked it, as well as their wellbeing when eating it.

At the other end of the scale, two brands scored less than 60%, with just two stars out of five each for how healthy the dog seemed when eating food from that brand.

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Make sure your furry friend is covered see our guide to the best pet insurance for your dog

How to choose the best dog food for your pet

Deciphering all the pet nutrition information on the internet can seem like an impossible task. It can range from confusing to completely contradictory.

We spoke to real pet nutrition researchers to understand what actually matters. Good news: it isnt as complicated as it seems.

The most important part of choosing a food is actually monitoring your pet, said Dr Teresa Hollands, senior lecturer in veterinary nutrition at the University of Surrey. If you're feeding your pet a particular brand of food, and they have plenty of energy and seem well in themselves, then you are on the right track.

Dr Nigel Kendall, lecturer in nutrition at the University of Nottingham, agreed: If your pet is on completely the wrong diet, then there will be physical signs.

Signs that your pet is eating a nutritious diet, and the right food for their needs, include:

• good overall health
• plenty of energy
• good sleeping habits
• regularly passing firm stools
• maintaining a healthy weight.

Also a cat owner? See our guide to thebest and worst cat food brands

How to feed your dog the best and healthiest diet

As well as choosing the right food, you can also maximise the nutritional value of your pets diet by feeding them in the right way.

We spoke with Dr David Gardner, professor of physiology at the University of Nottingham, to find out more:

Choosing a complete food

Start by making sure you are feeding your pet a complete food, he said. Thats really important, but it isnt always clearly labelled.

Complete foods are designed to give your pet all the nutrients they need, so you can feed them the same thing every day without causing a nutritional imbalance or deficit.

Weighing your pet food

David also highlighted the importance of weighing your pets food every time you feed them.

Remember, you may not notice that you're overfeeding your pet if you increase the size of their feed very slightly each day.

Varying your pet food

If you want to take additional steps to ensure your pet is getting the best nutrition, David also suggested varying the food you give them, provided that this doesnt upset their stomach.

These changes could be as small as varying the flavour of food that you give to your pet.

If you buy a bag of lamb dog food one month, try the chicken next time, David suggested.

If you do want to try changing the type or brand of your pet food, remember to do so gradually. Your pet's meal should be no more than 25% new food for the first couple of days, increasing over the course of a week.

Dogs can be fussy, so know that varying your pet food is not essential. The main thing is that they eat and enjoy their food and that it's nutritionally complete.

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Is wet or dry dog food better?

Both wet and dry foods can be nutritionally complete, meaning that they should contain all the nutrients your pet needs. That means there is no significant advantage to either food type.

David recommended feeding your pet a mixture of wet and dry food.

Evidence suggests that there are slight differences in the nutritional composition of wet and dry food. That means you are going to cover more nutrients if you mix them together.

If you want to feed your dog exclusively one type of food, then wet food does tend to be more appealing. However, it is often more expensive and it can predispose pets to dental disease.

In contrast, dry food is beneficial to dogs teeth and gums, and it is usually easier and cheaper to use and store. Just make sure that your dog has access to plenty of fresh water, as they will not be getting hydration from their food.

Best food and drinkwe've rated the tastiest food for humans too. Discover our top picks, from chicken soup to red wine

Can dogs be vegan?

Yes, provided you are careful about the type of food you give them.

There are commercial dog foods available that are vegetarian or vegan and nutritionally complete.

Some people may want to prepare homemade vegetarian or vegan meals for their dog, which is not typically recommended by experts.

This is because evidence suggests that homemade food (including meat-based diets) is typically not nutritionally complete even when people follow recipes labelled as such.

Is raw food good for dogs?

Raw pet food has become more popular over the past few years, especially for dogs, but experts don't generally recommend it.

I would not recommend a raw food diet due to the risk to human health, says Dr Heather Bacon, dean of veterinary medicine at the University of Central Lancashire.

Bacteria present in raw meat can include salmonella, listeria, campylobacter and E-coli. These cause significant illness in humans and animals, particularly young, old and immune-compromised individuals.

These can be spread around the house during food preparation and eating. They can also be passed from animals to humans if your pet kisses your face after eating.

All of these bacteria are destroyed when meat is correctly cooked.

How much should my dog weigh?

According to a 2022 survey by UK Pet Food, 50% of dogs (and 43% of cats) are overweight or obese.

Your pet being overweight can have a huge impact on its quality of life, including limiting their ability to exercise or sleep properly. According to the RSPCA, it also predisposes them to illness including:

• diabetes
• heart disease
• cancer.

How to if tell your dog is overweight

Dr Teresa Hollands recommends an easy method for checking your pets weight.

Create a fist with your hand, and feel your knuckles with your fingers, she said. If your pets ribs feel like that, they are underweight.

Then lay your hand flat, and feel your knuckles again. If their ribs feel like that, they are the perfect weight.

Finally, keep your hand flat, turn your hand over, and run your fingers over the pads on your palm at the base of your fingers. If their ribs feel like that, they are overweight.

Physical signs that your dog is overweight

• Very thin(more than 20% below ideal body weight) Ribs, spine and hip bones easily seen (in short-haired pets), obvious loss of muscle bulk, no fat can be felt under the skin.
• Underweight (10-20% below ideal body weight)Ribs, spine and hip bones easily seen, obvious waist and abdominal tuck, very little fat can be felt under the skin.
• IdealRibs, spine and hip bones easily felt, visible waist and abdominal tuck, small amount of fat can be felt.
• Overweight(10-15% above ideal body weight): Ribs, spine and hip bones are hard to feel, waist barely visible, broad back, layer of fat on belly and at base of tail.
• Obese (more than 15% above ideal body weight)Ribs, spine and hip bones extremely difficult to feel under a thick layer of fat, no waist can be seen and belly may droop significantly, heavy fat pads on lower back and at base of the tail.

How we rated dog food brands

To uncover the best and worst dog food brands, in July 2023 we surveyed 2,304 Which? members who had bought dog food recently, and asked all about their experiences with their chosen brand.

We asked them to rate the brand on various attributes including value for money, how their dog responded to the food, and its perceived wellbeing on the food.

Overall customer scores are based on how satisfied customers were with the brand overall and whether or not they would recommend it.

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