Raw + Kibble in same meal

[lisabobisa]

I feel the girls 2 Nature's Variety raw medallions for breakfast each and then they get kibble for the rest of the day (Prairie because Instinct seemed to be too rich for Jasmine). I usually give them a little kibble lunch since their breakfast is kinda small. I'll just give the kibble as treats or put it in a kong for them if I go out somewhere and leave them home. If I don't have the opportunity to give them their lunch kibble I'll just add it onto their dinner.

I'd really rather just give them that lunch kibble with their breakfast because I feel like they're just not getting much breakfast and I can't afford to feed anymore raw. I've heard before that it's not good to feed raw and kibble in the same meal because of different digestion rates or something like that... But Nature's Variety's website specifically says it is okay:

"If I feed my pet a mixture of Nature’s Variety Raw Frozen Diets and kibble at the same meal, should I be concerned about the different rate of digestion?
It’s important for pet parents to feel comfortable with their feeding process. We believe customers need not be concerned about mixing raw and kibble at the same meal. Raw is like canned food in terms of moisture content and rates of digestion; people routinely combine canned and kibble diets with no digestive upset or stomach emptying issues. There is no scientific evidence that combining kibble and raw food causes the raw foods to be digested at a slower rate."

So what do you guys think? Is it okay? I've never even really heard what problems it could cause, just that you're not supposed to.

Neither of them really have weak stomachs. When I had them on Instinct Jasmine would throw up food maybe 2-3 times a week (just a little bit, not a whole meal) but she seems fine on Prairie. That's the only stomach weakness I've seen in either of them.

 

[Zoom]

The general thought seems to be that it takes kibble around 6-8 hours to digest, while raw takes only 4-6, which means the raw is just sitting in the stomach while the kibble is being broken down. This can lead to fermentation or something, I guess.

There is something similar to people; many nutritionists recommend eating fruit on it's own and awhile before any other food, because fruit digests quicker than meat or grains and will ferment in the stomach, leading to bloating, gas and other "issues".

 

[mrose_s]

The general thought seems to be that it takes kibble around 6-8 hours to digest, while raw takes only 4-6, which means the raw is just sitting in the stomach while the kibble is being broken down. This can lead to fermentation or something, I guess.

I've read this aswell so now I feed kibble for breakfast and raw for dinner, but we did used to just combine all in one meal for all our dogs very often and had no real issues. We used to just feed one meal a day so put down their kibble in their bowl, throw some chicken wings on top and give them that. Now I avoid it because I want to break Buster's meals up into 2 a day anyway.

 

[Bailey08]

I don't do it bc my guy doesn't eat kibble, but, IMO, feeding them together is fine. You've even spaced it out some. Some caution against this but it the sources I primarily rely on don't consider this to be an issue. I think you just need to do whatever you are comfortable with -- which I understand, as it took me until a vet actually suggesting that I give my dog a RMB before he had raw!

 

[lisabobisa]

Zoom, when you say bloating do you mean the big bad stomach twisting "bloat" or just, you know, some gas? I don't know what fermentation in the stomach means or causes...

I gave them some kibble with their medallions this morning and they've been fine all day, not even any gas or anything. I figured it'd be fine, especially since the website said it was, but I wanted to check and make sure it didn't cause anything really bad. If it's just something that causes upset stomachs in some dogs then I'll just watch 'em to make sure everything's sitting well.

 

[mmorlino]

The general idea is to not feed the raw and kibble together. This is what my raw supplier says (SAD Dog Sushi in Austin). But I'm not sure about the medallions... I feed actual "really" raw stuff. I've never seen the medallions but I picture them as sort of a dehydrated beef jerky kind of texture. Am I way off?

 

[lisabobisa]

I've never seen the medallions but I picture them as sort of a dehydrated beef jerky kind of texture. Am I way off?

LOL yeah you are. They're just what you'd feed for a raw meal (meat, bones, vegetables) blended together and shaped into handy dandy medallions. They're frozen but if you let them defrost they'd be mushy (giving them to the pups frozen helps clean their teeth). Here's a picture.

But yeah I'd heard the same thing before that you're not supposed to feed them together but I've never really heard why exactly or seen any evidence that it's definitely bad.

Since the website said that you could feed them together I thought maybe they formulated them to work together.

 

[OutlineACDs]

I think all of that stuff is a myth. I have never had an issue feeding raw/kibble together. I don't anymore because we went to strictly raw, but when I did there werent any problems.

 

[DanL]

A while back I started to supplement raw with some kibble (usually Evo Red Meat or a Taste of the Wild brand). Some days their meal will be a kibble and canned tripe mix, but other days, I'll give some kibble with a RMB portion. They don't get a lot of kibble, maybe 1 cup for Gunnar and 2 for Daisy.

The only thing I notice is after a kibble day they drink a LOT more water than on non kibble days.

 

[xpaeanx]

A while back I started to supplement raw with some kibble (usually Evo Red Meat or a Taste of the Wild brand). Some days their meal will be a kibble and canned tripe mix, but other days, I'll give some kibble with a RMB portion. They don't get a lot of kibble, maybe 1 cup for Gunnar and 2 for Daisy.

The only thing I notice is after a kibble day they drink a LOT more water than on non kibble days.

I've had pretty much the same expierence...

when I was doing 100% raw they drank almost NO water at all... than I started splitting the days up with kibble, mixing them together, alternating meals, pretty much whatever I felt like that day.... Mine were fine... they just drank more water depending on the amount of kibble fed.

That being said, I'm pretty much 100% on kibble/canned just because of storage issues. It's much easier for me with the kibble and cans because I can just put them in a closet...

 

[lisabobisa]

I think all of that stuff is a myth. I have never had an issue feeding raw/kibble together.

Yeah I kind of suspected that. I didn't really think anything would happen but I thought I'd check with you guys and see if anyone had any horror stories or real evidence on why you shouldn't. I've fed them raw and kibble together for breakfast the last two days and they haven't acted different at all.

 

[mmorlino]

Kibble contains no moisture - it's just dry. That's why the dogs drink a lot more water. RAW, on the other hand, contains lots and lots of moisture.

When I switched to RAW (been a little over 2 months) I immediately stopped stepping on poop in the yard. LOL Because they hardly ever poop! And when they do it's hard. Also, the water thing - a lot less water. I have a 2 gallon waterer and it would last 2 days - now it lasts a 5-7 days.

I'm not an expert on why you don't feed raw and kibble together, but I think it's because it can cause severe indigestion. RAW digests much, much faster than kibble, so they are sort of "competing" in the stomach, intestines, etc.

 

[ihartgonzo]

There are lots of theories about mixing kibble and raw and their digestion rates... all I know is that both of my boys were sick whenever raw was mixed into their kibble. And Fozzie has a very, very, very mighty stomach.

 

[Grab]

I've fed raw with kibble and haven't had an issue...even with my really touchy stomach dogs. But then I've eaten fruit with 'regular' food and had no problems either