I've been a member of this forum long enough to know that it is not advisable to mix kibble with raw in the same meal. My question is: What about mixing kibble with cooked meat? Does the same rule apply? If so, what is the minimum amount of time that should elapse between feeding kibble and raw or kibble and cooked meat?

I'm asking because I currently feed a homemade cooked diet (with appropriate supplementation, including calcium), but I'm looking for alternatives for times when it may not be convenient to feed the usual meals, say, if I want to go on vacation with the dogs, go to a weekend trial out of town, or there is some kind of emergency where I don't have time to prepare the cooked meals.

I've just bought a box of THK to try and see how the dogs handle it, and hopefully, that can go into the rotation. But do any of you who feed raw (I know there are not many here who feed cooked) ever use kibble on an occasional or emergency basis?

 Quote: cheri grissom

... I'm asking because I currently feed a homemade cooked diet (with appropriate supplementation, including calcium), but I'm looking for alternatives for times when it may not be convenient to feed the usual meals, say, if I want to go on vacation with the dogs, go to a weekend trial out of town, or there is some kind of emergency where I don't have time to prepare the cooked meals.

I've just bought a box of THK to try and see how the dogs handle it, and hopefully, that can go into the rotation. But do any of you who feed raw (I know there are not many here who feed cooked) ever use kibble on an occasional or emergency basis?

I don't.

But I'd have no problem with THK (and in fact I do keep it in the house and love having it on hand) and no problem with canned.


The big problem with raw and kibble is the kibble's slowness of digestion.

Dog's stomach empties of kibble in 900 minutes (+/- 60); canned 420-480 minutes, fresh 240-360 minutes.

That speed of fresh food's transit (along with very caustic stomach acids) is what disallows food pathogens time to colonize and cause illness.

If you slow the fresh food down by combining it with kibble, thereby presenting any pathogens present with triple the colonizing time, you're doing major tinkering with the dog's big defenses against salmonella and the like. Similarly, if you continue to feed raw to a dog on antacids, you're tinkering with the other defense part: the caustic pathogen-fighting stomach acid.


But you don't feed raw, right?

"What about mixing kibble with cooked meat? Does the same rule apply?"

Not the pathogen problem. You've destroyed them with heat.


PS

I recommend a somewhat slow start with THK. The texture (I think) is initially weird, and two of the dogs I have introduced it to, while they looooove it now, took a little time to get used to it. So I wouldn't save it for a trip or something and then leap right into it.



All JMO!

HK is a great go to food for variety and for times when you travel.
I also like Ziwi Peak for these purposes as well.
The food in their bags looks like torn pieces of jerky.
I like that it has the organ meats in there as well.
I have also fed Ziwi Peak canned food during times when my dogs
became picky, and were off their raw food.

I think I'm one of the few on the board that feeds kibble and raw daily. I've had zero problems separating the two meals by 10-12 hrs. It's pretty rare my dogs have any kind of gastric upset as a result of eating anything. Even the pickled egg incident the other day didn't even give the dog a case of gas.

I personally find variety on a weekly basis along with probiotics just works well for my little pack.

I feed kibble intermittently, and as a training treat.
I fast my dog after feeding kibble.

I will occasionally feed kibble, but not with raw. Usually this happens when we are camping...my dogs are more active than usual and wake up HUNGRY and well, annoying! Feeding a cup or so of kibble at bedtime helps tremendously and gets them to sleep in a little (why must they wake up extremely early when we are on vacation!?!?). Sometimes I will feed them a bit in the a.m. as well so they will go back to sleep for a bit before their "real" breakfast.

Also, my 10 month old pup gets a handful of kibble at night when he goes in his crate...keeps him from having an upset stomach in the a.m.

I guess the only other time is when we travel. For example, we might take a day trip somewhere and I usually have kibble on hand just in case we run late.

Other times are when I forget to thaw out food...and I don't mind giving a little kibble to keep their systems used to it. I also use it for training treats.

Gosh, it sounds like I use a lot lol...but in reality, a 5 lb bag lasts a good month and half usually. Not a lot considering I have 4 dogs

THK and canned fish also make a great meal for times like these.

I have a friend who feeds Addiction (similar to THK) and likes it a lot. I might grab some of that for travel, etc. though it seems pricey.

Cheri, which THK did you get? One of the complete ones, right (not Preference)?

Wow, thank you all for your responses. You've given me a lot of information to digest.

Connie, you're right, I'm not feeding raw now, but I guess THK is dehydrated raw food, so they will be getting it occasionally. I've already tried a free sample I got and they absolutely loved it. I got Thrive, because the ingredients are very close to what I'm feeding in the cooked diet. If it goes over okay, I think I'll try some of the other varieties, but I do remember seeing on their web site that Preference is not a complete diet and needs meat (I think) added to it.

I do use Evo canned venison occasionally because I like the idea of feeding venison, and that's the only way I can get it. Unbelievable, I know, as I live in Michigan, where deer hunting is very popular, and I have several family members who hunt, but they use every bit of the animal themselves, making sausage and so forth. I also feed canned mackerel and sardines a couple times a week, and cooked eggs.

I never thought of using premium kibble as training treats, but I kind of like that idea! When I asked about feeding kibble, I'm not thinking of using a lot of it, but just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to do any harm.