Is Kibble really so SWELL?!?!!

We all know that I'm NOT an advocate of ANY type of processed dog food (i.e. KIBBLE). Therefore, I'm not even going to go into my belief that kibble is a poor food choice for our dogs for reasons like food allergies, preservatives, fillers, less than food quality ingredients, etc., etc. (OK, maybe just a little!) Instead I'm going to focus on a real problem that concerns all deep-chested breeds, and that is the life-threatening condition, BLOAT.

Let's do a little experiment, shall we?! Take a container and add to that one half cup of premium kibble. We used a popular brand that many Fila fanciers feed. To this, add one cup of warm water. Cover and set aside for 90 minutes. At this point check your kibble and see if it has swollen any. The brand that we chose sure did!

WOW! Check out how much this kibble has expanded in just 90 minutes!! Imagine what 2 cups (the average that people feed a Fila for a meal) would look like! Then, add to this, the gas produced from digestion and fermentation of the food. This accumulation of volume can cause severe gastric distention and possible volvulus. It's no wonder that Bloat is such a common condition in our beloved breed!!

You can really see the difference when I put them side by side! If this experiment concerns you as it did me several years ago, then do your dog a favor and research the BARF diet. You can find LOTS of information on the 'Net! Good luck!