Hi,
I’m new to the forum and trying to find the best food to feed my pup. I was wondering what you guys think it’s better. Dry extruded kibble with high meat content or cold processed which meat content is lower?
Thank you
Hello and welcome to the forum. Interesting question. Unfortunately there is no one answer as all dogs are different so to a certain extent it’s trial and error.
As an example, my dogs are speyed and although walked every day, they’re not particularly active. I once tried them on high protein/fat extruded kibble and it was disastrous - two of them piled weight on, despite having a fair bit lower than the RDA. Cold pressed, with lower fat suits them better and weight control is ok at the moment. I usually top up with lean protein.
I read that some people have found that their dog lost weight on cold pressed food despite being at the top end of the RDA. However, judging by the various reviews, this does not seem to be a common problem.
I think the choice is more down to how you feel about processing as much as protein or fat. Extruded food is processed at very high temperatures and there is ongoing research about the formation of acrylamide due to this. Certain components of cold pressed food have to be cooked and we have had some discussion about the temperatures used. I have been told that they are ‘gently cooked’.
The other thing which is markedly different is digestibility. There are various videos on YouTube which demonstrate the breakdown in the stomach of cold pressed food compared to extruded. Some people may see this as an advantage, others may disagree.
Having just switched to Cold Pressed food for my 10yr old Lab bitch I can relate to your question.
We have tried lots of different foods from Skinners Duck and Rice to high end MWH kibble with lots in-between. We switched permanently to Grain Free about two years ago and never looked back. But high end high meat kibble never seemed to agree with her. She got along fine with Autarky Grain free for a year and then because she is now over 10 we felt it might benefit her to switch to CP for quality and digestibility.
All dogs are different of course but I feel confident that CP food is the right direction for us.
1 Like
Hi Takenoko.
I’m a firm believer in pressed over extruded food however I don’t believe that or meat content should be the main question you ask when looking at what food is best for your pup. In my opinion you should begin by looking at the analytical constituents of the food in relation to what your dog requires and then looking at the production process and quality of the ingredients used.
If you do decide to go for a high meat content food then I would strongly recommend checking the calcium levels of the food too. High meat content foods often have high calcium levels too, a lot higher than I’d ever recommend for a puppy or junior dog.
1 Like