is kibbles and bits a good dog food?

Question

just made a change,in food and wanted some ideas, explain shinner coat, energy level, etc.

Answer 1

Contents of Kibbles n Bits:

INGREDIENTS: Corn, soybean meal, ground wheat flour, beef & bone meal, animal fat (BHA used as preservatives), corn syrup, wheat middlings, water sufficient for processing, animal digest (source of chicken flavor), propylene glycol, salt, hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, caramel color, sorbic acid (used as a preservative), sodium carbonate, choline chloride, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), vitamins (vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, vitamin A supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement), calcium sulfate, titanium dioxide, yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, BHA (used as a preservative), dl-methionine.

It contains corn and wheat which are not part of a dogs natural diet. It also has a plethora of food coloring which causes dogs to have reddish eye discharge and other problems.

Remember that for the most part and for most dogs, their dog food is their only source of nutritional income. Please buy a higher quality pet food. While it may cost more, your dog will actually eat less of it than the other cheap foods because he is getting the nutrition he needs. It will help him live a longer better life, and will keep him leaner and his coat will be shiny, he will have better breath and less health problems!

Answer 2

Kibbles n' Bits is one of the worst foods you can buy, to be honest. The first few ingredients are Corn, Soybean Meal, Beef & Bone Meal, Wheat Flour, Animal Fat, and Corn Syrup. There is, in fact, NO actual meat in this food (unless you include the paltry amount contributed by the bone meal). The "animal fat" could be from anything (poultry or livestock, or god knows what else), and is often preserved with BHA, which is a chemical preservative containing carcinogens. Corn is problematic as the first ingredient (or as any ingredient, really), because it's basically indigestible. You should feed your dog a premium or ultra-premium dog food such as Blue Buffalo (I've had success with it, and it's widely available), Innova, Merrick, Solid Gold, Weruva, Orijen, Canidae, Taste of the Wild, California Naturals... If you're in a rural area, try getting your pet food at a farm supply or feed store--they generally have premium foodss for a much lower price than at pet stores (ours has Innova for $10 cheaper than at the pet store). The thing you need to consider when feeding these foods is that the better foods are more nutritional. That means that you need a smaller amount of food, compared to the larger quantity you'd be feeding of a cheap food. So you may be feeding your dog 3 cups of K & B, and if you were feeding a premium food it might only need 2 cups to get the same nutrition. Therefore, getting a better food is no worse than getting the cheap food, since you'll be breaking even. I know that there are dogs that eat this food with no problem, but there's no reason to feed your dog crap chock full of fillers. Yeah, your dog could live to be 17 on it, but your dog would live longer on a good food.

Answer 3

If you read the label you will find cereal as the first ingredient, and probably vegetable based proteins before you even find a mention of meat,if it says meat and animal derivatives rather than meat protein that is even worse! It will also say contains preservatives and colourants. Sorry but as a food it's rubbish!!!!
Buy the best natural product available, Canidae, Natures menu, or any of the other really good brands now available.
They may seem more expensive but don't be put off by that as you feed far less of it, with much better results. Less Poop to clean up too! The dog digests far more of the nutrients and as most dogs cannot digest a quarter of the amount of cereals in the other foods, It has to come out somewhere!
The condition of a dog's coat can indicate it's general health and a dog with a shine to the fur shows it's getting the essential oils and nutrients it needs.The energy levels of a dog are dependant on what the dog was bred for and whether it is worked or not. It also depends on age and so the nutrient needs are different to keep a high energy breed like a young Border Collie or an elderly less active German Shepherd in good condition!
Personally I don't use any commercial products, I feed raw, or natural foods only to dog, cats and even my fish! Means half the space in my freezer is for animal foods but they are part of the family and I know exactly what my pets are getting!

Answer 4

Kibbles and Bits, is one of the worst foods you can feed your dog! It's full of fillers and by products! Stay far away from all dog foods, that are sold in grocery stores and retail stores like Walmart. They are all what I call Road Kill! You would probably called them that too, if you knew what was in them. I feed all my dogs Canidae All Life Stages! It is made for all stages of a dogs life, from puppies to adults, so if your dog is still a puppy, you don't have to worry about switching to an adult food, when it's old enough. It's very affordable, high quality, all natural, human grade, made in the USA, is naturally preserved, has No corn, wheat, soy, grain fractions, fillers, by products, preservatives or dyes in it. None of the Canidae products, have ever been recalled! My dogs are very energetic, have never been sick, have no allergies or skin problems, and have beautiful, shiny coats. My vet, says she is very impressed, at how healthy all my dogs are, when I bring them all in for their physicals. Canidae is not sold in a lot of stores, but if you go to this site:
http://www.canidae.com/dogs/all_life_stages/dry.html
Click on the Store Locator Link:
http://www.canidae.com/company/storelocator.html
Type in the city you live in, and it will bring up a list of the stores in your area, that carry it. Start off with a small bag, which will cost you under $10.00, and see if your dogs like it,{my dogs love it}, and you can always buy a larger bag later. The food also lasts longer, because they don't eat as much, but still get all of the necessary nutrients that they need, so in the long run, you end up saving money. They also poop less! Make sure you switch foods gradually, no matter which food you decide on, because if you switch too fast, it will cause stomach upset, diarrhea, and vomiting. Over a period of about a week to a week and a half, add a little of the new food to the old food, and every couple of days, add a little more new food, until your dog is eating the new food only! Good Luck! Hope this helps!

Answer 5

1. Kibbles and bits is a terrible food. Avoid it.

2. I've listed a website below that will allow you to objectively decide which foods you want to go for with your dog. What I can tell you generally is this:
--avoid grains. Check the ingredients list. Corn and wheat are fillers and they also promote allergies (which can reduce the quality of the coat and finish). Generally you want either no grains of any kind or instead go with things like potato, rice and barley and then see them further down the list (rather than at or near the top).
--avoid additives and preservatives. Some of the items (such as in Pedigree) are proven carcinogens.
--dogs have different dietary needs than humans. Dogs need to eat a higher percentage of protein and a higher percentage of fat. Let me give you an example (that's only a little bit atypical). My dog is a performance dog--we compete in agility. To keep him in shape we run most days (1-2 miles at a very fast pace) and also do interval training in addition to attending agility classes or taking private lessons twice a week. The food he eats usually varies between 25-45% protein and 20-30% fat. A non-performance dog or an older dog wouldn't want those same ratios but the point is this: dogs need more protein and fat than humans do.

3. The food I give my dog (and I vary it to provide variety) is: Inova Evo, Solid Gold (usually Barking at the Moon ) and Canidae. I only feed dry food, never wet (b/c the wet has a lot of filler and liquid, dogs will often pick through the dry to get to the wet and it makes measurement harder which leads to obesity). I also rotate the food because feeding the same food all the time increases the chance that you'll create some kind of allergy. If those brands are a bit too pricey for you, you can try a BARF diet (which is homemade but stands for Bones And Raw Food). Also, out of the discount brands of food, Costco's in-house brand of dry food has a good reputation.

4. Here's another hint (separate from your question). If your dog's weight say he's supposed to get a cup of food a day, then give him 1/2 a cup in the morning, a 1/4 cup in the evening and set aside 1/4 cup to use as treats. Everytime you practice a trick, he comes when you call, he does something you ask, give him a piece of kibble. He's working for his food. He views it as a treat, he still gets all the food he needs (but no overeating) and the treat is in the right size (most commercial treats are too big).

5. Finally, your question asked about coat quality and energy. A food with more protein and especially higher fat content will produce a shinier coat and in probably just two weeks. And not a little bit shinier but on the magnitude of you won't recognize your dog and how the coat feels. The quality of the food will affect the energy level but realistically, energy level is more likely a function of the shape your dog is in. Do NOT assume that feeding your dog will give your dog more energy. In fact, about 50% of all dogs in America are obese. Energy level is more likely to be a factor of conditioning and doing things that your dog finds to be fun (or perhaps health issues or aging). Quality food will help but it would make an energy difference mostly for dogs doing high performance endeavors (like the Iditarod where the dogs over 100 miles a day, yes--a day, in snow pulling a sled) or in agility at the master level while performing in heat.

Answer 6

Take a look at the ingredients list and pay special attention to the first 5 or so ingredients. Avoid anything that says "by products", corn, "brewer's rice" and I'm sure there are some other things though if the first few ingredients are a good form of protein and a whole grain you are way ahead in nutrition. There are several web sites that explain things when you search the web with dog food comparison. I personally didn't go with one of the web foods though did find a brand available locally called Blue that seemed very good and was about $1.50 per pound for a large bag. There were some other excellent foods available at our local grooming type specialty shops though their web site didn't state the price and I didn't want to make a special trip to compare similar quality food when I found Blue and the ingredients were excellent.

Answer 7

kibbles n bits is probably the worst food on the market, sorry. :(
you will need to go to a pet store to buy something good quality. I use Natural Balance, sweet potato and salmon, but that's because my dog is allergic to most grains. I also give the dogs fish oil gel capsules which help with a shinier coat. We have also used Eagle Pack. Stay away from anything that uses artificial coloring (Kibbles n Bits, Beneful, Alpo, Dad's).

Answer 8

The best way to know if you have a quality dog food or not is "did you buy in the grocery store?"

All dog food and cat food sold in a grocery store is horrible. ANY dog food that has corn in it is bad. Corn is completely useless to a dog. Find something that uses potato or rice as the carb. Corn is not be in the food at all. Pedigree, Iams, Science Diet, Ol'Roy, Beneful, Nutro, Alpo, Kibbles and Bits, Purina-ALL BAD.

Go with Canidae, Innova, Wellness, Timberwolf Organics, Eagle Pack Holistic, Merricks any of these foods are wonderful healthy choices that will keep your pet healthy with a beautiful coat, lots of energy and fewer health problems. These foods will not be sold in a grocery store or pet store, they have no recalls, no fillers.

Answer 9

Terrible stuff, mostly cheap corn meal, fillers, and artificial preservatives - may as well feed the bag it comes in to your dog.

Get a good dry, with meat as the first ingredient, no corn meal or preservatives.

Canidae is excellent, as are some others - read the ingredients, and NO supermarket junk.
Science Diet is just as bad, corn fillers again - even though some greedy vets sell it because they get paid to stock it.

Much cheaper to spend more on good nutrition for your dog than vet bills down the road when has all sorts of health problems.

Answer 10

This is just my opinion, but I feel that Kibbles-N-Bits, 'Ol Roy, and Beneful are the worst types of Dog Food. I have a French Mastiff, large breed dog, and I have to be careful what I give to her-her breed is very susceptible to bloat. But I have found that the best types of food are a little pricier, but well worth it. My faves are Science Diet, Iams, Purina Pro Plan, and I think Pedigree is getting better as far as their ingredients go.......Just be careful when switching food. Do it slowly....Hope this helped!