Meat or Fish — Which to Choose in Kibble?

Depending on who you ask, they'll tell you meat-based kibble is much better than fish-based, or the other way around, that fish is better than meat. There are countless opinions on this question, and the funny thing is they're all right.

Dogs are carnivorous animals by nature, meaning they need to eat meat to be properly nourished. But meat can come from either a land animal or a fish, since both contain a large amount of protein, fat, and amino acids essential for any dog.

A healthy dog can eat kibble formulated from any animal protein source, including of course fish. Let's look at the benefits of each.

Fish-Based Kibble

Kibble using fish as a protein source is usually recommended for dogs with food intolerances (to rule out allergies or intolerances to meat products). It's also recommended for dogs with digestive sensitivity, since the protein is highly absorbable and eases digestion (except salmon, which is stronger).

Dogs with skin problems or a dull coat are also recommended fish-based kibble, mainly salmon, since it contains essential fatty acids such as omega-3, highly beneficial for our dog's body.

However, our dog doesn't need to have an intolerance or skin problem to be given fish kibble, since it's equally suitable for healthy dogs — it's an excellent protein source, and many dogs go wild with joy just smelling their fish kibble.

If our dog is healthy, it's recommended to vary its kibble every so often. It's best to keep the same brand, if it works well for us, but rotate the base protein. In other words, if our dog has been eating chicken-based kibble for two or three months, switching it to a fish one for a while will surely delight it. Variety is the spice of life.

Meat-Based Kibble

Among the different meat-based kibble options, we need to focus on which our dog likes best and, of course, which sits best with it.

We often get swayed by advertising and choose kibble almost thinking more about what we'd like than about our own dog. Dogs love meat, mainly chicken and lamb, though we can also find quite palatable beef kibble.

It's best to start feeding our dog chicken-based kibble as the animal protein source, since chicken is highly digestible and has a flavor dogs generally love.

Although chicken is an excellent protein source, it's best to alternate with another kibble made with a different meat or fish, to prevent our dog getting bored of its food — can you imagine spending a whole year eating the same thing, day after day? That's why it's recommended to vary it every so many months.

If My Dog Has Intolerances, Which Kibble Is Better?

Obviously, it's always recommended to see a vet, so they can guide us on how to choose its food to rule out food allergies. Or even to prescribe medication for our dog, if they consider it necessary (let's not forget not every allergy is food-related — there are also environmental allergies).

If we suspect it may be a food allergy, we need to try different kibbles, with different formulas and preferably single-protein, until we find the right one, the one that sits well. This way we can rule out possible foods it doesn't tolerate.

As an example, if our dog has diarrhea or skin problems due to an allergy or intolerance, it's best to use a kibble containing a single animal protein source. This way, if the kibble contains lamb and doesn't upset it, we'll know it absorbs lamb well and can feed it kibble made from this meat.

The important thing is to note down every change we make to its diet, to rule out products. Our vet can give us guidelines to follow if we have questions.