Dog Food Fiber
The following items represent some of The Dog Food Advisor’s most frequently asked questions about dog food fiber.
How is dietary fiber beneficial to a dog’s health?
Dietary fiber found in dog food can improve colon health, aid in weight management and help stabilize blood sugar levels in diabetic dogs. It can even help control both diarrhea and constipation.
What causes my dog to generate such a large volume of stool?
To a notable degree, stool size and form can be directly related to the fiber content of a dog food.
What ingredients contain the most fiber?
Because fiber is only found in the wall of a cell (and since animal cells don’t have cell walls) fiber can only come from vegetables and grains. Never from meat.
That’s why one should expect plant-based dog foods to generate more stool volume than meat-based products.
How can dog food fiber help a diabetic dog?
Fiber can help a diabetic dog maintain stable blood sugar levels.
Although higher dietary fiber was initially believed to be beneficial, recent studies have suggested there may be no real advantage to high fiber diets compared to the more moderate type associated with many commercial foods. 1
How does dietary fiber help control inflamed anal glands?
Fiber can absorb water directly into the colon. The enlarged stools fiber can produce are able to place added pressure on a dog’s anal sacs during defecation.
And that pressure can help induce the drainage of swollen anal glands.
