Wild prey is approximately 70% moisture. Kibble contains roughly 10%. A cat on dry food has to drink far more water to make up the difference, and most don't: dry-fed cats reliably take in less total water than cats on wet or raw food, which is one reason moisture is the first thing vets change for a cat with urinary crystals.
Kibble is manufactured through extrusion — cooking at temperatures above 200°C under extreme pressure. At these temperatures, proteins are denatured and their bioavailability is measurably reduced. The amino acid profile your pet actually absorbs is significantly lower than what the label reports.
More critically: every naturally occurring digestive enzyme in the ingredients is completely destroyed. Pets eating kibble long-term develop chronic enzyme deficiency, forcing the pancreas to compensate — a direct driver of chronic pancreatitis and poor nutrient absorption.
Feeding the same single protein every day for years is one of the most common causes of food sensitivities in pets. The immune system, when repeatedly exposed to the same protein, can begin treating it as a foreign invader. This is how chicken allergies — and most food allergies — develop.
Rotating 3–4 proteins on a regular cycle prevents immune sensitisation, provides a broader amino acid profile, and delivers more diverse fatty acids. Carnivora (12 proteins) and Big Country Raw (Chicken, Turkey, Beef, Bistro, Feast) give you the variety needed for complete rotational feeding.
The research is younger than the marketing, so here is what actually exists. Algya and colleagues (Journal of Animal Science, 2018) fed adult dogs extruded kibble, mildly cooked, and raw diets in rotation: the raw and gently cooked diets were more digestible and produced smaller, firmer stools. The University of Helsinki DogRisk group (Hemida et al., PLOS ONE, 2021) found that puppies fed a mostly non-processed, meat-based diet were less likely to be reported with allergy or atopy skin signs as adults than puppies fed mostly dry food. These are associations and small trials, not proof, but they point the same direction our customers report.
Dr. Karen Becker, co-author of The Forever Dog, argues that most chronic pet disease is lifestyle-related, which puts a good share of it within an owner's control.
Be clear-eyed about this part. The Public Health Agency of Canada does not recommend raw diets, because raw meat can carry Salmonella, Listeria and E. coli, and testing has found them in commercial raw foods. We feed raw anyway and think the trade-off is worth it for most households, but you should know that position, and you should handle the food like the raw meat it is.
Thaw in a sealed container on the bottom shelf of the fridge, only what you need, and never re-freeze thawed food. Keep it away from your own food. Wash your hands with soap right after feeding, wash the bowl after every meal, and sanitize counters with a cleaner or 5 mL of bleach in 750 mL of water, then rinse. Pick up anything not eaten within half an hour.
Who should think twice: if someone in the house is pregnant, under five, over sixty-five or has a weakened immune system, talk to your doctor before choosing raw. A gently cooked food is the safer fit for that household, and we can help with that too. Source: Public Health Agency of Canada, pet food and treats.