Wholesome food produce a wholesome stool and promotes intestinal health and reduces the risk of colon cancers. They are not generally easy to pick up. Conventional pet foods in the kibble format finely grain the fibers, both soluble and insoluble. Simply put, this grinding reduces the size of the particles excreted masking them from being distinguished by the naked eye.
By adjusting the quantity of insoluble and soluble fibers, you adjust the amount of water retained in the stool. If your child had stool as hard as the examples above, he/she would be rushed to the doctor to find out why he is constipated. It is the opinion of Dr. Meg Smart D.V.M that dogs, are forced, through diet, to endure a chronic state of constipation for the convenience the ease of pick up affords the caregiver of the dog.
To promote intestinal health and safeguard against bowel syndromes that could substantially shorten ones life, humans are encouraged to eat a diet rich in all varieties of fiber. Soft, well formed, stool travels through the intestinal tract in a more timely fashion promoting intestinal health. In the canine a well formed moist stool that is rich in natural unprocessed fiber and moves through the intestinal tract in a healthy time frame, is the best defense against disease that attack the digestive tract.
As leaders in responsible canine nutrition NRG uses only whole grains and fresh vegetables to provide a healthy balance of fiber and ground into a particle size large enough to be seen by the human eye. The consumer often mistakenly assumes that visible fiber is a sign of poor digestibility. The digestive system removes nutrients from within the vegetable cells while leaving the fibrous cell wall intact. These particles of vegetable matter contribute to intestinal health by assisting in cleaning the colon walls as they pass through the intestinal tract.
The stool of dogs eating NRG may contain intact oat hulls and bits of distinguishable fruits and vegetable material. The nutrients have been extracted from these leaving indigestible cell walls (lignin) or hull components that give strength and structure to plant cells. At NRG we could process the ingredients so that the indigestible components were not visible in the stool, but we are convinced that this longer length of fiber is essential for the health of the gastrointestinal tract. Fiber absorbs water resulting in a soft stool. To make a diet that consistently produces a hard small stool we believe would compromise the superior nutrition provided by our diets.
