cranberries

[Brad]

I've tried doing a search but came up empty on info for cranberries in food. I'm a raw feeder and I'm looking for info on apples, yeast, cranberries and beets that are added to a commercial diet I was looking at.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or offer any insight?

Thanks

[SpooOwner]

I'm not clear on what you're looking for, but my raw fed dog has a bit of a sweet tooth and loves apples and dried cranberries. I don't give her much - just when we're hiking, and I stop to have an apple, I'll bite off a piece for her.

[Brad]

I'm looking more for their purpose in a commercial raw pet food.

[SpooOwner]

Ach, can't help you there. I'm not an expert on commercial food design. My guess is palatability + marketing to the owners, but you probably already knew that.

[whiteleo]

I believe cranberries is for urinary health, not sure what the apples would be for!

[naturalfeddogs]

I agree with Whiteleo, I have heard that cranberries are good for urinary tract heath, but to what extent I'm not sure.

[Cliffdog]

A few years ago, our vet told us that cranberries helped with UTI in dogs. How true it is, I don't know, but our dog got cranberry juice a lot from then on to help prevent UTI.

[SpooOwner]

I know cranberry juice is supposed to help prevent UTIs in humans. Are these vets just generalizing to dogs as well?

[Ania's Mommy]

Cranberries CAN help with UTI's, but not in the trace amount that is in some kibbles.

Cranberries and apples are good for people. Most people would think that they must also be good for dogs. But dog's really have no use for vegetation in their diets. So Cranberries and apples just become cheap filler (because anything in dog food besides animal parts is filler).

And THAT'S why the kibble companies put them in there; 'Cuz it's cheaper than meat, but looks appealing to humans that don't know any better.

[sassymaxmom]

I bought cranberry capsules without looking at the dosage. 6 capsules a day and that is dried extract. The active ingredient is D-mannose. There is no way a little bit of cranberry added to dog food is going to help with UTI. If there is as much as an ounce of them in a meal they provide a balanced amount of omega 3:6, some potassium and vitamin C.

I would rather whole fresh apples and cranberries be used for fiber in my dog's food than dried beet pulp though! If fiber is needed at all, Sassy's cooked food only had 1.6% fiber and her poop was very good.