Frequently Asked Questions
Below we provide the science that tangibly proves corn is a highly digestible grain. Beware of the "facts" that some pet food company "experts" are putting out to mislead consumers. Corn is at the center of a rivalry in the pet food industry unethically being fought with marketing strategies and not science.
A nutritionist will not accept opinion or theory as fact and neither should you. Don't allow yourself to be misled by advertising or intentional extremism you may hear from friends or see online.
Let's separate marketing positioning from real results. The technology in Kumpi's supplementation has not been discovered by many nutritionists and is what we believe in. Yet, what really matters is how well does your dog look, feel and do when they eat our product?
That is where your own eyes and your pet's condition will show you. If we're wrong we never expect you to buy another bag. But odds are good you will, once you have experienced the undeniable truth of the difference Kumpi makes.
Pet food is an industry. Nutrition is science. Have you allowed an industry to spin science into science fiction?
Nutrient digestibility of the feed ingredients for dogs
C.M.L. Sá-Fortes, N.K. Sakomura, A.C. Carciofi, M.O. Mendonca and E.V.V. FreitasUniversidade Estadual Paulista . Faculdade de Ciéncias Agrárias e Veterinárias . UNESP FCAV, Brazil
The knowledge of food and raw material digestibility is critical to the reliable formulation of animal diets. However, information relating to the digestibility of ingredients in pet foods is limited, The objective of this experiment was to compare the apparent digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, starch and nitrogen-free extract of corn, sorghum, rice bran, wheat meal, rice meal, corn germ and pearl millet.
Eight adult dogs were distributed in a 8x8 Latin square design, with eight treatments (ingredients) and eight periods. The animals were individually placed in metabolism cages and fed a basal diet (BD) and test diets (70% of BD and 30% test ingredient).All the diets were extruded to cook the starch and to provide a consistent texture. The results presented in Table 1 demonstrate that the nutrient digestibility of corn, rice bran, sorghum and pearl millet were similar to each other and had a higher digestibility compared to corn germ, wheat meal and rice meal. The observed lower digestibility of these ingredients is most probably due to the high fiber levels. This fact has also been observed in other studies proving that nutrient digestibility is influenced by the source and level of dietary fiber in the diet.
| Table 1. Apparent digestibility coefficients (%) of ingredients for dogs. | |||||
| Ingredients | DM | CP | EE | Starch | NFE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pearl millet | 86.1 | 77.2 | 81.7 | 99.1 | 89.2 |
| Rice bran | 90.5 | 74.8 | 66.8 | 99.2 | 94.4 |
| Corn germ | 66.6 | 65.0 | 48.2 | 95.5 | 73.9 |
| Sorghum grain | 90.4 | 88.6 | 78.6 | 98.7 | 92.0 |
| Wheat meal | 60.7 | 67.5 | 53.8 | 89.6 | 56.1 |
| Corn grain | 89.3 | 88.6 | 83.0 | 98.5 | 90.0 |
| Rice meal | 56.3 | 72.5 | 85.2 | 90.4 | 43.5 |
| CV, % | 5.3 | 9.2 | 9.9 | 1.7 | 5.0 |
Many large breed Kumpi dogs are still eating the Adult formula up to fifteen years of age.
In the same way some people are tall/short, fine/heavy boned - your dog is preprogrammed genetically for a certain size, etc. Trying to rush the process can be detrimental.
Generally speaking, three to four months of age is a good time to start the shift from Puppy to Adult formula.
We have dogs that once eating Kumpi have been able to cut their dosage of Rimadyl and some have been able to stop taking it altogether.
Look alone at the claims concerning poultry. "Free range" poultry means the chickens were let out of their cages, however briefly, to roam free. "Naturally fed" simply means that the feed was scattered on the ground and they were allowed to scratch and peck the ground to ingest their food "naturally."
Is that organic? Were the grains and other components of the chicken feed grown organically? And if they were, was the actual production of the feed done in compliance with regulations to maintain organic standards? What if the chickens ate some bugs while they were scratching the ground? Were those bugs previously exposed to chemicals or pesticides prior to being eaten by the chicken?
(I love asking questions, since I have to answer so many!)
Even a source like venison is hard to guarantee since it likely grazed on chemically fertilized fields or near highways where automobile exhaust tainted the nearby plants. Maybe it nibbled on pesticide-sprayed trees or drank out of polluted streams or ponds.
I don't plan on fixing what works. If and/or when the whole organic issue ever gets settled, I don't believe that the added expense of what will be required to absolutely guarantee (and in this industry, guarantees often have escape hatches) the statement of "organic" will be worth offsetting the expense of our supplementation and high profile of "meat" sources.
Since then, I ran across an interesting article that adds to my conviction.
A fast-growing concept in pet nutrition is that of feeding raw food diets, also referred to as BARF (Bones and Raw Food) diets. However, numerous concerns have been raised about this concept. Among the concerns is the possibility for bacterial infection from the raw foods. But, these concerns had little data to support or refute them � until recently. Now, the results of an investigation regarding the presence of Salmonella in BARF diets fed to pet dogs have been published. In the study, meal-sized samples of food prepared by clients that regularly fed a BARF diet to their dogs as well as fecal samples from the dogs and similar samples from dogs fed commercial foods, were analyzed for Salmonella spp. All food and fecal samples from dogs fed the commercial foods were negative for Salmonella. Eight of the ten food samples and three of the ten fecal samples from the BARF-fed dogs tested positive for Salmonella. These results provide evidence that dogs fed a BARF diet are more likely to shed Salmonella in their stools. This may be of particular concern to pet owners with small children and those with aged or immune-compromised people in the household.
Source: Joffe DJ, Schlesinger DP, Canadian Veterinary Journal 2002, 43:441-442
Study Finds Raw Diets RiskyRaw food diets are a growing trend among pet owners hoping to improve their pet's health. However, a study published in the Nov/Dec 2003 issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association found that these diets may cause a potentially fatal Salmonella infection.A group at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine conducted a case study of two cats that developed Salmonellosis as a result of a raw meat-based diet. The Salmonellosis caused gastrointestinal upset, weight loss and anorexia that resulted in the death of both cats. Salmonella in tissue cultures isolated from one of the cats was identical to cultures from the raw beef used in the cat's home prepared diet, and the resulting infection was confirmed as the cause of death in both cases. The report is the first to describe the occurrence of Salmonellosis in cats as a result of feeding a raw meat-based diet.
The JAAHA study also found that while most human cases of Salmonellosis result from direct exposure to contaminated food, there are documented cases of infection due to direct and indirect contact with infected pets. The study concluded that cats fed raw meat contaminated with Salmonella are at risk for development of Salmonellosis and may pose a disease risk to their owners and handlers. Due to these risks, AAHA (American Animal Hospital Association) recommends that pet owners not feed their pets a raw meat-based diet and encourages owners to ask their veterinarian for advice regarding a nutritionally-balanced diet that is appropriate for their pet's age and lifestyle.
Source: Petfood Industry, February 2004
Beyond that is the consideration of how bio-available the protein source is to the dog's body. Chicken meal is approximately 70% protein and over 60% digestible. Corn gluten meal is approximately 65% protein, but less than 60% digestible. Kumpi was specifically formulated to be highly accessible to the body during the process of digestion.
Calorie counts can be tricky to go by for that reason. If you consider the caloric count in a brownie vs. a chicken breast of the same weight it might run pretty close. What is the calorie worth to the body in it's ability to provide energy and nutrition? So, reading a label for calorie counts isn't a predictable measure of the actual profit to the body.
The variety of our amino acid profile closely follows the dogs own amino acid requirements (lysine, tryptophan, taurine, etc.) more appropriately than singular sources. Dogs are almost exclusively carnivores and Kumpi offering five different "meats" is closer to the way nature intended them to eat.
Read more about the scientific facts of Beet Pulp in canine nutrition.
If you can't count on a pet food company to spell out in the normal legal terms what their ingredients are without artificially trying to make you believe theirs is different or higher grade, then why would you trust them about anything else? You need to be able to trust your dog food company. That is of paramount importance. Kumpi is a company with products you can trust.
Even though superior nutrition is vital to your dog or cat, please consult your veterinarian if your pet exhibits these symptoms.
Kumpi® Pet Foods
3173 South Nucla Street, Aurora, CO 80013
303-693-6533
