Switching dog to wet food

krlyr

pawsies wrote: »

Dry food is not better for teeth!!! The sugar sticks to the tooth hence tartar. It's like eating rich tea biscuits. A mix of dry and wet would be ok but better with naturediet or equivalent with burns or Harringtons.

A good quality food (dry or wet) should certainly not be as sugary as Rich Tea biscuits! I think dry food does dislodge plaque better than wet food alone, I certainly noticed some improvement in Casper's teeth (previously fed wet food) when switched to kibble (and then a huge improvement when switched to raw)

skintandscared_2

I have certainly found that the higher percentage dry food we give him, the smaller and drier the ... erm... "output" is!! :rotfl:

meritaten

I don't know why people say Dry food is better for pets! Some studies have shown that it is a major cause of liver/kidney failure. Possibly because they cannot drink enough water to compensate - and to be perfectly honest...........how would you like a diet of the same dry food 24/7? You can hardly call it a 'natural' diet! I would personally hate to have a 'nutritionally balanced dry meal' for EVERY meal!
I fed my dogs mainly wet food and the only 'dry' was 'mixer'. They would happily eat most brands!

meritaten

skintandscared wrote: »

I have certainly found that the higher percentage dry food we give him, the smaller and drier the ... erm... "output" is!! :rotfl:

and you think that is a 'GOOD' thing? small, dry poos are not normal by any means.

I think I will shut up now - I've made my point and its entirely up to the OP how she feeds her pet!

codemonkey

Well, I decided to give him a go and switch it. I don't think its a case of him not liking the dry food, because he'll eat it if given it as a 'treat'. Its an attention span thing. As in, we'll put down a bowl of dry food, it takes longer for him to eat, he picks out the wet food then gets bored then he scatters it all over the floor and leaves it. He does not return to it. We had difficulty getting him to eat bones or anything crunchy when he first came to live with us and we think he was never given bones or anything that needed to be chewed in his last home and doesn't know what to do with them. He now eats bones with enthusiasm but perhaps a whole bowl of crunchy things is too daunting for him - when he gets a biscuit he breaks it up, spits the bits out and then eats them.

So today we tried wet food with a small amount of dry food as a mixer and he wolfed it down. No food on the floor, no food left in the bowl. I do morning walks, but neither his dog walker nor DH reported anything abnormal so will report back as to his bowel movements later.

He's currently lying on his back on the floor with his teddy clutched between his paws.

meritaten

you may find this article of interest codemonkey

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1244595/Is-food-youre-feeding-pet-killing--making-vet-rich.html

and this backs it up

http://www.bestcatanddognutrition.com/?cat=24

skintandscared_2

meritaten wrote: »

and you think that is a 'GOOD' thing? small, dry poos are not normal by any means.

I think I will shut up now - I've made my point and its entirely up to the OP how she feeds her pet!

Er, where did I say it was good? I just made an observation... You can clearly see from my earlier post we feed our pup HALF AND HALF dry and wet food, plus a small dollop of my homemade boiled chicken breast and white rice. Supplemented with additional water in the form of frozen homemade chicken ice pops (some of the water from boiling the chicken breasts put into stick ice moulds and frozen - he LOVES them). The ice pops help his poor little gums as he's teething and wants to chew everything, but the ice really soothes it.

meritaten

skintandscared wrote: »

Er, where did I say it was good? I just made an observation... You can clearly see from my earlier post we feed our pup HALF AND HALF dry and wet food, plus a small dollop of my homemade boiled chicken breast and white rice. Supplemented with additional water in the form of frozen homemade chicken ice pops (some of the water from boiling the chicken breasts put into stick ice moulds and frozen - he LOVES them). The ice pops help his poor little gums as he's teething and wants to chew everything, but the ice really soothes it.

Perhaps I misunderstood - Idon't think small dry poos are desirable, but if you were referring to smaller drier poos as opposed to runny - then I agree with you! you can often tell an animals state of health by their poos (sorry, I am a bit obsessed with cat poo right now).

I really do apologise if I misunderstood!

I am currently trying to get my cat Barney (recently acquired) onto what I think is a 'healthier' diet. He was exclusively fed on dry food - and within two months I have got him eating 'wet' food for his supper! he seems to look forward to it because he never fails to remind me supper is due!

skintandscared_2

No worries, yes I do prefer anything but runny ones but there are extremes too far either way. I do get the best food I can for him but am always interested in hearing if we can do better. The articles you link are very interesting. I really want to look into making his food myself but worry about him getting enough of the right nutrients when he's still under 6 months old.

Person_one

Firm, easy to pass, 'kickable' is what I get with mostly dry food, mine get a bit of wet mixed in on mornings as I go to work, which was initially about preventing any separation anxiety in new rescue dogs and is now just routine!

Meri, dry food is much more problematic for cats than dogs.