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HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME
Can I feed Stella and Chewy's freeze-dried raw dog food to cats (example) if I supplement it with taurine myself? Their cat food is something like $30 for a week's supply.

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phosdex
Dec 16, 2005

HEGEL CURES THESES posted:

Can I feed Stella and Chewy's freeze-dried raw dog food to cats (example) if I supplement it with taurine myself? Their cat food is something like $30 for a week's supply.

Someone else can better answer that question. But have you looked into the availability of Sojos? http://www.sojos.com/products/cat/sojos-turkey-complete-cat-food

HEY GUNS
Oct 11, 2012

FOPTIMUS PRIME

phosdex posted:

Someone else can better answer that question. But have you looked into the availability of Sojos? http://www.sojos.com/products/cat/sojos-turkey-complete-cat-food

$16 sounds great, but the part where it looks powder-like/gruel-like puts me off a little. Thanks, though--that's at least four dollars less than Stella and Chewy's dog food, and up to $12.

toplitzin
Jun 13, 2003


Petco has stopped carrying Before Grain in favor of Purrfect Bistro.

If the cats don't care, is there that much of a nutritional difference to seek out the Before grain?

Purrfect Bistro:
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/products/product.jsp?id=156

Before Grain:
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/products/product.jsp?id=46

Lady Xava
Dec 1, 2006
I was wondering if anyone has had any experiences with Hill's T/D?
Took Cookie (7 yr old cat) to the vet the other day and he mentioned she had early stages of tarter build up. He said ideally we should be brushing her teeth but since that's easier said than done, he recommended at least 50% of her dry food be Hill's T/D. Currently we are feeding her Orijen and she's doing great on it. Super soft fur and her poops no longer clear out the house. Looking at Hill's ingredient list it'd definitely not as good Orijen.

As an aside: anyone have luck brushing their cat's teeth?

Shnooks
Mar 24, 2007

I'M BEING BORN D:
A lot of people here will say TD is a crappy food full of grains, and they're kind of right. TD is an OK food. We sell it at my clinic and we often recommend people give it as treats or something as it can make your pet kind of fat. I believe they coat the kibbles with something?

We also sell various dental chews like these by CET that we recommend a lot. My cat had no loving clue how to eat them, but some of our veterinarian's cats love them.

Re: Brushing their teeth. I saw this great video on how to get them started on it, but I can't find it. Basically it was a 4 step process. First step would be to get them used to the toothpaste, so for like a week you'll give the cat the toothpaste on your finger till he or she starts eating it regularly. Next step would be to put it on the tooth brush and let them eat it off of the toothbrush, and you can do that for a week. I think the third step was to get the cat used to having it in it's mouth? And 4th was basically that you should be able to brush (somewhat). I've found it'd worked a bit, but I'm really lazy about brushing my cat's teeth...

Edit: This is the video! It's about 7 minutes long http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet-owners/cat-teeth/entire-video

Dr. Chaco
Mar 30, 2005

Lady Xava posted:



As an aside: anyone have luck brushing their cat's teeth?

I brush mine (nearly) daily. The gradual getting-them-used-to-it would be the nice way to do it, and I am sure it's doable, but I didn't have the patience so I'm mean. I hold them down, hold their head in one hand, brush each side quickly with the other (I use a regular human toothbrush and no toothpaste), and give them a treat as soon as I release them. They hate it, but they also love the treat, and the know they only get it after the teeth get brushed so they remind me each night and hold still while I grab their head.

SuperTwo
Oct 30, 2010



toplitzin posted:

Petco has stopped carrying Before Grain in favor of Purrfect Bistro.

If the cats don't care, is there that much of a nutritional difference to seek out the Before grain?

Purrfect Bistro:
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/products/product.jsp?id=156

Before Grain:
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/products/product.jsp?id=46

Merrick is changing up there product line and BG is being replaced by Purrfect Bistro

Malalol
Apr 4, 2007

I spent $1,000 on my computer but I'm too "poor" to take my dog or any of my animals to the vet for vet care. My neglect caused 1 of my birds to die prematurely! My dog pisses everywhere! I don't care! I'm a piece of shit! Don't believe me? Check my post history in Pet Island!
I dont like the new packaging :( BG was neat that it looked so minimalistic..and it was! with the simple flavours, 1-6. Now its all, some salmon or chicken medley with a dumb name and not as cool packaging.

Is it a good idea to recommend limited ingred diets or more novel stuff like lamb/venison for breeds prone to itchiness (bull dogs, pits) off the bat or is just plain chicken/beef stuff okay?

Dr. Chaco
Mar 30, 2005

Malalol posted:

I dont like the new packaging :( BG was neat that it looked so minimalistic..and it was! with the simple flavours, 1-6. Now its all, some salmon or chicken medley with a dumb name and not as cool packaging.

Is it a good idea to recommend limited ingred diets or more novel stuff like lamb/venison for breeds prone to itchiness (bull dogs, pits) off the bat or is just plain chicken/beef stuff okay?

The more over-the-counter weird ingredient diets a dog eats before a vet gets involved in the diet trial process, the harder their job gets because their choice of proteins to try gets even more limited. This is because OTC diets are rarely truly limited ingredient, and without a veterinarian's input the diet trial is likely to be done incorrectly (not fed long enough, or not fed exclusively). So, if a dog is still itchy on an OTC venison diet (or the owner tried that 3 months ago and says venison didn't work), how do I know if it didn't work because the dog is really not food-allergic, or if it's because of any of those other factors?

Also, food allergy is a thing, for sure, but flea allergy and environmental allergies are so freaking common that I think people do their itchy pets a disservice by trying to figure out the food allergy situation themselves. I cannot count the number of dogs I see for itching where the owner tried to change the diet a couple times, to no avail, and the dog has either classic flea allergy or seasonal allergies that could have been managed sooner if only the owner didn't try to chase down the food thing first.

LoreOfSerpents
Dec 29, 2001

No.

Dr. Chaco posted:

The more over-the-counter weird ingredient diets a dog eats before a vet gets involved in the diet trial process, the harder their job gets because their choice of proteins to try gets even more limited. This is because OTC diets are rarely truly limited ingredient, and without a veterinarian's input the diet trial is likely to be done incorrectly (not fed long enough, or not fed exclusively). So, if a dog is still itchy on an OTC venison diet (or the owner tried that 3 months ago and says venison didn't work), how do I know if it didn't work because the dog is really not food-allergic, or if it's because of any of those other factors?

Also, food allergy is a thing, for sure, but flea allergy and environmental allergies are so freaking common that I think people do their itchy pets a disservice by trying to figure out the food allergy situation themselves. I cannot count the number of dogs I see for itching where the owner tried to change the diet a couple times, to no avail, and the dog has either classic flea allergy or seasonal allergies that could have been managed sooner if only the owner didn't try to chase down the food thing first.
Just as more support for this... my itchy cat has been exposed to all kinds of proteins because we tried a lot of canned foods to find one he'd like, plus we used to feed Katz-n-Flocken (lamb). So if I need to do a limited diet for his itchiness, my choices are now basically kangaroo, rabbit, and homemade.

Coming from a customer, please don't recommend anyone use any food with novel proteins. You'll quickly pigeonhole them into having to do a homemade diet if it does come down to a food allergy.

Plus, food allergies actually mean they can't have any other treats, flavored medicines, or similar until the allergen is identified. It is a huge pain and really needs a vet's input, otherwise the owner will inevitably think it's okay for the dog to eat some of the cat's food or it's fine to give it just a tiny bit of chicken at dinner, which blows the limited diet completely, and then they'll blame the normal food instead of their mistake.

Sorry for the :words:, I'm just really frustrated with my cat's itching now and I wish he hadn't been exposed to duck or venison because that'd make it a lot easier if it ends up being a food allergy.

Rhymes With Clue
Nov 18, 2010

Switched my dog from Blue Buffalo to California Naturals lamb & brown rice because he liked it better. Since switching it's been recalled twice--maybe three times--and the little local pet store I go to is no longer carrying it because the recalls were a hassle. Understandably. They recommended switching to Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, and we got a bag of it. He seems to like it, but I note it's made by Diamond.

I have a bad association with Diamond from a previous dog. So...also, are they not putting out food under the Diamond name anymore? Was that name just too damaged by recall issues etc.?

Also I object to them paying a license fee for the Chicken Soup name. (1), I object on general principles to paying for something that does not actually enhance the dog food, and (b) I object to people being able to co-opt the name so that nobody can use the term "chicken soup" anything without paying these jokers a licensing fee or paying out attorneys fees to fight them.

(Also the books are cheesy.)

However, if the dog likes it, I guess it's okay. He is sick today but I can't blame the dog food for that--we had takeout Mexican last night and he got into the leftovers while we were watching a movie.

phosdex
Dec 16, 2005

Diamond is still around. And yes it is kind of strange they licensed the chicken soul for the soul branding.

Lady Xava
Dec 1, 2006

Shnooks posted:

A lot of people here will say TD is a crappy food full of grains, and they're kind of right. TD is an OK food. We sell it at my clinic and we often recommend people give it as treats or something as it can make your pet kind of fat. I believe they coat the kibbles with something?

We also sell various dental chews like these by CET that we recommend a lot. My cat had no loving clue how to eat them, but some of our veterinarian's cats love them.

Re: Brushing their teeth. I saw this great video on how to get them started on it, but I can't find it. Basically it was a 4 step process. First step would be to get them used to the toothpaste, so for like a week you'll give the cat the toothpaste on your finger till he or she starts eating it regularly. Next step would be to put it on the tooth brush and let them eat it off of the toothbrush, and you can do that for a week. I think the third step was to get the cat used to having it in it's mouth? And 4th was basically that you should be able to brush (somewhat). I've found it'd worked a bit, but I'm really lazy about brushing my cat's teeth...

Edit: This is the video! It's about 7 minutes long http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/pet-owners/cat-teeth/entire-video

I like the idea of using TD as a treat. Definitely want to keep Orijen as her main diet. Thanks for the video! I want give brushing her teeth a try and see how it goes before buying any "fancy" foods.


Dr. Chaco posted:

I brush mine (nearly) daily. The gradual getting-them-used-to-it would be the nice way to do it, and I am sure it's doable, but I didn't have the patience so I'm mean. I hold them down, hold their head in one hand, brush each side quickly with the other (I use a regular human toothbrush and no toothpaste), and give them a treat as soon as I release them. They hate it, but they also love the treat, and the know they only get it after the teeth get brushed so they remind me each night and hold still while I grab their head.

Hmmm I think I might buy a kids toothbrush just for her :3: I can probably bribe her with the Kong salmon paste cat treat. She goes nuts for it.

Thanks for the Tips :)

Trico
Nov 5, 2009

still you are nowhere
Is it okay to feed a fish-based protein canned food to my cat for every meal? I've been trying to find a food that will sit well with my new cat, and she seems to be doing okay on this: http://www.petcurean.com/for-cats/go/sensitivity-and-shine-grain-free-freshwater-trout-salmon-pate

Is mercury level something to be worried about for fish-based food? Complete cat newbie here. Thanks.

HelloSailorSign
Jan 27, 2011

Trico posted:

Is it okay to feed a fish-based protein canned food to my cat for every meal? I've been trying to find a food that will sit well with my new cat, and she seems to be doing okay on this: http://www.petcurean.com/for-cats/go/sensitivity-and-shine-grain-free-freshwater-trout-salmon-pate

Is mercury level something to be worried about for fish-based food? Complete cat newbie here. Thanks.

I've never heard anything credible in terms of mercury problems in cats from long term consumption of fish. Myself, I'm a bit paranoid about it, and although there are people concerned, it does not seem to cause clinical signs in cats that we know of.

grapey
Oct 10, 2012

HelloSailorSign posted:

I've never heard anything credible in terms of mercury problems in cats from long term consumption of fish. Myself, I'm a bit paranoid about it, and although there are people concerned, it does not seem to cause clinical signs in cats that we know of.

I'm interested to know about this too. Right now I feed my cats fish (in wet canned food) prob twice a week.

wtftastic
Jul 24, 2006

"In private, we will be mercifully free from the opinions of imbeciles and fools."

Dr. Chaco posted:

The more over-the-counter weird ingredient diets a dog eats before a vet gets involved in the diet trial process, the harder their job gets because their choice of proteins to try gets even more limited. This is because OTC diets are rarely truly limited ingredient, and without a veterinarian's input the diet trial is likely to be done incorrectly (not fed long enough, or not fed exclusively). So, if a dog is still itchy on an OTC venison diet (or the owner tried that 3 months ago and says venison didn't work), how do I know if it didn't work because the dog is really not food-allergic, or if it's because of any of those other factors?

Also, food allergy is a thing, for sure, but flea allergy and environmental allergies are so freaking common that I think people do their itchy pets a disservice by trying to figure out the food allergy situation themselves. I cannot count the number of dogs I see for itching where the owner tried to change the diet a couple times, to no avail, and the dog has either classic flea allergy or seasonal allergies that could have been managed sooner if only the owner didn't try to chase down the food thing first.

IANAV, but last year in the fall Bailey got really itchy out of the blue and wouldn't stop. I gave him benedryl (on the vet's advice) to see if it would clear up on its own and when it didn't I spent days before the vet's appointment :qq:ing over the idead that his chicken based food was to blame and how nervous I was that I would have to do elimination diets etc.

The vet looked at me like I was a retard, told me it was most likely to be seasonal, gave him some prednisone and sent us on our way- he made it clear too that he might continue to develop more severe allergies or seasonal allergies and that would be a sort of worst case but he basically was like "you are being weird for worrying:. After like two days he was 100% better, after I was nearly in tears over the idea of expensive allergy testing and elimination diets.

Lipumira
May 6, 2007

FIRE!

grapey posted:

I'm interested to know about this too. Right now I feed my cats fish (in wet canned food) prob twice a week.

I had a picky cat who would ONLY eat fish based food and I asked my vet last year about if it was harmful or anything. She said it wasn't an issue... now he will eat some chicken based cans every now and then so that's nice but both he and Pearla are getting mostly fish based canned 2x a day.

If only kibble didn't give them the runs....

Lowness 72
Jul 19, 2006
BUTTS LOL

Jade Ear Joe
Hey PI. I need some help.

I've got a 3 year old neutered Scottie. We've been feeding him Innova his entire life (the green bag with the German shepherd). However Innova has been recalled so I need an alternative until they get their poo poo together again.

We went to the local pet store and the guy recommended some private label food called "Regal". Talked it up as the best food there was blah blah blah. I was skeptical but decided we'd try it.

What do you guys think? I didn't see it on the list so I was hoping for an opinion. Also, if it sucks, what would be a good, similar alternative? He tends to have a somewhat sensitive stomach which is why I'm being a bit cautious.

Thanks!

Mr.Needles
Oct 11, 2007

toplitzin posted:

Petco has stopped carrying Before Grain in favor of Purrfect Bistro.

If the cats don't care, is there that much of a nutritional difference to seek out the Before grain?

Purrfect Bistro:
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/products/product.jsp?id=156

Before Grain:
http://www.merrickpetcare.com/consumer/products/product.jsp?id=46

My local petstore stopped carrying the entire Merrick line because the new formulas contain "powdered cellulose" which is apparently a fancy name for sawdust according to them. I was wondering if this is correct. Should I switch to another food? I have samples of PureVita grain free chicken that they seem to enjoy. Any thoughts or suggestions?

HelloSailorSign
Jan 27, 2011

Lowness 72 posted:

I've got a 3 year old neutered Scottie. We've been feeding him Innova his entire life (the green bag with the German shepherd). However Innova has been recalled so I need an alternative until they get their poo poo together again.

We went to the local pet store and the guy recommended some private label food called "Regal". Talked it up as the best food there was blah blah blah. I was skeptical but decided we'd try it.

What do you guys think? I didn't see it on the list so I was hoping for an opinion. Also, if it sucks, what would be a good, similar alternative? He tends to have a somewhat sensitive stomach which is why I'm being a bit cautious.

I always think of private or the small pet food companies like compounding pharmacies. They sound nice, but in practice, the could be just as many recall problems with them but there may not be regulatory oversight to catch the problems because they're small potatoes.

For foods I used to recommend the Innova products (EVO, California Natural, etc.) but with the two recent recalls I can't really... I still use EVO (wet) myself because I like it. Otherwise, Taste of the Wild, Orijen, and Wellness are my next go to diets.

Mr.Needles posted:

My local petstore stopped carrying the entire Merrick line because the new formulas contain "powdered cellulose" which is apparently a fancy name for sawdust according to them. I was wondering if this is correct. Should I switch to another food? I have samples of PureVita grain free chicken that they seem to enjoy. Any thoughts or suggestions?

It could be true, but you don't know the component of powdered cellulose unless you ask the manufacturer. Cellulose is in plants. It's basically an easy way to add fiber to the diet without adding other calories/vitamins/minerals that could change the nutrient balance.

cheese eats mouse
Jul 6, 2007

A real Portlander now
Do I need to watch calories with bully sticks?

Braki
Aug 9, 2006

Happy birthday!
Yes! The average 6-inch bully stick has about 88 calories.

neongrey
Feb 28, 2007

Plaguing your posts with incidental music.
I'm dealing with a rescue about getting a pair of kittens soon; they'll have been born late April, at least going by when they were found. Is it important to buy kitten food (the price seems about the same), and if so, how long should I feed it to them before changing to adult cat food? Until they're a year old?

I'm looking at going with this brand, it's not on the list: http://www.petcurean.com/for-cats/now-fresh/grain-free-kitten and here's their nutrient profile: http://www.petcurean.com/nutrient-profiles/NOW-GF-KITTEN-CF.pdf

The numbers look pretty good to me for a dry food, but I'd like if someone else double-checked for me please. They'll certainly get wet food too, but I work 12-hour shifts so I'd rather have something dry on hand for the days I'm out for so long.

Tamarillo
Aug 6, 2009
I feed my cats Petcurean food, but their Go! brand not their Now Fresh stuff because Go! is for all life stages and I needed to get Hugo onto a stable and unchanging diet so he wouldn't have horrible rear end problems anymore. I've had nothing but positive experiences with the food, and was assured by this thread that it's top notch stuff. For little kittens you do need to get the all life stages food OR kitten food.

Edit: Go! and Now aren't on the cat food list, but they are in the premium list for dog food.

Tamarillo fucked around with this message at 12:49 on Aug 2, 2013

FISHMANPET
Mar 3, 2007

Sweet 'N Sour
Can't
Melt
Steel Beams
So what's bad about carbohydrates in cat food? Are they digested or do they just pass through? My cats are gigantic assholes about the volume of food they eat, and if I can give them twice as much food but half of it will just pass right through them, I'm fine with that.

Is dry food that much denser, calorie wise, then wet food? I'm feeding Solid Gold and my cats are faaaaat.

Dr. Chaco
Mar 30, 2005

FISHMANPET posted:

So what's bad about carbohydrates in cat food? Are they digested or do they just pass through? My cats are gigantic assholes about the volume of food they eat, and if I can give them twice as much food but half of it will just pass right through them, I'm fine with that.

Is dry food that much denser, calorie wise, then wet food? I'm feeding Solid Gold and my cats are faaaaat.

If you want to increase volume without adding calories, you need fiber specifically, not just any old carbs. Look for a weight-loss food and see if that's higher fiber/lower calorie; also, veterinarians will carry diets formulated for weight loss or weight management that will be pretty high fiber. There will be undigestible filler ingredients, but it sounds like that's what you want.

neongrey
Feb 28, 2007

Plaguing your posts with incidental music.

Tamarillo posted:

I feed my cats Petcurean food, but their Go! brand not their Now Fresh stuff because Go! is for all life stages and I needed to get Hugo onto a stable and unchanging diet so he wouldn't have horrible rear end problems anymore. I've had nothing but positive experiences with the food, and was assured by this thread that it's top notch stuff. For little kittens you do need to get the all life stages food OR kitten food.

Edit: Go! and Now aren't on the cat food list, but they are in the premium list for dog food.

Okay cool, I thought it looked good but I wanted to be sure. Got me a coupon for the kitten food then. Thanks!

Cpt.Wacky
Apr 17, 2005

Tamarillo posted:

I feed my cats Petcurean food, but their Go! brand not their Now Fresh stuff because Go! is for all life stages and I needed to get Hugo onto a stable and unchanging diet so he wouldn't have horrible rear end problems anymore. I've had nothing but positive experiences with the food, and was assured by this thread that it's top notch stuff. For little kittens you do need to get the all life stages food OR kitten food.

Edit: Go! and Now aren't on the cat food list, but they are in the premium list for dog food.

What is the difference between cat food, kitten food and cat and kitten (all life stages?) food? I'm trying to get rid of these foster kittens and I want to give people good food recommendations. Only a few of the high quality brands on the OP cat food list actually have kitten specific formulas. They've been getting Chicken Soup for Kittens so far.

Current status: kitten piles

Malalol
Apr 4, 2007

I spent $1,000 on my computer but I'm too "poor" to take my dog or any of my animals to the vet for vet care. My neglect caused 1 of my birds to die prematurely! My dog pisses everywhere! I don't care! I'm a piece of shit! Don't believe me? Check my post history in Pet Island!
cats and kittens have diff nutritional needs so the different formulas are made to meet aafco standards/requirements..you shouldnt feed a kitten Adult only food because it may miss out on what growing kittens need.. Food made for all life stages meet both kitten/cat requirements.

NarwhalParty
Jul 23, 2010

Quoting this since it hasn't been answered yet. Any opinions? I put my dog on the grain free turkey and potato formula and her stomach is a lot better. I can't speak for any improvements in shedding.

Madidus
Aug 19, 2003

Nobody loves me, Nobody cares.
I have one main question, every family member i know gives their pets food at certain times, i always have a bowl ready for mine whenever she wants. it is purina, but she likes it. i think she wants her treats more than the actual food.

HelloSailorSign
Jan 27, 2011

NarwhalParty posted:

Quoting this since it hasn't been answered yet. Any opinions? I put my dog on the grain free turkey and potato formula and her stomach is a lot better. I can't speak for any improvements in shedding.

Looks fine to me. A bit confusing in that one line says "formulated for adult dog" and another says "all life stages," but whatever. A few extra ingredients that I don't think are anywhere near necessary (fermentation products) but nothing in there that looks bad.

oddeye
Jul 24, 2005

Madidus posted:

I have one main question, every family member i know gives their pets food at certain times, i always have a bowl ready for mine whenever she wants. it is purina, but she likes it. i think she wants her treats more than the actual food.

Coming from someone who sells dog food for a living, free feeding your pets usually causes problems. Most of the people who have trouble with their pets not eating food can usually be boiled down to a couple scenarios.

They are feeding too much, which is the most common, and easy to fix.

They are adding way too much human food as top dressing on top of the kibble. You wouldn't believe how many people sprinkle cheese or add gravy or broth on their dogs food. They soon learn to expect it and then will forgo eating until something is added.

Lastly free feeding which I think leads to overfeeding as well as a lack of schedule.

So my advice to you is that if your dog rather eat treats is to feed the dog twice a day, at the recommended amount for your dogs ideal weight. I would get it off Purina because its not a great food and start feeding twice a day. I think the norm is right when you wake up and once at supper/when you get home from work.

This is how I do it and my dogs have never complained. :shrug:

Double Plus Good
Nov 4, 2009
Okay, this is going to be long, I'm sorry! But I'm at my wits end and you guys always give the best input. So I just adopted a dog a few weeks ago, and I have had problems with her diet since day 1. The rescue we got her from was feeding her Purina One Chicken and Rice, and after her first vet check-up we started to transition her to something better, and formulated for skin and coat health. The best we could find at the time was Nutro Ultra. She's pretty picky and won't eat more than a few kibbles at a time, and my guess was that it's because she had been free-feeding for her whole life. I tried to get her on a schedule, but she would just repeat the "sniff the bowl, eat 1 or 2 kibble if prompted, go lie down" routine. She's pretty scrawny so I got worried and just let her eat, because she just needed to eat. :(

Our next guess was that she might be reluctant to eat dry dog food because it's hard. She has a pretty hosed up jaw, like a combination underbite/overbite, a misaligned jaw, a snaggletooth, and one chipped tooth. Here's a picture to give you an idea of how bad it is:


I watched her eating a dry kibble and she has to shift her jaw over and crunch pretty effortfully to eat just one kibble. We got a different brand that's supposed to be easy to chew, Pedigree Small Breed Easy to Crunch. She basically ignored it. So my dad suggests softening the food up, so I put a little water on her Nutro Ultra (I wasn't too keen on the Pedigree anyway) and microwaved it for a few seconds, then stirred it up with a spoon. She liked that and ate it for a while, but eventually went back to not eating much at all. She'll also occasionally eat it if it has sat for a while and reabsorbed the water, so that the kibble are puffy and soft. Going off of this, we went and got her a tin of Nutro wet food, and she scarfed it down faster than I've ever seen her eat. Great! But, feeding her wet food everyday isn't good idea, right? I honestly have no idea because our last two dogs just gobbled down whatever my dad gave them. We've never had a picky eater. I was trying to feed her 30 mins to and hour before our walks, but she wouldn't eat then. I thought maybe the walk would stimulate her appetite, but that didn't work either. :(

Oh, and I don't think she's having stomach problems, because her BMs are normal and consistent, and she has an appetite. She begs for table scraps like a normal dog (I don't feed her table scraps, though). She gets a little piece of chicken or bacon every night when I put her in her crate and she gobbles those down, so it's not that she isn't hungry, but that she won't (or can't due to teeth?) eat dog food.

Double Plus Good fucked around with this message at 05:05 on Aug 13, 2013

HelloSailorSign
Jan 27, 2011

Wet food is just fine. There aren't any big benefits to dry other than convenience.

Dr. Chaco
Mar 30, 2005

Double Plus Good posted:


I watched her eating a dry kibble and she has to shift her jaw over and crunch pretty effortfully to eat just one kibble. We got a different brand that's supposed to be easy to chew, Pedigree Small Breed Easy to Crunch. She basically ignored it. So my dad suggests softening the food up, so I put a little water on her Nutro Ultra (I wasn't too keen on the Pedigree anyway) and microwaved it for a few seconds, then stirred it up with a spoon. She liked that and ate it for a while, but eventually went back to not eating much at all. She'll also occasionally eat it if it has sat for a while and reabsorbed the water, so that the kibble are puffy and soft. Going off of this, we went and got her a tin of Nutro wet food, and she scarfed it down faster than I've ever seen her eat. Great! But, feeding her wet food everyday isn't good idea, right? I honestly have no idea because our last two dogs just gobbled down whatever my dad gave them. We've never had a picky eater. I was trying to feed her 30 mins to and hour before our walks, but she wouldn't eat then. I thought maybe the walk would stimulate her appetite, but that didn't work either. :(



As long as her stomach and your wallet can handle it, there's nothing inherently bad about an all-canned diet, if that's what it takes for her to eat. As far as her teeth, they don't chew with the ones you photographed, but if her jaw is mis-aligned the chewing teeth in the back could be messed up as well. Did the vet evaluate her teeth, both for alignment and any other issue that might make it difficult to chew (such as a painful fractured tooth way in the back)? Honestly, I've seen dogs with pretty messed up jaw/tooth alignment eat just fine (think of all the smash-faced breeds with their requisite under-bites, and the long-nosed dogs and their stretched-out jaws), and I've seen nasty dental problems lurking in the back of mouths that look just fine in the front.

Weltlich
Feb 13, 2006
Grimey Drawer
Our new puppy isn't coming for a few months, but I'm working up a list of things we need to have on hand when he/she arrives. The breeder starts them out on Iams, and while that's "acceptable," I'd really like to step his/her diet up a notch. FYI, this will be an Australian Cattle Dog puppy and we will take custody of the pup at about 10 weeks of age. The pup's going to be getting a lot of play-time. so I'd put its activity level as "high."

Here's what I'm thinking - Get a small bag of Iams (2 to 5lbs) and slowly start cutting in Victor Grain Free puppy food while cutting out the Iams over the course of a couple of weeks. I'm planning on following the house-training guide in the puppy thread, so I'll be offering food twice daily, morning and early afternoon. If that goes well, and puppy seems happy and healthy, slowly start to offer a portion of Kirkland's Cuts and Gravy with the morning feeding (1/4 of a can) just to add some variety into the pup's diet. If that goes well, I'll start adding some to the afternoon meal as well, but keep it kibble heavy for dental health. I've read good reviews of both Victor and the Kirkland canned food, but if anyone has any further insights, they would be welcome.

How much food should I be offering a 10 week old ACD initially, and with that in mind should I buy kibble by the 30lb bag, or a smaller size?

Also, I have a friend that has made a habit of buying 30lb bags at a time for his adult dog, but he never buys the same sort of food twice in a row, rotating through six or seven "premium" brands, slowly cutting one bag of food into the meal plan over a week's time. He claims the dog is happier and healthier for the variety, and that keeping her on a mono-kibble diet results in her becoming bored with whatever food is offered and losing her appetite. This sounds reasonably sane to me, but once again, I'd like to get some other opinions.

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Double Plus Good
Nov 4, 2009

Dr. Chaco posted:

As long as her stomach and your wallet can handle it, there's nothing inherently bad about an all-canned diet, if that's what it takes for her to eat. As far as her teeth, they don't chew with the ones you photographed, but if her jaw is mis-aligned the chewing teeth in the back could be messed up as well. Did the vet evaluate her teeth, both for alignment and any other issue that might make it difficult to chew (such as a painful fractured tooth way in the back)? Honestly, I've seen dogs with pretty messed up jaw/tooth alignment eat just fine (think of all the smash-faced breeds with their requisite under-bites, and the long-nosed dogs and their stretched-out jaws), and I've seen nasty dental problems lurking in the back of mouths that look just fine in the front.

I'll get the vet to do a more thorough check on our next visit! The last time we went was her first and it was just a general checking over, plus the vet was preoccupied with her ears (which had a pretty bad infection). The benefit I've read for dry food is that the crunching is good for their teeth, which is what I was worried about her missing out on. Is there a way to stretch a can of wet food, by maybe mixing it with some kibble or something?

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