Author Topic: Wet Food - Quantities Help Please  (Read 2825 times)

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Offline JimandH

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Wet Food - Quantities Help Please
« on: November 24, 2020, 05:12:25 PM »
Hi all, Halo is 8 mths now.  All going well but recently seemingly just very bored of dry food - currently being doing a months free trial on Tails.com - he liked it at first but now leaves it both in morning and evening until he gets really hungry athen reluctantly eats it.  He still has endless energy so dont think its any illness.

So I decided to try wet food - as know he loved it when I did him chicken and rice once when he had dodgy stomach.  Bought a few different onces from Pets at Home to try - immediately wolfed them down and worked well if mixed in some kibble too. 

But I am really confused by amounts.  Halo is c12kg and guessing probably nearly fully grown now. So on dry food we have been feeding him c300g per day over two meals. But on the Butchers Puppy Perfect 150g tray, it says for a medium breed 6-12 mths to feed 10 trays a day !  And on a Wainrights Puppy 395g Lamb with Rice, its says 2.5-4 trays per day.  Thats seems loads ?   Do they need significantly more of wet food than dry ?  How do you know amounts if you are mixing wet & dry ?

So any advice welcomed please.  Also if there are any recommednations on wet food that your cocker likes, please let me know.  Wasn't anticiapting spending a fortune, but would like decent stuff, and unfortuantely not got time to go down the raw route.

Thanks in advance
Helen

Offline phoenix

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Re: Wet Food - Quantities Help Please
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2020, 06:23:05 PM »
After many years with lots of ‘interesting’ foodsIncluding homemade and raw,  I am perfectly happy with Butchers, preferably the tripe loaf mix.   Their poops are perfect. 
  At eight months ,  he’s  ready for adult food.   I follow the quantities on the tin, or a bit less. We no longer have cockers.    One of mine is a small dog weighing only 7kg, and has one tin total per day. My sons one is 17kg, and has one and three quarters total per day.  They came to us as mangy rescue dogs, and are now healthy, shiny and very lean as they should be.  I asked the vet if they were underweight, and he said definitely not, unlike the rest of the waiting room.
12 kgs puts Halo half way between, so I would think that with tins , not trays, you could use One and a third of a tin, though the bottom is all jelly.  It is mostly water, and mine rarely drink much.    One thing I wasn’t happy with dry food was that the body must strain when it’s begging for water to rehydrate the kibble. I wouldn’t like to live on dried meals!
Also, any wet food is bigger and more appetising than a handful of kibble.  I think that the dry food suggested at 300gm was far too much. My old springer at 24kg had that amount.
I don’t bother mixing,  so can’t help there. I have to stick to grain free so just add fruit or veg.
Hope this helps.
RIP Marti  the EPI springer age 12,  and beloved black cocker Bobby, 8 yrs old, too soon, from PLN.
Now owned by TInker, tiny hairy grey poodle/terrier rescue from Greece and Jack, local rescue,   scruffy ginger terrier mutt.

Offline Archie bean

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Re: Wet Food - Quantities Help Please
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2020, 07:08:59 PM »
Archie is wet fed. He went off kibble very early on and it was a relief to find something he loved eating. He has fishmongers finest now due to colitis issues but used to be fed wainwrights. Initially the pack said 2/3 of a pack per day for his weight but they suddenly changed the packaging at one point and increased the recommended amounts at the same time to 2 packs per day. I rang them and they confirmed the recipe hadn’t changed. It seemed a crazy increase so I’ve always stuck with 2/3 of a pack a day and he’s a big dog (20k). He has some kibble as treats and a chew most evenings (salmon skin) but he’s done fine on that amount. He’s 9 now. Mum’s Jade is a lot smaller but more energetic and has a whole pack each day. I think it’s a case or trial and error until their weight is stable but I do think the amounts suggested on the pack can be a bit high.

Offline Mudmagnets

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Re: Wet Food - Quantities Help Please
« Reply #3 on: November 25, 2020, 10:21:20 AM »
Both Minstrel and Branston are both adult dogs and are fed mainly Forthglade Grain Free wet food @15kg Minstrel gets 175g x3 (total =525g) per day (Breakfast/Dinner/Tea) and Branston 13.5kg gets 150g X 3 (450g) they also get about 5 pieces per meal of Natures Menu Mixer which they seem to enjoy.

I have tried them at times on various dry food, but I don't think they enjoyed it as much as the wet food, and they seemed forever hungry and thirsty.

I have found you do need to feed more wet food than dry because of the amount of liquid included:
Remembering Smudge 23/11/2006 - 3/8/2013, and Branston 30/8/14 - 28/10/22 both now at the Bridge.

Offline JimandH

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Re: Wet Food - Quantities Help Please
« Reply #4 on: November 25, 2020, 05:53:40 PM »
Many thanks to you all that have replied, thats really useful.

Halo has tried Wainrights and Butchers wet food and hoovered them both and easily available locally.  Can get both in 400g tins/trays which seems about right per day with a handfull of kibble based on what you have all said below.  Will have a look at Fortglade too.
Mudmagnets - you mention Natures Menu Mixer - will pick some up as looks good too.  Is it really only 5 biscuits per meal you add but guessing your wet food amount is a bit higher than I might do to start with ?

My recollection as a young child (many years ago !) is opening a tin of winalot each day for the dog .....thought I wouldn't have to go down that route but actually now I can see how much he loves it  - and they definietly smell better these days !

Thanks again !
Helen

Offline Mudmagnets

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Re: Wet Food - Quantities Help Please
« Reply #5 on: November 25, 2020, 06:55:50 PM »
Hello Helen, to make it less confusing I have added the link for Natures Menu, I went by the manuf recommendation of for dogs weighing 5-15kg to feed 10-20g mixer per day so I thought 5 pieces per meal was enough for them as the pieces are a reasonable size - what you could do if you are not sure is weigh out 10grams and see how many you get. I would say mine are adult dogs and the pieces are quite big - but easily crunched. Mine have the Turkey but also available in salmon

https://www.naturesmenu.co.uk/nmmbt-mighty-mixer-with-turkey-oats

I would add that mixer says it is for adding to Raw Food, but I have had no problems giving it to mine with their Forthglade

Remembering Smudge 23/11/2006 - 3/8/2013, and Branston 30/8/14 - 28/10/22 both now at the Bridge.