Wet food diet?

[SuperCat]

We've found that Murphy has got REALLY fussy with his food. He was on Royal Canin puppy Biscuits which suited him but he won't eat them anymore. We tried James Wellbeloved Lamb and rice biscuits but we think they upset his stomach. We've found he'll eat most of the biscuits if he has wet food mixed with it. The wet food doesn't seem to affect him but we're worried about him with the biscuits because the James Wellbeloved ones upset his stomach. What do people think about an all wet food diet? He's 6 months now. Or what about mixing them both seeing as he won't eat the biscuits? Was wondering what other people would do?

[AnnieG]

Both of mine are now on a wet food diet.  Cassie is on Chappie because the vet says so!  But Millie is on Nature Diet and - after nearly 18 months of continuous colitis on JWB and then Burns - she is now healthier and happier than she has been in years.  It cured her within a week.  So - having been a total believer in dry food for years - I am wondering whether I have been a total mug.  I know that dried food suited all my previous dogs but my current pair are thriving on wet.  I suspect it's down to the individual dog.  But I do know that if I was a cocker, I'd infinitely prefer something vaguely meaty and smelly and appetising to yet another dish of dry, crunchy sawdust.  

[joanne_v]

If you feed all wet you have to make sure they have adequate things to chew to keep the teeth healthy. I'd only recommend wet food if its high quality such as naturediet or natures menu. Pretty much every tinned wet food is poor quality although Chappie is one which does seem to suit a lot of dogs with sensitive tums. Personally I'd rather feed a good quality dry food such as Arden Grange or Royal Canin with the odd wet food meal as a treat. If he turns his nose up at dry and you feed him wet then he'll learn to be fussy. Your best bet is to find a good dry food which he likes and stick with it. He wont starve himself if he suddenly decides he's bored, they soon give in but the trouble is the human tends to give in first!

[Mudmagnets]

Katie is on Naturediet and has been from a puppy as she could not take the Burns, (and she was drinking so much water whilst she was on it). With her naturediet she gets a handful of wholemeal terrier mix from our local petshop. She gets 1 tray of this a day, split into two feeds from which a desertspoonful is taken out each meal  to add to Smudge's Burns. He hates to think he is missing out 

They both get Bonios or small bone biscuits, as treats at least once a day.

She also loves a bit of raw carrot. Smudge Prefers Burns Kelties or Oceanbites for his special treat (usually when I have to leave them)

[SuperCat]

That was our general thought about him not starving himself. But after about 2 days of not eating, going to the vets and being fine and losing a HUGE amount of weight i couldn't just let him not eat. Especially as he is only 6 months so I don't want him to miss anything vital he should have in his diet. We were giving him a normal Royal Canin portion with a tiny bit of wet food (butchers at the time because it was the best puppy one the supermarket had) mixed in, which he was fine on until he stopped eating the biscuits. Then Grandma (my mum!) decided to try him on all wet and after trying two different biscuit brands he now won't eat the biscuits or very few of them, preffering the wet instead. He has Science Plan atm again because it was the best we could get at short notice and the nearest pet shop which stocks the best stuff is 25miles away which I think we're visiting today. But I think we have decided to get a small bag of royal canin and stock up on a wet food just incase and see where we go. I was just wondering what others feed as not knowing a huge amount about digestive systems or nutrition but knowing he needs the best possible as he's still developing I thought I's ask. I'd rather feed him dry food because it generally smells better but I don't want him to loose that much weight again if he won't eat it! Ugh children!!

Thanks for your advice.

[Nicola]

Mine have a varied diet, they get Arden Grange dry food in the mornings and their evening meal is any of the following: tripe, chicken wings, pork ribs, lamb breast, rabbit, Nature Diet, sardines&egg, lamb ribs. They are not fussy dogs though and are equally happy to eat the AG kibble as the tripe etc. If they started turning up their noses at the dry stuff then that's all they'd be getting for a while until they got over it. All the food they get is good quality and I'm pretty harsh in the respect that they eat what's put in front of them or they don't eat! If you want to feed him a wet diet though then it won't do him any harm as long as you choose a good quality brand and keep an eye on his teeth - you could consider giving him chicken wings or similar a couple of times a week which should take care of that.

Good wet food brands are Nature Diet, Nature's Harvest, Nature's Menu and Applaws and Burns, Arden Grange and James Wellbeloved also do wet foods.

[Mudmagnets]

Katie didn't turn her nose up at Burns (in fact she would quite happily have carried on and eaten Smudge's dinner too ) The Burns gave her terrible diaorreah and she was not putting on any weight at all. That is when I decided to try the Naturediet, it worked so I stuck with it.

When she was old enough, I tried adding a few bits of Smudge's adult Burns to her dish, but with the same results as before - so decided to leave things well alone.

[Nicola]

Katie didn't turn her nose up at Burns (in fact she would quite happily have carried on and eaten Smudge's dinner too ) The Burns gave her terrible diaorreah and she was not putting on any weight at all. That is when I decided to try the Naturediet, it worked so I stuck with it.

When she was old enough, I tried adding a few bits of Smudge's adult Burns to her dish, but with the same results as before - so decided to leave things well alone.

Alfie and Rodaidh can't have Burns either, Alfie in particular looked like a cruelty case on it, the weight just fell off him. They've both done really well on Arden Grange though.

[AnnieG]

I know that it is up to us to manage our dogs' diets carefully since they can't do it for themselves.  But there is something about starving them into eating something they don't like when there are enjoyable and healthy alternatives that worries me.  It reminds me forcibly of the methods used in schools 40-odd years ago.  As a parallel, I have always hated beetroot.  The smell, the sight, the mere presence of it in a room makes me feel queasy.  I sat in the school dining hall from midday until after supper time refusing to eat it and it was served to me again at breakfast the next day.  When it began to turn white and rot, I was finally given detentions instead. I had forgotten all about this until someone served a beef and beetroot casserole at a dinner party two years ago.  I didn't want to be rude so I forced it down.  After all, I had actually never tasted the stuff - how bad could it be?  The answer became only too clear.  I was sick for five days, produced a technicolour rash and thought death was preferable.  Sometimes our instincts are spot-on about food and I see no reason why our dogs aren't blessed with the same spirit of self-preservation. If they are just being picky, it's probably right to 'help' them to what's good for them.  But if they genuinely, genuinely LOATHE what's in front of them, why make life difficult for both of you?    

[SimonandMandy]

We have a fussy eater here to that we had to go to Barf with for a time as a puppy just to get him eating, unfortunately though after a stomach bug the bone element of Barf no longer suited and we resorted to dry.  Interestingly though after switching to a good quality dry food, Harvey lost colour from his nose for a good few months but showed no other signs of ill health.   We recently added back into his diet a wet meal in the morning to get him eating better and his nose within a short time is now going black again.  It is possible that this may be coincidence and not be linked, but in the event it is, the bit we are learning is the number of ways a dog can potentially indicate that a type of food might not be quite right for them.

[Mudmagnets]

I know that it is up to us to manage our dogs' diets carefully since they can't do it for themselves.  But there is something about starving them into eating something they don't like when there are enjoyable and healthy alternatives that worries me.  It reminds me forcibly of the methods used in schools 40-odd years ago.  As a parallel, I have always hated beetroot.  The smell, the sight, the mere presence of it in a room makes me feel queasy.  I sat in the school dining hall from midday until after supper time refusing to eat it and it was served to me again at breakfast the next day.  When it began to turn white and rot, I was finally given detentions instead. I had forgotten all about this until someone served a beef and beetroot casserole at a dinner party two years ago.  I didn't want to be rude so I forced it down.  After all, I had actually never tasted the stuff - how bad could it be?  The answer became only too clear.  I was sick for five days, produced a technicolour rash and thought death was preferable.  Sometimes our instincts are spot-on about food and I see no reason why our dogs aren't blessed with the same spirit of self-preservation. If they are just being picky, it's probably right to 'help' them to what's good for them.  But if they genuinely, genuinely LOATHE what's in front of them, why make life difficult for both of you?    

Why indeed, I would prefer my dogs to enjoy their meals, it makes for a happier pooch me thinks. And I am all for that.

[jennycockerspaniel]

Pennyb 16 weeks has always had mince and a mixer at teatime and dry Hills at lunch time with weetabix am and reasdybrek pm  She has slept all night walks when out well and happy little pup her breeder thinks shes fine will she need extra  vitimins if she doesnt eat all dried Jenny had winalot and bicuits nd lovelly teeth and no proplem with her food but went on sensitive drued food in later life owing to tummy teouble but would eat any thing i know two dogs are different but she missed her lunch and wouldnt eat a her nature diet and hills but eaten her mince and dried food with mixer i dont want her to lose wait sorry if this is a long post and she likes tripe,

[brownsugar]

Being a softie and very fond of the niceties of the table, am all for the AnnieG approach  .
But did wonder about not feeding till your dog eats what you want it to eat. Wouldn't it be unhealthy? Bit gross maybe, but read somewhere (reading up after having had some diarrhea with Toby recently) that starving a dog with diarrhea has a disadvantage. The cells in the lining of the gut need sustenance to stay healthy and they get it from the food that passes through. So if no food passes through this could actually weaken his bowel? Just a thought (and just little medical knowledge to back it up ).

[Nicola]

Pennyb 16 weeks has always had mince and a mixer at teatime and dry Hills at lunch time with weetabix am and reasdybrek pm  She has slept all night walks when out well and happy little pup her breeder thinks shes fine will she need extra  vitimins if she doesnt eat all dried Jenny had winalot and bicuits nd lovelly teeth and no proplem with her food but went on sensitive drued food in later life owing to tummy teouble but would eat any thing i know two dogs are different but she missed her lunch and wouldnt eat a her nature diet and hills but eaten her mince and dried food with mixer i dont want her to lose wait sorry if this is a long post and she likes tripe,

That is a lot of different foods in one day. I would take her off the cereals, she isn't really going to be getting much from them nutrition wise and at 16 weeks she could be down to 3 meals a day as well. Is the mince raw as if it is then don't feed it with a mixer as raw and processed foods digest at different rates. Out of the foods you give her I would probably have her on one mince meal (on its own) and two meals of good quality dry food per day.

[jennycockerspaniel]

Thanks you for your help Penny doesnt have cereals now and the mince is cooked with mixer but she wont eat the dry food by itself that why added natures diet dso she has two per daymeals of mince or chicken,She misSed her lunch yesterday because it was only dry food that is why I put a little wet food with it i thought she would be starving at teatime so put dry food with wet and wouldnt eat and she   was crying  and getting really upst which she doesnt do so I gave her mince and some dried food and she eaten it straight off and looked for more. She is a good weight.