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Is it OK to only give my senior dog wet food?
- Thread starter doglover83
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I put warm water in every dish of food given be it puppy of one cup to an adult of 4 cups. It helps with BLOAT also. The other day I was fixing my litter of puppies soaked food.
I decided to put one half cup in a cup with HOT water, let sit and see how much it swells up. OMG, it swelled over the cup as I kept adding water for it to swell much as possible. I thought self: What does this all do giving alot to an adult's system swelling like this. In hot weather especially small amounts of food should be feed for sure since I witnessed this for that one large feeding might be too much one day and we have 2 hours at most to get to a good vet for BLOAT surgery.
Friends dog got into a bag of dry and ate alot of it when she was out, when she arrived home he was dead. I feel alot of BLOAT is genetic as my dogs have been tested in many ways and never had any kinds of digestion problems. I keep buckets of fresh water sitting all over the outside and inside fresh deep bowels full.
I decided to put one half cup in a cup with HOT water, let sit and see how much it swells up. OMG, it swelled over the cup as I kept adding water for it to swell much as possible. I thought self: What does this all do giving alot to an adult's system swelling like this. In hot weather especially small amounts of food should be feed for sure since I witnessed this for that one large feeding might be too much one day and we have 2 hours at most to get to a good vet for BLOAT surgery.
Friends dog got into a bag of dry and ate alot of it when she was out, when she arrived home he was dead. I feel alot of BLOAT is genetic as my dogs have been tested in many ways and never had any kinds of digestion problems. I keep buckets of fresh water sitting all over the outside and inside fresh deep bowels full.
Is Natural Balance the only company that makes the chub rolls?
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/DFRolls.html
These are what I'm talking about. Their food is decent, but pricey for what you get so I don't know if there is something better/more cost effective out there that is similar. It would work for a dog needing soft food though.
http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/DFRolls.html
These are what I'm talking about. Their food is decent, but pricey for what you get so I don't know if there is something better/more cost effective out there that is similar. It would work for a dog needing soft food though.
There is also Rollover, which I like better than the natural balance chubs. Same idea but IMO better ingredients. But I don't know if you can buy it in the States.
Canned is just fine, just remember that there is a fair about of water so your dog will need to eat more canned than they were kibble. If your senior is thin then don't feed senior food as it is usually low cal. Feed a puppy or adult food to keep weight on.
Adding water to kibble is good too, when I fed kibble I always added water. If your kibble swells up hugely I would switch kibbles. IME it is a sign of lots of fillers. Evo and Orijen don't swell that much.
***Edited to add this is not Snip this is Dekka. I am on hubby's computer and didn't pay attention
Canned is just fine, just remember that there is a fair about of water so your dog will need to eat more canned than they were kibble. If your senior is thin then don't feed senior food as it is usually low cal. Feed a puppy or adult food to keep weight on.
Adding water to kibble is good too, when I fed kibble I always added water. If your kibble swells up hugely I would switch kibbles. IME it is a sign of lots of fillers. Evo and Orijen don't swell that much.
***Edited to add this is not Snip this is Dekka. I am on hubby's computer and didn't pay attention
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canned dog food is easier for them to digest and less fillers. better for their teeth and kidneys. go for it
Except possibly the "easier to digest," but even that I'm not sure.
It's actually much worse for their teeth, because with crunchy food they crunch the plaque off their teeth, whereas with wet, sticky food the food sticks to their teeth. It's a good idea to brush your dog's teeth at least once a day if you're only feeding canned food.
It doesn't have less fillers, and it's not necessarily better for their kidneys, the nutritional value is actually the same as dry food of the same brand.
I agree, though, if your senior dog has trouble with dry food and likes canned food better, it would probably greatly raise his quality of life if you feed the canned food. Go for it!
I know for cats it IS better for kidneys because it provides more moisture and cats don't drink enough, not sure about dogs. It's think the whole dry food scrapes plaque off of teeth idea has been proved wrong. Many dogs don't even chew their food enough for that to make a difference and the trouble spot on a dog's tooth is up by the gums, animals generally get gum disease, not cavities so if the dry food is all smashed up before it reaches the gums it's not doing any good. Now wet food sticking to teeth does not make sense to me, why would wet stick to teeth more than dry? If a dog did chew his food dry food would quickly be wet and I can't see that there could be a difference, it's like saying pudding sticks to your teeth more than crackers. As far as fillers it depends on the food but I know if you look at most of the nasty brands you'll see the wet food is a lot more meat based than the dry because fillers are used to bind kibble together. Now most of this is stuff I learned in regards to cats as the people I discuss cat stuff with are very pro wet food and many feed all wet, they have researched and had experience in feeding all wet and have not had teeth issues.
I honestly don't think there is a big difference between the two in dogs (there is in cats) and if your dog has an easier time eating wet then it should be fine but if her teeth are hurting you should take her to the vet to have her teeth checked out.
There are many good foods, some are not senior, they are All Life Stages which means they can be fed to any age dog.
Innova
EVO
Canidae
California Naturalhttp://www.chazhound.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=1112516
Chazhound Dog Forum - Reply to Topic
Eagle Pack Holistic
Solid Gold
Timberwolf Organics
Merrick (some people have complained of quality control though)
Fromm
That's all I can think of right now, I might have missed a few but it's a good list of things to try, make sure you read the can to see that it's for All Life Stages or a Senior formula.
I honestly don't think there is a big difference between the two in dogs (there is in cats) and if your dog has an easier time eating wet then it should be fine but if her teeth are hurting you should take her to the vet to have her teeth checked out.
There are many good foods, some are not senior, they are All Life Stages which means they can be fed to any age dog.
Innova
EVO
Canidae
California Naturalhttp://www.chazhound.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=1112516
Chazhound Dog Forum - Reply to Topic
Eagle Pack Holistic
Solid Gold
Timberwolf Organics
Merrick (some people have complained of quality control though)
Fromm
That's all I can think of right now, I might have missed a few but it's a good list of things to try, make sure you read the can to see that it's for All Life Stages or a Senior formula.
It MIGHT crunch some plaque off the teeth, but not much, and certainly does nothing to tartar. Did you know you can get plaque off your teeth just by using your tongue? They don't need slightly crunchy kibble to do that, lol, and it's certainly not an effective method. Frankly I'd look for a food that will CAUSE less plaque (example - higher quality food with less sugar, or other stuff that helps plaque to grow) rather than rely on the type of food. For instance, I don't notice much plaque-busting action when I eat soup vs whole grain cereal.... but I notice a LOT of plaque if I eat less sugary crap.
As for the fillers.. yes.. it does.... less grains and other stuff primarily used for binding are in wet food. It's not needed. But grains or something similar ARE needed in kibble to shape the kibble and keep it from crumbling.
To the OP..... if you want to feed primarily canned to you dog, that's AWESOME!
As for the fillers.. yes.. it does.... less grains and other stuff primarily used for binding are in wet food. It's not needed. But grains or something similar ARE needed in kibble to shape the kibble and keep it from crumbling.
To the OP..... if you want to feed primarily canned to you dog, that's AWESOME!
Some of mordy's posts on canned:
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=345646&postcount=13
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=293654&postcount=9
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=272154&postcount=10
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=134378&postcount=16
And for those that don't know Mordy here are her sites:
http://www.betterdogcare.com/?page=about
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
http://www.ourdogsonline.com/
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=345646&postcount=13
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=293654&postcount=9
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=272154&postcount=10
http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showpost.php?p=134378&postcount=16
And for those that don't know Mordy here are her sites:
http://www.betterdogcare.com/?page=about
http://www.dogfoodproject.com/
http://www.ourdogsonline.com/
I'm not making this stuff up:
www.petsage.com/art_canned.htm
http://www.petfoodexpress.com/petfood/default.asp?pageid=59&Section=PE&ArticleID=86
After several internet searches, I still have not found a site that says that canned food is better than dry food for dogs' teeth, which is one of the points I was disagreeing with in the first place. I did find some evidence that canned food could be healthier, but only in the "grocery store" brands of food.... with the premium brands it really makes no difference.
www.petsage.com/art_canned.htm
http://www.petfoodexpress.com/petfood/default.asp?pageid=59&Section=PE&ArticleID=86
After several internet searches, I still have not found a site that says that canned food is better than dry food for dogs' teeth, which is one of the points I was disagreeing with in the first place. I did find some evidence that canned food could be healthier, but only in the "grocery store" brands of food.... with the premium brands it really makes no difference.