Can you get complete nutrition in a canned food?

Annamarie · 11-15-2007, 12:53 PM

I give up on the kibble. Obviously I'm not going to win the battle, this dog would rather starve himself than eat kibble.

He will however pick out meat chunks from canned food (except the stuff that's just a mush of grey meat like innova) so I'm thinking of giving him only canned.

He likes the merrick stuff and it's nice to be able to rotate the flavors, but I don't know if there is complete nutrition in that. I was thinking if I could get something that's nearly complete I could supplement it with real meat like chicken, liver, beef, turkey, and potatoe, carrots, and sardines. That's the only stuff he'll eat.

Any suggestions for complete canned food?

FriendsOfZoe · 11-15-2007, 03:15 PM

I don't see why not...canned foods are often formulated very similarly to kibble, they just have a lot more water weight. You may need to adjust the amount you feed, as I would think it would take more canned to reach the nutritional value of kibble (which has less water)...then again, of course, I believe canned sometimes has more fat.

I know that Canidae and some of the other premium foods make canned, and I would look at ingredients, especially compared to premium kibbles.

One major issue that I'm sure you already know, of course, is that your dog will need plenty of healthy chewing since wet food doesn't help clean the teeth at all.

If your dog loves meat that much, have you considered trying raw?

Annamarie · 11-15-2007, 05:22 PM

i looked into it but i'm not comfortable feeding him bones and i'm worried about bacteria as well. i'm willing to feed cooked and i did try to make a balanced home made food for a while, but I worried about him not getting complete nutrition. it didn't help that he only picked out what he liked, and if i tried mixing it together in the blender he'd just walk away from it.

he does get plenty of bones to chew on (big knuckle bones and leg bones that he can't break apart) so i'm not worried about his teeth. i thought about maybe getting some large dog food bites that i can use as treats though.

Westhighlander · 11-15-2007, 07:41 PM

I always thought can was better than kibble.

Annamarie · 11-16-2007, 12:18 AM

well if the cost is any indication it should be! $3 including tax for a large can that lasts 2 days as opposed to $15 for a small bag of food that lasts a month. $550 a year instead of $180 ???? and that's not including any home made stuff i add or all the food we throw out because he won't eat it.

geez looking at it that way, i'm almost tempted to let him do his hunger strikes over kibble. too bad bucko, that $400 a year is better spent on things other than appeasing your taste buds!!

on another site i read that if they're being really finicky to let them go hungry for a day and then offer them the food, take it away after 20 minutes, and try again the next day. i just don't want to end up with a dog that looks like the poster child for starvation!

poodleholic · 11-16-2007, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Annamarie

well if the cost is any indication it should be! $3 including tax for a large can that lasts 2 days as opposed to $15 for a small bag of food that lasts a month. $550 a year instead of $180 ???? and that's not including any home made stuff i add or all the food we throw out because he won't eat it.

geez looking at it that way, i'm almost tempted to let him do his hunger strikes over kibble. too bad bucko, that $400 a year is better spent on things other than appeasing your taste buds!!

on another site i read that if they're being really finicky to let them go hungry for a day and then offer them the food, take it away after 20 minutes, and try again the next day. i just don't want to end up with a dog that looks like the poster child for starvation!

I'm having a giggle about the $550 a year cost! I spend $136 every 3 weeks in the pet food store (food only, including one NB food roll for treats), and approximately $167 per month at the grocery store/butcher shop for raw bones, fresh meats/poultry, vegetables and fruits for my two Standard Poodles and two cats!

The bottom line is that when we have a picky eater, and keep offering different things to entice them to eat, we create a monster when it comes to food. Just put the food bowl down and leave it for 10 minutes. If the dog doesn't eat it, the bowl comes up and you don't offer again until it's time for the next meal. Dogs won't starve themselves to death (even though it seems that way to us). There are good canned foods available now - Wellness is what I would choose above all others.

Good luck to you!

Annamarie · 11-16-2007, 12:03 PM

that's a lot of money you're spending on food, but remember this is a min pin we're talking about lol!

you would think he wouldn't starve himself, but he did exactly that until his spine, ribs, and hipbones were showing a few months ago. at that point i started cooking homemade. he fattened up, almost a tiny bit too fat, then started being picky and started losing weight again. tried the merrick stuff, he ate it for about a week (same as all the others), then started being picky again. it's not unusual for him to go up to 3 meals before he eats. sometimes after his "fast", he pigs out. other times he only eats a few mouthfuls.

he's been to the vet several times because I kept insisting there was something wrong with his stomach. when he was younger he used to all of a sudden get up like something was hurting him and run around with his back hunched. i always thought it was stomach related. he still does it somewhat now and then, but nowhere near what he used to. and now i've noticed it doesn't last as long as is usually set off by wierd noises or being spooked when he's sleeping. he was tested for everything... blood panels, urine tests, fecal tests, worms, everything always came back fine. I wonder if I should take him again. *sigh* I think I will if he doesn't start eating soon.

so far it's been 2 days that he's had his dry kibble offered to him without touching a single one. i finally caved yesterday and gave him 1/2 a can of tuna and a small peice of chicken which is the worst thing I could do, but he was driving me nuts. he kept standing in the hallway crying and running into the kitchen every time i got up because he was hungry. i finally couldn't take his constant whining anymore. it's really high pitched, it'll drive you nuts and cause hearing damage at the same time lol...

i'll look into the wellness (i haven't seen it here so I don't know if we even get it here?) and keep at it..

Inga · 11-16-2007, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poodleholic

I'm having a giggle about the $550 a year cost! I spend $136 every 3 weeks in the pet food store (food only, including one NB food roll for treats), and approximately $167 per month at the grocery store/butcher shop for raw bones, fresh meats/poultry, vegetables and fruits for my two Standard Poodles and two cats!
!

I chuckled at that myself. I am not wealthy by any stretch, but it gets pretty costly feeding Rotties. I spend about $100.00. a month or so on food. Treats and toys are extra but I count the treats on my grocery bill so it does not hurt so much. LOL They only get cooked chicken and such so it seems like it is my cost not theirs. LOL

Annamarie · 11-17-2007, 07:56 PM

I went and got a complete vitamin paste from the vet yesterday. i tried feeding him the canned only with the paste in it and he ate a few bites, i'll give it a few more days to see if he'll tolerate the canned stuff. but at least with the vitamin paste if i do have to feed him homecooked (and I don't even want to think about how much that will cost..) he'll get his vitamins.

i picked up some wellness as well, i'll try him on that tomorrow. hopefully he'll like it, they claim to be a complete nutrition food so fingers crossed

and about the cost I used to have big dogs so I know how much they cost to feed, I just have a hard time swallowing paying an extra $450 a year for a tiny dog to be picky lol

cityDog · 11-20-2007, 08:36 PM

Is he your only dog? If so, I would look into getting a number 2. Nothing stimulates the appetite like a little competition!

I cried, groveled, and hand fed my dog for four years. Dry food, wet food, cooked food, discovered raw and stuck with that. (He still was not eating with any sort of consistency though.) Then one day a GLUTTON of a cat found her way into my life - she would finish (try to) his meals when he did not and now my dog's a VACUM!

Not very practical to get your pet...a pet, so there are other things you can try. :P Caesar Milan had a case of a reluctance eater on his show (The Dog Whisperer). He had a lot of ideas, some of which were:
1) more exercise (the more you burn the more inclined you are for fuel)
2) make him work for food (get the nose used to having to go toward the food instead of having the food go toward the dog)
3) expose him to a "normal" dog (ie: a dog that eats on his own)

Re: your canned food vs dry food question, both are a "complete" diet. Some (meat only) canned formulas are designed to be kibble mixers only, but they will specify that on the label. I do, however, ALWAYS prefer canned food. (Assuming we're talking about quality brands here, as you have been) I strongly believe that canned is a superior product because:
1) A LOT more meat content - even a kibble that appears to have a lot of meat is still grain or carb heavy. Dry food needs to have a certain amount of starch to hold it's shape and consistency. It's just the nature of the product.
2) moisture levels are closer to "real" food (how natural is it to exist on a diet that is almost 100% devoid of moisture?)
3) less processed
4) don't need preservatives

Reasons to include dry food in a dog's diet are those of cost and convenience. None of which have anything to do with health. I always recommend that people whom prefer to use dry for these reasons supplement with canned or fresh food. Some owners wrongly believe that feeding dry over wet will provide great dental cleaning benefits. Raw bones and various chews on the market are a much better option.

Have you tried Spots Stew or canned tripe? My dog is now at the point where I can't really tell what his preferences are as he practically inhales everything, but I here these are especially palatable.

Good luck, nothing is more frustrating than a dog that won't eat.

Annamarie · 11-20-2007, 11:07 PM

he actually does eat a lot better with another dog around, and i would LOVE to have another dog to help him be more balanced overall, but the SO says no. he does want one some day, but not right now. i even tried to convince him to let me foster a dog but he knows my tricks... he says no because we'll end up keeping it. darn the gig is up lol!

so far so good on the wellness!! he's eaten a can of duck and sweet potato and a can of turkey and sweet potato. he typically eats 1/3 of a can per meal. i've been putting it down, he actually whines for it when I'm putting it in his dish, and 20 minutes later it goes in the fridge.

we've also cut off all his treats. he still gets his bones to chew on but other than my SO giving him treats for coming when he's called (something my SO needed to work on), he gets nothing but his food.