Dried complete food

[Howard Glansfield]

I would appreciate your advice and opinion.

Fred(nearly eight) has been fed all his life on cannned food and dried food,he has Bozita Original Plus which both he an Ellie really enjoy.Last week he vomited, which is only the second time in his adult life.It was obvious the dried food, which is round pellets ,had not been chewed and had swollen to about 50% bigger than when ingested.He normally chews them.I decided not to give him any more for a day or two and then I noticed that the terrible wind that he gets had stopped and his motions,always 'loose' were more normal.I have reintroduced the dried food back into his diet,as he was asking for some, but in a much smaller quantity.He remains wind free and bowels are better.It seems obvious that the dried food is causing the wind but is this common and will all dried food effect him?

Ellie has none of the effects that Fred does.

[Astrid Landsaat]

There are many links on my forum about feeding raw. This is one about Salmonella:

http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/doghealth01salmonella.pdf

[eva ciechonska]

My vet wasn't particularly concerned about dogs transmitting Salmonella to humans but about dogs being adversely affected by it.  We have had outbreaks of Salmonella in the UK and in all cases people have died.  It is not something that should be disregarded as your article implies. 

I feed raw meat to my dogs but have taken on board my vet's advice and have steered clear of raw chicken and chicken bones/wings etc. 

[eva ciechonska]

If Salmonella isn't an issue, as some people believe it isn't, then why chicken wings or drumsticks.  Why not just take the meat off the bone?  Impactions, like perforations, are caused by the bones.  Freezing doesn't kill Salmonella either....you have to cook.

I used to feed Natural Instinct for working dogs, which you are supposed to give by itself and my dogs lost body weight and condition.  I ended up supplementing with complete food.  My dogs go off complete so I have to vary it.  They went off Orijen and Acana.  At the moment I am feeding Royal Canin Sensible Medium with tripe and beef and they are wolfing it down.  Edward's coat is like glass and his body condition is greatly improved.

Different dogs have different digestive systems, as Howard has found.  Fred is windy, Ellie fed the same way, isn't.  Very often it can be hit and miss until you find a regime which suits.

[eva ciechonska]

You are right Finn.  And yes a dog's digestive system is designed to cope with foodstuffs the human digestive system would not and when you think of the Myxie bunnies (fur n all) and other rubbish they can polish of on a walk you are eternally grateful it does!!  Fur gives protection against bones and perforation.

I err on the side of caution and avoid chicken bones but do give knuckle bones, which they of course love.

 

 

[Garrech and Canagan]

I never got to try the suggestion of raw chickens wings and like you think the problems that could be caused by the bones make it not worth the risk. The suggestion had been made by a very well known breeder and that it had worked for her bitch.

Even buying raw mince still makes it difficult to see what exactly what one is feeding. But as you say different dogs have different digestions and it's a case of finding out what suits each dog best.

 

[Lois McCullough]

Please can somenone enlighten me on how, when and where did the 'Complete Feed' evolve? How butcher probably loves us 4kgs of shin, chicken breasts and tongue each week!! 

[Garrech and Canagan]

Apparently a James Spratt invented the complete food 50-60yrs ago when he first made "Dog Biscuits".

I think the reality of it is that with the modern busy life-styles we all seem to lead, the manufacturers have developed the dog biscuit into a convenient feed for the owner to give their pets and marketed accordingly to a receptive audience.

As I keep saying I'll never use a kibble again as the dogs sole food.

 

[Leisa McDermott]

Hey Laura, well it just goes to show doesn't it?  I fed my last girl Eukanuba (many years ago) as that is what she came to me on and never had any problems with it ~ she also got fresh meat etc as extras ~ I had no idea about the testing and would definately have changed had I known.

You are right we do have to find something our IS's will enjoy and thrive on and I guess hope that it doesn't come with any awful stories attached.

I'm glad you and your dogs have found a food that works for you.   I'll have to keep trying with Nula although I'm tending more and more towards a raw diet, I can see a new freezer being purchase in the near future....wonder how to swing that one past my husband ;)

 

[Laura Kolbach]

i will have to wait until i buy a big house to have place for a freezer. :-)

[KC and the boys]

Hope Fred is back to form. I agree with others here that the feeding regime is down to trial and error and depends on the individual dog.

When Errol came to us he was fed on raw tripe and a Royal Canin Maxi Junior topper and boy did his farts reek! He would clear out a room in nano-seconds. Obviously I cannot commend whether it was the tripe or the complete that made him so flatulent but our puppy trainer was convinced it was the raw...

Since we no longer have the freezer space for the tripe I have switched to a concoction of Butchers tinned + Harringtons kibbles soaked lightly in water + a gluck of sunflower oil. Even though Harringtons contains maize it also contains agave juice = no flatulence or stinky farts. I feed all sorts inbetween (eggs, dried tripe, pig ears, puffed jerky, jiblets etc).

I briefly substitutes Harringtons with Hills Adult Maxi when it was on offer and the farts were definitely back (although not as prominent). Because of my own experience, the feedback on this site and the notion that surely it must be extremely hard work (and unnatural) for a dog's stomach to keep having to digest dried food I would never feed Errol on kibbles alone. That said feeding the right diet to our IS appears to be an everlasting headache and what works for some doesn't seem to work for all...

[Howard Glansfield]

I am experimenting and Fred is back to form.It seems that he has become intolerant to the Bozita.He is having mostly tinned Chum Original which he loves and a little of Pets at Home own brand complete food.

Ellie eats anything and is a joy to feed but when she was a puppy it was a nightmare trying to get her to eat anything at all.

Arthur has been off his food but we have added fish to his canned food and he is eating really well.

Thanks again for all the helpful advice and observations.