Wet food

A question about : Wet food

Hi all,
The 11 yr old collie has really gone off food
He has had an op for cancer but we know it's on going
He's fine, still going for good walks, playing with spaniel etc but he's not bothered with food
Tried all sorts of Kibble,lilys,Wainright,simpsons etc
He's always been a good eater
So tinned sardines he loves and he will eat wainrights trays,most of the time
So my questions are, how many tins of sardines can he have a week,I get them from supermarket
And if I give up on kibble what do I put with the wet, the amount they say seems to make it very expensive
Thanks

Best answers:

• Have you tried soaking the kibble? Use warm (not boiling) water. You could always blitz in a food processor to make a mush (I sometimes do this to stuff Kongs)
  If the wet food is complete rather than complementary then you don't need to add anything, and by doing so you might throw out the balance (mixing with a complete dry is fine if you adjust quantity for both to reflect this)
  I would be a bit careful with fish due to pollutants like mercury in them - but depends if you're looking for a long-term diet or, if it's not too morbid to say, it's just a short-term solution.
  I'd speak to your vet as well - they're not always that educated on nutrition (watch out for bias towards prescription products) but may be able to advise. You could discuss high calorie supplements and/or appetite stimulants too.
• Have you tried tinned Chappie?
  It has a strong smell which may encourage him to eat and is easily digested.
• Not tried chappie it gets very low points on all about dogs
  He likes the wainrights from pets at home,not sure if it's a complete wet?
  We know he's not going to be here forever and ever now but no one can predict. The cancer was totally removed but a lump grew back fairly quickly,much smaller and on his last 2 monthly checks hasn't grown but he is dropping a bit of weight
  He's always had soaked kibble
• I'm pretty sure Wainwrights is complete - it should say on the Pets At Home website.
  Have you tried raw feeding, at all? I'd probably join some raw groups and see if it's safe for the type of cancer he has - it's generally very safe but if there's any issues with his immune system it may be a bit risky. But tripe and lamb minces are both quite fatty and often recommended for weight gain. Raw is much more "concentrated" as such, you feed much less by volume, and it's often well taken to by many dogs.
• Sorry to hear the lump's come back HMC
  You can get some really good quality wets for a good price online eg https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/w...og_food/462915 - Ј1.37 for an 800g can (cashback available and a savings/discount plan).
  Another from Zooplus would be the Rocco Sensible https://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/w...l_packs/472124 - Ј1.33 for an 800g can
  Also things like Weebox trays (Asda), Naturo trays (tesco), Delicious Collection trays (Sainsbury's) - all Ј1 for a 400g tray but often on offer 3 for 2 or 5 for Ј4 sort of thing
• I suppose I need to stop worrying about what's the best now and give him whatever he will eat, even if it's cheapo stuff , gravy based has always gone straight through though
  Thanks for your thoughts
  I was hoping that we would make it through to normal old age with him as it's not growing but the lack of appetite is worrying
• If he's really not eating then I'd really just let him have whatever you can get him to eat and once he's got his strength back / more settled you can then look at things again
  Chappie is supposed to be great for iffy tums and absolutely stinks to high heaven so might tempt him!
• I have so much food in my cupboard it's criminal! Lol if I find one he will eat is it ok to mix the tins/trays to use them all up? So if he will eat chappie mix it with wainrights?
  I have no clue about wet food or a dog with no appetite
  He ate a bowl of left over rice today so I was thinking of rice with the tins most days?
• I'm not sure I'd mix the tins / trays in the same meal - would there not be enough in one tin / tray for a meal anyway?
  Re rice - it's absolutely fine as a 'filler' to bulk things out but not hugely nutritional so I'd def say to have less of that & more of a good quality wet if you can.
  Will he eat eggs? They're full of protein and most dogs (and cats!) like them
• I've never tried eggs? Cooked or not?
• Either!
  I give Maisie an uncooked one now & then and she's really funny to watch as she carries it around / plays with it for ages (without braking it) and then you can see her going ..... right .... and then smashes & eats it!
  I'd probably try him with it scrambled first though - especially if he's a bit under the weather
• Thankyou for all your help
• Fingers crossed you find something to tempt him, let us know how you get on
• Will do , fingers crossed x
• Tinned Chappie is recomended by many vets- not the dried.
  Before I switched to raw feeding I fed all my oldies on Chappie as it is low fat and bulky so they felt full whereas with kibble they only needed a small amount to keep their weight down which didn't fill them.
  All did well on it.
• Evening all,
  Well this morning before walk I put down half a tray of wainrights, not interested. So did 2 scrambled eggs and he ate it all. Went in woods and on return gave him half a tin of butchers, he ate 3/4 of it
  When I'd bought some chappie I gave him a couple of spoons and he ate it
  For tea I gave him half a tin of chappie with a handful of kibble hidden in lol . He ate all the meat and all but 3 kibble . Then they had some chicken as we had a roast
  So a good day
  How much chappie should I be hoping to get into him, I never believe the tins recommendations, he's around 23 kg but I don't want to over face him
• Wow! He's done really well today
  Are you able to give say 3 smaller meals rather than 2 slightly larger ones as I'd probably do that for a bit if possible (or even 4 meals if he's struggling to eat a decent amount in one go - when Maisie has a really upset tum I often do 4 meals for a few days, then cut to 3 for a bit before getting her back to 2)
  Sorry not great with amounts as mine have never needed anything near the amounts on bags / cans - if he'll eat 3 or 4 meals of 1/2 tin with a bit of kibble I'd try that for a few days (esp if he needs to get a bit of weight back) and see how he does. Chappie is quite low fat so if he does need to gain some weight back I'd maybe see if he'll eat another wet after a bit (but wouldn't want to rock the boat too much certainly for a few days)
• If I can get him to eat some kibble with it each day that should help him maintain weight? I don't think he would eat mixer like winalot.
  Yes I can feed him 4 times a day much to the spaniels disgust hahaha
• Ok so struggling a bit
  Billy decided by day 2 he dosnt like chappie now
  So gave him some butchers, nope, and he used to eat a spoon with his kibble for yrs
  Wainrights , not a chance
  Won't have his usual bedtime buiscits now either
  Bought some cesar and he's had one of those this morning and half just now
  Came home after going to shop to diahorria
  He's fine in himself, playing, going in woods etc
  I'm doing what I have never done and know you shouldn't keep swapping foods
  He will eat food off my plate! And cooked chicken but can't afford that every day