[scottchelf]

Hello! I've been owned by a maltese now for 1 1/2 year. Got our little fella June 2003. Since then, I've tried and tried to get him a brand of dog food that he likes. We started out with the vet recommended Science Diet. Then Kibbles & Bits. Then Purina Puppy Chow. He would not eat hardly at all. Just enough to keep him from getting hungry. A kibble hear, and a kibble there. I read many books, articles and internet post about how picky maltese are. I found it very odd that he would get ONE kibble, leave the feed dish behind, and move to another part of the house, most usually wherever we were at. Even though the resources I had provided information, I was still worried about the little fella. Now, we have tried a different brand of dog food. This I found at Big Lots... it's Kibbles & Chunks (and Grace eats Kibbles & Mini Chunks). They absolutely love it. I proportion their meals accordingly to directions on the bag and by vet orders. Schuster is eating a lot better now. I've had him on it now for about 4 months, and he has went from 4# 11oz, to 5#5oz, where he has stayed for the past month & half. Vet recommends him to be at this weight, says it is perfect. Grace, weighed approx. 2# (maybe a little more, I didn't take her to the vet, my wife did, so I'm not quite sure on the exact) but the vet says that he'd like to see her get to 6 1/2 lbs-7lbs (general rule of thumb). I've discussed the switching brands w/ the vet PRIOR to doing it. I did it little by little to avoid any problems/illness/tummy aches. Also for you own reference, I was getting the little bags of Kilbbles & Chunks/Mini Chunks for $2.99/bag at Big Lots. My wife has found a 20 lb bag at Wal-Mart (for I THINK only $7.99 or $8.99, lot better value!). I don't feed the dogs table food, but I have in the past let Schuster eat an egg (which vet advised would be ok), and he got into our little boy's cherrios one day and ate a small amount. If it was up to our little boy, Cherrios would be all that Schuster eats!!!!! LOL, he thought it was funny to feed him.

 

[k/c mom]

Well, you have probably inadvertantly opened up a hot topic! Seems we are all very passionate about our food choices! My personal opinion is that I won't feed them anything with any by-products and only use a premium dog food, so my babies will have a high quality source of protein and other pure, healthy ingredients and natural preservatives. For Catcher I use Royal Canin Small Breed Puppy food and Kallie gets Newman's Own Organics. They both absolutely love their food. There are quite a few excellent premium brands of dog food out there...
Royal Canin Web Site
Newman's Own Web Site

 

[lani]

I feed Princess Innova.

 

[kodie]

I give Kodie Brocoili!

 

[doctorcathy]

i dont know if you've seen my posts before.....but i started my dogs on home cooked diets because they didnt like dog food.

i was telling MEE last night about how sprite would only eat 10 pieces of kibble PER DAY!! she was starving herself. and i wouldnt offer her treats or table food before. she weighed 4.5 lbs.

ellie weighed 6 lbs and she was underweight and she would throw up every now andthen (at least once a week) because she wasnt eating enough.

i tried Nutro Max puppy, Eukanuba, Bil-jac, Chicken soup for the dog lovers soul food....and i THINK it was innova.


the dogs didnt like it at all. even gruffi was picky.


So, we tried Science Diet I/D. that worked for 3 weeks. but then they stopped eating again.


We put them on the homecooked diet---sprite is now 6.5 lbs, ellie is now 9.5 lbs. and they AREN'T over weight.

here are things you can feed your dog(this is what we feed our dogs. we change every now and then cuz they get bored

).

Protein: chicken, lamb, turkey, ground beef, steak, cottage cheese, eggs, yogurt, salmon, lobster, shrimp, tuna, and im sure there's other things you can feed. i saw a recipe for chili in my book

fruits: strawberries, oranges, pinapple, apple (no seeds), kiwi, banana, cantalope, mango, the list goes long and long. lol.

veggies: peas, carrots, corn, zucchini, celery, sweet potato, squash, pumpkin....i usually buy gerber food for veggies and fruit (not too much brocolli)

carbs: potato, rice, wild rice, brown rice, pasta, macaroni, ravioli, oatmeal,


i even have a post about a bunch of other stuff. like i add bonemeal and flaxseed oil in their food.

make sure you dont feed: onion, garlic, apple seeds, chocolate, avocado, and take off the skin to all the meats and stuff.

also check out books Homecooked diet for dogs, Better food for dogs and cats, barkers grub

if your baby isnt liking the food---try homecooked diet. and definitely talk to your vet.

 

[Brinkley & Neyland's Mom]

Brinkley is also a picky eater. Although he is not underweight...he does not seem to care for his kibble and often takes up to 2 days tof finish a serving. I have fed him Science Diet puppy small bites, Purina Pro Plan and now he is on Royal Canin Natural Blend-a holistic food. Still, he is not really eating much. Kinda like yours Scott...a bite here, a bite there. He would MUCH rather have people food, although it is not feasable for me. SOOOO, I am going to buy some of the Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul tomorrow. I am hoping to be able to get a few cans, as well as the dry kibble to mix in with it. Hopefully, that canned will be enough like people"stew" that he will EAT! Anyone who has used the Chicken Soup brand (canned or dry) let me know how it went.
Good luck Scott.

There are MANY past threads on the food topic. They might help you understand Kallie/Katchers post. Most on here are in favor of the higher quality foods...but I say that if it is working for you...and your vet agrees-don't worry about it.

 

[Mystify79]

Originally posted by tlunn@Dec 19 2004, 07:59 PM
He would MUCH rather have people food, although it is not feasable for me. SOOOO, I am going to buy some of the Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul tomorrow. I am hoping to be able to get a few cans, as well as the dry kibble to mix in with it.  Hopefully, that canned will be enough like people"stew" that he will EAT!  Anyone who has used the Chicken Soup brand (canned or dry) let me know how it went.
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[/QUOTE]
Tuffy is trying the Chicken Soup brand kibble right now. He loves it, but he isn't very picky at all. It smells better in the bag than his Science Diet did. One thing I do with Tuffy whenever he isn't eating as much as he should be, I mix in a spoonful or two of some meaty baby food and he gobbles the whole thing up in minutes. If you are looking for a "stew" like food, my sister tried the Merrick brand of canned food and she said it looked and smelled like people stew. She even had to make sure to label it as dog food because she was worried one of her friends who is always raiding her fridge might actually eat it!

 

[jmm]

I've heard a lot of dogs love the Chicken Soup food...we haven't tried it since Mikey is on a strict diet.

 

[joe]

Sampson and Maggie both eat Nutro Natural Choice Ultra dry food in the morning and Nutro canned food in the afternoon

 

[BrookeB676]

all 3 of mine are on chicken soup and they really seem to like it. When we got Maya she wasnt eating her dry food at all, not only were the pieces to big I just think that she didnt like it. When we gave her some chicken soup she ate immediately. I buy the 1.5 pound bags (they are only $1.99) and I buy them like 7 at a time bc I think the smaller bags stay fresher. I agree- as a rule of thumb I would stay away from ingredients containing by-products and corn.

 

[Caesar's Mommie]

Caesar eats Science Diet original adult formula (he just turned 1 )

 

[ButterCloudandNoriko]

Hey! Aren't you the one who lives in TN? Does you babies have any tear staining issues? My babies just started a couple months ago and they're almost a yr old. Wait, you're the one that lives in KY, right? :/

Anyway, how old is your baby? I think after they turn like 7-8 mos you should start to feed them 2-3 times a day. If he doesn't eat after an 30-60 mins after you set it down, pick it up until the next time to eat. That worked pretty nicely with me.

I'm slowly getting them off Biljacs and onto the Natural balance. They've been having allergy issues and I'm really not sure if it's from the weather or from the food, but Natural balance is better than biljacs anyway.

 

[Ladysmom]

The food subject is a hotly debated topic here!

I'd suggest reading the Animal Protection Institute Article about what is really in pet food. It might make you re-think your Big Lot or Walmart food.

http://www.api4animals.org/79.htm

The others have given you some good suggestions for better quality alternatives. This link allows to to do a comparision of ingredients between brands:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz

 

[Toby's Mom]

 

[doctorcathy]

momtwomaltmuffins:


where do you get the flaxseed/salmon oil? i have lignan flaxseed oil. i started it up again because i know that gruffi suffers from allergies a lot---hopefully it helps with his dry skin.


im part of yahoo group: totally home cooking. are you?


and I LOVE beef hearts....so do my dogs. LOL.

 

[joe]

Originally posted by LadysMom@Dec 20 2004, 08:37 AM
This link allows to to do a  comparision of ingredients between brands:

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=comp-wiz
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[/QUOTE]

great link! this gave me an idea of what some of the differences are, I just dont trust anything with the word "by product" in it

and yes this subject can get heated but there are so many combinations that work for different people, different breeds and different stages of life