Dog Community

Canned vs. dry

Cita

Posted : 7/13/2008 10:58:17 PM

Right now Rascal's eating Wellness Core Ocean, but he doesn't seem wildly thrilled by it. It seems to be working well for him, though.

I recently found a store nearby that carries the Wellness canned foods, and I've been considering switching him to canned. I tried it once before and he tended to have very loose stools on only-canned, so I was also considering a breakfast meal of kibble and a dinner of canned, or something like that.

Any opinions/suggestions?

(...that don't involve one or the other being better for the teeth - heard that one debated into the ground on both sides, and I've finally just decided they're probably both equally good/bad! Stick out tongue )

brookcove

Posted : 7/14/2008 4:06:14 AM

I really like the Wellness cat food - it's my emergency food for Hemi.

A lot of people mix the canned and kibble for a nice crunchy/moist combo for the dog - plus adding moisture is always a good idea, especially for little dogs. Soft stools can come from the higher fats in some canned foods, so just do a dry matter basis converted comparison to a kibble he's doing well on to any canned food you are considering, and watch the fat levels. Here's the conversion from Dr. Foster and Smith's site:

If a dry dog food has 10% moisture we know that it has 90% dry matter. So we look at the label and check the protein level that reads 20%. Next, we divide the 20 percent protein by the 90% dry matter and we get 22%, which is the amount of protein on a dry matter basis. Does this make sense so far? Good.
Now let us compare this to canned food that has 80% moisture. We know that with 80% moisture we have 20% dry matter. The label shows 5% protein. So we take the 5% and divide it by 20% and we get 25% protein on a dry matter basis. So the canned food has more protein per pound on a dry matter basis after all the water is taken out. We can do the same for fat, fiber, etc.

sl2crmeg

Posted : 7/14/2008 11:15:19 AM

I use the Wellness cans. They're tasty stuff, says Pirate. (even if, at 7am, the smell makes me gag!) I do a breakfast of 1/2 canned, 1/2 kibble. Pirate is an odd duck and likes crunchy things though.

They're made in the USA, too. AND today at the dog food store I got a coupon for buy 3 cans, get 3 free! Well, really, I get a coupon in the mail for 3 free cans. But hey! I love mail that isn't bills!

willowchow

Posted : 7/14/2008 11:53:06 AM

I always think it's better to feed more canned than dry if it's possible. And, Wellness makes those little cans so that must be nice for you guys since your dogs are small.

Cita

Posted : 7/14/2008 6:14:31 PM

Thanks for the input, guys! I'll definitely give it a try.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 7/14/2008 8:53:11 PM

I fed canned Wellness to my first dog, Grace. She had chronic renal failure, and she did really, really well on it. I've used it off and on for other dogs, as well. Emma, being the brat she is, is allergic to it (of course!), so I haven't in a long while. I've always been happy with Wellness products.

DogPark

Posted : 7/15/2008 9:36:42 AM

I think if you can stand the smell and stuff (I generally can't), it's definitely worth trying and seeing how Rascal does on it. Taste of the Wild is coming out with cans soon, which is making me consider giving it a try but I will likely stick with mixing it with kibble if I do start using it.