[MrsLexiK]

I second add a bit of water and some stock.

I make my own wet food but I do have emergancy ones on hand, I try to buy the beneful tubs but I don't know what the fat content is in that, or I buy the fish for dogs (salamon) but again not sure about the fat content as I am not giving it everyday it is a "oh crap I have no food" thing or when we go away or as a treat (as he loves fish)

I know SuperCoat have wet food I am not sure if they have senior but that would most probably be lower in fat.

[Erma Gerd]

All our dogs have a weird obsession with that awful Pal Puppy food in a can. When they're ill or lactating or off their food for some reason and we want them to eat more, we usually mix a spoonful of it in with their usual food and they scoff the lot. I'm sure the fat content would be too high for your girl, but perhaps you could mix it with some of her usual food (dry soaked?).

[mummabear]

What about the weight control cans from Advance? I don't know the fat content, but a vet could tell you over the phone if they sell it.

Our dog had Science diet prescription for three days, and by day two he went on strike! He was recovering from illness. It didn't look very appetising.

[creepersgonnacre...]

I give the dogs supercoat/optimum (they didn't like the vet ones :/) and then they get the natures gift cans for a bit of a topping up it has the highest protein and fat.

You can buy senior formulas too in supercoat etc

[Flaxen]

I had to make my dogs food for a while, while we were figuring out his allergies.

I'd cook up a large pot of 1kg Kanga mince, 500g frozen HBrand veg, add 4 cups cooked rice and some salt reduced beef stock to mix it all together with.

I'd pack it up in portion sizes and freeze, and it would last my 30kg dog a week, although he also got dry food in the mornings, and every fourth day a tin of sardines. He loved sardines!
Fussy dogs often enjoy plain browned mince and rice, just drain off any fat.

Unfortunately, Hubby found a container of it in the fridge and reheated it and had polished it off before i got home one day. Said it tasted different but was ok. He didnt get sick either!



This post has been edited by Danielle01: 09/08/2012, 04:07 PM

[Unatheowl]

OK, before now I have never bought supermarket dog food and I have almost never fed my old girl wet food at all, other than what I cook at home. My old girl has cancer, many other health issues in particular canine hyperlipidemia (sp?), only one tooth left, and is slowing heading downhill, but I want her to be happy and comfortable for as long as possible.

But increasingly she has not much appetite for food in general and what I cook in particular, so I've been using the little foil thingys of wet food, choosing the ones that have the lowest fat content (around 2%). She likes them - they must be very palatable, and I can put up with the yukkier stools etc.

At the vet the other day I bought some cans of Hills wet food. But reading the ingredients list they seem to compare unfavourably with the supermarket wet food I've been buying, which has the following ingredients listed:

Pure chicken
Prebiotics
Calcium
Soluble Fibre
Gelling agents
Vitamins and Minerals incl (then a list of about 10 vitamins etc).

That's a much smaller list than the Hills. Am I missing something? I know Hills isn't considered the best food out there by many, but I would have expected it to be better than supermarket stuff.

Does anyone know more about this? Can you suggest a good brand of (very) low fat wet food for an old dog?

Are you saying that the supermarket compares better because hills has a smaller list of ingredients?
Ok. Knowsnotmuch did a good summary of the general comparisons between supermarket and premium brand foods.

Why do you say hills isn't considered the best? It is certainly a premium brand and one of the best. It may not be the best for your dog but it is premium. I would stick with the top brands like hills, walthams, royal canin etec. Even advance is ok.

[tenar]

No, Unatheowl, I'm saying that the Hills is the one with a long list of iffy sounding ingredients, whereas the supermarket one looks OK to me (that's the list I typed out above). Which I find surprising, so I'm wondering what I'm missing.

Here's the comparison:

Supermarket chicken mix:

Pure chicken
Prebiotics
Calcium
Soluble Fibre
Gelling agents
Vitamins and Minerals incl (then a list of about 10 vitamins etc).

Hill's Adult Light with Liver:

Water, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Meat By-Products, Soybean Mill Run, Liver, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Powdered Cellulose, Egg Product, Soybean Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Iodized Salt, Iron Oxide, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

Now, of those two, you'd go the supermarket one, right? What am I missing?

This post has been edited by tenar: 09/08/2012, 09:51 PM

[mummabear]

I think wet or dry, that particular brand is overrated garbage! Corn isn't even digested by dogs, and yet it is the second ingredient. May as well just buy a supermarket brand.

I would buy the one with less ingredients. And I do! I get Advance cans when I get to the produce store, but Optimum or Mydog are the other two I will buy. It isn't really too much of a problem as 90% of their diet is premium dry food. They all have stuff in it that I don't like!

It doesn't help the OP though...I hope u find something your dog can tolerate!

[*Spikey*]

No, Unatheowl, I'm saying that the Hills is the one with a long list of iffy sounding ingredients, whereas the supermarket one looks OK to me (that's the list I typed out above). Which I find surprising, so I'm wondering what I'm missing.

Here's the comparison:

Supermarket chicken mix:

Pure chicken
Prebiotics
Calcium
Soluble Fibre
Gelling agents
Vitamins and Minerals incl (then a list of about 10 vitamins etc).

Hill's Adult Light with Liver:

Water, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Meat By-Products, Soybean Mill Run, Liver, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Powdered Cellulose, Egg Product, Soybean Oil, Calcium Carbonate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Iodized Salt, Iron Oxide, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Vitamin E Supplement, Choline Chloride, Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite.

Now, of those two, you'd go the supermarket one, right? What am I missing?

Well, one of the things that is missing in the supermarket list is 'water', which is an ingredient in wet dog food. So, I'm not sure why you would be more trusting of the supermarket product ? Also, I'd like to know what they mean by 'pure chicken'. Beak, grisle, feathers, bones are all 'pure chicken' if they come from a chicken. Also, fibre (of the non-soluable sort) seems to be missing. You need that for healthy poo. Hence the corn filler.

FWIW, I've highlighted the ingredients that ought to be compared to the main ingredients in the other food. The rest are minerals, vitamins, preservatives, or supplements of some sort or other. You can compare them with the vitamin and mineral list of the other product at your leisure.

[Unatheowl]

FWIW, I've highlighted the ingredients that ought to be compared to the main ingredients in the other food. The rest are minerals, vitamins, preservatives, or supplements of some sort or other. You can compare them with the vitamin and mineral list of the other product at your leisure.

Correct. So most of those things are names of "vitamins" the rest are minerals. There is a set definition of these and you can look up the vitamins and thier other names at your leisure. You'll probably find most of those things in the supermarket brand too, it's just that hills adds them specifically in researched amounts.

I wouldn't be saying just because one food has more ingredients in it than another that makes it better or worse. It's what those things actually are that is important.