Need High-Caloric, Irresistible Kibble

[greyhndz]

UPDATE 6/12: So far, so good with the Nature's Variety Instinct Turkey formula. I'm mixing it with about 1/2 can of either Merrick's, Wellness or other canned food, and she's been eating well (this week, anyway). She still walks away to go outside in the middle of a meal, but apparently it's for a bathroom break, and when she comes back in, she's been finishing her bowl. I might be hallucinating but I think she's put on weight already. Hopefuly this will last.

 

 

Mafi the galga is now around 11-12 years old () and I just cannot get weight on her. It's not a matter of her eating but not gaining; she loses interest in her kibble and tends to walk away from her bowl. She was always a wee one (45 lbs) who is now down to 42 lbs. While I wish I could just pour a couple of cups of kibble into her bowl and let her eat as much as she can fit, I'm hard pressed to get her to finish 1 cup of Avoderm baked L&R. I add at least 1/2 can of Merrick or other quality canned food, but she'll pick it out and leave much of the kibble behind. I'm trying to supplement with an additional can, but again, sometimes she just doesn't want to eat it all.

 

Can anyone suggest a hi-caloric kibble (puppy food is OK) that is so palatable it might be irrestible enough for her to really chow down?

 

Mafi is otherwise very healthy, and needs no dietary restrictions. Raw is really not an option for me though pre-prepared could work.

 

thanx!

Edited June 13, 2011 by greyhndz

[Hubcitypam]

if it helps but with Poodle needing to eat with his shots I've had good results by soaking the kibble 20 minutes or so then mixing in the canned. He eats it all, but before I soaked it he'd eat the canned and spit out the kibble.

[Guest Elaine]

Something I do for the finicky ones is make them chicken soup. I soak the kibble in about a cup of soup before giving it to them.

[Brindles]

My picky eaters go crazy over Pro Plan Shredded Blend. Have you tried/considered Satin Balls?

 

I gave them a shot several months ago when my puppy lost a lot of weight and I was amazed. Seriously, they're totally worth it. I rolled mine into lime-sized meatballs and started out giving him 4 a day. One with breakfast, two spaced out in the afternoon, and one with dinner. He put the weight back on in about a month, and he LOVED them. Eventually I cut him back to two a day, and now none at all (though I do have a bunch still in the freezer). I individually wrapped them all in aluminum foil and kept them frozen in ziploc bags. Works perfectly 'cause you can keep one bag thawed at a time and there's no mess after the original prep.

 

I have also gone the "chicken soup" route, as Elaine suggested. I boiled the remainder of a rotisserie chicken to make the broth and left the skin and fat in.

[OwnedBySummer]

Here's another Satin Balls recipe. I got it from a greyhound kennel but I haven't personally tried it.

 

Ingredients:

5lb. Fatty ground beef (fattiest you can find)

½ lb. Cream cheese

1 Small jar of natural peanut butter (nothing but peanuts in it)

12 Egg yolks (not the whites)

2 cups Oatmeal, soaked for at least 2 hours (better overnight) in 18% cream

1 cup Wheat germ

 

Directions:

Mix everything up in a large bowl, you'll have to use your hands to do this, just dive in. When well mixed, roll into ping pong sized balls and place on cookie sheet. Freeze, put into a bag and serve 4 with each meal.

[greyhndz]

Thank you! I'll pick up the meat and cream cheese - that looks like an easier recipe, and I've got most of the ingredients here. That will be a great supplement!

 

Mafi is funny - she doesn't like soft kibble. I can put a spoon or two of water on it but any more and she'll leave it. <sigh> That's why I was hoping to find a very enticing kibble to mix in with the satin balls or canned food, so she'd get in the extra calories.

 

Off to the store tomorrow.

[JJNg]

Jordan, since you said Mafi's healthy, I'm assuming she's been checked out by your vet and had bloodwork done recently? Has she always been a picky eater or are the change in her appetite and weight loss more recent developments? It's not unusual for older dogs can lose a little weight due to loss of muscle mass, but I don't typically consider a decrease in appetite to be a normal part of aging. I'd want to make absolutely sure there isn't an underlying health problem before assuming the signs you're seeing are just diet related.

[Guest Mom2Shiloh]

To be honest, I'd still ad a good digestive enzyme like Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes -- you can get that from Amazon now, affordable that way. You wouldn't you do have to put a little water on the food to get the enzyme powder to dissolve -- and you wouldn't think that this would improve appetite -- but it does. And I've had plenty of experience with loss of appetite and picky eaters.

[seeh2o]

I had some luck rotating the Merrick kibble when Sheila got fussy about her kibble. Turducken, Grammy's Potpie, Cowboy Cookout were favorites. When Ed's senior Boston lost weight we put him on the Merrick puppy kibble and mixed it with canned.

[Guest RichardUK]

I added melted butter to the diet when my pldie lost appetite - worked well. Now he is first in line! But have you checked on teeth?

[Guest Swifthounds]

I've found with the older hounds, where it isn't illness or a tooth problem, lack of appetite Nd what appears as pickiness (if you haven't previously encouraged selective eating and trained a dog to be a picky eater) it comes down to that the sense of smell isn't what it used to be. Hounds, mores than some other breeds, tend not to eat what they can't really smell. Kibble, even though it's sprayed with an aftercoating to give it a palatable smell, really doesn't smell or taste like anything. Its one reason the soaking in warm water sometimes helps - it releases the scent of the coating.

 

I would find something that smells irresistible to her Nd use it to coat whatever unpalatable thing you want her to eat.

[4My2Greys]

Nadir finds coconut oil drizzled over his kibble irresistible.

[Hubcitypam]

I may be a bit of a worrywort, but after dealing with near fatal pancreatitis the cream cheese, PB and fattiest beef sort of gives me the willies. That's a lot of fat going on.

Have used the version Rachel posted for years though, ut make 1/5 of a batch at a time without the supplement (my recipe uses brewers yeast and I so use that on occasion).

 

Is there a high end pet store near you? Oddly enough on my very street in the Barrio the place I buy Poodles kibble has a boatload of sample bags of high end foods. Two free with purchase and .49 each after that. I always pick up two when I buy something. Sunday I got some Evo and Natural Balance's new grain free Alpha. I use as treats and because I'm cheap Maybe somewhere near you does the same?

 

http://caninecommissary.net/

[Batmom]

Some kibbles that have smelled good to my dogs: Nature's Variety Instinct, Timberwolf Organics, Purina ONE Sensitive Systems, IAMS Lamb & Rice. IIRC the IAMS is a bit lower in calories than the others but I'm told it smells good enough to use for treats .

 

If you decide to go to homecooked, I find it easiest to cook @ once a week. I package everything up in meal sized packets, put a couple days' worth in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. Here the meals are usually something like beef (or beef & chicken mixed), small amount vegetables/fruits, small amount molasses if needed (potassium or temptation ). If carb sources are desired I've used rice, barley, Cheerios, and Shredded Wheat. Cheerios have a little sugar but not much.

[Guest NJgrey]

Have you tried green tripe or any of the canned green tripe mixes? I know solid gold makes one. Too fatty for my girl, but I'm told dogs go nuts over the stuff. I don't know the exact amount of calories but there's a good amount of fat in it so it has to be pretty high cal.

[Guest BrianRke]

Fresh Pets!!! Its usually in the cooler in the pet food aisle. My dogs will drop ANYTHING they are doing and go absolutely nuts even if I say the words. This is, hands down, their absolute favorite thing in the world!

 

Bonus: It is good for them too with quality ingredients. :chow

[tbhounds]

I supplement my dog's kibble by adding in some homemade stew. It's so easy to make and you can change the ingredients per your dogs liking. I make it in a crock pot. The last batch I made included skinless/boneless chicken thighs (slightly more kidney friendly than breast meat), sweet potato, fresh green beans, spinach and chicken hearts. I cook it for about 6 hours and each batch yields me a couple of weeks (freezes well). My dogs go crazy over it and like I mentioned before you can change the ingredients around to please your hounds taste.

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

I would talk to the vet about doing some bloodwork (CBC & Chem Profile.) At her age it's really a good idea anyway and with her not eating it may be important.

 

If her bloodwork comes back normal, you could talk to your vet about adding prescription A/D food. It comes in little cat food size cans, it's really smelly/tasty, and mixes with kibble really well. I've used it with old, sick dogs that wouldn't eat much of anything else.

 

Another suggestion is chicken baby food. If a dog won't gobble that down, they won't eat ANYTHING.

[Guest WhiteWave]

Earthborn Primitive

 

http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/dog_formulas/primitive_natural/

 

Also canned green tripe. I just got a case of it. It stinks, but got Riddick my Greyhound puppy eating. He has been barely picking at his food and as soon as I put the tripe on it, he licked the bowl clean and wanted more!

 

Natural Balance meat rolls have also always been popular when I couldn't get a dog to eat. You can use a cheese grater and grate it over the kibble.

 

Also with her age, you may want to check her teeth out really well. A sore mouth will stop them from eating. Plus senior blood panel to check and make sure everything is functioning right too!

[Guest TDotGreys]

Not sure how TASTY it is, but if you are still looking for a hi-oc kibble Acana makes a Sport & Agility food that is high calorie. Our guys also do brilliant on the grain-free fish formula that Acana sells, even though it is lower calorie. They hold weight on it really well though.

[Greytlady94]

I would be really, really careful with anything that is fatty. Pancreatitis can kill quickly. With old dogs who don't have an appetite, after making sure there is not a medical or mouth problem I have found home cooking works the best. The two seniors I have now are on Fresh Pet Select and doing well, so I'm not home cooking with these two. Something you could try is Dyne which can be found at most feed stores. It is a high calorie supplement but not fatty. See here

[greyhndz]

Jordan, since you said Mafi's healthy, I'm assuming she's been checked out by your vet and had bloodwork done recently? Has she always been a picky eater or are the change in her appetite and weight loss more recent developments? It's not unusual for older dogs can lose a little weight due to loss of muscle mass, but I don't typically consider a decrease in appetite to be a normal part of aging. I'd want to make absolutely sure there isn't an underlying health problem before assuming the signs you're seeing are just diet related.

 

Sorry I missed this until today (I hate when work interferes with my social life).

 

Jennifer, Mafi has regular senior check-ups and labs, and actually just had her exam and labs/Snap 4 10 days ago. Mafi has a very good appetite, for things that she loves. But for many years, her interest in kibble has waned. She'll pick up a bit if I try a new kibble that she likes, but she usually loses interest quickly. I can put in meaty add-ons, but she'll inhale the meat while working her way around the kibble. She also likes a little competition - she'll walk away from her food in the middle of eating, then I'll hold the bowl for her which often draws her in. When the other dogs take an interest is when she'll eat.

 

She's always been picky, now is picky and a diva. But she's down to 42 lbs from her baseline 45, so I'd like to get more calories into her.

 

Thanks, Jennifer!

 

To be honest, I'd still ad a good digestive enzyme like Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes -- you can get that from Amazon now, affordable that way. You wouldn't you do have to put a little water on the food to get the enzyme powder to dissolve -- and you wouldn't think that this would improve appetite -- but it does. And I've had plenty of experience with loss of appetite and picky eaters.

 

Thanks, Carla! Do the dogs tolerate it when it's put into their food?

 

I had some luck rotating the Merrick kibble when Sheila got fussy about her kibble. Turducken, Grammy's Potpie, Cowboy Cookout were favorites. When Ed's senior Boston lost weight we put him on the Merrick puppy kibble and mixed it with canned.

 

That's easy enough to try - most feed & pet stores carry it now. My guys have been eating Merrick's canned for years. Thanks for the tip!

 

I added melted butter to the diet when my pldie lost appetite - worked well. Now he is first in line! But have you checked on teeth?

 

Yes, her teeth were just checked during the exam 10d ago. The galgos have amazing teeth - Only one of my 4 galgos has ever needed a dental since they came from Spain. Mafi's teeth continue to be stellar!

[greyhndz]

I would talk to the vet about doing some bloodwork (CBC & Chem Profile.) At her age it's really a good idea anyway and with her not eating it may be important.

 

If her bloodwork comes back normal, you could talk to your vet about adding prescription A/D food. It comes in little cat food size cans, it's really smelly/tasty, and mixes with kibble really well. I've used it with old, sick dogs that wouldn't eat much of anything else.

 

Another suggestion is chicken baby food. If a dog won't gobble that down, they won't eat ANYTHING.

 

Blooodwork is normal. I have a couple of cans of AD, and I know it's a good source of calories, but I'm just not a Science Diet fan. The chicken baby food (and lamb, beef, turkey) have been fail-safe goodies for all of my pups, especially when they refuse to eat anything else. It's worth mixing it with the kibble to see if it sparks her interest - good idea! It doesn't have very many calories, but it's so stinky it's hard for them to resist.

 

I've used the tripe before. I've got the put that at the bottom of the list, because I almost woofed my cookies around that stuff!

 

Thanks so much, everyone! I'm going to print out the entire thread, and I'll have lots of options for the delicate little flower (NOT!). I really appreciate!

[Burpdog]

The Solid Gold canned tripe isn't too bad (if you don't warm it up)

 

The Prarie kibble according to them is made so you can rotate proteins. The grain free is appeals to Tony on occassion as does the Fromm's pork and the gold (I think). He likes variety. I've found boiled meat works well and if that doesn't, I buy low fat meat and fry hamburgers (both turkey & beef). We have resorted to turkey sausage (sweet).

 

On any given day, we (or should I say Tony) have available: hamburgers, roast beef, chicken, kibbles (different kinds) and he really likes the grain free Prairie biscuits (which I feel are just as good as kibble) and he loves the Mexican Maria Gamesa cookies. His breakfast is usually liver & cookies. This morning he was hungry and ate a hamburger too.

 

Acupuncture has "saved" him to this point. He is the one with Valley Fever and has been on fluconazole since last September. He is due for a blood test and probably has a few more months on it. He was picky before he started the meds (well, he was dying too).

 

When he was real bad, I took him in for a B shot. It always helped.

 

The ohter food she might like is Honest Kitchen. P.m. me your address and I'll send some samples from my stash

 

Like Greytlady94, I will not feed high fat to a senior.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I'm too scared of pancreatitis to feed high-fat satin balls. Some home-cooked treats is a great idea though.

 

 

Go for something stinky, that usually entices them to eat. Bil-Jac kibble has a pretty "meaty" smell, as does Blue Buffalo Wilderness and a few others I can't recall at the moment.

 

Chase (who is 14) has a never-ending rotation of kibbles and canned food, as well as rotisserie chicken, ground beef, and scrambled eggs.

 

 

 

The Solid Gold canned tripe isn't too bad (if you don't warm it up)

Now you tell me! My microwave still hasn't recovered.