Need A Not-Boring Kibble

[KF_in_Georgia]

I've got a dog who's bored with his kibble, so I need a recommendation of something he'll think is "exciting"--that won't break the bank. Sam is nearly 13. He had an ulcer from meds, and since the ulcer he's had less interest in his regular kibble.

 

He was/is on Iams in the red bag (73D on the dog food rating scale). He's had much more expensive kibble over the years, but money is tight--and he and his sister liked the Iams red bag ($35/30# bag) and did as well on it as they did on the $55/30# stuff (Nature's Recipe venison, 116A on the grading scale). And the girl still loves the Iams. The boy will eat it, but for the first time in the ten-plus years I've owned him, Sam has walked away from a food bowl before it's empty and licked clean. (He also walked off from the bland food I was feeding him while he his ulcer first appeared--he'd eat the chicken, but leave the rice, potatoes, or oatmeal behind.)

 

It's not that his appetite has vanished. He still wants to eat everything I'm eating. (Peanut butter crackers are a favorite.) And he'll eat Purina Beneful. Yeah, rated 17F on the dog food rating scale, but he adores it.

 

At present, he's getting 1 cup of kibble each morning and night. That's down from 2 cups at each meal. He used to eat it dry. When he started leaving food, I started adding water. These days, I'm adding half a bottle of Ensure to each meal. He drinks all the Ensure and eats about half of the kibble. (He's on antibiotics for a UTI, and that might be screwing with his appetite, but he started leaving food before that.)

 

He takes pills four times a day. To get a bit of food into him for pills at lunch and bedtime, I give him (and Silver) a quarter-cup of the Beneful. I know it's the nutritional equivalent of potato chips for dogs, but-- Hey, I like potato chips and could eat them for an entire meal if I didn't know better. Both dogs would eat more of the Beneful if I offered it.

 

If Sam starts ignoring all his regular kibble, I may fall back on the Beneful for all his meals just to get calories into him.

 

But can someone recommend a tasty kibble that's more nutritious than the Beneful, and not super-expensive? Something a finicky eater would like? If I go back to the expensive kibble he had in the past, I'm afraid he'll just walk away from it.

[kolarik1]

I'm curious, you keep referencing a scale...where did you find the dog food scale?

[kolarik1]

Nevermind, I think I found it....

 

FWIW, I used to feed Diamond Naturals and would switch between the flavors so the dogs wouldn't get bored (this was before Pop had to be put on Purina Dog Chow to control his Lupus...it was weird, but it worked). Since Pop has passed, I'm going to switch Zelda to a different food and I'm looking at the different options.

 

Diamond Naturals I could get a 30# bag for about $30 on sale, depending on the flavor...and I tended to get it at Menards (similar to Lowes/Home Depot) here in MI.

[Guest TheModernMutt]

We feed Simply Nourish Lamb & Oatmeal formula from Petsmart. When our dog got bored with it, we topped it with some of the Simply Nourish canned Chicken Stew & Rice stuff. We only put a spoon or two in the kibble, but it makes it exciting enough for him to woof it down.

[kolarik1]

I misspoke, the diamond naturals is a 40# bag and it runs about $30 here...

[KF_in_Georgia]

We may be screwed. Sam just walked away from the Beneful without finishing it. (Only a couple of pieces left, but still...) And he ate less than half of his morning kibble (so he ate less than a half cup). As long as he still likes the Ensure, we have that going for us.

 

He'll eat what I fix for me. He'll walk away from the same thing if it lands straight in his dish. (He wants my potato, not his.) I might try him on one of the frozen people-dinners that is pasta with alfredo sauce.

 

Aside from worrying about Sam, I have to worry about Silver. Little porky girl is happy to eat anything left in Sam's dish as a dessert after she finishes her meal. (I stand by Sam and his dish until he walks off; otherwise, Silver would happily push him aside.)

 

I'll pick up some canned food while I'm out today. Even if all Sam does is eat the canned food off the top of his kibble, he'll at least have those calories.

[Guest Doggone]

Have you tried Kirkland's (Costco) chicken etc. kibble? It's rated unbelievably high for such a fairly inexpensive brand? Also, my Autumn sometimes enjoys a large tablespoon of plain yogurt mixed it (not enough to make it soggy). I did try adding a bit of broth, but she turned her nose up.......go figure .

[kolarik1]

Would you feed raw and/or cook for him? I tried cooking once for Pop, but he ate so much that we had to quadruple the recipe for a week's worth of food...I used recipes out of this book.

 

I don't know how much raw would cost, especially if you could get in on some bulk pricing, etc...but you would have to make sure all his nutritional needs were met.

 

I'm going to try Modern Mutt's suggestion on Simply Nourish with Zelda and see if she likes it.... (when I tried Welless on my cat, she HATED it so I had to give it away and switched her to Purina Naturals which she loves...go figure. Carmel actually preferred Science Diet to Wellness).

Edited March 10, 2013 by kolarik1

[Remolacha]

My dogs are mostly raw fed (Fletcher all because of his IBD) but the girls get kibble for one meal and they really like the Costco no grain food. It is very similar to TOTW, and about half the price. I don't know if you have a Costco near you, but I found it worth the membership price for the savings on dog food and dog meds.

 

edited to add, they eat the salmon/sweet potato flavor

Edited March 10, 2013 by Remolacha

[Guest Gillybear]

When Gill started eating less of his food and losing weight, I started making him special food every night. I know my "recipes" are not ideal for dogs, but my goal was to maintain weight. I would mix a can of dog food with one egg, some pasta, and a few pieces of leftover people food. This would make enough to give half at supper and the other half for breakfast. He was still finicky at times, but I managed to keep his weight stable for the last two years of his life ( he left us at age 13 1/2). I think you just try to find what your dog likes and what works for you! Good luck

[OwnedBySummer]

At almost 13, I wouldn't be terribly concerned with providing a balanced diet. I've heard a few people swear by KD (Kraft Dinner -- macaroni and cheese). For long term feeding or constant add-ins, I'd make it from scratch to avoid the super processing but making up a processed box would certainly tell you if he likes it. I'd feed him anything you can get him to eat. I had some freezer-burned chicken wings the other week and I put them in the slowcooker in some chicken broth and cooked the snot out of them for 3 days. By then, the bones were so incredibly soft that I could mash it all up with a potato masher. Added in a few veggies and some oatmeal and was good to go -- and she loved it. Cooking may be the way to go as the meals are definitely more appealing than any kibble could be for a senior fussy eater.

[KF_in_Georgia]

After turning up his nose at the last pieces of his Beneful lunch, Sam has just licked clean the paper tray from my microwaved lunch (Michaelina's lasagna alfredo).

 

 

I tried both the chicken-based and the lamb-based Kirkland dog foods years ago. My dogs then (Sam and the late Jacey) were both chow hounds and ate the food just fine. But it didn't agree with them: erratic poop and really dry skin and coat. There are newer Costco brands, and I might give one of them a try.

 

As far as meeting nutritional needs, my vet and I discussed what we'd do if I wound up cooking chicken and rice for a long-term solution to Sam's stomach trouble. The vet said to just give him a Flintstones Chewable vitamin every day and that would be fine. Turns out, Sam's stomach trouble for so long perhaps was recurrent issues with worms; since Sam's been taking a maintenance dose of metronidazole (1/2 pill, every other day), his stomach has been much better in terms of tolerating his food.

[RedHead]

Can you continue to feed the same kibble if its affordable and just add stuff in? Things like canned fish, canned dog food, pasta, cheese, liver, eggs,meat, etc. All healthy things and you only need a bit to get them interested usually.

[KF_in_Georgia]

My problem is that he's leaving most of the kibble and only eating the add-ins (right now, the Ensure). If he's going to leave the kibble, I might as well not put it in the dish at all.

 

For a while, he'd drink the Ensure off and eat a bit of the kibble. I'd put the dish away (before Silver got to it), then get it back out for him later and let him eat it for lunch. But now he won't finish the kibble, even though it's Ensure-flavored, and I'm letting Silver have it for her lunch while I try to find something else Sam will eat. (And then I have to cut back on Silver's dinner to compensate for the extra calories she's getting.)

 

I can fix eggs for Sam. I can try pasta, although he's turned his nose up at bland supplements like rice, oatmeal, and potatoes; he'd probably like any of those if I put in butter, and I don't mind doing that. I could give him a whole bottle of Ensure at each meal (rather than a bottle a day), and I could see how he likes the strawberry flavored version. So far, he hasn't lost weight--largely due to the Ensure. He's always been fond of bread, and I probably could get him to eat a peanut butter sandwich (especially if I put homemade preserves on it--I have a friend who keeps me supplied with blueberry preserves and peach). And I can see if he's more interested in eating sweet potatoes than he is Idahos.

 

I'll get some salmon/sweet potato kibble at Costco. We need a new bag, and if he won't eat it I know Silver will. (Silver will steal a slice of bread off the kitchen counter before you get your sandwich made. Silver will eat anything that will stand still long enough for her to grab it.)

[krissn333]

I'd be cautious about upping the Ensure...in my experience, giving more than 1 bottle a day led to diarrhea. Crummy, because he really liked it.

 

Sutra loved mashed potatoes mixed with vanilla Ensure

[KF_in_Georgia]

He and I each had a peanut butter sandwich for lunch yesterday. (Silver got a couple of bites, too.)

[TheFullHouse]

My no fail solution for my seniors is Wellness canned beef, I just take a couple of tablespoons and smoosh it up with their regular kibble so that the canned food is on all of the soaked kibble and they eat it right down. I don't know if it's just that it's beef but it gets them eating every time. A can will last me up to 4 days so it's not that expensive if you look at it that way.

[vjgrey]

I had some freezer-burned chicken wings the other week and I put them in the slowcooker in some chicken broth and cooked the snot out of them for 3 days. By then, the bones were so incredibly soft that I could mash it all up with a potato masher.

 

 

 

I do this with whole chickens - crockpot on low for around 24 hours and mash the whole thing up with a potato masher. You can add rice, oatmeal, veggies - whatever you want. For meals, I mix the mash with a little water and heat it on the stove. I pour it over kibble as a warm "gravy." It's smelly and meaty enough to appeal to my super picky eater and "gravy," like enough that she's not able to pick it out of the kibble.

[FiveRoooooers]

We have had success with adding meat-variety jarred baby food on top of kibble to get the picky seniors eating. And canned puppy food has also been tremendously popular and successful here. The puppy food can help add / maintain weight on a grey who might not otherwise be getting enough calories. It helped my Zeke-aroni get over a rough patch and get interested again in his kibble.

 

Sam is one handsome fellow

 

 

[4My2Greys]

I can't believe how similar what your going through with Sam is like what I've gone through with Nadir and now Beanie and Chase. Nadir has ulcers and when they flare up he doesn't want to eat because it hurts him. If you haven't tried this already give him about a teaspoon of manuka honey before his meal. I found that this helps ease and heal the ulcers. Nadir will start eating after I give him the Manuka honey and I usually only have to do that for about a week. Right now its a chore getting Beanie to eat because of the fever she's been running and then I have to constantly watch the bowl because Chase is hovering just waiting to try to get to it so he can scarf it up. Fun times I tell you.

[Guest greytone]

My Freddie is 12 and sometimes I have to jazz up his food in order to get him to eat. I generally will give him cheese, yogurt, canned chicken, noodles, or rice.

[Guest tnchelle]

What about adding chicken or beef broth? I would defiantely make your own so it doesn't contain all of the sodium, but that might be something you could add to his food to make it more appetizing?

 

You could easily cook the chicken in the crockpot & shred it & then just add more water along with the bones & whatnot to make a really good chicken broth.

 

I've also heard that they love baked sweet potatoes or a spoonful of pumpkin. Janie absolutely LOVED sweet potatoes, so when I baked them I would always bake extras & just cube them up. I know it's kinda walking a thin line here because once he gets a taste of human food he may never, ever touch commercial dog food again but with his age maybe just adding a "mix in" and stirring it up with his kibble might be worth a try before going all out & feeding him solely human food.

[KF_in_Georgia]

For the first time in weeks, Sam has eaten three cups of kibble in a single day.

 

He adored all the toppings and add-ins I tried. He just wouldn't eat the kibble under them. I could stand there and watch him put a piece of kibble in his mouth, suck off the Ensure or yogurt or Wellness dog food, then spit the kibble back into the bowl. I might have suspected that his teeth were bothering him except that occasionally he'd eat a few pieces of kibble (both dogs are getting Nature's Domain, the salmon and sweet potato formula). And nearly every day I give him and Silver a large Nutri Dent dental chew, and both dogs polish them off without a problem.

 

Sam has liked his Ensure (vanilla) and the various yogurts I've given him: strawberry/banana or peach or banana cream pie. So today I ground up three cups of kibble in the food processor. At each meal (he eats 4xday), I gave him 3/4 cup of kibble and either half a bottle of Ensure or three big tablespoons of yogurt. I've stirred them well, and he's licked the bowl until it's spotless every meal. (This also has the advantage of leaving no food behind for his suddenly-chubby sister to finish off.) I'll need to watch to see that he doesn't have digestive issues from this much yogurt, although he's been eating yogurt for several days without a problem, and at least now he has some kibble underpinning it.

 

Apparently, after nearly 13 years, he's just tired of food that goes crunch.