Affordable canned food suggestions?

[kudzu]

In the continuing attempt to keep my skinny girl eating, we've gone to canned food only. (Well, occasionally eggs and oatmeal.) Su seems to only like a food for about 4-6 cans. Then we have to switch. We've been cycling through different brands but my girl's taste in food seems to be going up in price. She's about 13 yo, an only dog now and until the last year has been super healthy. So I certainly do not begrudge her that cost. But it would be nice to keep things as affordable as possible, while still getting good quality food that little Miss Pickybutt finds palatable.

Anyone have suggestions of foods your hounds have really, really liked?

ETA: It doesn't actually have to be canned but it does have to be wet food, not dry. I'm okay with something like a dry mix to which I had water or some such.

Edited July 30, 2021 by kudzu

[palmettobug]

The little Benefuls tubs, any flavor but lamb (G is scared of the scent!) or beef (too many toots). G and Fuzzy will eat just about anything.

Roman gets Dave's Bland chicken and rice, his tummy is sensitive. He can also tolerate the Whole Hearted for sensitive tummies from Petco.

[Remolacha]

Dave’s is pretty reasonable, for decent food. Val ate the beef and chicken for several months. A brand called Lotus is more expensive but they have interesting flavors like sardine. Princess Val will currently only eat frozen raw food, and only duck, with a little Evanger’s lamb and rice canned. But she’s 13, so gets whatever keeps her eating.

[cleptogrey]

cook your own chicken and rice. if you have a pressure cooker or what ever the new gizmos are called- quarter the chicken, use a good rice(i like medium grain japanese rice) and cook away. debone and reheat for a tad in the microwave. small small portions- also white bread toasted is mmmm....sweet and the old ones seem to like it- as well as cheerios and rice crispys. what we will do for our dogs- but it's worth every minute of slave labor!

[Time4ANap]

Petunia is a big fan of the Purina Pro Plan Focus canned foods.  We were feeding the various kinds to Starz to put weight on her and Petunia filed a protest with the home office, so she now gets the canned food as a topper and is happy with that.  She does a little dance when she smells the canned food after it's opened. 

We've  fed the Salmon Sensitive Stomach, Beef and Rice, and Chicken and Rice. On Amazon it;s a little under $2 per can but may be cheaper locally in a real store. 

When dogs have tummy rumbles or won't eat, we usually feed the Evanger's Organic Chciken canned food.  It is chicken only so it;s not a complete meal, but we can add to it if needed. I've never had a dog turn that food down. It's pricey, buth that along withthe Evanger's Chicken Dinner and Beef dinner have been big hits with picky dogs at different times. 

Miss Petunia also gives cottage cheese on her food 4 paws up, so may be worth a try as well. 

 

[HeyRunDog]

To improve/change the flavour of softened dry or tinned food put a fresh whole chicken in a slow cooker with nothing added and when it's cooked freeze the juices in ice cube trays. Freeze the meat in pieces on a flat tray before putting in a tub. When needed add a little of the meat and a gravy icecube to her bowl with some boiling water to defrost.

[kudzu]

Thank you, all, got the suggestions. I very much appreciate it!!

Wish I could find some individual cans of Dave’s locally. Will look when I’m in other areas. Guess I could mail order a case or two, but with Su… [sigh] Need to search for Evanger. The ProPlan Focus & Benefuls are available so will grab those to try.

Also found some small bags of freeze dried, Orijen, I’m picking up today as well as some cans of Fromm. It’s at a store I’d forgotten about. 

Unfortunately, Su went off home cooked chicken months ago. She will eat chicken based canned food as part of a rotation with other proteins. I have tried home cooked dog food off & in for years but Su’s interest doesn’t last long. Switched around what I made but still only brief success. Frankly, I’m insulted!

[FiveRoooooers]

We've had good luck including canned Pedigree Puppy Food and Purina One in the rotation.

[kudzu]

Puppy food sounds like a good thing to try. 

Am also wondering about canned cat food. She gets a few tablespoons of it here & there as leftovers from the skink. 

[cleptogrey]

when lettuce was totally off food- her breeder gave her a combo of liver, ground beef, goat's milk and slowly added puppy chow to the mixture. it got her going. i'm not a fan of canned food as you can see reading this and my other post. my friend swears by the stuff one gets in the refrigerator at supermarket or pet store that comes in long tubes and you slice it. i would give that a try.

[macoduck]

This is an Rx stimulant to encourage eating. We haven't had to try it here.

https://www.elanco.us/products-services/dogs/entyce

[greysmom]

If her stomach can handle it without too many issues, you might also try switching flavors/brands more often, even every day, so she doesn't have one taste in her mouth for too long.  It might lengthen the time you can serve her any one food.  Puppy food is good to consider as it has more calories/nutrients per can, so if you can mix it in even a few times a week it will help keep her weight up.

Also pay attention to the texture of the food, which may be the issue rather than the flavor/brand.  My Lilly won't eat *anything* that has lumps or chunks in it - she'll actually just spit out the whole mouthful if she feels a carrot cube!! - so I have to mash everything to a smooth pate.

And one more thing - maybe she needs to eat less??  Once a day instead of twice?  My seniors have almost always opted out of a meal as they age - they don't need or want the calories so they just don't eat.  If she's holding her weight at a good level, one meal a day may be sufficient for her now.

[Remolacha]

Another thing, although you may have trouble finding it if you live in a small town/rural area, is canned green tripe. It stinks like nothing on this earth, but most dogs love it! Chewy carries all these things, but of course, you do have to but a case. Maybe if you rotate flavors?

[Jerilyn]

Picky old lady Lila always would eat the Cesar wet food even when she wouldn't eat anything else. And you can't get much cheaper than that. 

[Lexi]

How about some cheap flaked light tuna (people food). Different animal, I know, but I'm having a problem feeding my cat and while she will ignore most canned cat food, she is eating the flaked light tuna. It's heartbreaking when our fur babies won't eat.

[greysmom]

Yes to this ^^^^^  When Lilly wouldn't eat anything else we started feeding her a can of tuna day (5 oz, packed in water, only albacore).  She still gets a can of tuna a day!  And yes, she takes takes special blood test every year to monitor her mercury levels, which have never been more than barely detectable in 8 years.

But you can use sardines, canned salmon, and the like, as toppers or by themselves.

[kudzu]

Thanks to all who continue to offer suggestions. I do need to get some tuna fish and a few other canned fish varieties to try again. Those land in the "it depends on her mood" category as to whether she's enthusiastic about it, feels "that's okay for now" or takes a complete pass.  The good thing with most of the fish is that if I try just part of a can and Miss Pickybutt turns her nose up, the humans in the house are happy to consume it. Last time Su swiped left on salmon we got to eat some yummie salmon patties. Really, I should try some canned chicken also. That can get her going a little sometimes.

22 hours ago, greysmom said:

If her stomach can handle it without too many issues, you might also try switching flavors/brands more often, even every day, ...

Long ago tossed out the idea of easy Su into diet changes. I do change up things quite frequently but if something works I'll put it in heavy rotation for as long as I can. That's the Chewy effect since if sometimes works I'll often buy a case at a time. Petsmart and Tractor Supply are local, that being within 15-20 miles of home, so yesterday I decided to put your advice into practice. I bought 1-2 cans each of dozens of brands/varieties. Plus, I grabbed a few trial sized bags of freeze dried. Also yesterday, I forgot to alter the Chewy order after I'd thrown stuff temporarily into auto ship. Of course, if you forget to go back and refine that order you get stuck with everything. [stupid Laura] That included 4 cases of canned food. If I'm lucky, she'll eat 4 cans of each. [stupid, stupid Laura]

Am now doing what I should have done long ago. That is keeping written records of what works and doesn't. Su judges things on the simple, standard Ymn system, Yeah, meh, nah. Meh = "I'll eat most of it this time, but expect something better next time."

The freeze dried was a surprise hit. And I admit that didn't make me as happy as it should have simply because it is really expensive. However, I was very happy to see with a side effect of the Instinct Beef freeze dried. Su had refused to do more than a quick lick of the ProPlan Focus Puppy Turkey. So several hours later, I served the freeze dried in one half of her bowl while leaving the Focus in the other half. Used extra liquid to reconstitute the freeze dried and made sure to mix that "run off" with the Focus. At least for this meal, 1/3 of the trial sized packet of freezed dried managed to get her to eat nearly everything in the bowl. That's a huge meal for Su and constitutes a big win, admittedly just winning a battle, not the war.

[kudzu]

This girl is much too smart, smarter than me. I want to say I'm training her, but fear it is the other way around. However it happened. We seem to be in a "clean your plate" training mode. I feed her 1/2 can of food at a time. When she cleans her plate she gets some freeze dried food. I'm not requiring that be within a set period of time, at least not yet. Just put the food out and let her eat it in her own time. She now comes to get me when her bowl is empty. She then gets a small portion of freeze dried and that makes her a very happy girl.

If it keeps working, we'll work on going back to a time limit to eat or the bowl is removed until the next mealtime. I used to be very strict on that but... well, she is smarter than me and now I'm trained instead of the other way round.

 

[Time4ANap]

2 hours ago, kudzu said:

This girl is much too smart, smarter than me. I want to say I'm training her, but fear it is the other way around. However it happened. We seem to be in a "clean your plate" training mode. I feed her 1/2 can of food at a time. When she cleans her plate she gets some freeze dried food. I'm not requiring that be within a set period of time, at least not yet. Just put the food out and let her eat it in her own time. She now comes to get me when her bowl is empty. She then gets a small portion of freeze dried and that makes her a very happy girl.

If it keeps working, we'll work on going back to a time limit to eat or the bowl is removed until the next mealtime. I used to be very strict on that but... well, she is smarter than me and now I'm trained instead of the other way round.

 

We've learned that "whatever works" is the best food to get a senior to eat. 

I will say that we've been lucky by adding toppings as opposed to needing lots of food changes. 

A week or two before Trolley passed away she was here on a Sunday and no matter which food we offered whe would just walk away. That was completely unlike her.  I pulled my one remaining weapon out of the refrigerator.  Nathan's Hot Dogs.   She had several that afternoon with her Mom's approval.  If she was willing to eat something at that point, she could have it. 

[macoduck]

I know you didn't want prescription food, but my podenco Hada is now on Royal Canin Renal Support in their "T" formula. T is one of several renal canned foods with each flavored to be enticing, rather than sorted by meat type. She's made the transition now away from Beneful in the tubs and is gobbling down the T. Since she's a little dog (25 lbs) one can lasts 6 meals.

When I first started to transition her just having a teaspoon of the T, stirred in well with the Beneful, she was happily eating again. So maybe you wouldn't need a lot of T (for Tasty) or S (for Savory) to stir into the other food you use. And perhaps also your vet would be willing to give it a try even if she doesn't have renal issues.  Oh, and Hada says to tell you that the Hills Rx version is awful.

[kudzu]

2 hours ago, Time4ANap said:

...  I pulled my one remaining weapon out of the refrigerator.  Nathan's Hot Dogs.   She had several that afternoon with her Mom's approval.  If she was willing to eat something at that point, she could have it. 

Oh Trolley.   But yea for the hot dogs. The healthiest food in the world is worthless if the dog won't eat it.

 

2 hours ago, macoduck said:

I know you didn't want prescription food, but my podenco Hada is now on Royal Canin Renal Support in their "T" formula. T is one of several renal canned foods with each flavored to be enticing, rather than sorted by meat type. She's made the transition now away from Beneful in the tubs and is gobbling down the T.

Think I'll ask the vet for a few cans to test as a topper. Thanks for mentioning it. That's expensive, but we've lots of wasted food now which isn't cheap. And the Renal Support is cheaper than this raw food she's now in love with. Odd that she won't eat fresh raw food but is gaga for freeze dried. The girl is a mystery.

[Time4ANap]

13 hours ago, kudzu said:

Oh Trolley.   But yea for the hot dogs. The healthiest food in the world is worthless if the dog won't eat it.

 

Think I'll ask the vet for a few cans to test as a topper. Thanks for mentioning it. That's expensive, but we've lots of wasted food now which isn't cheap. And the Renal Support is cheaper than this raw food she's now in love with. Odd that she won't eat fresh raw food but is gaga for freeze dried. The girl is a mystery.

Rocket was on the Purina Rx Kidney Diet in his last year or so.  I think the version is Purina NF.  Both the canned and dry were apparently okay as the other dogs who visited always wanted what Rocket was eating. Just naother option for a topper if you need one. 

[EllenEveBaz]

Quote

This girl is much too smart, smarter than me. 

And this is why I will never, ever let my dogs read this thread.  

[MaryJane]

Add some canned tripe - the smell is bad but, the dogs love that smell. 

[kudzu]

Su says, "Where's the beef?! Or at least lamb..."  For the most part, anything with chicken as the first ingredient is being rejected. Some things with chicken as the second ingredient get the snub, also. Turkey receives similar treatment. Fish flavors are hit and miss. The same goes for home prepared chicken or fish as add ins. The strange exception is the freeze dried chicken. While not over the moon in love with it, like she is the freeze dried beef or lamb, she still considers it a good treat or reward for cleaning her plate. I've no idea why this all is & Su's not telling. So future dog food shopping will exclude flavors with chicken and turkey as the main meat. Oddly, she really prefers foods with grains like rice and, especially, barley. Chunks of carrots, beans or peas are sucked of any meaty flavor and spit out. It's totally hysterical that she can leave only the veggies in the bowl. That message is impossible to ignore.

Trying to source canned tripe in my area. Haven't found it yet, but there's one location with limited business hours that I'll get to in the next week. They supposedly have Dave's as well. Paws crossed for that to be true.

The feeding saga continues...