What wet food is best?

Sally is a very very fussy eater. She's recently started on Junior James Wellbeloved Turkey and Rice. It seems very boring on its own so we want to add wet food with it. The trouble is we want her stools to be firm ish. Just wondering what wet food you would recommend that will be nutritous and not give her loose poo! We've previously tried Butchers and Hi Life puppy wet food.

I'm not sure where you live, but if you are in the UK, Nature Diet is the best I have seen. It's only got meat, rice and veg in it. Dylan has about 50grams of JWB and 20grams of Nature Diet mixed in. I warm it for 10 seconds in the microwave and mix it so the kibble is coated. You can get it in Pets At Home or sometimes smaller pet shops. It comes in a plastic rectangular tray with a picture on the front of dogs. About 70pence.

Vets have recommended the Butchers, but the tripe varieties (original or with chicken), not the ones with veg etc., as they have no additives. Izzy was always a fussy eater, but never refused Butchers. A vet also said that the varieties mentioned are the next best thing , after a chicken and rice diet for upset tums.

I've had to start mixing a wet food with Bertie's James Wellbeloved too, he stopped eating it completely dry.

I was going to go for Naturediet as I know this is a good brand, however, I saw another brand which had more variety of flavours and is also wheat and gluten free and contains no additives etc so have been using that, it's called First Class. So far, so good.

His poops have been ok so far, cept yesterday evening, they were a bit sloppy but he's been fine today (so far).

I will probably end up using Naturediet eventually, just wanted to give this new food a chance first as it has more flavours available. It's actually not that different to the Naturediet I don't think anyway.

Good luck.

Alison

Thanks for the replies. I haven't seen 'First Class' in the pet shop. I'll go to the local Pets at Home and try Naturediet and see if she'll eat it. I won't buy much because she has a habit of just deciding she won't eat it anymore!
At the moment she's having 'Hi Life' puppy on JWB Junior but it gives her a smell on her breath that doesn't make her endearing to others!!! It's also very very sloppy - but she does eat it and we were getting desperate for her to eat something!
I asked the vet today for advice but she didn't seem to sure. She advised Science Plan. Any advice on this food?

Science Diet isn't rated very high at all due to the mediocre ingredients. Personally I wouldn't feed it as an everyday food.

The same company (Hills) makes prescription foods for various health problems, such as kidney, liver, intestinal disease. If one of my dogs was having serious health issues and the vet prescribed a special Hills food, I would feed it while trying to find a healthier alternative.

You might want to try chopping up some boiled chicken to add to her food, or a small amount of grated cheese and mix it up well.

After reading this thread and doing some research on commercial foods (gross, yuck) we went out today and bought NatureDiet with WellBeloved to mix in. I'm confident Lucy will love it, obviously she could smell it in the car - head right up sniffing excitedly (plus she eats anything and everything). At only 11p more a pack than the canned stuff we were giving her, it seems very good value for money. Can't wait for her to try it tonight!

Sally has now started eating!! Bought the Nature Diet and she loves it. I've been mixing it with the James Wellbeloved and she's loving it, at least for now! Only bought 3 trays as I know she will eat something one day and refuse it the next. Its great because it doesn't smell and her poos are easily picked up!
Thanks for that advice.

My last dog was a canine dustbin but my current one is extremely fussy about food and is a bit of a nightmare!

He'll only eat Cesar dog food - beef flavour!!

Before Megan came home, Jake and Lucy were both on wet food, and it was Butchers Tripe mix we used, they love it, now tho all 3 are on James Wellbeloved

You cannot beat fresh raw tripe to get a dog eating!!

I had to stiffle a giggle when I was at the vets with Princess yesterday, all those sacks of Science Diet with the massive price tags, a little part of me thought "Is that how much you are prepared to give me to take that c**p off your hands?" :lol:

The verdict after 3 days of Nature Diet and Wellbeloved is that Lucy devoured it as expected. She went back to the bowl 4 times just incase any more had magically materialised (sadly for her it hadn't). Even though she was happy enough on the cans I feel a lot happier knowing she's getting nutritious and healthy food. And in all honesty her reaction looked like it tasted delicious!

We'll be carrying on with that combo from now on, without a doubt.

Sally is still on Nature diet mixed with James Wellbeloved and really enjoying it! She's 6.5 months now and I have switched her to one feed a day because she was never eating two feeds. She just has one bowl at about 6pm. Hope this is ok for her age? Her weight seems fine and she has plenty of energy. I swear by this combination of food!!

She went back to the bowl 4 times just incase any more had magically materialised (sadly for her it hadn't).

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That funny! I tease Jake and Shelby about licking the finish off of their bowls making sure they get every last bit! Glad she's doing so well.

Dixie is a VERY picky eater too. I have two other dogs (schnauzer and pug) who eat anything in sight and then there is the little princess (Dixie) who gets tired of two of the same meals served in a row. You can't imagine how many different things I have tried mixing with all kinds of different quality dry food. (cottage cheese, chicken, yougurt, egg, tripe etc.) She may eat it once and then turns up that little nose and walks away. I have created a cavie monster...... Do they sell that Nature Diet in the States? On another note, you know what she WILL eat....our schnauzer's prescription Science Diet. I won't let her have it, but she goes crazy when the schnauzer is eating it. Go figure. She just turned 5 months, but I too was wondering if just feeding her once a day would be alright?

I also feed JWB and used to add naturediet. I read on here that you have to be careful what you mix as the protein content can become altered. Someone suggested adding Tuna as it does not affect the protein level. I tried it and my dogs love it. I feed them JWB with just a desert spoon of any tuna in brine. I now have no trouble at all getting them to eat. Not bad considering I used to have to spoon feed Alfie to get him started at each meal!!!

. Someone suggested adding Tuna as it does not affect the protein level.

Yes, I have used tuna too. But, again, she will like it once in a while and then get tired of it and turn up that little nose and prance away......

jadan would always turn his nose up after a couple of days on the same food and i used to switch about too waisting so much food because it had to be different flavours etc....who was fooling who? he knew if he waited long enough even starving himself some days (sometimes up to three) that i would cave in and give him something different. i am a fool no more. what isnt eaten gets taken away...he only eats once and usually its on an evening after a long walk to get his juices flowing and if he turns his nose up then he gets offered the same for breakfast and it goes on. didnt take long to realise he didnt get a treat till he had eaten up!!!he too is on jwb and i rotate the flavours after each bag so its not boring or if they have an offer on then maybe every couple of weeks i change it. i have tried buthcers tripe and naturesmenu nd loads of others which he loved all the time it was new even up to a week but then he would turn his nose up. now he gets fed with the cat and if he doesnt eat it then she has a nibble and hes straight in it incase she has the lot! stop fussing over them. you know they have eaten it before, your just turning it into game. and they are winning it may seam boring food but once you get them in a routine of eating then you can add different appatising treats during the day....more for my benefit than his i shouldnt wonder!!

I'm so glad to be hearing all this, so we're not alone after all with these fussy girls
Adan wrote:

jadan would always turn his nose up after a couple of days on the same food and i used to switch about too waisting so much food because it had to be different flavours etc....who was fooling who? he knew if he waited long enough even starving himself some days (sometimes up to three) that i would cave in and give him something different.

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This sounds SOOO familiar, just what's happening round our house. The girls are 7 months old and have created such a feeding h**l for us that we never imagined possible I've now ordered some Orijen dry food samples off the internet (its a wheat free, natural food) and will try that with Naturediet wet food. And won't switch and change... :fool: They won't starve themselves to death, will they now? (Now again they haven't eaten since yesterday lunchtime... Also, I think that two meals a day is too often for them.)

On the feeding once a day questions -- it's fine to feed once daily -- I have always fed all mine once a day. I feed in the morning after their first walk. But you can feed midday or evenings.

I find that feeding once a day can also really help with finicky eaters and those playing games with their food (eg not eating to get more interaction from you -- they think the reward of the social interaction is well worth skipping a meal and know you'll offer something new so it becomes a very fulfilling game for them to be fussy!).

Be very sure you send them NO signals that eating is a big deal or a social acitivty that involves you. Don't even look at the dog(s) while the bowl is down. Totally ignore. After 15 minutes and without a word lift the bowl. If they eat, fine. If they don't, fine. NO treats or food util the next *scheduled* feeding, then repeat. Usually this will resolve feeding fussiness within two days to a week. Once there's no reward for not eating except feeling hungry, they will likely eat whatever you put down.