Tess is such a fussy eater

[robbieswan]

She will only eat pieces of fresh chicken or any other pre-packed meat...and wait for it....tinned meatballs. She will eat the Bakers complete beef "balls" things that come in a box, but tends to play with them and chase them around the house before eating them. I have tried absolutely every dog food on the market, but she is just too posh for it !

[Kate H]

I'm afraid I get tough with this sort of behaviour - she's twisting you round her little paw! Dogs don't starve themselves to death, but they find food is a very good way of getting fuss and attention. Decide on a good quality food (dry, or a mix of dry and tinned), give her an amount suited to her age, put it down for 10 minutes and if she doesn't eat it, take it away and give her nothing else until the next proper meal time. Going without for a few meals - even for a few days - won't hurt Tess. Depriving her of the roughage and minerals etc. contained in a good food could eventually harm her health - especially in a breed known for anal gland problems. And we all watch our Cavaliers' weight like hawks - they are greedy and put on weight easily and it is so bad for their hearts to let them get obese. It is very difficult to regulate the food intake of a dog who nibbles bits of this and that (have you checked the fat content of meatballs?!), so it really is important to get her onto a regular diet. Of course you can give her what you think is best - home-cooked (fish and rice, for example) dry, dry/tinned mix, fresh veg, the possibilities are endless - but it needs to be regular, good quality and healthy.

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[robbieswan]

Wow..you are right and have certainly put me in my place..for that I thank you.

I have checked the fat contant of the meatballs:-



Ok..I will start tomorrow and try and be disciplined as you suggest. Thanx for your advice.

[MadPip]

I'm afraid I get tough with this sort of behaviour - she's twisting you round her little paw! Dogs don't starve themselves to death, but they find food is a very good way of getting fuss and attention. Decide on a good quality food (dry, or a mix of dry and tinned), give her an amount suited to her age, put it down for 10 minutes and if she doesn't eat it, take it away and give her nothing else until the next proper meal time. Going without for a few meals - even for a few days - won't hurt Tess.

I agree - Maddie was incredibly fussy, in fact it is only now aged 6yrs that she eats properly. We also fell into the trap of trying all types of food to find one she liked. Eventually we got tough as Kate has suggested, and she didn't eat for 3 1/2 days. It was very tough for us to keep to, but on the 4th day she ate and has never been so fussy over her eating since. She doesn't eat much volume though, so has to ahve a higher protein content to keep weight on her.

[Kate H]

Sorry if I sounded a bit draconan! I know how difficult it is to resist those big eyes... The meatball content was interesting - 4.8% protein and 11.6% carbohydrate makes one wonder how much actual meat there is in their meatballs! A good dry food has 18.5% protein.

Best of luck with the diet changing!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[Nicki]

It is something Cavaliers are very good at!! Resisting those big eyes is hard.

Make sure to pick a good quality dry food, or even perhaps consider a high quality raw diet such as Darlings - this is prepared especially for your dog, so you know it takes into account her needs.

http://darlingsrealdogfood.com/

If you are going for a dry food, something like Markus Muehle, James Wellbeloved, Fish4dogs, Burns are all good makes - sadly Bakers tends to be full of colouring and not much else!!


Once Tess is spayed you will probably find she will go the other way and eat anything!

I would highly recommend she is spayed, if you search on the forum you will see that it prevents all sorts of nasty health issues, and is much better to be done whilst she is young - some of these things can be fatal

If you are planning to breed from her, she would need to be a very good example of the breed, she would also need to be at least 2.5 years of age, with both parents over 5 and heart tested clear by a cardiologist, also both her and her parents should be MRI scanned, eye tested and ideally patella checked and x-rayed for hip dysplasia. Obviously this all applies to the stud dog too!

It is not as simple as just putting two dogs together, they could easily hurt each other, especially if neither of them have been mated previously.

Whelpilng can be very difficult and expensive if you need vet treatment, and sadly there is the possibility of losing both your bitch and the puppies.


Breeders who do things properly rarely make money out of a litter.

ALl good reasons for having your animals spayed or neutered.

[Wee Rascal]

I find the trays of Wainwrights wet food to be of very good quality. It has a high meat content without any nasty fillers added. I find it on par with Naturediet. They also have a very good dry complete selection...their salmon and potato kibble is very good for those with sensitive tums. You find wainwrights at Pets At Home.

Once opened...store trays in the fridge. You can give the food a quick blast in the mocrowave (around 10 secs) to take the chill off and release flavour/smell. It is very palatable. It's around 90p per tray...but they only need about 1/2 a tray per day depending on weight/age...so very reasonably priced really.

I've used Wainwrights with my GSD's in the past and now for Jamie, puppy mix for him....he wolfs it down

Catherine

[Nicki]

I looked at Wainwrights dry food some time ago and wasn't too happy iwth the ingredients, but the trays don't look too bad.

I would however avoid putting it in the microwave - actually avoid cooking/heating anything in the microwave!! - I believe it kills the natural energy in living things. Experiments with plants showed that those watered only with microwaved water withered and died, the control plants watered with tap water thrived...



I stand things in a dish of very hot water to take the chill off them.

[Wee Rascal]

I looked at Wainwrights dry food some time ago and wasn't too happy iwth the ingredients, but the trays don't look too bad.

I would however avoid putting it in the microwave - actually avoid cooking/heating anything in the microwave!! - I believe it kills the natural energy in living things. Experiments with plants showed that those watered only with microwaved water withered and died, the control plants watered with tap water thrived...



I stand things in a dish of very hot water to take the chill off them.

You're never going to get everyone in agreement when it comes to the dry/wet food debate. It's an arguement that can go around and around forever. As is probably the using a mircowave/not using one. It's always going to be down to personal choice.

The Wainwright trays are a decent quality wet food and I've always been happy to use them. Their dry food...it's a lot better than some, not as good as others. Horses for courses really.

Catherine