how do you stretch dog kibble

[lorieMN]

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Dogs are not all carnivore - they need some vegie matter in their diet. In the wild they obtain it mostly by eating the intestines of the vegetarian animals they kill, but will sometimes voluntarily eat some vegie matter when they need it. Even cats who are more carnivorous than dogs, need some vegie matter in their diet.

wolves have been shown to be 100% carnivores,if really hungry they will eat the stomach contents,but if food is plentiful they will leave it and just eat the stomach.dogs are basically house wolves.

 

[lorieMN]

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I have had this discussion with my vet,most only know what they have been taught,and that is not always correct..even premium dog food has actually very little meat in it,,may have meat by-products or meat meal,which is the parts people wont eat..and I am not saying give meat only,,there needs to be a ratio of 80% meat,10% edible bones and 10% organs,,doesnt need to be every day can be done over the month or a couple months..carnivores are designed by nature to eat lots of protien,I dont think wolves would still be around if it hurt their kidneys.in the meat is natural fat, and I think meat in general is only around 17% protien,give or take for whatever animal it is,actually a lot less then the high protien kibbles.

 

[suburbanminifarm]

Cats are classified as strict carnivores, dogs are not. Compare their food bag labels.

.""Some sources describe dogs as carnivores. Other sources describe dogs as omnivores, despite their descent from wolves and despite their classification in the order Carnivora. Unlike an obligate carnivore, such as a member of the cat family with its shorter small intestine, a dog is neither dependent on meat-specific protein nor a very high level of protein in order to fulfill its basic dietary requirements. Dogs are able to healthily digest a variety of foods, including vegetables and grains, and can consume a large proportion of these in their diet. In the wild, canines often eat available plants and fruits.""

That said, I have had AMAZING results when out of desperation about a month ago I switched my dying-of-a-terminal-disease-dog from a expensive kibble diet to a: meat, liver, chicken wings, bone and marrow, brown rice, carrot boiled into a stew diet. (and I add liquid vitamins) The vet and all my friends joke that I should open up a "holistic healing with giblets center" in my backyard next to my chickens. I would never have believed it could change my 15 year old dog so much for the better. Thank God I thought of it because my vet sure didn't.

 

[cmjust0]

Regular ol' Purina dog chow does just fine for 5 of our 6. We're not opposed to buying expensive dog food, either...the one who doesn't do well on Purina is on food that costs about $1.50/lb right now.

But since Purina works and keeps the other five happy and healthy at about $.50/lb, we don't really see any imperative to switch.

Something we do that really helps to stretch the food is feed them once a day according to body condition, instead of just setting out food free-choice. When we used to do that, we had a couple of overly-fat dogs and a high dog food bill. Now we have healthy dogs which are less expensive to feed. If someone starts chunking up, we cut'em back, and if they thin down too much for our liking, we bump'em back up -- all on a dog-by-dog basis.

You'd be surprised, for instance, how little food it takes to keep a 50lb spayed adult border collie in good physical condition...two level cups of Purina. As in, dry measuring cup cups, not 16oz solo cups or something like that. Two cups. That's it. And sometimes she doesn't even finish that.

We also have a terrier mix (a "feist," I think) who gets but one measly cup a day. If she thins off a little from some extra exercise or something, we just heap the cup a bit for a few days...that's all it takes.

All total, across six dogs -- including a 150lb+ LGD -- we feed a total of about 18 cups of food in a day.

 

[Cara]

I wouldn't recommend feeding a dog just once a day. They don't need to graze free choice (they are not cattle after all), but one large meal can be detrimental to their health. Smaller more frequent meals allow them to absorb more nutrients before passing the food. In large breeds two or more meals a day can help prevent bloat and gastric torsion; frequent consumption of large amounts of food at one time can stretch the ligaments that hold the stomach in place.

 

[doubled]

we feed our dogs pedigree. apparently if you are on a budget it is the best quality for the least cost with the least amount of worthless filler. my wonderful lady works at a vet clinic and recently compared the ingredient list of the food we feed our dogs and the "good stuff" that the vet clinic feeds, recommends and sells. the ingredient list (of the basic non medicated no specialized diet stuff) was almost exactly the same and pedigree is about 1/3 the price...

we give each dog a measured amount in a bowl twice a day.

 

[cassie]

Dogs are not strictly carnivores. In the wild they eat the stomach contents of their prey. I do not feed a premium dog food. I feed good nutritious feed but it is not one of the so called premium feeds. I buy a high protein dog food from the feed store or I get Atta Boy from Costco. Our dogs do really well on these economical feeds. They all have excellent muscle tone, shiny coats, and their stool is dense and nearly odorless. This last means that they are digesting their feed well. We have a Pug, a Newfoundland cross, an Anatolian cross, a Blue Tick Hound, a stray of unknown antecedants, and a Chihuahua. We lost my Maltese Poodle lap dog a few months ago at the age of 17. Except for the Newfoundland and the Chihauhua, all the dogs are over 10. They all look good and feel good and if their diet was not adequate for their needs, that would not be true.

 

[RabbitMage]

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That's because the 'good stuff' the vet sells is usually Science Diet, and it's overpriced junk.

A decent food at a decent price is Kirkland, which you can pick up at Costco. It was around $25 for a 40lb bag and is just a little less great than the premium food Marlowe was getting and is about half the cost.

 

[KDbeads]

We supplement with 'stew' for the dogs not on special low phosphorous kidney diets. The stew varies by week and what materials I can find but usually consists of ground beef/deer heart and/or liver or some other cut of meat, frenched green beans, pinto beans and whatever left over veggies make it into the crock pot. In the winter I add a small amount millet or barley since it seems to help my dane mix retain body condition. Gus LOVES the beans, he'd eat only pinto beans if I let him. We have no gas problems either but we do give them yogurt and sour cream with their meals. This helps stretch the food out, we go through 30 pounds a week and the cost is killing us. This gives us and extra 3 or 4 days with 4 large dogs on the same food.
The one on the kidney diet gets all the extra eggs

He eats one a day with his rice, green bean, meat mix and he's defying the vet's expectations so far.

 

[NateinFL]

I second the Pedigree. My childhood friend's small dog lived 17 years and I recently asked his mom what she fed her and she said Pedigree, so that's what my dogs get.