Dry food and real food!
-
I definitely believe in mixing meals up with good, nutritious supplements. I myself enjoy cooking and eating, but even I wouldn't have much of an appetite if I had to eat the same thing every day!
My guys aren't picky eaters, but they're always super interested in trying something new. And though I don't know for sure, I bet higher quality kibble just tastes better to them. Instead of getting artificial "flavor enhancers," they're tasting better quality ingredients.
Check out sites like Dog Food Chat (http://dogfoodchat.com/), Dog Food Advisor (http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/) and Dog Food Analysis (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/) for extensive reviews on many different kinds of commercially available kibble. Hopefully there is more than Eukanaba available in your area!
Other supplements I like to add (and they like to eat!) include raw egg, beaten and poured over kibble, fish flakes (I get them from Asian markets, but you have to check the ingredients carefully as some of them are loaded with MSG – Japanese brands tend to be better about that than Chinese brands), baked mashed sweet potato, etc. I also like steaming vegetables and adding them to the food, but my Basenji picks out almost all vegetables. =P If you prepare fresh vegetables ahead of time, say once a week, it doesn't take very much time.
-
Thanks a lot I will check.. I sometimes give him raw egg mixed with the food, with the shell and all, he loves it, but it sort of gives him the runs!!!!.. Lots of soft stool..
Try smaller amounts of egg mixed with the food at first until he gets used to it. Sounds like a whole egg is too much right now.
-
So if he refuses to eat, does he not eat anything for days if you take the food away after 20 minutes? Seems strange for a healthy dog to starve himself.
Also, I have added sardines, tuna, salmon, and ricotta cheese, and vegetables in small quantities to supplement kibble but I don't do it every meal.
-
If he needs more weight, why not routinely just add real food into his kibble, mash it up so he eats it? Try a soft boiled egg instead of raw to avoid diarrhea. Too lazy to look it up but either whites or yellows (pretty sure the white) raw has some issues if fed routinely. Also, a tsp of olive oil once a day really adds on some calories and is healthy. Boiled mashed sweet potatoes and ALWAYS can add rice to food. Nice calorie bump and won't usually cause any tummy upset.
-
I ve been adding some olive oil, he seems to eat more when I add it , but when I add something like tuna, which I tried, he loves it! And then doesn't want just kibble, he'll go about a day and a half and loose a little weight making the added tuna contra productive
but I guess what I can do is add egg one day, then rice, then tuna and just always add something and vary it. -
Dan, what time is dinner tonight? :)
I love to have you over for dinner! We could have some good stuff and the dogs get some too.
I remember my last 2 Basenjis getting a bit picky after a while even though it was high quality it was the same thing. Now if I spiced it up with some cooked ground beef and veggies they would woof it down in a minute.About 11 years ago I had a friend whose dog was recovering from an injury. It was very lethargic and recovering slow. I took care of of it one day when she had to work and instead of putting some regular dog food in front of it which it was not interested in I cooked up some chicken breast. That dog was really interested in that and ate it right up and looked so much better. When she came and got the dog she said "wow, she looks so much better"! "What did you do"? I told her "I fed her real food". :D
-
Feeding 'real food' will happen when I get my basenji. Right now, all of our cats get organic chicken and fish, in addition to a couple of 'flavours' of the high end kibble stuff. I enjoy hand feeding them their organic protein - fun to have all 3 of them standing in a line and gazing at me, awaiting their next bites. Then it is one huge snooze fest for them while they digest the protein. :) And this is when I do the 'shake a paw'. All of them must do that for their first 3 or 4 bites.
-
Fortuanately for us Malaika is a good eater, she loves anything we give her but our first Basenji was very indifferent to food and it does make life more difficult.
Malaika eats quite a varied diet, i like to do this so that she gets variety but also to make sure she gets all the nutrients she needs.
She has kibble (James Wellbeloved), i also give her Royal Canin everyday, some times i will reduce the amount and mix something in with it. The foods i use are a good quality wet food in a sachet or tin, raw meats, eggs, cheese and veg.
You need to go easy on eggs or cheese because of the cholestral (sp) content -
Fran, what does BAB after your name stand for?
