How do you feel about wet food?

I feed Viv and Rupert Natures Variety Instinct Duck and Turkey kibble for breakfast then dinner I feed the the same thing but in wet food.
Just curious how you all feel about wet food?
I've done raw before and will go back, but for now I thought the wet might be a decent alternative.
Thoughts?

Wet is fine. All that talk about it being bad for teeth is an old wives tale.

I have been wetting my pack's kibble lately.

about wet stuff - and pumpkin from a can - WHY are there RIDGES on the cans??? It seems to me it just wastes "food"!!

I was wondering the same thing. Phoebe gets the Natures Variety but the Prairie (i rotate between flavors) I saw they have more like a stew in their cans, but I never tried it for her. Good luck! Let me know and I may try some for Phoebe.

I think wet food is just fine. As long as you check the ingredients. Many people have been trained by big pet food companies to think of wet food as a "treat" only. Dog owners are encouraged to feed kibble at all times. I don't know why?

I feed THK - but sometimes top it with some wet food from Wellness or Evangers.

So the can of wet food lasts a few more days feeding 4 dogs, I mix it with 2 cups white rice and then mix it in with their kibble... they think they are being feed like royalty!

I think wet food is important to add moisture to the diet -- I feed a combo of kibble and canned at both meals.

Like Renee said, we've all been trained to think of wet food as being kind of junky, but the wet food offered by the better food manufacturers can be absolutely terrific nowadays. I review the labels on canned foods the same way I do kibble: I want to see a good-quality specific meat as the first one or two ingredients, no by-products, no extraneous "fillers," no funky preservatives, no corn/wheat/soy, etc. There are many canned foods out there now that are extremely high-quality.

a good quality wet food is fine!
Louie eats merrick, and they have a big variety so he doesn't get bored. When he's done with his food, i give him a milk bone and tell him to "clean your teeth".
If you're worried about the soft food sticking to the teeth, just do that, give them a milk bone for dessert

puglover22 wrote:a good quality wet food is fine!
Louie eats merrick, and they have a big variety so he doesn't get bored. When he's done with his food, i give him a milk bone and tell him to "clean your teeth".
If you're worried about the soft food sticking to the teeth, just do that, give them a milk bone for dessert

Giving him a milk bone "for dessert" does nothing for the teeth. In fact when they chew something so full of carbohydrates the crumbs and things get stuck on the gumline and will make things worse. It's much easier for a dog to slurp and lick at their teeth cleaning wet food off than it is to clean sticky carb based gooeys.

Not to mention milkbones have horrendous ingredients:

Ingredients: Wheat flour, wheat bran, beef meal and beef bone meal, wheat germ, beef fat (preserved with tocopherols), poultry-by-product meal, lamb meal, salt, chicken meal, dried beet pulp, dicalcium phosphate, bacon fat (preserved with BHT, propyl-gallate, and citric acid), brewers dried yeast, whey, artificial color (includes red 40, yellow 5, blue 1), vitamins (choline chloride, dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate [vitamin e], vitamin a acetate, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin b12 supplement, d-activated animal sterol [source of vitamin d3]), malted barley flour, iron oxide, casein, natural flavor (source of peanut butter flavor), sodium metabisulfite (dough conditioner), minerals (zinc sulfate, calcium carbonate, copper sulfate, ethylenediamine dihydriodide [source of iodine]), soy lecithin.

Wheat of all sorts, beef and bone meal which is 4D stuff, poultry by-product meal again 4D unknown stuff, salt, artificial colours beet pulp, BHT preserving BACON FAT? wtf? More flour... These are like twinkies. Would you clean your teeth with a crap filled dessert product?

Let your dogs chew RAW bones and bully sticks to clean their teeth. It's much more effective than anything full of preservatives and wheat and salt and sugars. Dentastix are also a no-no, greenies too because of blockage issues (same with rawhide).

ok mandypug, I guess you told me......

puglover22 wrote:ok mandypug, I guess you told me......

No worries, mine get half a small milkbone for going in their crates. It dosen't bother them, so I'm not too worried about it.

Mandy - I think you could have offered your opinion in a nicer way. Personally, if I was new here and read what you just wrote, I would be offended and not want to come back. It comes off as an attack and not very nice. You obviously have a lot of knowledge about pet nutrition, etc - but, you don't know much about teaching with patience or compassion. Your message will fall on deaf ears if you cannot help people learn, rather than attacking their choices. Just because people aren't as well informed does not give you the right to treat them like they are stupid.

My gang gets canned food for breakfast, and dry mixed with canned (plus pumpkin, Knudsen Pure Cranberry juice & some get yogurt) at night. With 7 or 8 dogs in the house (the count varies with fosters or boarders), getting the night feedings organized is quite the production! *LOL*

I now know to not give Rocky anything with potato in it, & Eagle Pack just came out with a new canned food that doesn't have potato, so I give Rocky the lamb variety.

We have 4-5 different dry foods and 4 different canned foods in this house. Differing ages and different allergies makes for different foods to feed the gang.

Thanks for the opinions, I don't know why I did not think it was a good thing.
I do mix it up a bit, if I don't do wet at night, I'll put non fat plain yogurt or pumpkin when I can find it, or I''ll mix the wet with the pumpkin.
I did a fair amount of research to come up with this food, I went grain free because of Vivian's constant ear infections. I do think it has helped a bit.
As far as bones go I used to give her a bully stick but stopped because they made her to aggressive, any suggestions on what I could give her to help her teeth that does not bring out her inner beast! oh and grain free to boot. I take better care of them than I do me!
I know the food subject can be a prickly one so I don't want this to go in that direction, all suggestions are welcome.

I was just telling my dad yesterday that the idea that feeding kibble is better for a dog's teeth is a myth. All of mine eat soft food (Honest Kitchen), and Tyson gets canned Wellness 95% salmon added into his. I think a quality canned food is great.

TNPUGMOMOF3 wrote:

puglover22 wrote:ok mandypug, I guess you told me......

No worries, mine get half a small milkbone for going in their crates. It dosen't bother them, so I'm not too worried about it.

I think Danté once wrote that when it comes to pet foods, everyone has a different opinion. He says if they are doing fine, let them have it. I also have nothing against milkbones given in moderation.

Mandy, I agree with Reneé. We know you are knowledgeable about pet nutrition due to your job & the research you have done. I also ask that you please practice tact with people who post. In many of your posts in this and other sections is seems your passion comes off as yelling at us.

Donna--I suspect the "aggressiveness" has to do with how much she likes the bully sticks. Anything you give her that she values will result in her defending it, in my experience.

My guys will defend a high value chewie from other dogs, but not from me (Lola was the notable exception). I just make sure everyone has a neutral corner to chew their bullies or bones and monitor the thieves in the group.

If she's defending it from you, that's a different kettle of fish.

I use a variety of canned foods from time to time. There are many good ones out there and I recommend them to folks who have UTI/crystal prone dogs as many folks just aren't comfortable with raw.

northernwitch wrote:Donna--I suspect the "aggressiveness" has to do with how much she likes the bully sticks. Anything you give her that she values will result in her defending it, in my experience.

My guys will defend a high value chewie from other dogs, but not from me (Lola was the notable exception). I just make sure everyone has a neutral corner to chew their bullies or bones and monitor the thieves in the group.

If she's defending it from you, that's a different kettle of fish.

I use a variety of canned foods from time to time. There are many good ones out there and I recommend them to folks who have UTI/crystal prone dogs as many folks just aren't comfortable with raw.

Oh yes, she loves her bullies, that and toilet paper ( go figure) are the two things she gets nasty about if I try to take them away from her. If Rupert comes over to her bully she is ok, if I do she will try to bit me, so I just stopped giving them to her, not sure what else to do.

Donna wrote:

northernwitch wrote:Donna--I suspect the "aggressiveness" has to do with how much she likes the bully sticks. Anything you give her that she values will result in her defending it, in my experience.

My guys will defend a high value chewie from other dogs, but not from me (Lola was the notable exception). I just make sure everyone has a neutral corner to chew their bullies or bones and monitor the thieves in the group.

If she's defending it from you, that's a different kettle of fish.

I use a variety of canned foods from time to time. There are many good ones out there and I recommend them to folks who have UTI/crystal prone dogs as many folks just aren't comfortable with raw.

Oh yes, she loves her bullies, that and toilet paper ( go figure) are the two things she gets nasty about if I try to take them away from her. If Rupert comes over to her bully she is ok, if I do she will try to bit me, so I just stopped giving them to her, not sure what else to do.

Little rat. Has she been at the Ouija board channeling Lola? Will she trade the bully for a treat? I did do that with Lola and it would work if I made sure the treat was really high quality--like smoked gouda (I'm ashamed to say). Interesting that she's okay with Rupert but not you. Lola was rotten to anyone and anything that had any intentions towards her chewie.

Donna wrote:

northernwitch wrote:Donna--I suspect the "aggressiveness" has to do with how much she likes the bully sticks. Anything you give her that she values will result in her defending it, in my experience.

My guys will defend a high value chewie from other dogs, but not from me (Lola was the notable exception). I just make sure everyone has a neutral corner to chew their bullies or bones and monitor the thieves in the group.

If she's defending it from you, that's a different kettle of fish.

I use a variety of canned foods from time to time. There are many good ones out there and I recommend them to folks who have UTI/crystal prone dogs as many folks just aren't comfortable with raw.

Oh yes, she loves her bullies, that and toilet paper ( go figure) are the two things she gets nasty about if I try to take them away from her. If Rupert comes over to her bully she is ok, if I do she will try to bit me, so I just stopped giving them to her, not sure what else to do.

Tyson is this same way, if I get too close while he's chewing on a bully stick or these new bones I bought at PetSmart, he starts to growl. They don't get them that often at all, but when I do give them I make sure I'm not the only one home, so when it's time to put them away, I can distract by offering another treat/go outside/etc., and someone else can pick up the high-value items.