Hi All,
My maltese does not much like his kibble - either Canidae chicken and rice or California Natural rice and lamb. One half cup usually lasts at least three days. He is two and a half years old and weighs seven pounds. I like dry kibble because it's better for his teeth. What kinds of canned food are nutritious and should I switch? Thanks for your input. Linda

Kibble isn't better for teeth, that's been disproven. Canned food is fine. California Natural is a good basic canned food. Party Animal Organic and Castor and Pollux Organix are also fine foods.

If you'd rather he eat just kibble, maybe you could try adding some boiled chicken to it....or even a little warmed up Swanson organic chicken broth.

I mostly free feed Natural Balance Duck and Potato kibble, and offer some canned food maybe every other night - I use Merrick's Turducken(Turkey, duck and chicken). Merrick has a wide varity of canned food.

We've had to rotate Uno's kibble. In the past, we've tried Canidae chicken/rice (soaked in warm water) mixed in with some Sojo's Europa or the same Canidae with some baby applesauce on top and he gobbled it down. Seems like many maltese go through phases with thier food, too. We try to give Uno some variety especially now that I homecook. He's never had diarrhea from these changes. We haven't embraced any canned food just because it seems to go bad faster once you open it.

I feed Clifford both kibble and canned. I use Natural Balance Duck & Potato, and I leave 1/4 cup of kibble out, and by the end of the day everything is gone. I give him canned in the morning, kibble afternoon, and canned again at dinner.

[size="2"][/size]Thanks so much for your input. I will try some of your suggestions. Linda

I would caution using canned wet dog food though. As I posted on a prevous thread, Jaxon lost some of his teeth and when I asked my vet whether I should switch to canned food he said that it's actually worse for their teeth because it is more likely to stick. I guess it's just personal preference as to what you would rather do, but to me it makes sense that canned food would stick easier. Stella has only ever had dry dog food that was moistened somewhat when she was a puppy. After having one dog who lost teeth I don't want to take the chance of that happening again, but to each his/her own I suppose!

Nope, your vet is wrong. There is nothing wrong with a "good quality" canned food.

Proper dental hygiene is what's important.

Not much different than humans. Yep, we eat what we want. But helloooo, brush and flosh.

Also, why in the world would your vet think that "dry" food doesn't "stick". Good heavens,
eat a bag of peanuts, and see what is stuck in YOUR teeth.

Once again, proper dental hygiene is key. That's it.

LOL...well you're not one to sugar coat things are you Deb? LOL But it is frustrating when vets don't keep up on the latest findings. They are the ones we are supposed to trust. But there is just so much they have to keep up on when you consider all the different species they treat, and then the different breeds within the different species. And of course all the different specialties that human Drs refer for.

But yes, it has been disproven that kibble is better for the teeth. In fact, canned really is better since there is little to no preservatives in canned food. And the whole process of making kibble just depletes the nutrients. Oral hygiene is what is needed no matter the type of food, but more and more people are finding that a good quality canned or home made diets actually leave less of a build up than kibble.

Well, I'll take the cynical view here, and say that if a vet's office sells a lot of kibble, then they'll recommend kibble and believe whatever the sales rep tells them.

Suzan and Deb are right on here and I'll just add a couple of points:

* In vet schools, the primary educator or sponsor on food and nutrition are the dog food companies. Its no wonder vets are not up to speed on the latest "findings" about health and nutrition.

* In defense of vets, its impossible for them to know every little aspect or nuance of dog care - they learn about not only dogs, but cats, guniea pigs, cows, horses, rabbits, lizards, birds, etc. in most vet schools.

* We have to be our own advocates for our dogs' health. We cannot just blindly follow vets advice.

If you are interested in learning more about being your dogs' health advocate, I strongly recommend the book "Scared Poopless". Its highly informative and very easy to read, even though it contains a lot of great technical information - she breaks it down so lay people understand. I also recommend the Whole Dog Journal, great focus on health, nutrition and positive training.

Scared Poopless is a great book. I also subscribe to Whole Dog Journal.

Isn't that what I said?? Don't mind me. Just needing some validation I guess. You know, the whole fitted sheet thing and my last vet visit!

And yes, "Scared Poopless" is a fantastic book!!

Oh yes, you did say that the vets have a lot of animals to treat! I just wanted to elaborate a little more and had no intention of coming across as discrediting your post. Sorry if I did.

LOLOL I'm just kidding!! I'm just in one of those silly moods!! Teasing doesn't always come across in a post.