# Am I feeding them right?



## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

I have 2 girls, 7yrs and 5yrs. I read somewhere on the internet, that the standard to feed them is 14g of food per kilogram.

I worked out, with my older girl being approximately 5kg, that she should have around 70g of food a day. I decided to mix wet & dry food.

For the 5 year old, she is quite a bit more active. I would say she's around 4kg, but I thought that she should have 70g aswell.

The wet food I have is a home delivered food called Bucket 'O' Beef here in Australia. Apparently they have all of the vitamins and minerals that the dogs need in them, with meat and vegetables etc.

For dry food, initially they both had the same one, but I am going to get my older girl a senior food, as I just read that from 7 years she should be on a senior food. I am thinking to look at perhaps Iams food.

I was thinking to make up the 70g a day, I would give them 40g of wet food mixed with 30g of the dry food.

It still doesn't sound like much though? Does it sound right?


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## Cosy (Feb 9, 2006)

Iams is not a preferred choice for most of us on here. I think at 7 yrs it depends on the dog as to food. Is she overweight? Health? How are her teeth? All these things play a part in what her diet should be.


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## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

Thank you for your response!

Well, I would say the older one is a little 'portly'... I wouldn't say overweight, but she's not skinny. The younger one is more athletic looking.

Both of them have teeth that are in not so good shape. I will be taking them to have their teeth cleaned as soon as I can. They don't seem keen on having their teeth brushed either... so I'm guessing it has never been done.


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## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

Oh and I am happy to hear of your recommendations of the better food for both of them, as long as they are available in Australia I'm happy to get whatever!


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## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

Oh I meant to add, healthwise, the older one does seem to have diarrhea quite often. Her little tummy doesn't handle things too well. I was considering to give her the fish and potato diet, but I am scared taht i will cause her to miss something important and make her unwell!


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

Sadly, here in Au, we lack the great choices available in the US. There are very few premium brands available here.

A few months back I switched mine to ZiwiPeak, exclusively. Its not the choice for everyone as it is high in protein, and a little high on the fat too. But it has been wonderful for us, and both of mine love it. 

Another downside is that it is probably one of the most expensive foods available, however, I feed strictly to the guidelines, and honestly, a little bit goes a very long way. Its also about the closest you can get to a raw diet, without being raw. 

My Harley has environmental allergies, so I use the Fish & Venison - it doesn't smell the greatest either - but mine love all things stinky!! LOL Harley will never be 'cured' of his allergies, but good food does help me to manage it. 

Do you have a pet supplies place nearby? If so, call around & ask if they can give you samples of any of the food choices you look at - I'd say the more boutique type stores are more willing to do this, rather than the big chain stores.

I'm not sure if the girls are your first pets? Please forgive me if I am telling you things you already know .... but be mindful when/if you decide to switch their food - it should be a gradual transition, say start with 80% old food, introduce 20% new food for a few days, then gradually reduce the old & increase the new - gradually - especially if your girl is already prone to tummy upsets. Switching to new food can sometimes cause tummy upsets - mine did - and it was a few weeks before things were totally back to normal.

Good luck!!


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

Meant to add: The quantity of food can depend on the quality. If the food is low quality & full of 'fillers' (junk) the suggested quantity will probably be higher. If the food is great quality & has no 'fillers', the suggested quantity will be less. (**this is just my opinion - not scientific fact, that I'm aware of)


At 3.5kgs, Dakota gets just over half a scoop per day (the scoop is probably about the size of a laundry powder scoop - tiny!)

Here is the ZiwiPeak recommendations

Natural Range Of Premium Pet-food Products - Ziwipeak - Natural New Zealand Pet Nutrition

I am very careful with these recommendations as when I first started using this food, I was a bit 'slap-dash' with measuring, and as a result, Harley quickly put on weight - we are back to his ideal weight now, and I am VERY meticulous is measuring!! lol


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## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

Thank you so much for the reference! I'm going to have a look at it right now! To be honest, I don't mind to spend on the more expensive brands if they are the best for them, and if they go a decent distance. 

I appreciate ANY advice you can offer me - I did know about the gradual change in foods because I recently read it, but I appreicate hearing it again because it gives me confidence in the instructions I read!


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## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

Hi Harley & Dakota's Mum!

I checked out the website for Ziwipeak and I am really impressed with it! The ingredients look very good. There are a few places not far from where I live which stock it, so I think I'm going to go and get some this week for the girls and start to mix it in with their food. I also thought I would try to get some of the knuckle bones (smaller ones if they are available) and some of the treats. Fingers crossed they like it!


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## Harley & Dakotas Mum (Jun 11, 2005)

Thats great! Ask for sample bags - the company does make them, because I got samples before I purchased a bag. If the stores near you don't have samples - ask them to get you some - thats what I had to do.

You might be surprised by what the food actually looks like - it doesn't look like kibble at all! Its more like broken up little bits of 'schmacko's' - not that I endorse feeding schmacko's - its junk!


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## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

So, I went to the pet store today and it seems that ZiwiPeak is no longer supplying to the store as a regular item. The ladies are able to order it for me, but said it could take up to two weeks to get here!  

I had a good talk to them about the girls, they were very kind. Despite the fact that they have the standard products that most other pet stores have, they warned me away from any tinned foods etc and the regular brands. They said there is to much junk in them (which I was happy to hear coming from them).

They asked me about whether I had considered to make the girls' food, as it really was one of the only ways to know exactly what you were giving them. I said that I had (and have done so up until this point), but I am concerned they are not getting all of the vitamins and minerals etc that they need. I do not want to cause any adversity in their health because I am not making their food properly.

They showed me an all natural product called a complete mix. I have not heard of this before. Basically, it is a mix of rolled oats, cracked barley, fax seed meal, whole cracked oats, carrots, split peas, calcium, yeast, parsley, kelp, lecithin, barley grass, vitamin c & garlic. You mix a small portion of it with water over night, then add it to whatever meat you regularly feed them (ie chicken mince, beef mince etc). It is put together by a vet and is said to contain all of the antioxidants, vitamins & minerals, EFAs, proteins & carbohydrates that dogs need, when mixed with the meat. THey do recommend using raw meats, but said to start with cooking the meat as normal until the dogs are used to this mix, then slowly (about 10% at a time), mix in raw meat, until they are eating all raw.

I thought I would give this mix a try. It sounded like what I was looking for... let's see if the girls will like it! The ladies also said, if I need to, just add a small amount of the mix at a time to the meat, until it's up to the proper amount. 

Any comments or thoughts on this?

PS - the mix is 100% raw, has no preservatives etc in it, all natural... I was careful to look at the ingredients carefully.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

It sounds like you are describing Dr. Harvey's pre-mix. If so, that is a good option, just make sure you are adding the proper amount of meat. I'm not sure if "tinned food" is what we call canned food here, I am assuming so, but a high quality canned food is much better for a dog than any dry kibble...so I'm not sure what the salesperson meant by their comment about canned food. The dehydrated/freeze-dried/raw is better than canned or dry food so you did make a good choice.


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## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

It's called Vet's All Natural by Dr Bruce Syme Complete Mix (this one is for Adult/Senior dogs). I am soooooo happy to hear though, that it is a good idea to use. 

One question... for a 5kg dog, it says to use 95g of meat. That's ok... but just for the moment, until I build them up to raw, the girls are having cooked meat with teh mix... so should it be 95g pre or post cooking? 

LJSquishy, yes they said not to use kibble either (and I meant the same as canned food lol - Aussie wording I guess!) - basically just as you said... if you can't do your own or get the freeze dried sort of stuff, canned food is next best, kibble last... 

She also pointed out that small dogs have lots of teeth problems, so to give them lots of raw bones to chew etc. In failing that, she said you "could" buy one of those dental kibbles and give them one large piece of it each day to chew on - but that is a last resort to any and every type of bone you can try. 

The girls seemed to like the mix in the meat. They ate all of their dinner (or at least one came back and finished off the leftovers lol). Unfortunately, I didn't soak it long enough first, so some of the mix was a bit hard and she picked all of that out and put it on the floor. lol But today's has been soaking long enough, so it should be much better today!


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## cgc (Apr 11, 2011)

My pup is 12 weeks old and weighs approx 2.5 lbs. How much dry food should he be eating? He was eating 1/4 cup the whole day and now seems to want to eat much more. in fact he can eat nearly that amount in one feeding.


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## 2LittlePrincesses (Apr 24, 2011)

Hi cgc - I'm not sure as far as dry food is concerned. My recommendation would be to get the best quality food you can afford for your pup, and then follow the recommendations on the back. From my understanding, every food is different, and a pet may need more or less, depending on the quality/nutritional level of that food. I hope that's of some help.

The food that I am now feeding my girls is a mix that you soak in water over night and add to their regular meat. I believe there is a puppy one available aswell. I personally would recommend something like this to you over dry foods, if possible. But that's only my personal opinion - there may be some great dry foods out there (just not in Aus!)


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## vjw (Dec 20, 2006)

I for one think Iams is a great food. I think a lot of the origination of the negativity about Iams comes from slick marketing ploys of dog food companies who are trying to sell their own food. And sadly, dog owners have fallen for it. Even sadder still is that dogs are eating food that's not nutritionally complete and balanced for them. I think most veterinarians and any veterinary nutritionist will tell you that Iams is a quality dog food. Isn't Iams one of the foods which is "complete and balanced" nutritionally?

Here's what a veterinary nutritionist says about fillers in dog foods:

PetDiets


https://www.petdiets.com/faqs/display_faq.asp?ID=589


There's a ton of great information on the petdiets.com site.


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