# Food advice for my first Maltese



## cherrycola (Nov 23, 2013)

Hi guys, I only joined here yesterday and I'm really sorry for asking for advice so soon but I'm hoping I can get a little advice on diet for Io. This is going to be a really long post so please bear with me! Io is my first Maltese, she's three years old and I adopted her six months from a home that didn't care for her too well. 

I took Io to the vets for her vaccinations last week though, the vet said Io looked great but then asked what I was feeding her, I told her and she said it really isn't good to feed so much protein and to keep her settled on one brand of food, she recommended Hills Science Diet and sent me away with a sample packet.

Io is bright and energetic, her coat shines and she has a healthy stomach, she loves her food too, but the vet has me worried, so I was just wondering if you guys, as experienced Maltese owners, could cast your eye over her diet?

I am in the UK, so I doubt you guys will know the brands I feed, so if I'll just post up snapshots of the ingredients if that's ok.

Ok so this is the kibble I use. I feed it for the morning meal only and Io eats 35g. It is a turkey & rice formula for small breeds.









For the evening meal I give canned food, and I rotate between these four varieties. Io eats a heaped tablespoon.

































I add Yumega Oil (a mixture of golden flax, starflower and salmon oils) and Keepers Mix (Keepers Mix for Dogs and Cats - Dorwest) to her evening meal. I give pieces of carrot or apple as daily snacks and she has occasional healthy natural store brought treats too. Two evening per week I will give a meal of fresh green tripe mince instead of the canned food. 

So can anyone tell me if these foods and variety are ok? Or are they real bad foods that I should not be giving to my Maltese? My Westie is 11 and has eaten these foods for a long time and is real healthy.

Thank you so much guys. x


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## callen510 (Nov 20, 2013)

Pet food choices overwhelm me. I don't know what to feed a new puppy. I want a food that is readily available at major pet stores or the vet. don't judge me but as of right now I really don't want to have to cook food for my dog. I need good quality and convenient/easy. It seems that people have lots of opinions and I would love to know those thoughts I have read this post Pet Food: The Lowdown on Labels and I am even more confused. I have seen Science Diet, Nutro etc.. but ???


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

I don't think that looks like a bad food at all. I would prefer not to feed science diet myself. I'm also confused on how those protein levels are too high? Did I read it wrong? I'm use to foods with 28-32% protein.


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## cherrycola (Nov 23, 2013)

Hi, thanks for your reply. No, you didn't read it wrong! - our vet said that feeding a mixed diet of kibble and 4/5 different brands of canned food is too much protein and that I should stick to one brand of food only, and recommend Hills Science Diet but I have no intention of changing to this.


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

I should add, I also switch brands. I have about 3 or 4 different brands I will sometimes rotate through. (Though the primary brand we use is Fromm) I only see benefits with rotation, unless you're dealing with a dog who has severe allergies.


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## maggieh (Dec 16, 2007)

Vets get paid to push science diet so take that recommendation with a grain of salt. It's usually best to settle on one brand and rotate proteins within that brand. None of the labels seem bad although you should calculate the dry matter protein of the canned foods to determine whether they are high. Dry Matter Basis - A Better Way to Compare Dog Foods you may also want to look at foods with fewer grains if your fluff is scratching or starts to have other problems that a grain free food might help.

Some Maltese do great on higher protein foods while others do not. Don't let a your vet try and push you into a lower quality food.


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## SammieMom (Nov 13, 2010)

I don't know about foods in UK, but others here do. I feed mine approx 26% protein levels by (dry kibble by Fromm) and I also use Pet Fresh / Vital it's about 9 % protein before calculated, and it is also (grain free) by Pet Fresh (a wet food in a tube). 

I wanted to say welcome and your both your babies are so cute...:wub::wub:..I just love Westie's too.

Good luck!


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## shellbeme (Mar 1, 2011)

I feed fromm gold for canned food and it's 9% protein the wellness canned I have used in the past is 8%. If you are feeding a bad source of protein (and when I say that I am thinking chicken feathers, beaks and hooves from animals ground into dry kibble) it is difficult for the body to digest. If your sources are of good quality like meats and organs, and wet like canned or many raw diets are, it shouldn't be such an issue to feed higher amounts of protein.

Also, feeding different types of protein help build different amino acid profiles which is good. I suppose if you're concerned about allergies though some vets might argue that the more sources you expose them to, the less options you have if they get allergic to them. I personally believe the benefits outweigh the negatives and that true allergies are pretty rare anyway.


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## cherrycola (Nov 23, 2013)

Thanks.. none of the foods you guys have mentioned are available over here which is a real shame 

Io doesn't seem to have any problem with grain but I avoid wheat and maize (corn to you guys, I think). 

I will keep her diet as it is then - she's bright and happy eating it, and hasn't given me any cause for concern. Thanks for putting my mind at rest.


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