Feeding wet and dry food?

Before i start I will say I have considered RAW feeding and it's something i need to read a lot more about before I move to it, so i'd rather keep away from that subject for now.

Anyway, when we adopted Oreo she was on james wellbeloved dry. She didn't eat much and her meal times were very sad for her. In the end it involved me hand feeding her bits of kibble.

In the middle of all this we find out she has an allergy. We tried all sorts of diets and medication with no results. We then switched her to a wet food as we are told she could have an allergy to storage mites.

We switched to chappie, this hasn't solved the allergy problem completely but has solved her eating issues. She loves to eat. She sits and waits while we prepare her food and she always clears her bowl. So it's kind of a result for us!

Anyway, I am convinced that the cereals in chappie (and other foods) are part of the reason why Oreo suffers with this allergy.

So we are looking at a way of feeding her kibble while keeping it interesting for her.

Butchers tripe is gluten and cereal free and wondered if I added half a tin to a cereal free dry food would I have any problems?

The reason I ask is because her poo's are not solid enough when she eats just a wet diet but she will not eat a complete dry diet.

I know wet and dry foods have different rates of digestion and wondered if it would cause any issues if I were to feed her this way?

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks

Plenty complete wet foods cereal free, why not stay with wet feed if she likes it

The only reason is because her poos arn't solid enough on wet food. They are too wet and difficult to pick up.

I just assumed that she needed a bit of dry food to make them a more 'healthy'.

I've been hearing a lot recently about worries regarding wet and dry food digesting at different rates but don't really understand why it might be problem? I frequently give my dogs food of different consistency at th e same time and have never found it to be a problem am I inadvertently causing harm?
Why is feeding foods of different digestive rates at the same time bad?
Sorry for hi jacking your thread Cadac!

I think its raw you aren't meant to feed with kibble cos it processes at different rates so many people who feed both feed one of the meals as raw and the other as kibble

I've never heard it about wet and dry?

If I know mine are having fresh (cooked) meat with their kibble or bit of fish (fresh or tinned) at dinner time later I may give them a stuffed kong with nature diet in for breakfast. If I don't have much in I might add some wet to their kibble at night and it maybe more wet with bit of kibble sprinkled over for crunch..as some of the kibble portion may have been used at breakfast in treat toys for example.

Fishmongers wet is kind of texture of mashed potatoes with a fishy taste so would be similar to you adding a bit of fish and mash to your dogs kibble. It's also grain free.

I'm not sure of the consistency of Butchers tripe as I've never used it but generally I think if it comes in a tin it tends to be a firmer texture & richer (maybe a problem for sensitive tummies?)

I prefer Naturediet simply cos its better texture for kong filling and for freezing and fishmongers tends to be a bit sloppier and turns even more mushy if you froze it in a kong and then its defrosted (alot of water from it) so it tends to only work going on their meals fresh, but mine love the taste!

how about soaking the dry food in warm water

We fed butcher wet and fish for dogs dry for years with no problems.

I agree with Shane, soak your dry food. Some can take up to an hour to soften down depending what you feed. Mash it up with a fork & add very small amount of wet food to it, mix well so he/she cant pick it out. Do a slow changeover - 3/5 days if changing from wet to dry or vice versa. I always soak dry food, easier on the digestion. Use the tripe mix if going for Butchers - stronger smell if mixing into dry.

Wainwrights (PAH) do wet tray food whic is very good both quality & price. You could try their dry fish variety food. If the poo is not a good consistency then it does suggest a bit of a food intolerance. Have yiu discussed it with your vet again?

Hi all, thanks again.

I have discussed it with my previous vet and he believed that the only option is atopica. He doesn't want to put Oreo on steriods (which I can understand).

However, I do not want my dog on a drug (atopica) which has a high percentage rate of secondary side affects.

In regards to food he suggested one of there own brands which is grain and gluten free. It is very expensive (even when sourcing it from the internet) and Oreo turned her nose up at it. When she did eat it, she still had the same problem with poos and itching.

We've been to two different vets now, one treated with steriods and one treated it with antibiotics and melesab shampoo and had us going for 'check ups' every week at £80 a pop.

We have changed our vets again and we are debating wether to have another go with the vet option. But it does stress Oreo out even more and thought it better to have a last shot at trialling a wet and dry food, to see if we have better results.

This has been going on now for over 12 months (since we had her) and we've been told it could be anything from storage mites to cereals in food to air fresheners.

Throughout all of this she has only chewed on her back paws. However the last month she has been going at all four.

We have controlled it with using a head collar for times were not around and the paws are healing nicely.

We have been rubbing in vitamin E oil into paws and this seems to have removed the dryness of the pads which is good.

Since we've had her, her paws have never been in better condition however we are having issues with the biting and scratching and also the poos and also cracked nails, so we seem to be getting there with one thing and losing our way with another.

Working dogs HPR do a Hydrolysed Protein food with Allergy X that is fish & potato based, rather than a chicken flavoured soy as RC and hills tend to do (soy is difficult for dogs to process too).

They sent me a large generous sample and the kibble is really big if you pour hot water on and leave it a short time it goes to a weetabix consistency. your dog might find that easier?

http://www.workinghprs.com/content/f...y-x%C2%AE-15kg

Also it been an Hydrolysed food it maybe made and stored seperately and differently to standard dog foods? (for the storage mite issue?)

You can also buy Allergy X on its own to add to your dogs own food?

http://www.verm-x.com/product/natura.../allergy-x.php

Maybe worth asking for a free sample of the food?