The deal with canned food.

[lt_danish]

Ok. After a great deal of thought and reasoning about switching to raw foods I have decided that it is just not realistic for me. I don't have a car to pick up a bulk amount of meat at one time, and live in a small condo with no space of an extra deep-freezer to store meat in. We are stuck with one tiny apartment size fridge between two humans and one dog. So I am left with... kibble. Whats the deal with canned food? I mixed with with puppy kibble so it made the food mushy when baby teeth were falling out and hums were sore. But should I continue to use some canned food on a daily or weekly basis with dry food? I have not yet choosen which particular brand to feed. She is currently on Wellness brand puppy food. I don't know if I will continue with the adult formula or switch to another brand.

[Prin]

Adding some canned as a supplement is ok. It makes the food tastier and can give some vitamins and things that the dog is missing... But it's not necessary.

[luckypenny]

Originally Posted by Prin

Adding some canned as a supplement is ok. It makes the food tastier

I agree. I always add a tablespoon or two to my dogs' kibble and they love it.

[Scott_B]

When your ready to switch to an adult kibble, can I suggest Innova Evo, or one of the other high protein, grainfree kibbles.

[rainbow]

I agree with Prin.....adding canned food is not necessary.

And, ummmmm......I've been looking at your avatar.....what is your puppy doing?

[geisha]

According to the Whole Dog Journal (March) canned can be beneficial for dogs with kidney ailments due to the moisture. It can also help a dieting dog feel full faster. Canned foods contain far more animal protein than dry. I wonder if they are including the new grain free diets in the last statement. I add a bit to my dogs' bowls for the moisture and they're always happy! However if you think your pup needs moisture just add warm water and wait a few minutes. Cheers!!

[Prin]

Originally Posted by rainbow

And, ummmmm......I've been looking at your avatar.....what is your puppy doing?

Don't look! Give her some privacy!

Geisha, I doubt they're including the high protein ones, or any of the less grainy ones.

[lt_danish]

ummm... yes its true. She is peeing.

[technodoll]

i'm sure that she would be mortified if she knew you posted that and we see it every day surely... you have a more flattering photo of your sweetie to share with us in your avatar?

[geisha]

Hi Prin. Yes they do include Innova Evo 95% Beef, Turkey etc. Neura Meats 95% Beef, Wellness Chicken, Beef, & Venison 95%. They also have however Nutro for example to include different foods @ different prices. They have excluded food containing meat/poultry products, food containing sugar/sweetener, artificial colours, flavors, or added preservatives, and finally fat or protein not identifiable . Cheers.

[Prin]

lol no, I meant for the dry. They were saying the wet foods have more meat protein than the dry foods, but I don't think they included high protein dry foods in there either.

[Spirit]

Originally Posted by geisha

Canned foods contain far more animal protein than dry.

True. Sort of. Let's take Innova for example (since my brain is still fresh from the grain free thread). To do the math we find out the total protein by dry matter (remember the labels read as wet, or before processing).

Innova Adult Dry has 24% protein and 10% dry. This gives us a value of 26%.

Innova Adult Canned has 9% protein and 78% moisture. The dry value here is 40%.

So in these two cases, Innova canned food has a higher dry protein value than dry.

[Prin]

But if you look at Innova Evo cat wet vs dry, it's 54.5% vs 55% when you remove the water... (I did the math before, so I remember it). It depends on the food.

[technodoll]

but the thing of wet vs dry, IMO, is that with the dry the protein is more concentrated hence the doses are stronger per meal, it's not "natural" in the sense that whole raw food (or even canned food) contains alot of moisture, hence "diluting" the protein... you can only eat so much per meal. nobody is drying out the canned stuff and feeding that, you know?.. that's the thing with these "high protein grain free foods". nobody knows if, down the road, there will be issues arising because of the un-natural doses of protein per feeding, on a daily basis. you just don't get that in nature. carnivores will eat say 5 lbs of meat per day, but that includes moisture, at around max 20% protein. the food is not dried and concentrated.

[Prin]

Like eating a bag of cookies or chips without a cold drink.

Hey, you don't have to tell me- I'm the biggest skeptic of the high protein foods. That's why in November or whenever, I had Jemma's blood tested for anything kidney/liver/high protein related. And that's partly why I mix their food with a lower protein food now. No meat is 42% protein (other than maybe dried fish).

[technodoll]

so you're averaging about 31% now? with the mixes? how are the furries doing on that? jemma flakes gone?

[Spirit]

Originally Posted by Prin

But if you look at Innova Evo cat wet vs dry, it's 54.5% vs 55% when you remove the water... (I did the math before, so I remember it). It depends on the food.

But that's exactly it. It depends on the food. In my example, I used regular Innova dog (and not the grain free), as it's the more common food (not everyone feeds grain free.) Also, you're comparing a grain free cat food, to a dog food that is not grain free. The difference between the dog food and regular innova cat, is 10% (40%/50%-ish).

[Prin]

Yeah, they're pretty well gone. She's soft as ever too. She's 41% and 21% (if I remember properly) and everything is great (so far).

Now they just have to put something out on the market that fits so my dog food cupboard doesn't become a dog food room....

[Prin]

Originally Posted by Spirit

Also, you're comparing a grain free cat food, to a dog food that is not grain free.

No, I was just comparing two high protein foods, one wet and one dry.

[SuperWanda]

Hi Prin - I was just reading your post about you mixing foods to lower the protein and having your dog's blood tested. Did you find something negative with the results that made you decide to do that? I ask because I have been feeding Orijen but have not had a blood test done.

[Spirit]

Originally Posted by Prin

No, I was just comparing two high protein foods, one wet and one dry.

No no, I meant your reply under mine. I was showing an example of dry adult dog, vs dry canned dog (because this thread is about a puppy), and you replied under me with a new comparisson to dry/wet grain free cat food (which doesn't apply). Dog vs cat won't be such a huge jump anyway (in most foods).

Sorry... to clear up confusion. And quit with the smilie. We get it already. LOL

[Prin]

No, nothing was bad in the blood. Everything was normal. But she just got dandruff that wouldn't go away, even with supplementation, and I don't really believe 40%+ is a natural amount of protein either (which is why I pressured my vet for tests), so I decided to try the 1/2 and 1/2 and it's been working really well (so far).

[Prin]

Originally Posted by Spirit

Sorry... to clear up confusion. And quit with the smilie. We get it already. LOL

lol meant to take away the authority in my posts. I post from my experience, and I don't want anybody to think everything I say is written in stone, so I add a little uncertainty- . Everything in dog food changes every month, so nothing is certain, no matter how much experience we have and how much research we've done.

I just brought up the high protein because IMO, generalizations that magazines make about protein content are very general. They tend not to look at specific foods. Like evo dry for dogs would probably be higher protein than Innova regular canned, and that kills the generalization that canned foods have more meat protein than dry. But it doesn't necessarily mean any food is better than the other either.

[SuperWanda]

That's good to hear - I better go back and read some past threads about protein - I thought ther was one that calculated protein in cooked chicken vs raw and the determination was that 40% wasn't too high.

But - this is totally now.

I'll go do some more reading.

[Spirit]

Originally Posted by Prin

I just brought up the high protein because IMO, generalizations that magazines make about protein content are very general. They tend not to look at specific foods. Like evo dry for dogs would probably be higher protein than Innova regular canned, and that kills the generalization that canned foods have more meat protein than dry. But it doesn't necessarily mean any food is better than the other either.

Oh. Well then! LOL! (good call)

Well have a great day, all! I'm out to go... I don't know where... Out with the dog to do something that doesn't involve sitting here for the rest of the day. lol!