Do dogs need wet food everyday

Dry Dog Food vs. Wet Dog Food: Which Is Better?

The number of dog food products on the market can make it very confusing for you to choose a diet that is appropriate for your pet. Not only are there tons of different brands and ingredients, but even the most basic choice of wet versus dry dog food can be overwhelming.

Its important to always consult your veterinarian for more specific recommendations that best fit your dogs lifestyle, but this article will go over the main differences between dry and wet dog food.

What's the Difference Between Wet and Dry Dog Food?

Both dry dog food and wet dog food can provide nutritionally balanced diets, but the major difference is in the way they are processed.

How Is Wet Dog Food Processed?

Wet food starts with grinding the protein sources, or meat ingredients. Then a gravy that contains vitamins, minerals, and grains is added. Once those are mixed, the food is cooked and sterilized to produce the canned product.

As a result, wet food has a much higher moisture content than dry food. You can see the percentage of maximum moisture on the label, under the Guaranteed Analysis section. A dry food might have around 10% moisture (max.) while a wet food might have something like 78% moisture (max.).

How Is Dry Dog Food Processed?

Dry food contains very similar ingredients, but instead of adding gravy and canning the product, the meat mixture is pulverized in order to create a consistent dough that can be cooked.

Once cooked, the dough is extruded through specifically shaped holes to form kibble. The kibble undergoes a drying process, and then is sprayed with fats, oils, vitamins, and minerals and packaged before the fats and oils can spoil.

Some dry dog food diets also add live probiotics to aid in digestive and immune health.

Is Wet or Dry Food Better for Dogs?

Both types of dog food are good choices, but each has their own benefits and drawbacks depending on the nutritional needs of your pet.

Benefits of Wet Dog Food Compared to Dry Dog Food

Wet dog food, or canned food, sometimes provides benefits that dry food doesnt offer, such as:

• Higher moisture content: Wet food may be a good choice if your dog doesnt drink as much as they should, or if they have a medical condition that could benefit from proper hydration. One example would be a dog with a history of urinary or kidney disease.

• Palatability: Canned dog food is often more aromatic and flavorful when compared to dry food. This may entice sick or older dogs to eat if their appetite is decreased.

• Satiety: Wet dog food tends to create a longer-lasting feeling of being full. Increased satiety is useful in weight management, especially in dogs that seem to have a never-ending appetite.

• Easier to chew: Dogs that have dental disease or other oral abnormalities may find wet food easier to chew than dry food.

Benefits of Dry Dog Food Compared to Wet Dog Food

Dry dog food, or kibble, often offers certain benefits that wet food doesnt provide, such as:

• Dental health benefits: Dry food encourages dogs to chew their food, which aids in preventing tartar buildup and secondary periodontal disease.

• Convenience: Compared to wet food, dry diets are much easier to pre-portion, and they wont spoil if left out all day. This can be beneficial for dogs that are grazers.

• Financially feasible: Depending on the brand of food, dry diets may be less expensive to purchase and store long-term.

• Food enrichment: Kibble is easier to integrate into food puzzles and slow feeders that may improve a dogs quality of life through cognitive stimulation.

What Dry Dog Food Do Veterinarians Recommend?

The most commonly recommended dry dog food brands, by veterinarians, are the same as for wet food: Royal Canin, Science Diet, and Purina Pro Plan. Here are a few dry dog food options for puppy, adult, and senior life stages:

Guide to Mixing Wet and Dry Dog Food

Mixing wet and dry dog food is another option that may provide the best of both worlds. However, it is very important to ensure you are still providing the properdaily feeding amountto prevent overfeeding.

The best way to do this is to have your local vet calculate your furry friends daily calorie requirements for maintenance. Then you can calculate how much dry and wet food your dog should have each day to reach that number of caloriesand dont forget to factor in any calories from treats.

Featured image: iStock.com/NickyLloyd

WRITTEN BY

Heather Hoffmann, DVM

Veterinarian

Dr. Heather Hoffmann is a 2018 graduate from the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. She completed a certificate in...

Do Dogs Get Tired of Eating the Same Food Every Day?

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My black Curly-Coated Retriever, Wave, loved his food until one day, he didnt. He was healthy and active, and nothing had changed in his life. He just seemed to be bored with the food he previously devoured.

In contrast, my current dog, a brown Lagotto Romagnolo, does a Snoopy dance of joy every time I feed her. Mealtimes are the best times of the day. Im convinced that no matter what I put in her food dish, she would eat it as quickly as she could.

Research on dogs and their appetites shows that my own dogs are not unusual when it comes to their food choices. Dogs like routine, which includes consistency in their food. They have fewer tastebuds than we do by a longshot 1,700 for the average dog compared to 9,000 for humans, so they may not be as discriminating as we are in what they choose to eat. Most dogs are as content to eat from a trashcan as they are a gourmet meal.

If Your Dog Refuses Food

However, for some dogs, there comes a day when you give them a dish of their previously adored food and they lift their noses, lay on you a sorrowful look, and walk away. If and when this happens, what should you do?

• First, check the food to see if it may have expired or spoiled. Expired food can lose its flavor, as well as its nutritional value.
• Second, check your dog for any underlying health or behavioral issues that could affect his appetite. Stress, separation anxiety, dental disease, diabetes, nausea, and pain can cause loss of appetite. You might also see an appetite reduction in senior dogs.
• Third, consider whether your dogs boredom is with the food or with life in general. Mental and physical exercise, including dog sports, therapy work, or search and rescue, may invigorate your dog and stimulate his appetite. Food puzzles and feeding toys may also liven up mealtime enough to make it more exciting.
• Finally, if it appears that your dog may simply be tired of the same old food, even though youve been providing a nutritional, well-balanced, high-quality diet, you might want to give a fresh dog food diet a try. After all, variety is the spice of life, and fresh food can introduce some enticing new smells, tastes, and textures to your dogs diet. Fresh dog food delivery services, such asOllie, work with canine nutritionists to develop yummy, personalized meals for dogs.

Spice Up Your Dogs Diet

As the Merck Veterinary Manual reports, dogs require specific dietary nutrient concentrations based on their life stage. Energy requirements are quite variable. Animals with the same body weight can have a 3-fold variation in daily kcal requirements affected by age, neutering status, physical activity, environment, and underlying abnormalities.

Before you make any major changes in your dogs diet, its important to consult with your veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist, advises Dr. Jerry Klein, AKC chief veterinary officer. Make any changes very gradually. Sudden changes in diet are likely to result in gastrointestinal upset.

After getting professional advice, you might want to start with a simple change. Some dogs become bored with the smell, flavor, and texture of their food. Change out one ingredient, such as swapping any chicken-based food for fish or lamb. You can also add fresh ingredients to the dogs kibble. Both steps may awaken those sensitive noses and make an old dish more exciting.

Whenever you make changes, whether small or large, the most important responsibility involved with feeding your dog is to be sure youre feeding a complete, nutritious, balanced food with the right amount of protein, fats, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Try Going Fresh

There are fresh dog food companies today that use human-grade ingredients and avoid fillers, artificial flavors, and preservatives. The best ones work with veterinary nutritionists, and they will customize a diet that meets the needs of your dog. You can subscribe and have the food delivered to you conveniently in the correct portion size to be refrigerated or frozen.

Ollieoffers fresh, human-grade food, made with natural ingredients like chicken, beef, carrots, lamb, and blueberries. The recipes were developed with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist to create balanced and complete, human-grade recipes that abide by the AAFCO standards.

Your dog will have new flavors and aromas to try, and since there are few or no preservatives, the food may be tastier and more appealing. There are a variety of ingredient options you can try on your dog to see what he likes best for example, chicken, beef, or lamb, which can contain butternut squash, chickpeas, cranberries, kale, carrots, blueberries, and sweet potato.

Different ingredients offer different benefits healthy weight, shiny coats, increased energy, clean breath, good digestion, and regular stools. But if the food isnt palatable to your dog, the benefits wont matter. It makes sense to go with a fresh food provider that allows you to try different options with your dog and see how he reacts.

Fresh food companies like Ollie also save you the time required to cook your dogs food at home. It may seem simple to do the cooking yourself, but unless you cook using recipes developed by a veterinary nutritionist, you may be shortchanging your dog when it comes to balance and nutrition. The right fresh food provider will combine convenience with quality, nutrition, and safety.

As dog owners and dog lovers, we know that life is infinitely more delicious because we live with our dogs. Lets make sure their food remains infinitely delicious, too.

Ollies freshly cooked food is the simplest way to keep your dog happy and healthy at any age. Our five delicious recipes were formulated with vet nutritionists and ensure mealtime stays fresh and exciting for your pup. Visit Ollie.com, tell us all about your pup, and well create a custom meal plan just for them.

Rotation Feeding for Pets

The Benefits of a Rotational Diet

Have you ever had the same meal for an entire week? A month? A year? What if you had to eat the same exact meal for your whole life? This is essentially what most of us do to our pets choose a food brand and stick with it. And while keeping your dog or cat on a consistent diet isnt unhealthy, some veterinary nutritionists are raving about an alternative called rotation feeding. Click here to watch a video by Dr. Karen Becker about rotation feeding for pets.

What is Rotation Feeding?

Rotation feeding is really all about variety. Its a holistic and nutritional philosophy that offers your pet a dietary alternative varying both food proteins (chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) and food forms (raw, frozen, wet, dry, etc.). This way your dog or cat is able to enjoy and experience different flavors and textures.

How is Rotation Feeding Beneficial?

Proponents of rotation feeding boast about the many health and behavioral benefits, but here are four particular benefits that may interest you:

1. A more complete approach to nutrient intake

Many pet foods on the market are designed to be complete and balanced. However, food ingredients each have a unique nutritional profile. Components such as amino acids, vitamins, minerals and fatty acids can be found in different quantities, depending on the type of food. By combining specific complete diets, rotation feeding allows your pet to experience the benefits of two or more foods.

2. Creates excitement during mealtime

Some dogs and cats become uninterested in their food once they are accustomed to certain textures, flavors and even brands. With rotation feedings, its like a new tasty adventure is waiting for your pet every time they go to their food bowl.

3. Increase water consumption

Water is critical to all life. However, not all pets drink sufficient water. One way to remedy this is to add high moisture foods to your dogs diet, such as raw frozen foods. This will often prevent health problems such as urinary issues, liver disease and constipation.

4. Reduce risk of food allergies and intolerances

If consistently fed the same food, some dogs and cats may develop an allergy or intolerance to common ingredients such as chicken, beef, wheat, corn, or soy. Rotation feeding reduces the risk because the ingredients and formulations are not in your pets diet long enough for him or her to develop an adverse reaction, such as vomiting, diarrhea and hives.

When Should I Start My Pet on Rotation Feeding?

Its much easier to start rotation feeding while he or she is still a puppy or kitten (assuming they are already eating solid food), but thats not to say an older dog or cat cant benefit from rotation feeding too. It just may take a little bit more patience. Often, its recommended that small amounts of the new food be blended into the regular diet, so that your pet may become accustomed to the taste and texture of the food slowly, especially if you are switching between brands with different formulations.This may be an issue for some pets.

The most important part is that you consult a veterinarian or a veterinary nutritionist before beginning rotation feeding. They can assist you in choosing which foods are best for the rotation and ensure that you continue to provide your dog a balanced diet. Also, keep a feeding diary. Nothing fancy, but keeping track of what you are feeding your dog will help immensely should he or she have difficulty processing a new pet food.

Image: cynoclub / Shutterstock