Hi all
Chasing some advice for canned foods, been playing with foods for faylan my issues are they either don't fill him up or turn him into a fart demon that can strip paint, I do try and mostly do raw or home made dog stews but I do like to keep the odd can in the cupboard just in case I have a lazy moment (like take out night) Any reccomendations for me?
Also I frequently do crack open a can of salmon for him (about one a week though sometimes twice) as well as a little bit of fresh salmon, he gets my trimmings when I buy full fillets as treats which is monthly, and feed him with uncooked cold pressed olive oil and coconut oil. About a tablespoon of coconut cooked into his stew and a tablespoon mixed into his stew/kibble mix. Is this bad for him? He has the softest coat so I'm not sure if it's the salmon or oils or genetics. I won't feed him anything lower quality then what I eat so he does get good quality but human foods. Should I just not give canned pet foods at all? And keep him on his person foods?

Hey Nadine,

I can't get my girl to eat can dog food, can't really get her to eat kibble. The few cans she did eat gave her terrible loose stool, so I gave up. You may have to do a search on Salmon, not sure of mercury contents. Lots of people give sardines as a treat, not sure if it's Salmon that people also use. I freeze a lot of Miya's food, in fact 90% of my freezer is Miya's, lol. I also give her people grade food, perhaps keeping some ground meat around will do the trick, freeze in a single serving, doesn't take long to unthaw, so you can give raw or I cook and mix with kibble. What I understand, raw digests at a different rate than kibble, so it is not recommended to mix, hence why I cook. I am also not sure if you have available Taste Of The Wild or Blue Buffalo in Australia, if you do I would try a few cans of those. They were too rich for Miya, but are a good product and maybe Faylan will do good with one of those. I have heard coconut oil is good, unsure about olive oil. My girl also has a very soft coat, and honestly I don't use oils, when I cook I do use a little butter, probably not good for her or us, but her fur is so soft, although it could be the raw, and /or ground meat I give her. Hope some of this helps.
Renee

Hi miyasmomma
Thanks for the tips and the reply.
Not sure of those brands in australia. I will look into them though.
I'm not sure of the mercury content in our salmon down here, I think I need to look into it more, maybe it's region specific? He just loves his fish though, lol.
Been contemplating going raw with him I have a mincer here at home so I can make him a good blend up with organs and beef. I have heard offal is good for them just not to go crazy on it.
He just seems to have a delicate tummy and I didn't want to be a slave to kitchen, there are days I feel like I'm chained to the stove with my human packs mostly paleo diet was hoping to have the odd short cut night, bone broths take forever to cook. I might just have to start cooking for him in bulk and freezing. The only reason why I've mentioned his coat is that others alway comment how soft it is not sure why they do, it's like they are shocked at how fluffy and teddy bear like he is lol. I jokingly call him my ugg boot.
My old staffy bandit gets the same foods as faylan hence the olive oil and salmon it seems to help the arthritis in his old joints. Any tips there would be helpful too, the vets just want to medicate bandit but he's not in pain just a bit slow and stiff in winter, he's 12 so it's to be expected, so I'm hoping to treat it as naturally as possible until he really needs pain pills.

Instead of cans, have you considered keeping something like Ziwipeak or Stella & Chewy's on hand for those nights you want a quick meal? Both are freeze dried raw which would be closer to the raw diet you normally feed and also less likely to cause stomach upset. They are a little pricey but if it's just for the odd meal here and there it shouldn't make too much of a dent in your budget. They can be fed as is or you can add a little water if you want, both are super simple to feed and very close to raw.

My 9 yr old boy has arthritis also and we use supplements to manage it so we don't have to have him on medication. You can find my supplement regimen in this thread: Dakota's having trouble standing - Arthritis

His supplement regimen is working amazingly well. The vet was amazed at his check up this month and told me to keep doing what I'm doing because it's definitely working.

Canned salmon that is intended for human consumption is a big no-no. It contains way too much salt and it is cooked in the can along with small bones. Cooked fish bones should not be fed to any dogs,the same as cooked fowl bones.When I was trying to figure out a diet for our diabetic I would get chicken thighs,bone them out and seal them in baggies. Anything more than a 3 day supply went to the freezer and as I would feed the fresh I would pull a bag from the freezer to replace it. Raw pork is not good ,they love it,but the possibility of parasites always bothered me. Both of ours love raw burger. can you buy horse meat in austrailia?

Ziwipeak is available in Oz, its made in NZ and is probably the best canned on the market. I haven't used it as I feed Prey Model Raw, but I use their treats from all reports it is an excellent product.

I'm in Australia and my boy eats Taste of the Wild dry food. I know that's not what you're after but if you're looking for certain overseas brands, I've found www.petcircle.com.au has heaps of stuff you can't buy in stores here! The dry food is all he eats (sometimes with an egg added, and treats also) and Axel's coat is also soo soft! Good luck

Chicken thighs because they are cheap! Bone them out,lightly brown and chop the meet then mix it with the raw bones.Take a half a cup of this and mix it with thier favoright kibblelIf i seems dry dump a 1/4 cup shicken broth in it and stir well. If they dont clean the bowl you better check thier pulse amd bteathing rate!

I live in Tasmania so you may not have these brands on the mainland if that's where you are, but I use the rolls of dog food. VIP is really good and Akira absolutely loves the stuff. I cut her up about 500grams, it has the measurements on there which makes it easy. They have I think 3 different flavours too.

I second Valerie the dehydrated or freeze dried are good alternatives if you are on a raw diet as you do not have to worry about the kibble and raw digestions times. I also second her supplements suggestion and her thread. Two dogs that I had now have had the arthritis supplements and I SWEAR by the Glucosamine (1000 mg) Chondroitin and MSM daily ( Hubby and I have for years now taken these with our dogs and we get the human hard pill variety. ) I also use/d Omega 3 Salmon Oil, Garlic, Vitamin E oil, ACV (Apple cider vinegar), in a regime. Additionally I did not really deal with pain management until my last one dealt with a torn ACL issue. I got onto a homeopathic medicine that I tell people about not sure if you have it there but it is sold at a lot of holistic and homeopathic stores. Check out Traumeel it is a joint to musculoskeletal pain (NSAID). This is a human product that an ACL vet surgeon recommended via my vet!