Varying diet?

[anthroboi]

Just curious, is it okay to feed say kibble in the am and homecooked/raw (freeze dried--sorry, but I am NOT puree'ing animal offal lol) in the evening? I was just wondering if this would be a good way to vary the diet or if this might be too upsetting to the digestive system? I'm all over the place with food, Zoë doesn't seem to eat much and yet she's definately growing and pooping enough LOL so she must be eating (I just hope it's not all from treats!). She's currently on Science Diet b/c that's what the breeder had her on. We used to give our dobie Solid Gold and he loved it and was very healthy so I'm thinking of switching her to this but either way, just worried that feeding her only kibble isn't enough variety.

Should I just add a few slices of boiled chicken breast occasionally or carrots or something?

Thanks!
D-

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by anthroboi

Just curious, is it okay to feed say kibble in the am and homecooked/raw (freeze dried--sorry, but I am NOT puree'ing animal offal lol) in the evening? I was just wondering if this would be a good way to vary the diet or if this might be too upsetting to the digestive system? I'm all over the place with food, Zoë doesn't seem to eat much and yet she's definately growing and pooping enough LOL so she must be eating (I just hope it's not all from treats!). She's currently on Science Diet b/c that's what the breeder had her on. We used to give our dobie Solid Gold and he loved it and was very healthy so I'm thinking of switching her to this but either way, just worried that feeding her only kibble isn't enough variety.

Should I just add a few slices of boiled chicken breast occasionally or carrots or something?

Thanks!
D-

It makes no difference. Technically I see a diet of all kibble as very boring and sad for the dog. I used to feed this way though. You can add things to the kibble. You can homecook for one meal a day (but you might have to supplement if you do that). You could feed raw one meal a day (I'm definately not advocating raw here though). The only issue is with raw and kibble. I think there has to be five hours in between feeding kibble and raw for digestive reasons.

[gutu28]

Cali wont eat just kibble, so I always have to add something extra on top. I just go between a couple of different things to keep it interesting and give her a little variety! Fruits, veggies, shredded cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt and boiled chicken are the main things I add or some canned food on top.

[anthroboi]

Thanks guys for the tips! I've decided to switch her to Solid Gold, since our Dobie loved that stuff and was a very healthy dog. I put maybe 10 kibbles in with her normal food (with a quarter teaspoon of Missing Link Plus). She loves the new stuff so much that she's picking out the solid gold and dropping the old kibble on the floor LOL. Picky little monkey!

Anywho, I'll give her other things to supplement like boiled chicken and veggies and some fruit. I did give her a little probiotic yogurt this morning and she loved it!

Thanks again!
D-

[gutu28]

Originally Posted by anthroboi

Thanks guys for the tips! I've decided to switch her to Solid Gold, since our Dobie loved that stuff and was a very healthy dog. I put maybe 10 kibbles in with her normal food (with a quarter teaspoon of Missing Link Plus). She loves the new stuff so much that she's picking out the solid gold and dropping the old kibble on the floor LOL. Picky little monkey!

Anywho, I'll give her other things to supplement like boiled chicken and veggies and some fruit. I did give her a little probiotic yogurt this morning and she loved it!

Thanks again!
D-

Great to hear! Yorkies are picky little eaters so it feels good when you find something they like, huh!?

[lizziepooh_1]

So if you're adding yoghurt to her kibble, do you just spoon some on top? How much? We only buy the activia brand for ourselves....that should be ok, right?

[anthroboi]

Originally Posted by lizziepooh_1

So if you're adding yoghurt to her kibble, do you just spoon some on top? How much? We only buy the activia brand for ourselves....that should be ok, right?

Activia sounds good as long as it's not one of those kind with aspartame or other sugar substitute in it. I just gave her a tablespoon of it, I let her lick it off the spoon and then I put a little dollop on top of her food to get her to eat her kibble.

But I'll let others share because I have no idea what I'm doing LOL

D-

[anthroboi]

Originally Posted by gutu28

Great to hear! Yorkies are picky little eaters so it feels good when you find something they like, huh!?

Totally! I feel better knowing that she likes what she eats and she is healthy. Mind you, she's been pooping consistently and is growing like a weed so she must have been eating all along LOL But I'm glad that she'll be eating something healthier without all that nasty filler stuff.

D-

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by anthroboi

Activia sounds good as long as it's not one of those kind with aspartame or other sugar substitute in it. I just gave her a tablespoon of it, I let her lick it off the spoon and then I put a little dollop on top of her food to get her to eat her kibble.

But I'll let others share because I have no idea what I'm doing LOL

D-

LOL...you're doing fine.

My favorite choice for yogurt for the furkids is Stonyfield Organics PLAIN. It has lots of active cultures in it and no sugar. Small amounts of Stonyfield flavored or Activa would be fine. I just prefer not to give sugar. You can also give cottage cheese the same as you do yogurt. The lower fat is probably a good choice.