Wet Kibble, how long does it stay good?

[Brooke&Ryan]

Hey All,
We recently started putting warm water on Julius' kibble because of several people recomending it. He was eating his food, but was not eating very well. Now that we put water on his kibble he usually eats a healthy amount but leaves some in the bowl. Usually what is left over is a mix of kibble that was not effected by the water and kibble that is wet. It isn't that much food so we throw away what is left over in fear that it might go bad. With that said, how long would kibble stay good if we did leave it in his bowl, could we leave it in for his second meal of the day which is usually 10 hours after his first meal? Could we put it in the frig covered by plastic wrap? The most important thing for us is to keep our pup healthy, but second is the waiste issue, all that food can add up to a big waiste of money.


Let Me Know!!!

Ryan

[mmgy]

We put it in the fridge, but not for past the next meal. And if we determine that dog is under the weather, we throw it out period.

[lblax]

wet kibble does nothing but help gunk up the teeth i would go back to dry

[Judi W]

I would suggest putting less in the bowl in the first place, then there should be nothing left uneaten.

[Rott-Wiley]

I agree with both Larry and Judi W. A healthy dog should eat a good quality dry dog food without having to add anything to it. Didn't you just change to feeding Canidae? You would need to feed less of a higher quality food then you did before. Is that what you're seeing here?

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally posted by lblax
wet kibble does nothing but help gunk up the teeth i would go back to dry

We started wetting it because Julius is losing teeth left & right. He seemed to kind of lose interest in his food for awhile there & when we started wetting it with a bit of water he gobbled it up. I think the hard pieces were possibly bothering his gums. We may go back to feeding the dry food & not adding water once he's done teething.

:)
Brooke

[Brooke&Ryan]

Not to mention our trainer did say that he was a bit underweight. Last weighed which was about a week ago he weighed 54 lbs. so it's not the best idea for him to be skipping a meal....or lose interest in one. We're going to be switching to California Natural or Innova for the next 40 lb. bag......

:)
Brooke

[lblax]

Originally posted by Brooke&Ryan
Not to mention our trainer did say that he was a bit underweight. Last weighed which was about a week ago he weighed 54 lbs. so it's not the best idea for him to be skipping a meal....or lose interest in one. We're going to be switching to California Natural or Innova for the next 40 lb. bag......

:)
Brooke

it is perfectly normal for a dog to go off its feed for a while whule teething but it certainly doesnt hurt him and 54 lbs for a six month old dog sounds just about right

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally posted by lblax
it is perfectly normal for a dog to go off its feed for a while whule teething but it certainly doesnt hurt him and 54 lbs for a six month old dog sounds just about right

It's good to know that it doesn't hurt him. I just feel so bad when I take the bowl away from him after 20-30 minutes & he hasn't eaten any food.

Well he looks just about right to us too. We didn't think that he looked underweight & I was actually surprised when the trainer commented on it. She said he didn't look REALLY underweight...just a bit. I cannot see his ribs but can feel them.

:)
Brooke

[mmgy]

If his ribs are as you say, then he sounds right to me too.

Why are you changing foods every bag?

[Judy Chrusch]

Hi Brooke and Ryan, well Judi W. wrote exactly what I was going to write and as for dry kibble verses adding some water, IMO it is better for their digestive to have it mixed with alittle water. I would put less in his bowl and if there's any left I'd throw it away. How often do you feed him in a day?

Judy

[spidey]

There's actually no evidence that wet food of any kind "gunks up" the teeth, nor is there any evidence that dry food helps to clean them. This has been common wisdom for years, but it seems it's based on theory and not evidence. I was as surprised as anyone to learn this, but if you think about it, it makes sense: dogs don't chew kibble anywhere near enough for it to do anything to their teeth. See here and scroll down. Chewing (chopped rawhide, bones, etc) actually does help clean the teeth, dry food doesn't.

I agree, however, that if he's leaving food in the bowl, just put less in the bowl to start with. And I agree with Judy that adding water is probably a good idea.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally posted by mmgy
Why are you changing foods every bag?

Sorry, it did sound like in my previous post that we were changing foods every 40 lb. bag. We are not. Julius is on Nutro Natural right now & we're looking into changing him to something else for GOOD for the next 40 lb. bag which will be soon. Of course, we'll be saving some Nutro to mix in & get Julius used to the new food. I'm actually about to make a new post about types of food we're looking into to get people's advice. :)

Originally posted by Judy Chrusch
How often do you feed him in a day?

Hi Judy---
We offer Julius food three times a day but usually he will only eat at breakfast & dinner time. We offer at lunch but he's usually not interested then. Do you think we should cut down to just two offerings a day or keep up with the three for awhile? Our trainer suggested still doing three meals a day....which usually is only two since he doesn't want anything to do with lunch.

Spidey----Thanks for the link! I bookmarked it! :D

Thanks for all your help everyone!

Brooke

[Rott-Wiley]

At 6 months of age, you can switch him to 2 meals a day for the rest of his life. Ideal would be 12 hours apart but I feed 10 hours apart due to my schedule and I don't think it's a big deal at all.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally posted by Rott-Wiley
At 6 months of age, you can switch him to 2 meals a day for the rest of his life. Ideal would be 12 hours apart but I feed 10 hours apart due to my schedule and I don't think it's a big deal at all.

Great! That's good to know since he turns his nose up at the lunch feeding.

:)
Brooke