Quality Kibble

[Smithson]

We go away often and taking fresh food for the dogs is becoming a hassle (no fridge). What is a quality brand of kibble and is it good to add raw eggs when feeding dogs?

Also, while I'm on the subject. One of my dogs is quite skinny, you can clearly see his ribs. He is 12 months and growing fast. We give him at least 1/2 an hr of rigorous exercise daily (not just walking) and twice as much food as our adult dog of the same weight. He looks very healthy/happy, shiny coat, increasing muscle tone and plenty of energy. As his a pitbull, a breed which can tend to be thin, I'm not too worried, but thought it worthwhile to ask. We've wormed all dogs regularly. Maybe it's just his metabolism because he does plenty of poo!

I've attached a pic, but he doesn't look skinny here. When he stands, his ribs are clear, his spine can't be seen but can be felt easily.

Edited May 7, 2008 by Smithson

[elfe]

hi, i can recommend royal canin. it comes in many varieties, like maxi junior, maxi adult, giant breed junior etc. also for senior dogs or working dogs i think.

the maxi adult should fit your dogs. the kibble smells quite good and my dogs love it, compared to cheaper brands.

it's about 2000 baht for 15 kg but it is good quality. anyway if you only use it sometimes when you travel it's worth a try. while travelling you can add fried chicken which is available everywhere, if you don't want to give the cooked bone just remove it or only let them chew off the softer knuckle parts. or give them leftovers from your own food (nothing wrong with that IMHO), fried pla tu which is commonly available too, etc.

i don't see a pic but as you describe, your dog is fit and healthy. larger dogs at this age often are a bit skinny as they are still growing and very active. eg. my german shepherds always looked skinny even with lots of food until they got about 3 yrs old.

as long as the output looks ok and not with jelly or too soft you should not worry. mind you with kibble feeding the output is much more than with only meat/bone feeding.

[Smithson]

Thanks, is it a good idea to add raw eggs? The dogs output is fine, except once when I put too much blood. Much better than when I was feeding canned and cheap kibble.

I'll try and get the pic going again.

[elfe]

your dog looks fine to me!

raw eggs need to be stored in fridge as well, no?

sure not bad to add raw eggs, make shiny fur, but i would rather add some fried pla tu

[Smithson]

your dog looks fine to me!

raw eggs need to be stored in fridge as well, no?

sure not bad to add raw eggs, make shiny fur, but i would rather add some fried pla tu

I don't think this is quite a necessary with a lot of other things, you'll see them being sold in shops and elsewhere without using the fridge. I'll ask my partner, the Thais are better with this. Anyway, the Pla Tu sounds good for a change.

[Nienke]

We go away often and taking fresh food for the dogs is becoming a hassle (no fridge). What is a quality brand of kibble and is it good to add raw eggs when feeding dogs?

Also, while I'm on the subject. One of my dogs is quite skinny, you can clearly see his ribs. He is 12 months and growing fast. We give him at least 1/2 an hr of rigorous exercise daily (not just walking) and twice as much food as our adult dog of the same weight. He looks very healthy/happy, shiny coat, increasing muscle tone and plenty of energy. As his a pitbull, a breed which can tend to be thin, I'm not too worried, but thought it worthwhile to ask. We've wormed all dogs regularly. Maybe it's just his metabolism because he does plenty of poo!

I've attached a pic, but he doesn't look skinny here. When he stands, his ribs are clear, his spine can't be seen but can be felt easily.

Nutro is a pretty good kibble. In Bangkok there probably are more good brands, such as Advanced Diet Diet.

As for the pitbull. For feeding it is recommened to start with 3% for puppies and 2% for adults of the adult bodyweight of that breed (sometimes difficult to know with a mix breed). However, in my experience this amount is often almost double.

After this you feed with/on/by ???? the eye. If a dog gets skinny you feed more by increasing the amount per meal or by adding one more meal. And vice versa, if a dog gets fat you decrease the daily amount.

I get the impression your pit needs lots of food at the moment. I prefer lean dogs, but if the ribs are visible when standing than your dog is slightly to skinny.

Nienke

[Smithson]

Nutro is a pretty good kibble. In Bangkok there probably are more good brands, such as Advanced Diet Diet.

As for the pitbull. For feeding it is recommened to start with 3% for puppies and 2% for adults of the adult bodyweight of that breed (sometimes difficult to know with a mix breed). However, in my experience this amount is often almost double.

After this you feed with/on/by ???? the eye. If a dog gets skinny you feed more by increasing the amount per meal or by adding one more meal. And vice versa, if a dog gets fat you decrease the daily amount.

I get the impression your pit needs lots of food at the moment. I prefer lean dogs, but if the ribs are visible when standing than your dog is slightly to skinny.

Nienke

Thanks Nienke. I also prefer lean dogs, but slightly skinny is exactly how I would describe him. We feed twice daily and I'm careful with the other two because they tend to put on weight. To reduce their weight I increased the % of veg and fruit in their meals, so they'd wouldn't feel hungry. For the pit bull I try to give him more meat and will add a raw egg to his evening meal every second day.

Someone who met him saw him again 2 weeks later and thought it was a different dog because he'd lost weight. I'm wondering if it's cause of his age? Maybe like a growth spurt or something? He seems to be showing more muscle tone. Because of all the strays, it's almost impossible to walk him, so we bought a treadmill. He does 2 x 10min sessions a day on the mill and at 10 - 20 mins a day on a 'spring pole'. I try to tire him out, you know the saying 'a tired pit bull is a good pit bull'.

He eats two full bowls a day and weighs about 25kgs. I no longer feed rice, just meat and vegies/fruit. Should I cut right back on the veggies and give him more meat. Would an egg every day be a good idea?

Edited May 7, 2008 by Smithson

[Nienke]

Hi Smithson,

It is very possible your dog is having or has had a growth spurt. Or due to the increased exercise he is burning more. If that's the case (and provided there's no underlying other casue) he needed/needs more food.

I have no idea how much two foodbowls are. But to give you an example about amounts of food I give my dogs:

GSD male 27 kilo 6 yrs old (yep, small male) eats 1 - 1.2 kg per day

GSD male 35 kilo 3 yrs old eats approx. 800 gram a day (he got 1 kilo, but I find him too fat, so have cut back)

GSD female 26 kilo 11 yrs old eats also 800 gram a day,

St. Bernard female 52 kilo 7 yrs old eats 700 gram a day,

Thai mix male 9 months old about 10 kilo eats 500 - 600 gram a day.

So, you see, these abovementioned % are averages. After a while a dog gets with it needs. If your dog needs more then give him more. And yes, I would increase the amount of raw meaty bones (not only meat! and variation of protein is the secret to good health). It is very possible that for a period of time he will eat all with gusto (e.g. during growth spurt), and then one day he leaves one meal (no growth spurt).

Personally, I wouldn't give too many eggs, but two eggs a week including the shell (crust in the blender and mixed with the veggies).

If you add on a regular basis coconut meat or oil, pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, papaya seeds, and twice a week a clove of garlic, than this will it make the intestinal environment unpleasant for worms, sort of as a repellent.

Nienke

[Smithson]

Thanks,he is a working breed rather than show breed and these tend to be lean, actually before he was skinny he was looking a touch fat. So maybe it is a growth spurt. My feeding is pretty much along the lines of what you say, except I haven't been giving him the seeds and garlic, this sounds like a good idea though. So I will start.

I also hadn't been giving him the eggshells. We feed a lot of chicken carcass and I was worried about too much calcium.

[roygsd]

Hi,

I would not under any circumstance give my dogs raw eggs in thailand, in fact I have stopped raw eggs her in the uk.

There is so much infection and not jut the killer bird flu we hear about I dont think it is wise to feed raw, I still give eggs but no moe than one or two a week that are hard boiled, I also give a little cod oil daily in thier food.

roy gsd

[Nienke]

I've been giving my animals raw even during the brid flu outbreaks without any problems.

To my knowledge there are no bird flu cases of dogs nor cats, except that one time at the Sriracha tiger sanctuary. That was only once and that information is even questionable.

Also, I'm feeding my animals raw for years now, which inlcudes raw eggs, and I never had a problem.

Nienke