Wainwrights, Nature Diet, Natures Menu, Arden Grange or alternatives for Cavalier ?

[Willowisp]

We have our 17 mth rescue cav now who is settling in nicely.

I've had her checked at the vet, great weight, heart good, teeth with a bit of gingivitis.

She came from her rescue eating royal canin mixed with cesar & sometimes...gravy. I'm keen to have her on something decent & was recommended Nature diet, but she doesn't seem very keen. I've bought a sachet of wainwrights to mix with her kibble, which she wolfed down this morning, whereas before she wasn't eating much, which of course may just be settling in related.

I'm getting advice left right & centre of good foods, but with lots of contradictions. so could I get some advice please !

I feed Arden Grange to my dogs after they had it in kennels, they eat it well and do firm solid poos which are very easy to pick up!

Willow - congratulations on your new dog. I have a cavalier puppy who I feed Burns mini bites (that is the puppy version of Burns). Like most things I'm doing with her, this is based on recommendations on here . She came to me from the breeder on a Purina food but since putting her on the Burns her poos are much firmer and less smelly. There are other good quality foods of course but my pup is doing well on this and is gaining weight slowly and steadily.

Aww cavis are the best! What colour is she?

We give our one chicken flavoured purina biscuits for small and mini dogs (generally seasoned with a couple of mini markies!).

For the gingivitis I recommend Pedigree chum dentasticks. They are like puppy crack to our cavi. He goes to work with my DH but I am giver of dentasticks so every evening when I come in he literally dances around the treat cupboard until he gets his fix and if I take too long giving him one he starts barking at the cupboard! He's 3 in May and has lovely teeth so I think they must do the trick!

Aaah thanks She is a blenheim, mostly ruby on top, then white underneath. Apparently she isn't show standard (!) but she's very pretty (proud).

My aim is non smelly dog & small hard poos so have been looking at Arden Grange & Burns, so will see if I can find some small bags for her to try. Have you tried the tinned version ?

Pandawatch, I've been advised not to use the dentastix because they have sugar in them & the vet said rawhide chews, then someone else says no to that.

We've just done the school run & she's crunching on a pork strip, absolutely loving it ! (hope that's ok ?)

I've also been given conflicting info about bones..anyway, thought I'd try the best at home cooked bone & see how we get on. When I was young, my mum used to give our dog raw marrow bone...

Aww - ours is a blenheim too! I bet she's gorgeous.

Dentasticks are sugar free link. We've been giving them to ours for ages and he doesn't have any plaque, actually has quite sweet breath and he's very slim and fit. I'm sure the rawhide chews are just as good though. We did try them with our one but he either ignored them or tried to bury them in the sofa

I think where bones are concerned they are ok as long as uncooked and the dog is supervised when eating them but, again, Mr Fussy-Pants isn't interested in bones either so I'm not 100% sure

She is very pretty & has longer legs & back than normal. Dh & I wonder if she has lurcher/whippet in her !

Thanks for the link, I think they are on 3 for 2 at the mo...Sainsburys will stock up. Liking sweet breath ! I know what you mean about the dancing, she was estatic at the chewy stick.

I've just given her tea..nature diet & royal canin, but she wasn't keen, which is a shame as nature diet supposed to be very good. Added some stinky Natures Menu & she was straight in there..

I'm also adding tsp of oatbran to tea to help with her anal glands, the hard poos help to empty them/stop them getting blocked....I'm exhausted with all the thinking, just like having a new baby !

My cavvy is allergic to lamb, beef and pork so we have her on the fish james wellbeloved for seniors (she's 9 this month).

My cavvie has nature diet, with a bit of good quality kibble as a mixer. I think if she is a bit fussy, you just need to persevere, don't leave the food down for more than twenty minutes etc. If she's hungry she'll eat it. It's worth sticking with, IMO, as it is really good quality and gives them a gorgeous coat and very small inoffensives poos.

Do we get to see a picture? What's her name? I lovelovelove little cavaliers.

Which kibble do you use LeBof ? She won't eat kibble on it's own & she's not keen on Nature Diet, which is a shame because it looks like a great food. I ended up hand feeding her the other day & she only wants to eat once a day. Perhaps I should buy the wainwrights, which has to be better than cesars, then once she is eating regulary, start adding Nature Diet ?

It's like weaning all over again.....

It's the groomers' own recipe, so similar to the good commercial ones, but quite a bit cheaper.

My mum has to handfeed her cav (from the same litter as mine)- they can be fussy little buggers, can't they?

Oh gawd ! Something else to add to the list to work on

DONT FEED COOKED BONE!!! Please

Really big risk of splintering, will be back to post more

Sorry, am on my phone and battery was flat.

Raw bones (BARF) diet is fine- dogs teeth and jaws are supposed to crunch and eat them. Cooked are dangerous- never ever feed to a dog.

There's lots of thread about RAW diet hanging around, one currently going on I think.

PAH prize choice minces are a good place to start for fussy pups... Although if my dog is ever fussy I put down food, leave it for 15 mins then take away whatever is not eaten/hidden in special plant pots. No more fuss! A dog, like a toddler, will not starve itself!

Oh, and raw marrow bone from butchers will clean teeth up, Im too tight to buy dentasticks and get the bones free from butcher.

morning, well this today she ate Natures Harvest mixed with the royal canin kibble & crunched on a pork strip. She won't eat the thin twisted chew sticks, but liked the PAH 60p (why so expensive ?) rawhide cigar, which vet said good for her teeth.

I'm completely confused about the bones. I have 2 organic raw wings in the freezer (as per the advice to give them frozen) but the vet has put me right off with tales of the bones going down the wrong way - can I cut or crush them with a knife ?

Ref cooked bones, I bought a pack of 2 from PAH but she wont/cant chew them

I am waiting for a raw marrow bone from my mum as yet to find an actual butcher round here...

Vets are notoriously anti-raw, as what they learn re dog food is taught by dog food companies who want them to sell their kibble! RAW bones are totally fine- you could say they may choke, but dogs choke on kibble, too. It's a very small risk. If you dont want to go down the RAW root (it's so easy though!) Nature Diet/Menu/Prize choice nuggets are better IMO than kibble. I also wouldn't use complete food (which royal canin) is, as a mixer- its a complete balance of ingredients so by adding wet food you're messing up the qauntaties needed- iykwim. The natures diet is fine as it is- there is a mixer/biscuit available from burns if you really want to add something dried, it's just brown rice biscuits I think.

Oh, and they don't need to be frozen, I buy cheap packs from fridge section of Tesco and chuck em on lawn. Theres a thread further up 'inspired to feed RAW' if you want to have a read through.

I've just re read my above post and I sound mega patronising, sorry!!

No it's fine, I appreciate, perhaps you could come & hold my hand when she eats her first wing ?!

I've just 3 bags of the Royal Canin...as per the foster mum & I'm about to return the Natures Diet as she doesn't like it.

Is there any wet food that would be ok to add to the Royal Canin...? Thinking I could then reduce it so she's eating just the kibble ?

I've a bit of a problem with my trying to still her food as soon as I open anything my cat is trying to stick her face in the bowl !

I wouldn't add anything, just put food down, leave it 20 mins then take it away. Pup will soon start to eat it. Much like having a fussy toddler, really. Not best to add anything extra to a complete, dry food, it doesnt need and it imabalances the kibble. I don't see the need to slowly switch from kibble to raw, either, if that's what you want to do- they are digested at different rates and won't do pups belly any good. We just gave our bag of leftover kibble to local dogs home and started chucking chicken wings onto the lawn!