Encouraging puppy to eat

[Cath2907]

When we got puppy 5 weeks ago he was on Pedigree puppy food. We moved him to a better grain free, meat meal free alternative. They do both kibble and wet food and I give him both - either mixed or separate. At first he lapped it up but seems to have become bored with it. He now turns his nose up at his bowl or only eats a little for 2 out of the 4 meals a day. He has seen the vet and they say he is healthy but that in the last week he lost a little weight. I have since been adding some protein (roast plain chicken thighs, poached plain salmon, tinned tuna) that I cook myself. Just a little, chopped up small and squidged in with the kibble. He is now eating more but I am concerned that unless he is eating puppy food he won't be getting a balanced diet. Maybe 1/4 of the food he is eating daily is this added protein (he also has it for treats for training) not "proper" puppy food.
Should I be looking for another brand of puppy food or is it ok to use his normal food as a base and to jazz it up with more tasty extras.

I'm confused about the 'meat meal free alternative'. Do you mean there is no meat in it so only vegetables?

Is it a compete meal for puppies? The food I gave my puppy was a compete type for both adults and puppies.

Personally I would be wanting to give a compete food (whether that was raw, kibble or wet) as a puppy as they need all the right stuff to grow rather than guess and get it wrong given the growth spurts etc.

You can use allaboutdogfood.co.uk to find a good quality complete food suitable for puppies.

“I'm confused about the 'meat meal free alternative'“

Meat meal is all the fat and byproducts they put in some dog foods.

First thing I’d try is dropping a feed... 4 meals might be too many at 13 weeks, try the same amount of food in 3 meals instead.

Ah thanks for the explanation tabulahrasa. I was scratching my head trying to work out what it meant

Yes sorry - it has meat but not meat meal which apparently is a better alternative. It is a puppy complete food (Edgar and Cooper) that gets 5 stars on allaboutdogfood. The problem is he just won't eat enough of it. I will try him on 3 meals but as he often won't even bother to eat half his breakfast I am not sure he'll manage 3 larger meals instead of 4 smaller ones.

I tried a few foods with my puppy as he seemed to lose interest quickly. In the end I found that he loved wet food so picked a good quality wet food and I rotate flavours frequently so he never gets bored.