Dog food after GVD (or GDV) surgery

[BackPainSucks]

Our very large goldendoodle was rushed into emergency vets last week with bloat and a twisted stomach. Following emergency surgery with a few complications we finally have him home. The vet has told us

1. no kibble again ever, this was his food before so we are starting from scratch
2. never feed him raw food
3. no bones, which he doesn’t get
4. no hard treats

I think this leaves us with wet food but it all seems so expensive and a minefield to navigate. I am currently out of work so until I find a new job I can’t be paying prices for vet food or any of the well known brands eg butternut. So can anybody recommend an affordable wet pet food option?

When I was young we fed our dog a tin of supermarket dog food or any old brand but I am scared his tummy will bloat again.

I can't think of any. Most 'affordable' wet pet food is full of fillers (grains) and cheap fats and doesn't contain quality food such as white fish etc.

The better the quality of food, the easier it is to digest. Your dog needs low fat, high-protein medium-fibre food that isn't full of cheap filler. Unfortunately, that means that finding the right food on a budget is going to be really hard. As with so many things, quality isn't cheap.

The link below might help - I've already filtered 'low fat', but you should look at the carb/fibre/protein content as well.

https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory/wet?rank_by_set=2&filter_by_fat=1&nutrient%5Bfat%5D=0-15&types%5B%5D=wet-pate&types%5B%5D=wet-chunks

But it's not just about what you feed, it's how you feed. Poodles are very predisposed to Bloat and Goldens are fairly predisposed. Smaller meals, using a slow-feeder and managing water intake around meals are going to be just as important as the dogs diet.

I'm sure I read a study recently that eating a mix of dry and wet food together reduces the risk of bloat over feeding just dry or just wet food. I will see if i can find it.

Having a read around, the long term diet plan is less about kibble being evil and more about things like smaller meals, lower fat and soy free options, feeding them on the floor and not in raised bowls, using slow feeder bowls for both food and water is also good.

Would soaking the kibble for a bit so it's more like a porridge also help?

You could tinker with a bespoke recipe option at Tails for a kibble blend - I use this for my itchy dog and it's been a godsend. She gets this plus a few spoons of wet food and water in every bowl.

https://help.tails.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360011376238-Excluding-ingredients-from-your-dog-s-kibble

I can give you a code for a free month of food if you wanted to try it, as you can exclude soy and grains for example.

Slow feeder, why did I not think of that. I had one for my old greedy Labrador so will look it out.

lots of info to read through. Thank you for the replies and help

We used to feed our dog on very expensive wet food as he had IBD and honestly we might have been better throwing our money straight in the bin as he didn’t want to eat it and he still had digestive issues.

But then we swopped to a reasonably priced tin of butchers wet tins from the supermarket (there are a few types of butchers to try) and fed him his dinner over two smaller meals and he loved it with no issues.

@GreenFootstool I think if a qualified vet has said no to kibble, then OP would be a fool to go against that advice...

There was a study by Purdue about 17 years ago that linked soaking kibble in water to an increased risk of bloat. Most research since suggests that soaking kibble really has no effect and most of the places that do recommend it do so without appropriate evidence-basis behind them. And adding water to food doesn't necessarily re-hydrate it either as lower quality food doesn't rehydrate well so you can just end up with biscuits and water in a bowl.

Essentially, other than the Purdue study that's slightly out of date (I can't find the link, but there's an extract here www.neapolitan.org/health-studies which details the risk about soaking dog food), there is no real evidence to suggest that soaking kibble is of any benefit or not.

So at best...no effect and at worst...potentially damaging to soak food.

Fair @TheHungryHungryLandsharks but from what I've read online now (I'm a voracious reader, sorry!), it suggests that the no kibble advice is very dated, so it's probably worth OP making a few additional enquiries with other vets, especially when finances are tough.

@GreenFootstool it can be! As with so much, it completely depends on the quality of the kibble. Unfortunately, lots of kibble (and particularly the cheap stuff) is packed with starchy fillers and low quality fats.

Look at Butchers dog biscuits. All About Dog Food gives it 25% value rating in terms of quality. Over 94% of a portion is cereals and carbs. It only costs £0.69p a day for a small dog

In comparison the best dog biscuits are about as high as 90%. They have a far higher protein content and only 14% carbs. But they cost £2.95 a day.

Comparatively, Butchers do a lot better in terms of quality on their wet food...still far below what I would like for my dogs (personally), but much better than their dry food. It'll be easier for OP to find good quality wet food at a reasonable price for her dog - and food quality is just as important for dogs pre-disposed to bloat as things like slow feeding etc.

True, but the cost very much depends on the size of the dog - my 30kg mutt is considerably more expensive to feed than my mates 4kg chihuahua cross for example 😂.

For mine, the Gentle Butchers recommended feeding quantity is nearly 4 tins per day, which is about £4 a day.

(I'm not having a go, just looking at it from other angles!).

I don't think Butchers is a terrible choice if on a limited budget, especially as it's something you can often pick up on offer in the supermarket. Yes, it's going to be more expensive than cheap kibble but it's a lot cheaper than other offerings.

For one of my dogs it would be £2.79 a day for Butchers wet (69% on AADF) versus £9.26 a day for Lily's Kitchen (74% on AADF).

I also think getting a second opinion is worthwhile, vets don't always have a good understanding of nutrition. The first vet we registered with encouraged royal canin breed specific biscuits which are not only garbage but expensive garbage!

Never experienced bloat with our dog, thank goodness!
he’s a Weimaraner so also particularly at risk from bloat.
We feed him Millies Wolfheart kibble and feed with a slow feeder bowl and are religious about waiting an hour after food to walk and feed only an hour after a walk.
this usually means no food before his early morning walk, wait an hour and feed him breakfast.
same in the afternoon.
I obviously don’t know why your vet has recommended no kibble, but Millie’s Wolfheart doesn’t have any fillers.
it actually works out quite cheap.
for our 35kg dog it’s about £60 for five weeks.
also their customer service and advice line are brilliant.
We live in fear of bloat so you have my sympathies, so please your dog pulled through

I’m not sure why we were told no kibble but mane something to do with stomach healing, it had to be sewn to side wall of his chest to stop it re-twisting. The dog hard the kibble so it’s no real loss to him.

we are currently feeing him on forthglade grain free wet food, 75% meat content. Got it on offer so works out about £2.90 a day when he is back to full portions of food. My dog who never wanted to eat at all is now bouncing about for his food. Slow feeder is stopping him inhaling it.

Thank you all so much for advice, off to try keep him calm (no walks or exercise for another 6 weeks 🫣)

Pets at home have a new range called Ruff’s which is a bit like Lily’s kitchen but cheaper. The ingredients in the wet food are genuinely pretty good and the tetrapak ones are cooked really gently. We use Marleybones which is great but expensive and am thinking of switching.