# Wet vs. Dry Food



## selsevin (Mar 21, 2008)

Hello All,

We brought Kodi home in June and are still learning the ropes of dealing with a puppy. Right now, we're having food issues. The breeder had her on Purina Pro Plan Large Breed (dry). We were noticing that she wasn't eating. At first we were trying to regiment her eating to keep her on a schedule, leaving the food down in 20 min. spurts 3xs a day, but she wasn't eating it. So we left the food down longer with no result. 

Kodi has had a couple of UTIs so we thought the infection or the antibiotics might be affecting her appetite. We took her back to the vet who said trying switching her food...so we gradually put her on Science Diet (meanwhile she's getting thinner and thinner). We started her on that which she ate once and then went back to not eating. Everyone kept saying just keep giving her food and she'll eventually get hungry enough and eat. Not Kodi! She was looking super unhealthy and we were getting nervous and returned to the vet yet again...this time the vet told us to mix wet food and dry food. We did that and she put on some serious weight very quickly. She still looks thin but not deathly so. 

Now with the mixing...she will only eat the wet food. She licks all the wet food off and leaves the dry kibble in her bowl. My question is, is this ok? Everything I have heard/read says wet food is bad for dogs. Is this true? Does anyone have suggestions? We also tried adding warm water to the kibble to make it softer with no luck. Is it ok to feed her wet food? What is so unhealthy about it?


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## Jackson'sMom (Oct 13, 2007)

I took a class in grad school in animal nutrition, and what I remember is that canned/wet food is mostly water, so you're paying a lot for canned water. It also tends to gum up the dog's teeth much more than does dry food. My experience has been that most dogs really like the canned food and may refuse to continue eating the kibble. I don't buy canned food unless it's for a specific reason (illness) and don't like the smell of it. I don't know anyone who feeds canned, but I'm assuming that if it has the same 'stamps of approval' from the board (can't remember the exact name) and is "complete and balanced nutrition," it should be OK to feed. I know you'll get much answers than mine from other forum members.


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## dannyra (Aug 5, 2008)

The only thing I can think of is he may have a tooth problem where he won't chew the kibble, does he chew on harder toys fine?


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