Yet another dog food query!!

Shazanne

Hi all,
I have yet another dog food query for everyone and as most people on here are experts or, at the very least, have vast experience, what better place to get advice;)
My 5 years old Millie, a terrier cross, is an extremely picky eater. I have had her for three years now and feeding has always been a problem.
A major problem is that she will not eat a regular size kibble! The only way I have ever succeeded is by smashing up the kibble, which is not an ideal way to feed.
She was fed Royal Canin up to about four months ago and I was mixing in Lily's canned food (extremely expensive @ €2.75 for a regular sized tin:eek:) but at least she was eating it. But she developed pancreaitis, which my vet said was caused by the Lily's being too rich for her.
That left me with a major dilemma as now I had nothing to "tempt" her with and she began backing away from the bowl at feed time:(
So I tried home cooking, giving her a mix of chicken/mince beef, with pasta, rice and veg. She ate it ok, but I felt she wasn't getting a proper balance and when I gave it to my other dog (a new addition to the family) he got colitis
Several trips to the vet later, they were both on Royal Canin prescription diets until tummies had settled, I began to very gradually introduce Burns, believing it to be the best I could get.
However, Millie will only eat their mini-bite kibble, which is geared towards puppies rather than 5 year olds, although it does say it can be continued into adulthood. And she will only eat that if it is mixed with minced cooked chicken, which is ok with me as I feel its giving her some added protein.
But is it right for her??? Her bowel is working perfectly but she is passing really smelly wind all the time:eek::eek::eek: She never did this before.
Also, my new dog, who is a year old a very thin and bony, is eating the same but does not appear to be putting on any weight. He is a shihtzu cross.
I am really sorry for the long post but I really want to sort this out once and for all. Should I be feeding them differently and, if so, is there another mini kibble that Millie could have?
Thanks in advance for any replies I might get.

Cedrus

Puppy kibble is usually high in protein already, there is no need to add more for a puppy and certainly not for a 5 year old, this is most likely the reason for the smelly wind.

There are various adult small dog kibbles which are more appropriately sized than regular, it's a matter of trial and error which ones she'll go for, I like to imagine that my two appreciate the variety at least, if not every type. They beg like demons if they don't fancy what's in their bowl, but if I can hold tough they creep back to it when they realise it's not getting changed. Imagine if you were given a loaf of bread as a dinner roll and a 10 oz steak but no knife, you could eat it if you were hungry, but the effort would be exhausting and you wouldn't rush to repeat it.

I stopped feeding tinned wet food to mine when one got dermatitis, both were gaining weight too fast and both had dirty teeth. They now get various kibbles daily with raw chicken wings and veg as extras, and treats:o. Once or twice a year they get a tin of expensive german wet food (can't remember the name) that smells so good I want to try it myself.

SingItOut

I had the same problem you did with my jack russel who was such a picky eater. She went into skin and bones so I had to cave and give her wet food mixed into the nuts (red mills leader adult small breed), she ate them but still left loads of nuts afterwards. She had really bad problems with her anal glands because of the wet food.

So then I tried her on science plan vet essentials mini dog and she eats it no problem, just the nuts on their own with no wet food or anything else mixed it. She's hasn't put on a ton of weight but she doesn't look like a size 0 anymore And no trips to the vets since .. If you order a free sample you get a €3 voucher for any other hills food