[Kim E]

I have 2 Maltese and am having a very difficult time finding a good quality small kibble. One of my babies has an under bite and definitely needs the smallest kibble available – she won’t even try a larger piece. My second baby is violently allergic to corn – not that I would want corn anyway. He’s less picky but a really tasty kibble would really help both of them. Neither of them care for Blue Buffalo – it’s been awhile and I don’t recall whether they offer a tiny kibble.

Ironically, I can find really small kibble bites in grocery stores – full of corn and other unhealthy ingredients.

Thank you for any suggestions.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Kim E-
I have been feeding Victor grain free kibble with toppers to my two guys with great success. It is very small kibble and it is also budget friendly. They have a dealer locater on their site. Check it out!

[Pat G]

Have you tried Fromm, I have had great success with the Duck and Pheasant combination. It is low enough in fat for the little guys and an very small kibble. I also have a 5 lb Maltese and he is prone to pancreatitis so I feed him Honest Kitchen Zeal. It is a dehydrated food so a bit messy for their little faces but worth it since it is only 9% fat.

[InkedMarie]

Natures Logic has tiny kibbles.

[GizmoMom]

Wysong Epigen 90. It’s corn free, starch free. The kibbles are tiny.

[neezerfan]

Try canned if they have trouble chewing. But not from the grocery store.

[Kim E]

Thanks so much for the help!! Neither of them have trouble chewing, the little one is just a bit intimidated when she tries to put a larger piece of kibble in her mouth. By the way, I think that part of her problem is psychological – I purchased a bag of regular-size kibble once and she ate right through the bag. Put it in a bowl – she was no longer interested. 🙂

Right now they’re eating Freshpet Select with chicken, vegetables and rice – they love it. I’m going to continue with that but would like to add some kibble to the diet to help keep their teeth cleaner.

Thank you again!!

[Naturella]

Kim, I second everyone’s recommendations, but it is a myth that kibble helps clean dogs’ teeth – it cleans them no more than chips or hard cookies clean ours. Canned is actually much better for them, and Freshpet is a good brand, so if clean teeth was your only concern for adding kibble, I would leave them on the Freshpet.

[Mom2Cavs]

I agree. I do use kibble, too, and when I do I use Wellness Small Breed (they also have a toy breed), Fromm 4Star, Annamaet or Victor.

[pugmomsandy]

I’m using Nature’s Logic Rabbit right now, and it seems even smaller than the last bag of Sardine formula I just finished!

[Kim E]

Naturella, I’m actually glad to know that kibble won’t scrape their teeth into pearly whites. They love the FreshPet and vegetables are like chocolate to them. They also like some fruits (apples) and the occasional hard-boiled egg so I guess that they’re getting a healthy and varied diet. On hot summer days they also enjoy lounging on the deck, sipping fresh cold water and munching on chopped frozen peas/carrots/green beans.

I’ve made a list of the various kibble mentioned; if they’re accustomed to one it would be handy while traveling.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge; I generally have people recommend Pedigree. 😉

[Naturella]

Kim, I’m glad I could help! 🙂 Many many many good people on this site have helped me enhance my knowledge of most things dog (and even cat, although I don’t have one), and I know you will learn a lot here too.

As far as travel – kibble is very convenient, so if you get them used to something, that will be easy when you travel with your “pack”. Also, dehydrated raw/freeze-dried raw are fairly convenient options too, plus, I hear boarding places will still feed dehydrated, but not actual frozen raw. Some brands are The Honest Kitchen, Sojos, Grandma Lucy’s, Nature’s Variety (I think they have freeze-dried).

One interesting brand I wanted to invite you to try is Wysong. Their Epigen line has zero starches as binders, which makes it pretty unique, plus it is very nutritious and protein-rich, and the kibble is tiny. They also offer some dehydrated/freeze-dried options. Epigen is on the pricier side of dog foods, but I think it is quite worth it. Aside from Epigen, they have other great kibbles that are also small and have no corn, you just have to look through the ingredients. I have a bag of the Nurture with Quail (has some brown rice) by Wysong that I will try in my rotation soon, and it was pretty affordable ($5 for 5 lbs on Petflow.com), plus, you can find even better deals on them on some of the online shopping websites (Petflow.com ; Chewy.com ; Wag.com). I just love their philosophy as a company, so check them out. But all other suggested brands are completely viable options, and GREAT choices as well. Don’t forget that rotation of food brands is also essential for the dog’s well-being as this way they get not only varied proteins, but varied combinations of vitamins and minerals, which helps make their overall diet more “complete” and “balanced”.

Let us know if you have any more questions! 🙂

[Author]

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