[katj813]

My dog loves the Nutro Max ground beef and rice food mixed with his dry and he’s old so we indulge his obsession with wet food. The only issue is any of the other flavors give him the runs and I haven’t a clue why. Does anyone else know of some reasonably priced ground wet foods that are soft, even after refrigerating? Soft foods mix well and if a piece of kibble isn’t covered in wet food, he won’t eat it. The Nutro Max is about $1.60 and being on a college budget I can’t afford more than that. If you know of any good brands that are of equal or lesser value, I’d love to hear it. Nutrition isn’t an issue because the wet food is merely a topper to his dry which is much healthier.

[Hound Dog Mom]

Hi katj813 –

It’s great that you’re adding wet food to your dog’s dry food. Wet food is actually much healthier than dry food – especially if you go with a good quality product. The reasons for this is that wet food more closely resembles a dog’s natural diet – high in moisture, higher in protein and less processed. Providing high quality (unprocessed) protein is especially important for seniors (such as your boy) because as dogs age they become less efficient at breaking down dietary protein yet their body’s need for the amino acids that protein requires doesn’t diminish.

Some reasonably priced and highly rated canned options you may want to consider are 4Health (sold at Tractor Supply), Kirkland Cuts in Gravy (sold at Costco), Pure Balance (sold at Walmart), Natural Life (sold at Walmart and some grocery stores), Whole Earth Farms (sold at Petco, specialty retailers and many online retailers) and By Nature 95% Meat (sold at specialty retailers and online retailers). All of these options are, to the best of my knowledge, around the same price or cheaper than Nutro’s canned food.

Some other options would be using a dehydrated food as a topper. Dehydrated foods, when re-hydrated, are similar in consistency to canned food and when re-hydrated tend to be cheaper on a cup per cup basis.

You could also consider adding healthy human food toppers such as leftover lean meats, tinned sardines or salmon (great source of omega 3’s), cage free eggs (raw or cooked – also a great source of omega 3’s), plan yogurt (probiotics) or kefit (probiotics). Just be sure that if you use unbalanced extras like these that they account for less than a quarter of the meal or else you could risk throwing off the nutritional balance of his food.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by Hound Dog Mom.

[InkedMarie]

I haven’t seen a canned food that is soft after refrigeration. They aren’t cheap but you pay for quality: look at dehydrated foods. The Honest Kitchen is smoother consistency, a Grandma Lucy’s is chunkier. There are others but I’ve only used these.

[katj813]

Thanks for the help guys. I’ll look into the brands mentioned.

[aquariangt]

I also top with canned, instead of feeding it as the bulk of their food. Honestly, I rotate around a lot with canned (dry as well, but less so) whenever I’m at PetSmart, PetCo, or Four Paws (my usual specialty store i stop at) I get whatever high quality is on sale.

I also keep a bag of Sojos (i rotate flavors, haven’t tried the new lamb yet, as it’s hot out and one of mine gets real warm on lamb) for when I don’t have any canned on hand. As long as it’s all good quality, your dog shouldn’t have much problem switching canned flavors often. If something is giving him the runs, take a look at what’s in it, and it could be an intolerance to one of those ingredients

[crazy4cats]

Hi-
You might want to try the Pure Balance beef and/or chicken veges and rice. They are only $1 at Walmart. They stay soft after refrigerating. They both mix very well with the kibble. They smell and look delicious. Same with the Kirkland cuts in gravy, but you have to buy a whole case and have a Costco membership. I use and highly recommend both brands. Good luck!

[Bobby dog]

Hello Katj813:
Along with the brand/recipe that crazy4cats mentioned, all of the 4Health canned food that HDM mentioned from Tractor Supply (both stewed and pate’ varieties) remain soft even after refrigeration. The salmon and lamb are the only pate’ styles, but they are not as dense as some other brands. If you find a can food firms up too much from refrigeration you can always add a few tablespoons of warm water to it to make it softer and easier to mix as well. 4Health is only 99 cents for 13.2 oz., very affordable!

[neezerfan]

I just used a can of Castor and Pollux Organix and it was pretty soft after being in the fridge. Also Whole Earth Farms stays rather soft.

[Susan]

Hi, I put the un-used cat food tin in the fridge, when I get it out I put in his bowl & I microwave it about 5-8 sec then I stur it, this warms the food & softens it too..

[Author]

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