Food Quantity

[doxrox]

Is there a rule of thumb to go by for a kibble to canned ratio? For 6 years Charlie's been eating 1/2 cup of kibble a day sprinkled with some boiled skinless white meat chicken and has maintained a perfect weight (he gets 1/4 cup in the a.m. and 1/4 cup in the evening). He had his surgery last Monday and his surgeon said he can only eat canned food for 2 weeks post surgery to allow his gums to heal. It's been a week now that I've been feeding him canned and he seems to have lost some weight so I'm worried I'm not feeding him enough. The canned feeding instructions say 1/2 can for his weight but that seems like way too much (he weighs 11.5 lbs). Because of his back problems I don't want him gaining weight either...any suggestions?

[Patt]

How many ounces in the can? You can also add warm water to his kibble to soften it.

[Courtney]

Yeah I would go by weight of the food. So if 1/2 a can is, say, 6 oz, that is a lot for a 11.5 lb dog. 1/2 cup is 4 oz....so he'd get 2 oz of wet food twice a day....which is about 4 tablespoons per serving.

[doxrox]

Yep, that's what I figured and I've been giving him about 4 tbsps each meal. I'll up it a little and that should hopefully do the trick. The surgeon told me he's not allowed soaked kibble for 2 weeks because of the grainer texture of kibble and the little bits, even soaked, could get stuck in the surgery sites and cause problems. He had 2 fistulias that she had to sew over with gum tissue and his gums weren't that great so she wants to give them plenty of time to heal.

He's doing really well and I can tell he's feeling much better without those pesky toofers. And he likes to have his cheeks and muzzle kissed now :hearts:

[Lisa]

Glad to hear he is doing better after surgery and enjoying kisses! :hearts: :hearts: :hearts:

I would keep feeding the amount you are since it is only for two weeks.

[Jen]

Good point Lisa, two weeks won't make too much difference and you want him to recover well. So glad he's doing better!!