Wet food and Biscuits...mixed or not?

[eschifer]

I have been told never to mix wet food with biscuits as it can cause all manner of health issues for your dog, including eyesight problems that can lead to blindness.

So I've never done this with my dogs food. I have always given her wet food in the morning, sometimes a small amount of dry as a snack in afternoon if she is hungry and wet in the evening.

However, just lately, since the recent hot weather, she isn't eating much, isn't interested in wet food and struggling to eat her dry food (which is Canagans...wet food is Nature's Menu). She has maybe one small-ish bowl per day of biscuits at the moment which seems to be doing her. She is pooing normal and isn't vomiting at all and seems fine in herself.

I know a few people who have dogs and they mix wet with dry.

I don't know whether to try mixing to see if it encourages her but I don't want to risk her health.

Any advice?

 

[chillipup]

I've never ever heard that feeding wet and biscuits together can cause problems or even blindness and I'm struggling to see why that would be? My dog does not like Millies Wolf Heart Complete on its own, so I mix a bit of MWH tinned in with it and she demolishes it. She is on two meals a day and seems pretty fit and healthy on it.

Years ago I fed dogs with biscuit (not complete food) added to fresh meat and/or tripe. None of mine had any problems but I suppose it all depends on the grade of biscuit. I could imagine many low cost/poor quality ones could be damaging because of all the additives.
Is Canagans a complete food or just a biscuit meal/filler? I'm sure others far more knowledgeable than me will be along shortly OP and I look forward to their replies too.

 

[Roxylola]

I know you are not supposed to feed mixed raw and kibble. Not at the same time because biscuits digest slower than meat and you can end up with blockages etc. And not ideal in general as a raw diet needs more stomach acid to effectively digest it. I know this is a bit more than hearsay as when I had my dogs on biscuits they would get chicken wings occasionally and although they chewed them they would pass undigested bone the next day. After transitioning to raw there are no more bones visible in the poop!
I have also heard people say not to wet dry food as it can lead to bloat and other people say to always wet dry food to prevent bloat!
I would think if you are feeding a "cooked" diet then mixing cooked wet food and cooked biscuits would be fine though

 

[planete]

I have been mixing all kinds of food for years, wet, dry, raw, cooked and never had a problem with any of my dogs. I am however very particular about not exercising within a two hour window either side of a meal and making any diet changes very gradually.

 

[stencilface]

This is a scavenger, as long as it's dog food and the dog has no issues I can't see a problem?

Been feeding meat and biscuits for years with no issues afaik.

 

[deb_l222]

I've been mixing dry and tinned for donkeys years and I've not managed to kill (or blind) one yet. Can't see how it could possibly do any harm. Let's face it, a dog's stomach is probably the most inhospitable place on earth and if it can cope with rotting dead carcasses, like my nasty creatures find, then it can cope with a dry / wet cocktail!!

 

[chillipup]

I have been mixing all kinds of food for years, wet, dry, raw, cooked and never had a problem with any of my dogs. I am however very particular about not exercising within a two hour window either side of a meal and making any diet changes very gradually.

I agree planete, I leave plenty of time after feeding to when I exercise mine and with making any diet changes...no one needs a dog with diarrhoea!

 

[Umbongo]

Never ever heard of this, and I work in a vets.
Have always fed mine a mix of wet and dry with no problems.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I saw a recent study that showed kibble faster than RAW actually. think its a bit of a myth (besides, haven't they been selling mixer for longer than kibble?). I am pretty anal about leaving a couple of hours between feeding and exercise (either way) as well and they know when they are fed its quiet time afterwards.

 

[JillA]

I think it may be because most kibble is supposed to be a complete balanced diet, add ingredients and it is no longer balanced. (Eyes, really???) I add a small pouch of cat food in gravy between them to the kibble I feed my two for palatability as they were starting to turn their noses up at dry kibble, can't see a problem with that

 

[Moobli]

I am another dog owner who has never heard of feeding a mix of wet and dry food causing any problems. Who told you this OP?

My dogs get a variety of food types - including some tinned meat mixed into dry complete and although I usually feed one meal of raw and the other of dry complete (with wet mixed in usually), I have also fed dry and rawtogether without any problems at all. I have not yet come across any scientific evidence to show that feeding raw and complete together causes issues.