Food woes

[vanillalove]

Ugh. I'm frustrated.

 

Basically, Pete got really sick a few weeks ago, he had the runs like it was nobody's business with absolutely zero appetite and we eventually took him into the vet. They found an infection, but couldn't really explain what it was exactly. Regardless of what it was, and we have some theories, he was on some meds for the next week and is now done that round. They obviously also gave us some disgusting Medi-cal gastro formula canned food. He wasn't eating his dry so we gave in and fed the Medi-cal to get something in his belly. Wouldn't you know, he was practically doing backflips for this stuff.

 

Here's the problem now. We got through the last of the disgusting canned food, but now Pete doesn't want to go back to his kibble. He literally just wants canned food. I work at a pet boutique now which sells all natural pet foods, and I brought home some quality canned food (some Evo, Innova, etc) and some samples of other dry foods that are known to be pretty palatable, and he only wants the canned stuff, in any flavour. So I mixed the canned and dry together so that each kibble was thoroughly coated in wet food, but he just took each kibble in his mouth and sucked off the canned food and spit the kibble back out. Nothing was getting this dog to eat kibble. I even dumped some fatty turkey gravy over the top, kibble is just NOT happening.

 

So now I'm thinking, okay, well he's 9, and if he wants to eat canned food (as long as it's a quality food), do I just let him? I also would continue to supplement his food with fish oil and perhaps a supplement like Addlife which puts vitamins and nutrients back into kibble & canned. My concerns are obviously with his teeth health. He still gets bones weekly and his teeth are glistening white. What about his poops? That might be a stupid question, but will they still be as firm? He really enjoyed the Evo cans (not the 95% meat ones) and he bounces all over the kitchen when he sees me pull a can, in a way he NEVER did with kibble. Another pro for canned is that I recently put him on liquid glucosamine and it would be easier to conceal.

 

So what do I do? An all canned-diet seems to have a negative stigma and I just want to get the low down on it. I'm concerned about the pros and cons of kibble vs. canned and if kibble truly is the better option, how the heck do I get him to switch back over if he is willing to take each kibble in his mouth and suck off the wet food (grrr).

 

This dog has NEVER been picky about food. He switched kibble over right away and his tummy isn't fussy about different protein sources. Now, it seems he is comparing EVERYTHING to the holy canned food. Advice?