Any WSAVA food for small underweight dog to gain weight, but not too expensive?
Hello folks,
I have noticed that my dog isn’t very food motivated. When we feed her, she doesn’t usually eat everything. I’ve been substituting her training treats with her actual food, so she is gaining a little weight. But she is still showing ribs
I acknowledge that people see obese dogs as normal, but this is not the case. I have an Italian greyhound, and have compared her to other dogs of her breed. Her breed is meant to show 2-3 ribs, but all ribs showing is not a good sign
I suspect that because she is not food motivated, I will need to switch her food. So that even if she doesn’t eat a lot, each bite has more calories and she can get to a healthy weight. But then I realize that some high calorie foods that people recommend are not good in the long term, not appropriate for small dogs, or are quite pricey
I tried looking into Hills and Royal Canin, but they don’t seem to have high protein options
I have seen folks recommend puppy food. But that’s only a good short term solution. If our dog is going to consistently be non-food-motivated, I don’t want to keep her on puppy food forever
Another that I’ve seen is IAMS Proactive Health High Protein or Purina One High Protein, but they’re both not small dog appropriate. The kibble will be too big for her, which will de-incentivize her from eating further
I have seen others recommend Purina Pro Plan Sport and High Protein. I’m lucky enough to find PPP Sport High Protein Small Bites (so it’s high protein and for small dogs), but the downside is that it’s only available in small 6 pound bags, or 37.5 pound bags. While $2.00 a pound means $70 dog food for a 37.5 pound bag, my limit on getting dog food is 30 pounds. I fear the giant bag of dog food will spoil past 2 months. So I’d be getting the small bags which are $3.22 a pound, or about $20 for a 6 pound bag
I believe my best bet is Eukanuba Small Bites ($2.50 per pound, so $75 for 30 pounds) or Eukanuba Premium Performance ($2.68 per pound, so $75 for 28 pounds) since I’ve heard it’s a high protein WSAVA brand, but it also accommodates for small dogs. My only gripes for both of them is the price
I’m in a bit of a pickle. I am leaning towards buying Eukanuba at this point, but I’d love to hear what other people have been doing for their dogs
The qualifications I’m trying to find is: good to feed long term, appropriate for small dogs and not too expensive (I’m hoping $2.00 a pound max)
I thank any of you to anyone that comments, I truly appreciate the help!