New Food For Foster Boys

Yesterday I took a trip to a natural pet food store to buy some food for both Gus and Rigby.

Gus is underweight and not as muscled as he should be at this age, thanks to being ill for a few weeks. So I wanted to find a food that had a lot of calories - something dense with protein and fat. These days a lot of food are heavily marketed and have things that are pretty unnecessary. For example a kibble that brags about having fish oil, glucosamine and probiotics in it is not really any better than one without - both the oil and the probiotics are damaged by heat during the processing of the kibble so aren't able to be utilized by an animal like you would hope they would be. Foods are marketed for small breeds and weight management and senior dogs and even specific breeds. There are a lot of gimmicks out there to get you to pay more for a food.

You can see Gus's spine, ribs and hip bones now - all signs that he needs to gain some weight

But food for puppies is something that is worth spending your money on - at least for the first 6 to 8 months. Unlike an "all life stages" food that can't be too fatty for older dogs, a puppy food is going to give a big boost of calories and also the higher fat that is needed for their developing body and brain. Pregnant dogs should be eating a puppy food as well - they need the extra calories.

So Gus will start on Firstmate Ocean Fish Puppy Formula which is a wonderful grain-free kibble made in British Columbia. I'll add some pollock oil and refrigerated probiotics to the mix as well and he is getting 3 meals a day, which all the other dogs think is so unfair. Hopefully with the extra meals and calories he'll start putting some weight on. Goodness knows he loves to eat! The kid is like a vacuum and can suck a meal down in no time.

Then, exciting news for Rigby - since most people really don't want to have to cook for their dogs we are going to start doing a trial of a kibble again now that his infection is all cleared up. I bought him some Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Rabbit kibble and tonight was his first meal with some of it mixed in with his turkey, green beans and broccoli. Wish him luck!