# Dehydration from kibble?



## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

Hi All,

Axel had some supermarket kibble when i first got him which he played with and never ate. I then got a sample of Advance brand kibble from the vet (this is also what he was on at the breeders) so i thought I would give it a try. Left a bit out for him and when I got home half the bowl was gone. Then he peed and I got a shock! His pee is usually very pale yellow with almost no smell but after one day on this kibble it was dark yellow and stinky. He had also drunk most of his water and continued to drink more water than usual that night. I assume these dehydration symptoms are from the kibble? Has anyone else experienced this? I removed the kibble straight away and he was back to normal the next day but I am shocked that half a bowl of kibble could do this. What does it do to the kidneys of dogs that are on kibble all their lives? I'm transitioning him to raw at the moment (can only get him to eat chicken wings, he wont eat chicken without the bone and skin still attached) so kibble won't make up a big part of his diet but some kibble is handy to leave out for him to free feed during the day while he is still needing to eat 3-4 times a day (he's 14 weeks).


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## 20887 (Mar 16, 2011)

I would be careful about feeding kibble and raw close together, as they digest at different rates and can cause tummy problems. 

Is this the brand of kibble you are feeding?
Dog Food Reviews - Advance Puppy Growth - Powered by ReviewPost

If so, it seems to have gotten a really low rating(1 star) so I would switch to something within the 4-6 star range if you want to feed kibble as well.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

If you choose to feed kibble, pick a 5 or 6 star on dogfoodanalysis.com. Then rehydrate it with warm water so it's more like canned/wet food. I wouldn't feed kibble dry.


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## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

Unfortunately I live in Australia and only one of the 5 or 6 star brands is available here (Innova) and not widely. I have found one website here that stocks it also so I will make an order.


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## Brodysmom (Jan 8, 2009)

You could try Billinghursts pre-made raw. We have several aussies here that use it and like it.


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## ~LS~ (Oct 29, 2011)

I`m sure you can find better kibble than the Advance one. What about ordering online?
If at the end of the day there really is no quality kibble in all of Australia, and you don`t have time to feed just raw, then how about home cooked? 
It`s easy, and you can make enough for a week, portion it and freeze.


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## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm happy to put together my own raw rather than do pre-made. I figure I can get my scales out once a month, portion it out and freeze it and I should be good to go. i'm more looking for something to leave out so he can free feed when we're not there. I just did some more research and found somewhere in Australia that can ship me Ziwi Peak so that might be the solution. It's a bit on the expensive side at $160 plus shipping for a 5kg bag but considering Axel weighs about 1kg at the moment it should last him ages as just a supplement to raw meals morning and night.


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

ZP has a lot of fans so I would go with that! As Missy mentioned, feeding kibble and raw close together can cause digestive upset due to how they are digested; so if you feed raw I would pick up the kibble for a few hours just to be safe.

And FWIW I do think it takes a lot more time to prepare a home cooked meal for dogs than it does raw. With raw, it's just a matter of cutting it up into small enough pieces prior to freezing. Once that's done, we just follow the meal plan on the fridge and give the dogs whatever they need that day from the freezer, twice a day. We don't have to do anything else in advance to prepare it.


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## ~LS~ (Oct 29, 2011)

Investing in your pup's health now will save you on vet bills down the road. 
I'm not familiar with ZP, but the folks on here seem to really love it.
Raw is much simpler than some people think, and does not at all have to be messy imo.
Once you get the hang of it the prep is not much of a pain either, especially if you make lots and freeze. 
I'm just curious how long is Axel left alone for? And how old is he? 
I'm asking because I'm trying to figure out if free feeding is even needed for him, perhaps just frequent small meals will do.


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## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

Axel is 14 weeks today. He is left alone for no more than 5 hour blocks as my husband is a contractor and is in and out of home at different times depending on what jobs he has on for the day, if he's going to be out for longer than that I go home in my lunch hour to give Axel a 10 min walk and a feed (my co-workers think im crazy because it's a 20 min drive either way but he's worth it to me). I'm a big one for cooking and freezing batches of human food when i have the time so its not an issue to prepare and freeze raw for Axel. I just want to make sure he has access to food while we're away as his energy needs are high as a puppy. Given his current weight and the fact that it would only be 1 of 3 meals for the day the 5kgs Ziwi Peak would work out about $1 per day so that sounds like my solution.


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## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

We feed our big dog Acana and TAste of the Wild (our chis are fed raw), and it is ONLY ever fed completely soaked in water for 30-45 min before fed so she has to consume the water with it...you are correct that dry food is very tough on organs.


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## liss77 (Feb 9, 2011)

Hi OzChi

Where in Australia are you?

I live in the Western suburbs of Melbourne & have found a pretty good little pet shop over here that stocks a lot of the better brands. We are trying out Earthborn Holistic on their recommendation at the moment which is very similar to EVO by Innova, but not made by P&G.

If you check out the websites of some of the 5 & 6 star foods they usually have a list of stockists and a lot of them do supply Australia. (except taste of the wild grrrr). I usually find it is the more local (not chain store) pet shops that stock the better brands and know more about pet nutrition. 

Also - can you let me know what site you will be ordeing ZiwiPeak from?


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## OzChi (Oct 26, 2011)

I'm in the inner west of Melbourne myself, can you let me know the name of your store? I found the Ziwi Peak and also Canidae from BowHouse which is in Sydney but they ship around the country. Must be the smaller independant stores that don't have a wweb presence who stock the good suff as I only found this BowHouse place and Pets Paradise for Innova (only some locations) when I googled.


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## liss77 (Feb 9, 2011)

Hi OzChi,

The shop I'm talking about is called 4 Paws and More Pet Supplies, in Keilor Park. There website is still under construction, but it has all their contact details 4Paws & More Pet supplies - Direct to the Public .

They no longer stock ZP :foxes15: but they do have Dr B's BARF patties and Earthborn Holistic which I think is made by the same people as Orijen if my memory serves me correctly.... They stock a lot of other brands, but I couldn't tell you what they all are, but it would be worth giving them a call.

There is also a little boutique shop I found in Brunwick, but haven't visited yet so not sure what they have, but I do know they stock the Paco collars and a home made dog food. I didn't really like the ingredients in the food they stock, but they might stock some of the other brands. They are called K9 Kudos K9 Kudos . They are next on my list to check out next time I am heading into the city  It looks like I could blow a LOT of money there though lol!

Hope this has helped
Melissa


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