# Little Cesar and kibble-how bad is it?



## littledogz (Jul 26, 2010)

Hi all. I ran across this forum as I was researching foods. Glad I did. I have two small dogs - a 3 lb morkie and a 7 lb Papillon. The morkie is just over a year and the Pap is 8 months. Both pups were on Eukanuba when I got them. I have fed Purina One and Iams mixed with Little Cesar. I'm wondering how bad this is but they seem to want the wet food. Question is - what to switch to and how to know how large the food morsels are in kibble? Some are too large. I have a feeling they are not getting the nutrition they need in the dry foods which is why they insist on the wet.

littledogz


----------



## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

littledogz said:


> I'm wondering how bad this is but they seem to want the wet food.


It is admittedly a very poor quality food. The dry and wet alike are not anything that I'd recommend feeding any dog. 



littledogz said:


> Question is - what to switch to and how to know how large the food morsels are in kibble? Some are too large.


This really isn't a matter that makes any difference, BUT if you really want to stick with a small kibble size, most websites will have this information, and a lot of better quality foods some in "small bites" or "large bites." Size-specific foods are generally a total marketing gimick (small breed, large breed) but if it's the kibble size you're going for, any small breed formula will have smaller pieces.


Canned food is a GREAT way to add moisture, meat content, and variety to a kibble diet.


----------



## littledogz (Jul 26, 2010)

Thank you! After reading some of the posts - I figured this was pretty bad stuff. When you say canned food - let me understand - you mean a canned food made by some of the better dog food companies correct?


----------



## dobesgalore (Oct 21, 2009)

Merrick has a good quality canned, or if you are wanting kibble, Origin/acana are also excellent.


----------



## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I have a 3 pound Chihuahua pup that lives with me (7 months old) that eats EVO kibble just fine. The pieces are not too big at all for her and she's been eating it since she was 8 weeks old. My neighbor has a 4 pound Yorkie-poo that eats Innova Puppy that I recommended to her and she is doing great on that. Both of them also eat canned food once a day to supplement the dry food. 

I also have a Lhasa Apso and a 75 pound dog so all different sizes eat the same food and do well on it. I haven't tried all the higher quality kibbles but I know that EVO and Innova come in a "small bite" version. Just check on the bags for that version. They also have free sample bags at most stores for you to try. Many of the better quality foods at smaller pets stores will have free samples for you to try.


----------



## littledogz (Jul 26, 2010)

The samples would be a big bonus. I'd like to find out what they will eat without spending a fortune first. As you know - it takes awhile for dogs this size to eat a 50 lb bag of food! It would be nice not to make a costly mistake


----------



## littledogz (Jul 26, 2010)

Also, now I've got to figure out what to do with all that Purina One and Iams I have that I shouldn't be feeding them!!!!


----------



## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

Most pet stores stores will take back un-eaten kibble and give you a refund. So if you find that the pieces are too big, you should be able to return it no problem.

As far as the unused Iams and Purina, you could always donate it to a shelter.... :smile:


----------



## Huskyluv (Jun 25, 2010)

littledogz said:


> Also, now I've got to figure out what to do with all that Purina One and Iams I have that I shouldn't be feeding them!!!!


You could donate any unused food to a local shelter or if you have a receipt and haven't feed too much of the food you might be able to return it.


----------



## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

littledogz said:


> Also, now I've got to figure out what to do with all that Purina One and Iams I have that I shouldn't be feeding them!!!!


They will take them at the Humane Society. I had to get rid of a lot of food because my Lhasa Apso is allergic to salmon and we didn't find the culprit for awhile. We had many bags of food and donated them. 

And yes, little dogs take awhile to go thru a bag of food! Almost all the better foods come in 5 pound bags. Find yourself a pet specialty store or 'boutique' and check it out. They will have a lot of different foods (Innova, Evo, Merrick, Taste of the Wild, Orijen) and the owners will usually be very helpful. Also, the better foods have money back guarantees so if your dog doesn't do well on it, you can return the bag for your money back. I personally feed Orijen and Evo, along with a lot of variety of canned. My Lhasa can't have Orijen because it contains salmon but my other dogs can and we rotate foods among them. We have also used Taste of the Wild, and Innova with success. Merrick was too rich for my pups, but some people use it, along with Wellness CORE. 

Lots of information for you, but there are lots of foods out there. You may have to try a few and give them several weeks time for your dogs to adjust before you see if they work for your dogs. Especially the grain free foods. They take awhile for dogs to get used to sometimes, but the results are worth it.


----------



## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

dobesgalore said:


> Merrick has a good quality canned, or if you are wanting kibble, Origin/acana are also excellent.


I just wanted to second that Merrick has a great canned food. At my dog food store I am able to mix and match canned food. So this time I mixed and matched a variety of the Merrick canned. So far, my dogs have LOVED each variety I have fed them. 

I will also second the Orijen and Acana being excellent kibbles! :biggrin:


----------



## littledogz (Jul 26, 2010)

This is all such great information! I'm glad I asked. We have few specialty stores in our area but I do know of one that may carry some of these brands. I'll check them out. I'd rather buy here than have foods shipped.


----------



## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Where abouts in NC are you from? I live outside of Raleigh and there are quite a few here, also in Chapel Hill and the Durham area. I only buy food every few months so I make a trip of it.


----------



## littledogz (Jul 26, 2010)

I live in Graham but I work in Chapel Hill. I was thinking perhaps Phydeaux might be a good start since that's where I get my bird supplies anyway.


----------



## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

littledogz said:


> Thank you! After reading some of the posts - I figured this was pretty bad stuff. When you say canned food - let me understand - you mean a canned food made by some of the better dog food companies correct?


Sorry, I'm at work (uhhh... working hard? lol) and didn't get back on this, but yes, higher quality ones give the benefits I referred to. 

I'm gonna jump on the Merrick cans wagon here. I'm not gonna lie... after working a 13 hour day with no food because I'm an idiot and forgot to bring any... opening up a can of Turducken or Thanksgiving Day Dinner to feed the boarding dogs actually smells pretty darn good to me. :tongue:


----------



## ann g (May 6, 2010)

chowder said:


> Where abouts in NC are you from? I live outside of Raleigh and there are quite a few here, also in Chapel Hill and the Durham area. I only buy food every few months so I make a trip of it.


I live in Fayetteville, we only have 1 store here that sells any premium foods, do you know any store names in Raleigh area that sell the Go or Now foods? The one here doesn't.


----------



## Huskyluv (Jun 25, 2010)

CorgiPaws said:


> I'm gonna jump on the Merrick cans wagon here. I'm not gonna lie... after working a 13 hour day with no food because I'm an idiot and forgot to bring any... opening up a can of Turducken or Thanksgiving Day Dinner to feed the boarding dogs actually smells pretty darn good to me. :tongue:


Ditto on that! The Merrick cans and also Wellness stews (formerly Old Mother Hubbard Cupboard Creations) smell so incredibly yummy I'm also tempted to try some myself.


----------



## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

ann g said:


> I live in Fayetteville, we only have 1 store here that sells any premium foods, do you know any store names in Raleigh area that sell the Go or Now foods? The one here doesn't.


Here are some that I know of personally. I go to Pet Mania and Discount Pet Supply all the time. Paws in the City just opened but got two glowing reviews and I know that they sell Go and Now foods because I saw it in their window prior to their grand opening. Pet Mania has three different stores and probably the biggest selection of food. They even carry Orijen now! All three are within ten miles of my house so the premium pet market is REALLY growing in my area. We have more stores then that but these are the three that I know about personally and I live south of Raleigh, close to Holly Springs. 

My son has shopped at Phydeaux in Chapel Hill and thought it was a great store. He was able to get EVO there and anything else he wanted. I haven't been there myself

Pet Mania

Discount Pet Supply 
6440 Tryon Rd 
Cary, NC 27518 
(919) 854-7900

Paws in the City - Home.


----------



## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Huskyluv said:


> Ditto on that! The Merrick cans and also Wellness stews (formerly Old Mother Hubbard Cupboard Creations) smell so incredibly yummy I'm also tempted to try some myself.


I haven't seen what the other ones are like, but I swear the poultry based Merrick cans smell like Chicken Soup to me.


----------



## littledogz (Jul 26, 2010)

Thanks to all of you for this great advice. I plan a trip to Phydeaux tomorrow. My papillon really had some offensive gas (sorry no other way to put it) last evening so I think one of the Little Cesar flavors didn't agree with him too well. That problem has never happened with my morkie. Perhaps he just has a more sensitive digestive system. In any case, it's time to get them on a better diet and stick to it. I'm still learning when it comes to dogs. Ask me anything about parrots and I can tell you anything you want to know....but dogs....different story....lol


----------



## DestaRR (Jul 26, 2010)

dobesgalore said:


> Merrick has a good quality canned, or if you are wanting kibble, Origin/acana are also excellent.


Evangers has good canned meats as well. They might have canned foods as well but I haven't really looked into them all that much.


----------



## ubershann (Jul 29, 2010)

I feed Nature's Logic and my dog loves it. She's happy, healthy, energetic, and people are constantly commenting on how shiny her coat is. Their kibble pieces are small. I also supplement her breakfast and dinner with Northwest Naturals raw food. I use the breeder bars because there are 4 smaller bars in 1 big bar, so she gets one a day. She loves it! 

Evo also makes a "small bites" food. 

I love paps! I had one for about 6 months, but she was far too much energy for me. Such a sweet little dog though


----------



## ajcstr (May 24, 2010)

I have used several small kibble foods for our Yochon:

Wellness Small Breed
Solid Gold Wee Bit 
Holistic Select Small Breed
Earthborn Holistic Small breed
About to try Fromm Salmon a la veg

All of these kibble are tiny
She likes the Holistic Select the best, Solid Gold the least

If you prefer grain free Fromm Surf and Turf looks to be about the same size as the others I have mentioned


----------

