Is Canned Food Bad For Dogs Teeth?

[Sasha (Alexander)]

Hello guys.

I currently give my dogs a mix of kibbles, chicken necks or mince meat, and canned food at meal times.

When we purchased our second puppy from a breeder he said he doesn't give his dogs canned food because it is bad for their teeth.

I am wondering if he is correct?

First of all i don't only give canned food to them, i give them a mix.

I also give my dogs things to chew on that is meant to clean their teeth.

So i am wondering if the canned food is still okie?

what are your opinions?

[Bundyburger]

It's 'bad' for their teeth in that eating soft food doesn't help clean the plaque off their teeth, and it contains a lot of preservatives so just isn't good for them in general. I don't feed canned food, my dogs either get raw or good quality biscuits depending on our budget.

[persephone]

Canned food is a lot of water, with some cereal/vegetables ,meat bits .

It is not good for their teeth- there is nothing to chew !

It is not really good for your wallet , being so much water

Dogs have GOOD teeth- IMO they don't need mince or canned food or soft food at ll...

If you are feeding a good brand kibble , with a sensible list of ingredients, they do not need any canned food .

Chicken necks are good for small dogs- larger dogs can happily chew on chicken frames /carcasses/lamb flaps or turkey wings.These bones are healthier than coloured/flavoured chews ... or chewing on plastic

[poodlefan]

It's not great for your stomach if you have to pick up after your dogs either.

[persephone]

It's not great for your stomach if you have to pick up after your dogs either.

LOL!! Brings back memories...

[Nekhbet]

canned food is junk. Read the label, its just cereal, gelling agent, some animal fats, flavours etc steamed into a can.

Dogs need meat on the bone not rubbish like that. I dont know why anyone buys cans when raw foods like butchers off cuts and scraps cost next to nothing and are a thousand times healtheir

[piper]

When I used to instruct puppy preschool, the vet nurses woudl give a nutrition talk and they all (different clinics, independently owned) recommended against canned food due to the high level of water and low quality ingredients that are typically used. I remember 1 vet nurse saying some brands can be up to 80% water so it is a very expensive bowl of water you are feeding them.

I agree with Nekhbet in that you can pick up good quality raw meaty bones, offal etc often cheaper than the price of a can of food. And the output will definitely be less as well as much easier to deal with.

[whiskedaway]

The only time we've ever given canned food is when our dog had an upset stomach and the vet recommended it. Knowing what I know now, I'd prefer to cook up chicken and rice in that situation rather than canned food.

[CrazyCresties]

Not all canned is junk Mine are all raw feed, but when they went through quarantine recently that wasn't an option. I provided Natures Gift canned instead, and they did very well on it Poops were still firm

http://www.naturesgift.com.au/index.html

They are back on raw now, but I usually have a couple of cans on stand-by in case I forget to defrost anything.

[poodlefan]

The only time we've ever given canned food is when our dog had an upset stomach and the vet recommended it. Knowing what I know now, I'd prefer to cook up chicken and rice in that situation rather than canned food.

I have fed Hills I/D cans to Darcy when he was recovering from gastro. It certainly is a less offensive than other canned food I've seen (and smelt).

[Nekhbet]

natures gift is still only 10-11% protein, considering they say it's 70% meat in the can, well that makes 7% real meat the rest is filler and water.

[CrazyCresties]

Raw meat has a high moisture content also

[Crisovar]

As long as you feed variety and that includes fresh meaty bones, seriously your dog will be just fine with the odd can of food.

Natures gift is on the menu here from time to time.

Muscle meat is 75% water.

Edited December 6, 2010 by Crisovar

[dogdogdog]

You know it is funny but back in the old days I had a cocker spaniel cross.

She lived mainly on canned Pal. I thought that was the best canned food.

Also got a scraps/veges on occasion. Particularly if I was broke I would cook her up a stew of veges flavoured with vegemite.

Lived to be nearly 16 years old and was always healthy.

[Guest belgian.blue]

Not all canned is junk Mine are all raw feed, but when they went through quarantine recently that wasn't an option. I provided Natures Gift canned instead, and they did very well on it Poops were still firm

http://www.naturesgift.com.au/index.html

They are back on raw now, but I usually have a couple of cans on stand-by in case I forget to defrost anything.

My two get natures gift every few days and are doing fine on it. VERY white clean teeth, good poops etc.

I'd never feed any other canned food though.

[Sydoo]

It's not great for your stomach if you have to pick up after your dogs either.

LOL!! Brings back memories...

I fed Billie canned food for a few days (after she mistook a lightbulb for a chew toy) and was gobsmacked at the sudden volume of output! We had to check every poo for blood and I remember OH trying to point out where she had gone from up on the deck...I thought he was pointing at a big stick.

[Nekhbet]

pure muscle, fresh, is up to 75% water. if you let meat hang the water content decreases. What is left is then 20% pure digestible protein and about 5% fat, minerals etc. Mince is around 60% water, chicken has less water in its muscle. Put meat on the bone with fat, connective tissue and minerals, and there is a meal which also encourages your dogs stomach to have a more normal pH.

Remember too fresh meat is not cooked to a rediculous temperature either.

[poodlemum]

I agree with others - never feed mine tinned food. I have, however, given the occasional tin of Nature's Gift puppy to my puppies. You only have to look at the difference in viscosity between NG & PAL to see that PAL is cr*p

[Staranais]

I don't feed tinned food - the supermarket brands are mostly just rubbish. The chunks of "meat" in there are actually just TVP (soya). The "meat" listed on the ingredients panel is just a little bit in the gravy. Ew!

However, I guess the high end cans wouldn't be any worse than a reasonable kibble so long as you also do something to take care of the teeth (feed bones, meat chunks, or brush). Would probably work out more pricey than a high end kibble, though.

ETA: As for the original question, is canned food bad for teeth, all I can add is that I've visited the cat center here where they do commercial cat diet trials (including testing the effectiveness of dental kibbles for companies like Hills), and anecdotally the people there told me that the cats that are fed only canned have the worst teeth - worse than regular kibble, which is itself worse than the dental kibbles. But I don't think that's published, since no company was paying to have their canned food tested for how good it was for teeth. So I can't imagine why it would be different for dogs.

Edited December 7, 2010 by Staranais

[ish]

I don't feed tinned food - the supermarket brands are mostly just rubbish. The chunks of "meat" in there are actually just TVP (soya). The "meat" listed on the ingredients panel is just a little bit in the gravy. Ew!

When I worked for Petstock, we did a tour of the Uncle Bens factory (they make Advance, Pal, Chum, My Dog, Whiskas, etc). The bloke told us that all the meat chunks in the canned food (dog and cat) are completely manufactured - they have special machines that layer the mix of stuff into lines which is then formed into chunks to look like real meat - the fish in the cat food cans is painted pink on one side to look like real fish etc.