My dog won't eat prescription food. Can I mix it with old food?

You may try adding a scoop of canned weight loss dog food. This would likely have less calories than chicken or hamburger. You must also remember that dogs try to train us. As long as she is healthy, she will eat when she is hungry. It is OK for most dogs to miss a meal here and there as long as they don’t have a metabolic health concerns (like diabetes). You may also try mixing the canned food with water to create a gruel and pour this over the kibble and mix well. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I would recommend just feeding normal dog food rather than using human food until you can discuss it with your vet. You may even be able to just call the clinic and ask for a prescription for another brand of dog food. Sometimes you have to dry a couple different prescription dog foods to see which one your pet will prefer. Hill's and Royal Canin also have similar prescription dog foods that you could try. Good luck!

Hello, my name is Dr. Shines and I am happy to help. Your friend isn't wrong. No studies have been done to the best of my knowledge, but I don't think it's a problem given the amounts that you feed. The diets do have different mechanisms of action. However, as long as the Hills diet makes up 90% of Milo's total calorie intake or more, it should work just fine. It sounds like Milo only gets the canned food every other day so I suspect it is just fine. When in doubt, decrease the amount of canned food. You could count up how many calories he gets in the dry and how many he gets in the canned. Then do the math and get an exact ratio as well. Then you will have no doubts! I hope this answers your question! Please feel free to reach out any time.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! if Lucky is on a prescription urinary diet for bladder stones, to prevent a urinary obstruction or to prevent urinary crystals it is not recommended to mix the food with anything else as it virtually makes it in effective. I would discuss other brands that may be more affordable with your Vet. Purina, Hills and Royal canin all make urinary foods. If you absolutely can not afford it then I would have him on an all canned food over the counter urinary diet and add extra water to the canned food. This will cause his urine to be more dilute. I wish you the best!

I understand. I should have clarified. It is probably not the kibble so much as the canned food. If I remember correctly you also give that? If so, just cut that out completely or give only a tiny amount (like 1 -2 teaspoons per day). You can stick with Blue Buffalo if you'd like. They have an adult weight management diet that is grain free. ( https://bluebuffalo.com/natural-dog-food/grain-free-blue-freedom/dry-food/freedom-adult-healthy-weight-chicken-recipe/ )

The prescription diet is required for pets that have been found to develop urinary crystals/stones. If your vet detected crystals, then she must be on the urinary food or she could develop a urinary stone and possibly even require surgery in the future. We as veterinarians are told that pets shouldn't have anything in addition to the prescription diet b/c this could potentially lead to failure of the diet to help regulate her condition. However, you can opt to get some of the canned Hill's S/D food to mix in with it. I hope that this helps. Best of luck with Mamie moving forward. Take care.

Hello, This question's answer depends on what prescription diet he is on and for what reason he was prescribed the diet. Most prescription diets need to be fed completely alone for them to work effectively, but some can be supplemented with treats. Your vet can also answer the question since they know why they prescribed the diet. If you resubmit with the information I asked, I'll be happy to let you know if its an absolute no-no or something to double check with your vet first. :) Hope this is helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!