What is my Westie diet? Every dog and every Westie is different. Some have allergies and everyone has their own likes and dislikes. I am very lucky that I do not have any allergies and also no skin issues. So I am able to eat pretty much anything. Of course there are some ultimate no no’s for any doggo, such as garlic, onions, chocolate, grapes, raisins. So what is my Wesite Diet? It has changed over time as I have changed and we have moved places.
Pet Cubes Raw Westie Diet
I’ve tried various foods over the years. As a puppy I only ate kibbles. But they are boring right? In Singapore I used to eat Pet Cubes. These were amazing. They have options for all types of diets, even starting off with a puppy diet. They have a gently cooked range and also a raw range as well as a senior range and a selection of treats and meal supplements.
There are lots of pros and cons of each type of diet. I won’t get into that here. After a lot of research mammy decided she wanted me to try the raw diet. There’s lots of things to consider with a raw diet, so trying it out with something like Pet Cubes was an easy solution. They have lots of flavours to choose from such as the basics like pork, chicken, beef and lamb. Then they have premium flavours with venison duck and kangaroo. At times they even have crocodile!
Each flavour came in a tray with 4 cubes and in each case you would get 7 trays. I would eat 1 cube per meal and I eat 2 meals per day. That meant each case would last me 14 days. For the basic flavours the cost was S$42 / US$30 and the premium flavours S$58 / US$42. So the cost was actually quite reasonable given the convenience.
The trays all come frozen so I would thaw 2 cubes per day. I would then mix with a small amount of kibbles and add my salmon oil and Rose Hip. Mammy used to buy in bulk and literally fill up our freezer with yummy food all for me!
There are many other similar brands like this around the world. One option I found in Thailand was Bone & Raw. Although they didn’t deliver to the islands so I never got a chance to try them out.
Kibbles
I tried a number of kibbles from when I was a puppy. Then one day I won a competition and got some free Royal Canin Westie kibbles. I couldn’t let it go to waste so tried it out. I always thought these things were a bit of a gimmick. However, after a couple of weeks my coat got a lot more shiny and I seemed happier in myself. Ever since then I have only eaten Royal Canin kibbles.
I only eat a small amount each day, maybe 20 kibbles per meal. Just to give me a bit crunch with my other food. So a bag usually lasts me quite a long time. Which is a good thing as it’s not so easy to get in Thailand! I’ve yet to go to a pet shop and find it in stock, I usually have to order online.
Wet Food
When I moved to Samui it was hard to find anything resembling Pet Cubes. I had brought a few bags of Royal Canin kibbles with me from Singapore, but I wasn’t keen to live off kibbles alone after having such a good diet. There wasn’t really a great choice of food options so I ended up eating Cesar for a while. I’m sorry, but mammy is a sucker for anything with a Westie on it! I mixed up the flavours and had half a tub for each meal mixed with my kibbles.
Quite quickly after starting on this wet food, my breath became really stinky. I also found that I didn’t have as much energy as I used to have. My vet said that wet food can cause a lot of plaque on the teeth and cause the stinky breath.
One tub of cesar used to cost 38 baht / US$1.20 so in a month it would cost me about US$40 per month. I don’t think wet food is really a good option in a Westie diet and won’t be rushing back to it any time soon.
My Current Westie Diet
In a bid to cure my stinky breath and on a mission to save a bit of money, my pawrents decided to look into cooking my own food. As neither are working any more they have plenty of time to dedicate to me. No excuses. There are so many recipes available for making your own dog food. A lot depends on what ingredients are readily available where you are. It’s important to make sure to have a balanced diet and make sure you are getting all the right amount of nutrients.
So now mammy cooks me a big batch of food every 10 – 14 days. My standard diet is;
- 1-1.5kg of minced chicken (80 baht / US$2.50)
- 2 carrots (35 baht / US$1)
- 1 head of brocolli (45 baht /US$1.40)
- Half a bag of frozen peas (55 baht / US$1.70)
The total cost for my home cooked meals is about US$7 every 2 weeks or $15 a month. Pretty much half what I was paying on wet food. A great saving and I know that everything is fresh ingredients and no added preservatives.
Mammy boils the vegetables and fries the chicken but she doesn’t use any oil.
Once the big batch is done, mammy separates it into individual plastic containers. Each container is one spatula of veggies and one spatula of chicken. She halves each container for each meal so each container covers 1 day of meals.
Since starting on these meals, my breath has improved greatly and I have way more energy again. I really don’t think those wet foods are good at all.
Every couple of days I will have a small amount of Royal Canin kibbles added to my meal to give me a bit of crunch. I also have 1 squirt of salmon oil for my silky coat and half a scoop of Rose Hip for my joints to every meal.
Even though it takes some time to cook, it is so much better for me. It’s much healthier and I know there’s no unwanted extras added to my food. Thank you mammy x
Treats
I used to get quite a lot of treats when I was a puppy but now I am bigger I don’t really get many any more. Every day I get a dental chew for my teeth. I have the Pedigree Dentastix. I get the medium sized ones and my pawrents cut them in half so I get half a day. It works out cheaper that way!
I often get an egg as an additional treat too, or some bits of yummy ham. From time to time I get some treats from the Zeal range. I love the pork ribs but mammy gets a bit scared in case they get stuck in my throat so I don’t seem to get them much any more. They do have lots of smaller sized treats as well so I will be sticking to those in the future I think to give mammy peace of mind.
I hope this helps to understand my diet. I am sure it will change as I get older but for now this seems like the pawfect Westie diet for me and I very much enjoy it.
While you are here please check out my shop. Until next time folks, woof woof, Wylie x