maggots in my dogs food

[cittiecat00]

We get a lot of flies during the summer into our house and the other day i discovered where they are laying there eggs as i went to clean out my dogs food bowl (which i do every morning when i feed her) .i found 2 dead maggots in her water and then i looked at what she left of her mixture of dry and wet food and it looked like it was moving so i went out and dumped it. I clean it out everynight before i go to bed now and i still find the beginnings of maggots. is there anyway to get them to stop growing in her food or do i just have to live w/ it until the weather cools down?

[woofgang]

don't leave dog food down! It doesn't just encourage flies, it goes sour and can make the dog ill. Really and truly you should follow the same food hygiene rules with your pet's food as you do your own!!!

[Emily Ball]

Try feeding an all-in-one dry food accompanied by plenty of fresh water and as woofgang says, when the dog has finished eating, remove the bowl straightaway. Never leave uneaten food (especially the wet canned variety) lying around on the assumption the dog will come back and finish it. The dog will find it as unpalatable as you would if you left a half-eaten midday meal out in the sun and had to eat it for tea. The water bowl should also be rinsed out and refilled several times a day too.

[Robinia]

You say that you are giving dry & wet food.  Make sure that any food in cans or bags is well covered/sealed as the flies could be getting at it before you even put it out for your dog.  You only have to turn your back on open food for seconds & a fly can have laid eggs in it.  I give my dog dry food (which he eats at once) & the bag is only opened to take out his food & then folded over & over & clipped tight.

[shaneystar]

My dog has funny eating habits and will not eat his dry food all in one go.He has a bit in the morning then he goes back and forth to it all day.During the hot weather I cover it over with one of those net umbella things that you can cover food with.If he goes towards his bowl for a "graze" I just take it off and cover it up again when he has finished "grazing".Time consuming I know but at least no flies can get on the food.

[FP]

Both my dogs have a wet and dry mix of food at 6.00ish each evening.  They both eat about half of it and then go back at about 9.00 and finish it off.  I don't pick it up as they sometimes go back earlier.  I don't think three hours matters if the food is indoors in a fly free area.

Terriers are notorious for being small eaters and often don't 'gobble' down all their food in one go like other dogs, so they wouldn't get a decent amount of food if I took the dishes away as soon as they had their first portions of food.

[cittiecat00]

my dog eats a little all day, if i give her a small amount she will eat an even smaller amount to make it last. and i cant give her just plain dry food cause then she wont eat it. i also cant cover it w/ something because im not home during the day, im at school and during the summer i work. it sounds like im just gonna have to live w/ it but thanks for all the help.

[shaneystar]

Pet Planet do what is called a gravity feeder.
This may be ideal if you are out all day and want to leave food for your dog.

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=57&pf _id=1282

[FP]

Good link Shaneystar.  I might just invest in a couple of those. x

[KBlaix]

I'd suggest keeping the bag of food in the refrigerator so no flies get in to it before you put it down for your dog. As for flies getting into it after it's put down I have no advise, sorry.

[maggie01]

I give my dogs dried food and biscuits in the morning which I leave out. In the evening they have a small bowl each of foil type food. There aren't too many flies around by evening and my dogs usually eat the food then because it has got cooler. I used to have that problem when I had cats because they were so fussy. In the end I only gave as much food as they would eat at each meal so no food was left out.

[Jamos]

It’s happening to us aswell, so we kill the flies before they can lay there eggs to try to stop it, it should stop in the winter anyway