Besides protein differences, are there are other differences in senior versus adult food?
I have two senior beagles…both are within normal weight range but it’s a struggle. They get some excercise with a 15-20 minute walk in the morning and a 30-45 minute walk in the evening…every day (unless it’s pouring down rain). My 10 year old, 22 lb beagle was just diagnosed with a luxating patella. I was shocked as all her vet checks have never shown this problem. The vet said it’s possible it was undetected due to muscle mass and as they get older they lose muscle mass.
They eat Wellness senior dog food because the 10 year old had some abnormal kidney values a couple of times and her urine specific gravity can be low at times due to how much water she drinks (she has always been that way). So I chose wellness for the low phosphorus level (.75). The vet thinks she may have some renal deficiences so her take is to be cautious and keep an eye on it.
I was considering a change to blue wilderness senior as it’s grain free and higher in protein. The red meat formula has .7 phosphorus and the regular senior has .9. Any thoughts on this? As fo rmy other beagle, she’s 37 lbs and her only health issue is an autoimmune disease that affects her nails. Oh and the 10 year old recently had full anal glands. Just though I would mention that.
If you would prefer I start another thread, just let me know. Thank you…
My 10 year old Golden Retriever eats anything. The vet says she is the picture of health and I have fed her always REGULAR food. Premium Edge (not for seniors), then Taste of Wild all flavors rotated. After that I have fed her the left over Origen and Acana that my German Shepherd puppy seemed to not be able to eat. Her dog friends are from ages 2 yrs old to 5 or 6 and she can outlast them some days. She keeps up with our 20 month old German Shepherd. I agree that they NEED the protein to keep them young and vibrant. It’ll be a long time before she eats senior food.
I feed my senior dog (14 1/2 years old) a high protein food. She’s doing fabulously well and definitely much much better than she was on a lower protein diet. Seniors actually need more protein than an adult dog so feed your senior dog an adult food with a high protein, moderate fat, low carb diet.
Senior dogs don’t need a senior food. A good percentage of senior foods are way too low in protein. Seniors need higher protein to maintain muscle, also for a good immune system. Of course, they need a high quality food with higher protein.
What do you feed your dogs now?
Most of the brands on each list don’t offer senior dog food but they do offer many adult dog food brands. What can I do with my senior dogs? Is adult dog food safe for them? What about when the brand says from ages 1-6 or 1-5?
I’m sorry about that situation :/ man, it’s gotta be tough, for sure. It definitely sounds like you’re doing the best you can, at least! If you were to find a little pet boutique store nearby (not out of your mom’s accessible driving range), would there be any chance you could talk her into one of the foods available there? I used to be the same way with my parents. We had to buy whatever was available at Walmart or Fred Meyer (a similar drugstore) at a cheap price. Poor baby pooches used to be on Dog Chow and Ol Roy! I finally found a 3 star food for only 25$/40# that we bought for a year or two. I saved up and would buy our senior’s dog food at a feed store (after parents paid big vet bill for medications to heal disgusting hot spots…..those things were almost unbearable to look at! They were so bad that the new vet we took her to thought that she had been burned!). Eventually, I got my parents up to Diamond Naturals at 30$/40#, and the store we buy from is just a couple minutes away from Walmart luckily.
We call her C4C!
Hi Jodi
The deal with seniors is that as they age, they can lose their ability to properly digest proteins. It’s important for seniors(and kidney dogs too) to have high quality protein. Kibble is very processed and that processing lowers the quality of the protein, so the thing to do may be to add some canned or fresh meats and other quality proteins, like fish, eggs, etc. to her food.
So sorry you got ripped off with BB… Some of their foods are great, but others? Well, you’re just paying for the fancy packaging.
Personally, almost anything on here that’s 4-5 stars is good. I wouldn’t be too picky about getting food for seniors. As crazy4cats said, they’re often lower in the good proteins and fats, and higher in empty fillers. I know a couple dogs on NutriSource GF, they’re both 55-65lb seniors (I think they’re around 13), and they still go on an hour walk/run into the fields every morning. One of them is even known to sometimes jump over a 4ft fence!
I know home made diets with premixes (like the honest kitchen, and See Spot Live Longer) are the favorite around these parts. Orijen and Acana are two of the most beloved dry foods as well. I’d love to have my dogs on either of those, but the price is waaaay out of my personal budget.
Also bumping this so others can see 😉 best wishes!
Hi Jodi-
I’m gonna bump up your post so others can respond to your question. I’ve come to learn that most of the very knowledgeable posters on this forum typically do not recommend a senior dog food because they are usually lower in protein. Most contributors recommend actually feeding an even higher protein low fat food to senior dogs. I’m hoping one of them will jump in with suggestions for you. Good luck!
I’m looking for recommendations for a good quality dry senior dog food. I have been feeding my 13 year old mixed breed Blue Buffalo Life Protection Senior. I thought that was a good choice, but it only gets a 2-star rating! I want something better for my sweet old girl. She is about 65 lbs, but I really have no idea what breeds she may be. When I adopted her 12 years ago, they told me a possible chow mix, but I don’t see that at all. She did have some kidney and liver issues a few years back but now is in good health for her age. Any suggestions would be very appreciated!
**Reposting under correct category **
Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum, and have a question for you all. Any suggestions/feedback you have would be most appreciated.
I adopted a puppy in January, and have been feeding her Precise Holistic (dry food for puppies). The dog that I lost in October had been eating Precise Senior for a few years and loved it!
My question is this. My pup eats way to fast. I have tried the slow eating type bowl, but doesn’t seem to help. I elevated her food bowl, doesn’t make a difference. She has terrible gas, and I don’t mean occasionally, I mean several times a day / night. Her stool is sometimes firm, and sometimes runny. I cannot figure out if the issue is from eating too fast and getting air in her stomach, or an issue with grain; should I possibly switch to a grain free food and see if that helps with the gas issue?
Thank you in advance for any advice/help you can give.
Regards,
Elisa
Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum, and have a question for you all. Any suggestions/feedback you have would be most appreciated.
I adopted a puppy in January, and have been feeding her Precise Holistic (dry food for puppies). The dog that I lost in October had been eating Precise Senior for a few years and loved it!
My question is this. My pup eats way to fast. I have tried the slow eating type bowl, but doesn’t seem to help. I elevated her food bowl, doesn’t make a difference. She has terrible gas, and I don’t mean occasionally, I mean several times a day / night. Her stool is sometimes firm, and sometimes runny. I cannot figure out if the issue is from eating too fast and getting air in her stomach, or an issue with grain; should I possibly switch to a grain free food and see if that helps with the gas issue?
Thank you in advance for any advice/help you can give.
Regards,
Elisa
My boy has I.B.D & I too have him on the Eukanuba Intestinal, I think in America its called Iams Sensitive stomach, Ive tried other foods thinking that they’re more better but in the end we always go back to the Eukanuba Intestinal, Im finding high fat% kibbles are no good also high protein % & high fiber% is a no no also. Have you looked at the Holistic Select kibbles there’s the Adult health Duck Meal fat is 13% fiber is only 3.90% its also a single protein Duck being the only protein, so if he cant handle say fish or Lamb etc u know that there’s only Duck in this Kibble, sometimes its a meat or potatoes that can cause their diarrhea, Im going to try the Senior Chicken meal & rice as the fat% is the same as his Eukanuba 10% & fiber is only 3.50%..even though my boy is only 5yrs old the only thing difference in the Senior is that the Glucosomane is higher, but the fat% & fiber% are the lowest in the Holistic Select range, so I dont think it will matter that he’s not a senior at the moment, Im pretty sure WellPet make Wellness, Holistic Select & Eagle Pack….there’s the Complete Health Senoir in the Wellness but the fiber% was too high for my dog its 5% .. Look at the Guaranteed Analysis on ur Iams Sensitive stomach bag & look what the Fat%, Protein% & fiber% is & try to find a better kibble that is nilly the same in Fat% Protein% & fiber%, thats what Ive been trying to do..then see if he can cope.. also when you start a new kibble do it sooo slow I take 2 weeks, when I get to the second week thats when things start to happen that are going to happen with Patches Diarrhea…
Crazy how different prices are! For me, Victor is nowhere around. I’ve looked online, but it’s all about 50-70$ for a 20-30# bag (yes, including shipping – usually) then my lucky-dog friend is able to buy 40# bags for 30$! Yes, I’m jealous!!!! LOL!!!
I can’t remember how much NutriSource is around here. I wanna say for a 35-40# bag, it’s about 50-60$. I just ended up getting a bad first impression on it. I may try it again in the future as I’m pretty sure I know what happened:
Cassy (our senior lab) had been on 1-3 star food her whole life. She had horrible skin problems, so I decided it was time to save up and get a 4-5 star food. I /did/ transition her from the 2 star up to the 4 star, but it made her flare up to disgusting levels (50% of her skin was raw. She had to wear a cone and a sweater until the vet’s meds started working! Even then, her feet tore through the sweater and she could chew on her tail…poor baby).
I’ve never tried NutriSource again, just because I’m so scared it may have had some odd ingredient she reacted to, but now she is on similar 4 star foods and doing fabulously!
My dog is 15, a silky terrier, who has had a few bouts with pancreatitis. She needs a low fat, and probably lower protein dog food. She doesn’t like dry dog food. She is on Hills Science Diet ID low fat GI restore which recently changed the texture of its canned dog food. It is very dry, won’t even absorb any moisture! My dog almost chokes on it. Also, I don’t think the ingredients are very healthy – pork liver, pork by products, corn…! Please, if anyone knows of a good canned dog food – low fat, low protein please let me know. thanks. —Patty
Oh OK, he’ll be 6 in November, I think 7 yrs old is the start to be a senior dog, as you’ll see 1-6yrs for aldult foods then 7+ for senior foods, Also the Ash in kibbles, what should it be around.. I see 7.5% 9.5% 11% should it be lower or higher & what does Ash do,
I’m a little confused by your question, sorry if I’m missing something. I was under the impression that by the time dog food is cooked, whatever glucosamine was there is all but gone. Buy a joint supplement if you need it.
Why do you need a senior food?
I forgot to write the food Im going to try, Ive looked & looked for a low fat & low fiber & found this one ‘Holistic Select Senior Health’ Chicken Meal & Rice the fat is only -10% the fiber-3.50% & the protein-26% see my boy isnt use to a high protein being on the Eukanuba Intestinal it’s only 23% so going to 26% I’ll see if he can handle it slowing plus Ive bought the Holistic Select Duck Meal before & its not a hard kibble it digest easily.. I always boil the jug, I put boiling water in half a glass & drop a kibble in for 40sec then pull out put kibble inbetween 2 spoons & try to crush it, if it crushes easily I know it will be good for my boy to digest if I have to really apply pressure to crush a kibble I take the bag of kibble back to Pet Barn, its too hard for my dog.. Before I knew a little about kibbles my dog was on the R/C Hypoallergenic & Sensitivity control they were hard kibbles thats when my poor dog started having all his stomach problems & vomiting now the vet say Pancreatitis..The only thing Im worried about this Kibble is for dogs over 7 yrs old, my boy is only 5yrs old 6 in November & it has 750mg/kg Glucosamine… I dont know if that matters the Duck Meal & other Flavours Lamb etc the Glucosamine is 340mg/kg..
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This reply was modified 11 years, 9 months ago by
Susan.
I’m a long time lurker who has a similar issue with my dog. Due to an arrhythmia, mitral valve problem, enlarged heart & pancreatitis issues my dog must be on low sodium, low fat food. At first I had him eating one of the hills prescription diets, but it became too expensive coupled with all his meds (he’s a bit guy who eats a lot). So I began searching for a new food. Here’s what I found:
Wellness dog food: I emailed them recently so this is current
Chicken .14% Sodium 12% fat
Lamb .23% sodium 12% fat
Healthy Weight .11% sodium 6% fat
Senior .11% sodium 10% fat
Simple Grain-Free Salmon 0.29% Sodium 12% fat
Simple Grain-Free Turkey 0.24% Sodium 12% fat
Simple Lamb & Oatmeal 0.20% Sodium 12% fat
Simple Duck & Oatmeal 0.08% Sodium 11 % fat
Core Original 0.53% Sodium 16% fat
Core Ocean 0.69% Sodium 16% fat
Core Reduced Fat 0.50% Sodium 10% fat
Core Small Breed 0.23% Sodium 16% fat
Core Puppy 0.37% Sodium 18% fat
Core Large Breed 0.22 % Sodium 12% fat
Core Wild Game 0.22% Sodium 16% fat
California Natural/Innova/Evo all info about fat & sodium can be found on their website
http://www.naturapet.com/brands/evo
Some of the foods that I do have info on some california naturals
Grain free chicken .34% sodium 12% fat
Grain free kangaroo .26% sodium 11% fat
Chicken & brown rice weigh man. .2% sodium 7% fat
Lamb & brown rice weight man. .24% sodium 7% fat
Chicken & brown rice Senior .19% sodium 8% fat
Tufts University also has a list of dog foods
http://vet.tufts.edu/heartsmart/resources/reduced_sodium_diet_for_dogs.pdf
The food we settled on was Natures Logic Sardine Meal 10% fat and .33% sodium. Their other food while low in sodium are higher in fat.
I’m sure there are many, many more that fit are low fat, low sodium my advice would be to visit their websites and if sodium isn’t listed call or email them. Hope that helps.
My female beagle, 10 years old, about 32 lbs. has a heart murmur (is on meds for it) so I have to be careful with salt and fat. It was suggested that I put her on Hill’s Science Diet prescription HD formula for cardiac health which is low in salt, but I don’t like the ingredients in it. It was also suggested that we try looking at some of the senior diets because they may be low in salt, but so far I am not coming up with anything. I really don’t want to have to prepare food myself if at all possible. I’m discovering just how little information is out there when you are looking for specific needs in a dog’s diet. Any suggestions? Thanks!
My lab has to have a low copper dog food because of copper toxicity and liver disease. I was feeding Merrick whole earth farms senior but they stopped making it. We don’t like the quality of Iams which is the only other one we know of. Other than making my own any suggestions?
He is also a senior dog with other issues but copper content is the biggest concern.
Thanks
Aleksandra, that’s great you were able to convince at least a person or two to upgrade! I doubt I will be able to, as I’m just a teenager and these people are retired. A topic as touchy as dog food needs a lot of respect before I would dare mess with it. I’ve only met these people one time, so I haven’t really had the chance to build up their respect for me. I’m hoping to be able to give them the link to this website and keep my fingers crossed that one click will lead to another. That’s exactly how it happened for me. My parents only bought the cheap food for our dogs, and it was showing on our poor senior lab. I bought a bag of Wenaewe food (it was a steal, only 30$ for 30lb…if I’d bought it from the website, it’d be 90$/30lb), so googled “Wenaewe reviews” and found this site. I was HOOKED! I started looking up every food that I’ve fed (or even thought of feeding) my dogs, and realized that price has /almost/ nothing to do with quality.
Now after a few months of hanging out on here, I feel like I know a thing or two about dog nutrition, and it’s great! =D so if I can get other people to even spend 10min digging on here, they’ll probably change as well.
That’s so great to hear the success story of your friend switching her food. I know my success story is almost unbelievable! Our poor Lab was on Dog Chow, Pedigree, and Ol’ Roy…she was developing disgusting skin/ear infections. It got to the point where we didn’t even want to pet her b/c she smelled so bad and was so flaky. Took her to a vet and got some meds to temporarily clear it up, then I saved up and bought her a bag of much better food. I’m not kidding: she acted as good as she did 5 years ago, and her sour-nasty-foul odor turned into nothing more than a very light “doggie” smell if you buried your nose in her fur… She got soft and fairly shiny, and now her ear infections are gone for good (she still has scarring/wax buildup that I have to manage though). If we didn’t switch her last year, I don’t even know if she’d be alive today!
My 13-14 year old Chihuahua has been eating raw food ( basically turkey, oats and carrots with salmon oil, Vit C, yeast, etc. added ). I would like to feed her a good canned food which is low in protein considering her elevated kidney levels, heart murmur and remaining one tooth. She is picky and recently decided not to eat the raw food. BTW, I always heat the raw food so it is a bit warm though still raw.
Sometimes it takes about 2-3 months to find out if a food works for your dog. At least it’s been that way for mine. Sometimes, though, I can tell immediately but other times it takes awhile. I am feeding Annamaet now and the dogs are doing great! I just got some Victor Yukon and Ocean, and lots of samples of the Senior, GF, and Adult. I plan on a rotation of Annamaet, Victor, and Dr. Tim’s and Fromm 4Star. Laverne may not be able to eat some of them due to them having poultry, but we’ll see. If not, she’ll just eat the ones with fish.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by
Mom2Cavs.
My dog recently had surgery. In the normal pre-op blood work her protein levels were very slightly elevated. The vet said the effect on her kidneys was low, scale of 1 to 10 about a 2, and it wasn’t a big concern. Sandy is 13 years old, mixed breed, about 45 pounds, and has always been an extremely healthy weight so weight loss is not a concern. She is very picky about her food and likes Purina Little Bites! I know this is not the healthiest product for her! My main question is do I need to change her food now to protect her kidneys? What type of senior (dry) foods would you recommend? The site is a little overwhelming in all the foods listed. The vet mentioned something about less protein needed for older dogs, and then I read different ideas about protein on this site. As I’m sure you all understand, Sandy is my baby and as her “person” I want to do everything in my power to keep her around as long as possible!! Thanks so much for your time and help!
Ragan (Rraupach) & Sandy
First off, so sorry for the loss of your loved one, that’s never an easy thing to go through.
In regards to dog food, a lot of it is going to be trail and error as to what works for your dog! I highly recommend a grain free, but some dogs just can’t handle a grain free (my senior girl gets all constipated)… Champion Pet Foods is one of the best, I love that you can look at their website and find the specific ranches and lakes that their product is sourced from! Another great thing is that the meat is always fresh, never frozen. The fish come straight from the lake to their plant and into the dog food. Can’t get much better than that! But Orijen and Acana can be too rich for some dogs. Merrick has a really great GF food that is still high in meat content, but doesn’t seem to be as rich to the sensitive tummies, and they have a great range of flavors to choose from, which my guys always appreciate. Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you. I will look at a lot of the criticisms that you have of the hot dogs, as their nutritional values are always more important than any convenience function. Just brought the boys back from their (Annual in the case of Zeus, 6mos. in the case of Bentley) Vet visit. He was quite complimentary as to their condition, weights and such, which was encouraging, but he was also pretty enthusiastic about their diets (because of their condition) which is something that I want to reconsider given the consensus and commentary. My goal would be to keep them in condition and such while changing over to perhaps better sources of animal protein. Zeus was 232# @38.5″ at the withers, Bentley was 109# @ 28″ at the withers (he was almost exactly 7 mos old on Vet Day). Bentley is the real athlete, but he keeps Zeus active and on his toes. I am hoping to allow Zeus to breed 2x this calendar year, 1x is already booked and I am not that anxious to exceed that pace. Hopefully, there will be some English Mastiff-centric commentary on whether Bentley is making his growth gates, and such. Thank (all of) you for your contributions, and your thoughts on their feeding program. I agree somewhat about the eating schedule, but unfortunately, they were raised on the “grazing theory” and it is difficult for me to have the heart to cause them to be hungry for as long as it takes to change them over without a good reason. Their eating habits are not really their fault, it was how they were conditioned, and it really isn’t inconvenient for me so until Bentley reaches his post-Growth Spurt stage his nutrition and calorie consumption balance are #1 with me, and if it means he gets some extra time to eat, I guess have an “Of Counsel” senior partner will give him the (perhaps unfortunate) opportunity to eat a properly complete and full diet and worry about his food discipline later on, and of course “what is good for the goose, is good for the gander” as they say, so Zeus wins round ! by default. Hopefully, this will be their only consequence of a doting and overly protective pet-parent, as I do believe in discipline (actually had some opportunities to learn from some of the strictest of disciplinarians at the Monestary at New Skeet, so I know better.
So… I really am frustrated and need some advice.
My 12 year old dog has been on Embark since October and was eating it well at the beginning (ate 2 meals a day and licked the bowl clean), then I had to add meat toppings for her to eat it… now she doesn’t even bother eating any of it with the toppings! She has done this repeatedly with any dog food; eats it great for 2 months… then stops cold turkey and will go on hunger strikes.
I’ve tried the 15-30 min rule of picking up the food even if she doesn’t eat…. but the problem is because she is old, she will vomit yellow bile if her stomach is too empty. So I really need her to eat 2 meals a day! Her previous owner kept food (milk bones, etc.) out all the time, switched flavors a lot, and 1 meal at night thing.
I don’t think she is ‘sick’… she wants table scraps and begs frequently (still acts her normal self)… and I’ve taken her to the vet multiple times over the summer. They have done blood and urine tests, X-rays, etc… nothing huge was detected. I think she has been fighting off yeast issues; she scratched repeatedly before and smelled yeasty, but is doing much better with that thanks to coconut oil, digestive enzymes, apple cider vinegar and probiotics.
I did get desperate so I bought her nature’s variety instinct can and the kibble; she’s been a hit and miss with that, but now her stool is more loose. Sigh.
Please help
Aj, I wondered if it might be a problem to get a brush in there, some dogs are a but tougher to do. I would advise having the vet do a dental. It’s a bit spendy, but we had our senior lab’s teeth cleaned, and it was incredible! When she gave us kisses, there was ZERO odor to it! Plus, if you can get at least one dental cleaning in, it’ll be WAY easier to stay on top of dental care with sprays/additives/chews/etc. I also know many people who add a spoonful of organic coconut oil to the food, it is very good for oral health.
Best wishes to you and your furry friend! What breed is your dog? 🙂
We are looking around for ActiFlex 4000 for our dogs right now. It’s the only economical joint supplement that we can find so far… At $30-40 for 32oz (aka 64tbsp or 192tsp), I figured it’s better than $20 for a 15-20 day supply.
Anyway, how many mg of glucosamine should Cassy get? She’s a 12y.o. Labrador/GSD, weighing about 65lb.
Here’s the supplemental values of an ounce (2tbsp) of Actiflex:
Glucosamine Sulfate 8,000 mg.
Chondroitin Sulfate 4,000 mg.
Type II Collagen 3,000 mg.
MSM 3,000 mg.
Ester C (Ascorbic Acid) 1,000 mg.
Yucca 150 mg.
Hyaluronic Acid (HA) 125 mg.
One tsp has about 1,333mg glucosamine, so half as much chondroitin, etc. I think I’ve read somewhere that the suggested dosage for a dog her size would be 1/2tsp (1tsp for first week)… That’d be about 666mg glucosamine. Is that a good amount for her, or could she handle more?
There /is/ glucosamine/chondroitin in her food, but she gets barely 100mg of g and 15-20 of c, so it doesn’t do anything for her.
Thanks for the help! I’m really not looking for suggestions about a better supplement out there, because this is the only thing so far that will work with my wallet, as I’m an unemployed teenager who pays for all of Cassy’s extra supplements. I’m just wondering about proper dosage and what the max amount of glucosamine a senior 65lb pooch can get.
my 20lb, 13 yr old JRT suffers from mitral valve disease & an enlarged heart. He was eating Nature’s Variety Instinct dry until about 6 months ago when he started to lose his appetite. Switched to Instinct canned over the next few months until he stopped eating that as well. Have always hesitated changing his food too rapidly because of diarrhea & resulting anal gland issues, but have just taken the plunge & bought a variety of super premium wet foods in the hope of just keeping him interested. Added Swanson’s Dr.Langer’s 15 strain probiotics to his cocktail of drugs & supplements. He looks good & is gaining back a little weight, but the diarrhea, gas & noisy gut are worse. To put things in perspective, he’s outlived his life expectancy by 2 years since his heart disease was discovered. Every day we have is a gift at this point. He doesn’t seem to be able to keep large meals down (perhaps because his heart is so enlarged it reduces the capacity of his stomach) so I feed him 3 small meals a day. He likes canned pumpkin, but it doesn’t seem to help much w/ the diarrhea & I worry that he’s not getting enough protein & fat if I add too much to his small meals… I think I’m going to have to give up on the variety of canned foods & go back to just one for as long as he’ll eat it to stave off the diarrhea. What’s my best bet for high protein/fat yet not going to make his digestive issues worse?
Jazz Lover,
The general consensus is that puppies can start regulating calcium uptake around 8-10 months old. To play is really safe you could wait until 1 year.
Read this for an understanding of what “all life stages” means: /frequently-asked-questions/aafco-nutrient-profiles/
Essentially you can feed an “all life stages” food to a puppy because it is approved for growth and reproduction as well as adult maintenance. A lot of the labels on foods (ie large breed puppy, large breed adult, senior, etc) is just marketing. If pet food companies really knew what they were doing in formulating dog foods, there would be a lot more “large breed puppy” foods on the list. If I were you, I would not get caught up on the label. You don’t have to feed a food specifically for a large breed puppy or large breed adult. You need to make sure it is approved by AAFCO for growth and reproduction (aka puppy food) or all life stages.
I had to google FCP surgery. This was done to correct elbow dysplasia? As far as supplements go, I have heard the same. You don’t want to give supplements until they are done growing. I think you’d be safe starting them at 1 year. Does your vet have an opinion on this? I think you are ok with giving the salmon oil as long as you account for the calories that it adds. How much you feed will depend on the body condition of your dog. It is hard to say how much his metabolism will slow down. I would just watch his form and if he looks like he’s getting chunky, cut back on the food. If he starts to look too skinny, increase his food. Refer to the body condition chart in the Dr. Becker article I posted previously. I keep my dog lean because he is older and has arthritis. It is much easier on the joints.
Bottom line- if I were you I would continue to feed a food on HDM’s list and hold off on additional supplements until 1 year or per your vet’s instructions. I hope that is helpful to you.
Where I live the only option of Grain Free is Farmina N&D.
I read somewhere that Grain Free foods have high level of fats and proteins.
As a food for a senior dog should have low level of proteins and high level of fibers, the indicated food of Farmina is not Grain Free… What’s the point?
Is there any Grain Free with low level of proteins and high level of fibers indicated for seniors dogs or dogs with some disease?
I’m writing from Brazil.
Thanks a lot
Henry
P.S. Where do I suggest a food to be reviewed? Here we have the Biofresh food (http://ww2.hercosulalimentos.com.br/biofresh/pt/conceito) and I’d like to know what specialists think about it.
It definitely sounds like she’s on the pudgy side 😉 Maybe looking up pictures/info on Rat Terriers, so you can get a good idea on what she should look like. Be sure to keep up the good work on getting her active…another way that might help stimulate her might be to not put her food in a bowl. Instead, put it in brain-teasing toys or have her do tricks to earn it. 🙂
I checked to feel her ribs and I can feel them but not so much. From the top view she kinda has some extra meat around the hip area like doggy love handles and from the side view she has a curve, but her tummy hangs a little.She’s kinda barrel shaped. Rat terriers are strong muscular shaped dogs and they suppose to be very active, These dogs are used for hunting as well.
Ah yes, those puppy eyes are difficult to resist! (I take advantage of them w my Kelpie/Aussie. I pour the kibble into his bowl, then he has to sit down and look at me w that adorable face…then I give him the okay, and he is allowed to eat, LOL!) Just keep reminding yourself that she’ll be happier in the long run 😉 I’m not sure what her “healthy” weight would be. If you can easily feel her ribs, see her tummy tuck up from the side-view, and see a fairly slim waist right above the hips (top view), then the weight is perfect. 🙂 also remember, when her weight is down where you want it – I don’t advise feeding more. Keep feeding the same minimal amount to help keep those pudgies away!
Thanks! @ Shasta220..I just gave her dinner and I reduced the amount I usually give her. When I placed her bowl down she gave me that look like hey what gives! Haha I must resist those cute puppy eyes she gives me to trick me into giving her more food. She’s adorable, but her health is more important to me:) Right now she’s sitting at 23 lbs not too overweight so I’m trying to get her to shed at least 3 or 4 pounds at least.
Wellness is a good brand…I wouldn’t really worry much about looking for a food intended just for seniors, unless she is really needing some extra joint support/etc. It doesn’t really sound like she is.
First off, please don’t go by what the food bag feeding guidelines say…they are ALWAYS way too much! Not a single one of my dogs has EVER eaten the amount the bag requires… Usually my dogs are completely fine w eating about HALF of what the bag says, no lie. (One of our older dogs started gaining a little when she was eating half of what the bag said…we cut back even a little more, and her energy/weight is back to 100% normal.) I’d definitely start reducing the amount of food… It’s still good to do 2 meals though. Maybe start with a normal breakfast, then cutting her dinner in half. After a week or two, try cutting both breakfast and dinner in half, then see how her weight is doing.
Also be sure to not hand out too many treats, or you’re just encouraging the weight to stay on. My dogs get treats all the time, but I just break off teeny tiny pieces – they can’t tell the difference between a big treat or a little one, it’s still something that tastes good.
Best wishes! Hopefully you can get her weight down at least a little 🙂 I’ve never really had to deal w overweight dogs yet, as I always make sure to simply prevent it from happening. I’m sure an owner as great as you will have no problem though ;D
I totally feel you. Our lab gets almost the same problem. Her condition is called Otitis (basically inflammation/infections caused by environment and/or food). It was always manageable…we had to wash her ears weekly, and just deal with her horrible odor. I always figured it was due to her cheap-quality food (poor girl, she had Dog Chow, Pedigree, and even store-brand foods!)… So I finally saved up and bought a bag of NutriSource senior, hoping it’d help. What did it do? It made EVERYTHING worse! She would gnaw at herself so much…about 50% of her skin would be raw bald spots that she chewed at. I tried hot-spot spray, but obviously it didn’t work at all.
I don’t remember what exactly the vet ended up giving us… A couple different pills, some ear treatment, and then a shampoo. Now Cassy is a brand new dog, and she’s off of NutriSource for GOOD (I was so disappointed to have such a high-rated food react so poorly with her. I honestly have no idea what the ingredients in it were that made her irritated…especially considering she did /better/ on the cheap stuff!).
Anyway…that’s my story of a similar pooch… I’d definitely agree w the others to talk to your vet about a blood test to see if it’s an internal problem. Try to list ingredients of all her foods…maybe conduct an experiment: try to get her off /all/ grains and chicken, then if she improves, try to bring either chicken or some grains back into her diet. It might help you see if she reacts to specific ingredients.
Once you’ve found the problem and gotten proper treatment for it, I’d advise some skin-and-coat supplements (if you’re on a budget, you can buy bags of flax and grind it. Excellent source of Omegas) to help out her fur when it tries coming back in.
I’m really sorry your poor pooch has to go through this. It’s really no fun for ANYONE :/
Thank you for the suggestions:) I don’t think she’s having any joint/Arthritis problems.She doesn’t seem to be in any pain and she runs, jumps, and moves around just like a normal healthy dog. I think maybe it’s the extra weight that causing her couch potato behavior. Maybe she’s eating more calories than she’s burning off. I thought now that she’s getting older maybe the food that I feed her might be too much for her. She also had problems with her anal sacs so we make sure we express them once or twice a month. Our vet suggested that she might need more fiber in her diet and to try sprinkling some metamucil on her food.
I have read that grainfree is best for dogs with arthritis, which your senior aged dog probably has. (Grains are inflammatory). That being said, Wellness Core reduced fat is a good, grainfree food that I used for an obese dog we adopted.
Good luck!
If your Rat Terrier is not all that active, i.e. couch potato like my Cavs, then I would definitely cut back on the food. Wellness is a brand I like a lot, myself. I don’t feed their kibble right now (due to its size and chicken in most), but I use their canned food almost everyday and also use their treats. Anyway, I have 3 small dogs. Two Cavaliers and one Mixed Breed. Lucy, my Mixed Breed, has always been 24-25 lbs., no deviation in all of her 12.5 years. She gets 1/3 c. of kibble in the a.m. and 1/3 c. in the p.m. She is not active….chases squirrels at times lol, but that’s about it. She does get about 1-2 tblsp. canned food added to the kibble at each meal. I use to give more treats than I do now, but recently have been giving either a Wellness Lamb grain free biscuit or Wellness Pure Reward treat in the morning and at night before bed. If they get anything else during the day it’s just their kibble (which they think is a treat lol)…maybe 3-4 pieces of it. So, long story short hahahaha……I would definitely cut down on your dog’s food. Btw, my Cavs weigh 17 lbs. and 19 lbs. and they each get 1/4 c. kibble a.m. and 1/4 c. p.m. with 1-2 tblsps. canned added. They are definitely couch potatoes, except when they’re doing their Therapy Dog work.
I also wanted to add that my dogs are 6 yrs., 8 yrs., 12 yrs. and have never eaten a senior food. They usually get an all-life-stage food. I am using Fromm 4Star Salmon a la Veg and Mulligan Stew right now.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Mom2Cavs.
Hello Tobacco haters of America. My guess is that I am forty to fifty years your senior. I understand your skepticism. I’ve walked paths you have yet to encounter. Do the math. ½ of an ounce of plug tobacco split between 30 servings. The odds of my pack craving a quality “Cuban” after their feeding is rather slim.
Secondly, are you willing to do some research? Round worms, hook worms, flat worms and tape worms DO NOT fare well when Nicotine is introduced into their hosts’ diet. As a matter of fact, they die while the pet fare’s well.
I did not suggest to anyone to entertain my remedy without FIRST consulting their Vet. Bark elsewhere my friends: you’ve treed no coon here.
Scruffy.
My almost 12 year old JRT is eating All Life Stages food and I wouldn’t switch to senior food ever. I’m not saying Wellness is this way, because I think they are one of the better senior foods, but most senior foods cut back on protein just when dogs start not absorbing all the protein from their food so may actually need more high quality protein in their diet than they did when they were younger.
If I were you, I would cut her food back a bit more and work at making her more active. Carrying the extra weight is probably part of why she doesn’t feel like doing much. Her joints are probably starting to hurt. Maybe use some of her food to start doing some trick training or something else that would get her moving.
When is it time to switch a dog to senior food? I’m having a weight problem with my dog. My Rat Terrier Pepper is about 9 years old and about 23 lbs. She’s starting to show her age now with the gray muzzle like she just ate a dozen powdered donuts:) She’s less active nowadays all she wants to do is relax on her bed or the couch, we tried to get her to run and play and she would for a little while then lose interest and go back to her bed,we also take her for walks and to the dog park to get some exercise. I’m guessing her metabolism and energy has slowed down as she’s getting older. She had lump removal surgery a couple months ago which turned out to be non cancerous, After the surgery the vet told us that Pepper is pretty healthy but she could afford to lose a few pounds which we already knew of course. We feed Pepper Wellness supermix dry food for small breed adults and gave her the feeding requirement it said on the bag which was 1.5 a day and we split it into two meals, and our vet suggested we feed her less than what the requirement says. I tried out the dog food calculator and it said to feed about one cup a day so we’ve been giving her that requirement for a couple of months and she still hasn’t lost any weight. I don’t know whether to feed her even less than what I’m giving now or switch to senior dog food. She does drink alot of water which is a good thing.
Well Joe
My story is that I was a vet tech. I worked for 14 years. I quit when I had my first child so I could raise my children myself. Sounds terribly sinister, doesn’t it.
You used Consumer Affairs website as proof that another food should not be fed, Joe. So why is it good enough proof when it backs up your claims, but not when it disagrees with you? Personally, I haven’t even read the site, I don’t think it constitutes proof of anything, but apparently you do. Then there are all the people that have come here over the past few months, that have complained about BB products. Finally, as I said, I worked for vets for 14 years, so as you may imagine, I have made friends of the vets I worked for, and the only food they have ever warned me away from was BB, because they had clients pets that developed vomitting and diarrhea on the food to the point that they were severely dehydrated.
And no, your not seeing a BB commercial does absolutely nothing to shoot down my statement about their advertising.
BTW, I’m sorry you can’t do anything about your gas, but most of us can, if we look for solutions.
So why did you feel a need to try to attack me, Joe? Does everybody have to like your food? If we aren’t all entitled to an opinion then I’m sorry, but you aren’t either. Grow up.
GRamoin: it’s fine to switch, I would just go very slowly, over a week. I would also use a probiotic. As far as foods, it’s been said that grains aggravate joints so I’d suggest a grainfree food. Some easier on the wallet ones are dr Tim’s, Earthborn, hi Tek…..more expensive are Acana, Orijen, Natures Variety Instinct.
Good luck!
I have three senior cats and will be adopting a rescue dog shortly. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to keep the dog away from the cat food and the cats away from the dog food. The cat food is in a continuous feeder as they eat through out the day. I cannot put a gate up as the cats cant jump like they used to. I will not be home during the day to stop the dog from trying to eat the cat food. If anyone has suggestions I am open to anything. I would prefer not to purchase the magnetic device gate.
TO *NATA**FROM JOET
1ST-just make the food is at least a 4 star food–from this site–
2-make sure it does not come from the west coast–
im sure **PATTY VAUGHN**can tell you why,she seems to be an expert on everything here-EXCEPT 1 THING PATTY–
her comments on blue buffalo–
you would think she works for a rival company or worked for them and got FIRED.
i live in new york—so you know patty–i have never seen a blue commercial–ever—so there goes your advertizing thing–
2-as far as *gas*–dogs get gas from many many things-cant be helped –as we also do–
3-but–vomit-diar—–give us the names of all the people you personally know that feed blue and have had this problem—-you cant -can you—
teddybear has been on blue for 7 years now—–yellow lab-pure bread—perfect health—-
my drummers little dog–5 years–no problem–
my sister-in-laws lab–7 years—no problem—–
so PATTY VAUGHN—
WHATS YOUR STORY—IM SURE WE ALL WOULD LIKE TO KNOW–SIGNED**JOE~T**
I am trying to learn more about proper dog foods for my just turned 11 year old female yellow lab. She is about 70 lbs in really good shape and only has some joint stiffness occasionally showing. I have fed her IAM’s dry dog food forever.
2 Questions for someone to please assist if possible :
– Is it beneficial or OK to change now after using IAM’s so long ?
– What would be a great food recommendation if changing now is ok, & what is rotation strategy for and what would the rotation products recommendation be ?
Thanks so much for any input !!
