Well I called BB back and got a totally different response and a huge apology. The customer service rep was able to tell me the “as fed” phosphorus levels on both the wilderness senior and wilderness red meat senior. Both are .90.
I decided to try Dr. Tims as I am hearing good things about the food. It has less phosphorus (.76) than their current food. We are on day 3 of the transition and so far so good.
Shasta, I certainly will for the next one if it is a puppy. Personally, I am not opposed to adopting even a senior dog, but Brian (the husband) would prefer a pup or a younger dog I think. But if I find the grinder to work better for Bruno, I will try it on the next one for sure.
Also, thanks for the advice, Zane’s Mom! I think for a little dog it would not take too long to take care of each nail.
Definitely check out the large breed puppy thread, I’m sure skimming over that (and adding comments) would help tremendously as to how to get started.
I’m not too worried about it being 7wks. I know 8wk is the “ideal” age, but my baby boy was only 6wks when a friend gave him to us. He grew into the most loyal dog I have owned – never had one as good as he was.
Congrats on the lab pup journey! We went through a black lab once, but I don’t remember much about her as I was pretty young when we got her (she was clear at 5wks when we rescued her). We didn’t know much about dogs (I was too little to do any training, my mom had never owned a dog, and all dad had were the farm dogs that roamed around)… So she was a typical “evil” lab with her leash-pulling, biting, jumping, etc. LOL! Now she’s enjoying senior life, and I often wish I could go back to her puppyhood now that I know a thing or two about behavioral adjustment and training, hah! But she’s a sweetheart.
Then I’m pet sitting a chocolate lab pup currently. She’s one of the better behaved ones I’ve had! Very very mouthy and mischievous, but in the week we’ve had her, she’s only had 2 piddles in the house!
I bought the Holistic Select Senior and Canine Caviar Special Needs because both fit the Fat/Fiber requirement even though the Canine Caviar is rated only a two star. Not exactly sure why?
I’ve tried the Canine Caviar and at least she’ll eat it so that’s half the battle. I’m tempted to do the rotation thing and try the Holistic Select as the second food. Just nervous about how and when to introduce the new food as she is so picky I’m afraid she won’t like it and might refuse to go back.
Any suggestions?
Hi katj813 –
It’s great that you’re adding wet food to your dog’s dry food. Wet food is actually much healthier than dry food – especially if you go with a good quality product. The reasons for this is that wet food more closely resembles a dog’s natural diet – high in moisture, higher in protein and less processed. Providing high quality (unprocessed) protein is especially important for seniors (such as your boy) because as dogs age they become less efficient at breaking down dietary protein yet their body’s need for the amino acids that protein requires doesn’t diminish.
Some reasonably priced and highly rated canned options you may want to consider are 4Health (sold at Tractor Supply), Kirkland Cuts in Gravy (sold at Costco), Pure Balance (sold at Walmart), Natural Life (sold at Walmart and some grocery stores), Whole Earth Farms (sold at Petco, specialty retailers and many online retailers) and By Nature 95% Meat (sold at specialty retailers and online retailers). All of these options are, to the best of my knowledge, around the same price or cheaper than Nutro’s canned food.
Some other options would be using a dehydrated food as a topper. Dehydrated foods, when re-hydrated, are similar in consistency to canned food and when re-hydrated tend to be cheaper on a cup per cup basis.
You could also consider adding healthy human food toppers such as leftover lean meats, tinned sardines or salmon (great source of omega 3’s), cage free eggs (raw or cooked – also a great source of omega 3’s), plan yogurt (probiotics) or kefit (probiotics). Just be sure that if you use unbalanced extras like these that they account for less than a quarter of the meal or else you could risk throwing off the nutritional balance of his food.
Which senior flavour is he on as the Red meat has 7% fiber, Peas & pea fiber, the Chicken has 6% fiber & Peas.. I think the fiber is too high…I just looked at a few of their other recipes & the fiber is around 6%-7%, I think that’s too high.. Maybe change to another brand that’s lower in fiber with no peas or pea fiber & see how he goes.
Why do you think it’s too high in protein? Generally, seniors need a quality higher protein food.
I’m not sure about being too high protein, possibly….but it could be anything in the food. I have a Cavalier senior that had symptoms like your dog. Adding a good probiotic/enzyme supplement and feeding a good sized biscuit before bedtime helped her. She is not eating a senior food or grain free, atm, and she’s doing great. I do rotate and I just switched the dogs from Victor to Annamaet Encore. I do also add canned toppers and the probiotics mixed with a little water at each meal. They get a Wellness biscuit at bedtime.
My senior has been eating Blue Wilderness Senior for years, now we think too high in protein. Blue Buffalo said to switch to Freedom Senior, but it’s not available. PLEASE, PLEASE someone tell me a 4 or 5 star grain free, low protein senior food.
Thank you!!!!!!
I hear you….I sent an email hoping to get answers. I’m hoping I just got a bad rep on the phone. I want something in writing.
So far it seems their current food wellness complete senior is the the lowest of the phosphorus that i found. It’s 3 stars. I do wonder if it led to one of my dogs excessive pooping and anal gland problem. First time she has ever had her anal glands expressed. They have been on it for about a year and a half. Could just be age. That’s why I was looking for something else.
Hey there…I am posting in the grain free thread in the editors forum too. So, I called Blue and asked about Blue Wilderness senior and their senior red meat formula. I asked what their as fed phorphorus level was in their foods and they kept saying they target the guaranteed analysis. I asked if that was “as fed” levels and they said yes. I’m not sure that’s accurate? I sort of felt like I was getting the run around. I explained I called other pet food companies and they all gave me “as fed” numbers and all they were telling me is they target as close to the guaranteed analysis as much as possible.
I found that very strange. I also found that Holistic select senior has 1.42% phosphorus, that’s double what the website says š
Well I called Holistic select and their bag of senior food says not less than .70% but the actual phosphorus is 1.42. I have to say I was pretty shocked. I wasn’t expecting that. Their duck formula is .99%. The food I’m feeding now is wellness complete health senior and that’s .85%. Anyway, thanks for the advice on calling…glad I did that!
Also, I would like to add….if your dog is eating heartily with the wet food, could you consider scheduled meal feedings instead of free feeding, or grazing? I have all senior dogs and I also use canned food toppers to their kibble. I meal feed. Believe me, they eat well and all their food is gone within a minute, no more than two! If not, I know someone isn’t feeling well or something else is going on. I just add approx. a tblsp. (sometimes 2) of canned food to their kibble, mixed with a little water (mainly because I also use probiotics/enzymes mixed in their food). They all eat great, love their food….and this cured picky Lucy years ago. I know now that if she doesn’t eat, then she has a stomach ache. When that happens, I fast her till the evening meal and she always eats heartily then. This has worked for us. It’s really not hard. Since I have 4 dogs, and 1 cat, this also deters any arguing over food or one gorging themselves with it. I also find that meal feeding helps me to better see who is eating well, or not.
When health problems start with dogs the dog tells us, if she just wants wet food, I’d give her wet food instead of kibble..Kibble is hard & its harder to digest, maybe its not agreeing with her like it once did when she was younger, My boy has Chronic Pancreatitis it took me 6 months & another vet to find out he had Pancreatitis.. but I notice when I give him his cooked chicken breast pumkin & egg for breakfast he’s happier, playing being naughty but when he has his kibble he’s a different dog quiet doesnt play & looks miserable…then I read that kibble isnt good for dogs with Pancreatitis they need softer foods, foods that are easier to digest.. Im not saying ur girl has Pancreatitis, she may need something that’s easier to digest now ..Wellness has a good Senior wet food called Complete Health, its low in fat & good protein.. Also Holistic Select has a good Senior health kibble that is low in fat & fiber & has Glucosaimine she’ll need for her bones…as dogs get older they need less fiber & fat & more protein..
So, I have two dogs. My female is a 12 year old Old English Sheepdog and my male is a 4 year old Dachshund/Terrier mix. I have noticed that my OES has been pretty picky with what she eats lately. She was normally on anything with Lamb and I wasn’t really paying too much attention to whether or not her food was grain free despite her constant itching and chewing of her paws throughout the years. She was constantly getting yeast infections in her ears but my vet never told me to change her diet. I recently decided to switch up her diet on my own to various reactions. I tried Zignature’s Lamb formula and she seemed to like it but wouldn’t touch it after a month of eating it. Then I moved her onto Earthborne Holistic Meadow Feast, which she had a HORRIBLE allergic reaction to. I am not sure what in that mix caused the reaction (eye swelling, lethargy, fever, vomiting, etc) but I wondered if it might have been the Tapioca? I am not sure though. Since that experience I put her on California Natural’s Kangaroo formula but she would only eat it if I put about 1/4th cup of warm water in it…this is something I had never done before but thought I would try after reading that someone else did that with their dog’s food…this caused ANOTHER problem with my dog…she didn’t chew the food with it being watered down but instead decided to just slurp it up and then wound up with food stuck in her esophagus. This ended my watering down of the food.
Since THAT I have put her on Acana Duck & Bartlett Pear and at first she seemed to go CRAZY for it but her love for it has cooled and now I have started mixing canned food with her dry food which she goes nuts for. However, I am not sure how much to give her? I normally let my dogs have a full bowl every day since I have grazers but the canned food has become scheduled at night. Before that, she will not touch the dry food. Should I be concerned about this? She has the dry food out to eat but she isn’t eating it unless the canned is mixed it. Buying both grain free canned and such an expensive grain free dry for her is a little much for my budget. Should I try a new less expensive grain-free? I was thinking of moving over to Fromm’s to see if she would like their Beef recipe or maybe the pork? I don’t know if those are ok for senior dogs though? Someone I know mentioned that I should watch the form of protein she is getting since she is older now but they didn’t say WHAT protein to go for. Is there truth in that??
Of course, my main concern is that she is getting enough food. Is it ok that she is just eating one big meal a day but not touching her dry food the rest of the day??
I am learning more about that. I don’t know why I think “senior” is more important. I guess it doesn’t matter. I have heard it’s gimmicky too. I do know that it seems senior foods are usually lower in phosphorus. One of mine may have some renal issues. Some of her bloodwork has come back elevated a couple of times. Her urine specific gravity has been low and she drinks a lot of water. Sometimes the bloodwork is normal and the last few times it has been normal. So the vet just wants to watch it. No need for a renal diet, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to find a food lower in phosphorus. Hope that helps a bit with where I’m coming from.
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This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by
Sarah Y.
The point with senior foods is that seniors do not need less protein than adult dogs, but many senior foods lower the protein. Senior dogs are less able to use the protein in their diet and may need as much as 50% more protein just to get the same amount out of it. It is important to give senior dogs high quality proteins so they get the most out of it and have less waste in the bloodstream. Lowering phosphorus is OK, but not necessary for seniors that don’t have kidney issues and it is often done at the expense of protein in the diet.
Sarah Y – you mention SENIOR food. Someone more knowledgable please comment on SENIOR FOODS. I hear conversations regarding it is gimmicky and or misleading. Just another marketing effort. I notice that some companies are making food for everyone. I’m trying to picture a senior ancient dog/wolf looking for ONLY “senior” food in the natural world. Makes me chuckle.
Nancy C
You said that ur dogs itch none stop, you must start with an elimination diet, I started one about 1 month ago as my boy has Pancreatitis & enviornment allergies we dont know if he has food allergies that’s why I’d say the vet suggested an elimination diet, The vet said the first month just feed boil chicken but I knew my boy could eat boil chicken so I added cooked pumkin, then when I saw he wasnt scratching or rubbing his tummy on my beautiful white rug the next week I added sweet potato within 2 days Patch was rubbing on my carpet so I stopped the sweet potato & know he cant have sweet potato or a kibble with sweet potato…. then I added pasta another NO it made him itch then I read dogs with skin problems like yeast & bacteria shouldnt eat carbohydrates, potatos, sweet potatos etc, then I added half a boiled egg & he’s been good, Im thinking of adding broccoli next.. Im reading Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs by Lew Olson PhD she has help me understand alot of things & this group its a easy book to read & very easy recipes, she explains what foods aren’t good & what foods are good for certain illness, like Skin problems & what causes ur dog to itch, Pancreatitis Diabetes, Gastro problems, feeding senior dogs, getting a pup onto raw etc, she has cooked recipes & what supplements to add.. in the elimination diet you cannot give any treats nothing, just that one food for 2 weeks then 2 foods so on.. you must cook all vegetables so they are fully cooked, she even suggest to pulped vegetables as dogs digestive system weren’t meant to eat vegies, here’s one of her recipes for Skin allergies a Low Glycemic regular fats Diet..this is for a 50 pound dog to be divide into two or more smaller meals per day.
8 ounces 1 cup regular fat ground beef
2 ounces 1/4 cup beef liver or kidney
2 eggs scrambled or boiled
4 ounces 1/2 cup steamed or boiled broccoli
4 ounces 1/2 cup cooked yellow crookneck squash
4 ounces 1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
Serve meat cooked or raw combined with cooked vegetables eggs & yogurt if serving meat cooked wait until meat & eggs have cooled before stirring in the yogurt…..
What I do is I cook once a fornight & freeze everything except the egg then put in fridge the night before to thaw for next day…
‘Holistic Select’ Senior Health Chicken & Rice, Fat-10% fiber-3.50%, when I looked at the Guarenteed Analysis the only thing was the Gluosamine was higher then the other flavours but the fiber was good only 3.50% & the fat is nice & low for Pancreatitis my vet said he likes dogs with Pacreatitis to be under 9% fat I cant find a kibble that low only the vet prescription diets..I want to try this one next
Hi Bobby dog-
Thanks for the list. I have to stay away from fish as my senior kitty has hyperthyroidism. She was not shown in either picture, but shes 15 and looks like a kitten still! I’ll try printing out some coupons and give the Purina without fish a try. For some reason, I think that the Chicken Soup is canned by Simmons. I was glad to see it on the budget friendly list. I haven’t fed either of the other two. They are out of my network (budget). Lol! Thanks, again.
I think that would be fine. Just remember how important it still is to keep feeding some wet food everyday. I’ve never given my cats rabbit. I’d like to give it a try. Is Simply Nourish a Pet Smart brand? Where did you get the coupons? As far as the fish being the 12th ingredient, I personally don’t think it is an issue. My senior, 15 year old cat has developed hyperthyroidism, but I fed her the fancy feast fish variety pack for probably 4 or 5 years along with her dry food everyday. Oh how, I wish I knew better! I thought I was feeding them really well. I caught it early and with a tiny pill daily, she is doing fine. So point being, I don’t think a little fish now and then will hurt. I believe it is the high level of iodine that can lead to the condition. Sounds like you are turning in to a crazy cat lady. Welcome š lol!
Sarah, true, I was looking at the BB Wilderness Senior Red Meat formula, which has lower protein and lower phosphorus than the Senior Chicken formula. The Red Meat one has the same phosphorus as the Holistic Select Senior. And I see about the protein. I supplement with raw and canned every once in a while, so Bruno’s protein amounts vary a bit, but he seems to be okay with it.
Also, keep us posted on how Holistic Select goes for your dogs. I would get a smaller bag first, to see if they would even eat it, and if there are any digestive issues with it before I go for the bigger bag.
ok thanks for your help. I am not looking for lower protein necessarily, but more moderate. Why? I guess because I have never fed them a food higher than 33% (wellness core reduced fat formula). So I didn’t want to go high because they just never had it. Not because I avoided it, but just because. I hope that makes sense.
I may try the holistic select because it appears to be a little less money and is lower in phosphorus than the regular BB wilderness senior formula.
Again, appreciate you taking the time to read all that too!
Also, looking at the Blue Buffalo Wilderness profile, I would consider it moderate protein, as I always try to feed 30%+ protein diets, and the fat level and phosphorus level fit your needs. Like I said in the Blue Buffalo thread, it is more so the company that mishandled the recall, not that the food is horrible. My dog, and 2 other dogs that I know personally have done great on it, so I would feed it again. You can definitely try it and make sure you do a good slow transition, but if your dogs seem to have an issue with it, it may just not be their cup of tea. Added glucosamine and chondroitin, which is great for joint health. 410 kcal/cup.
As for the Holistic Select Senior, it also looks pretty good – decent grains, and I like the added glucosamine for joint health – a little more than in BB Wilderness, but no chondroitin. 368 kcal/cup. Fat and protein are both less than BB Wilderness Senior, phosphorus is the same. Looks like a good food to me.
So it is up to you, you can try both if you want. I would definitely suggest using the calculator tool posted above to know how much approximately to feed inactive dogs.
What do you think of Holistic Select (in particiular the senior or duck)? It has grains and I’m considering it over the blue buffalo wildnerness senior. I like that it’s lower in phosphorus, moderate protein and fat. It might just work for my two seniors and it seems a bit cheaper too!
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This reply was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Sarah Y.
So, maybe it doesn’t have to be senior food. I’m getting a bit overwhelmed and quite honestly, I’m sure i’m overthinking things too much. I’m a dog mom who loves her furbabies.
I have two seniors eating wellness complete health senior dry food (rated 3.5). I started feeding them that because one of my beagles had a couple of blood tests showing elevated BUN levels and she has a history of low specific gravity results. Now does my dog have renal issues? The vet isn’t sure because the last two or three tests have been normal. So, she has sort of said she may have some renal insufficiencies. That is sort where we are.
So I was looking for foods .7, .8, or no higher than .9 phosphorus, that was moderate in protein, low in fat based on the fact that both aren’t as active as they used to be. Both seniors are not as active as they used to be. They do go on walks every morning and evening and keeping their weights in check is always something I have to close monitor, but they don’t play like they used to.
I had pretty much decided on the Blue Buffalo wildnerness senior formula, and possibly the new red meat formula. I’m on the fence now because it seems that opinions are the food is overpriced for what’s in it (marketing) and it may not be as good a food as I thought. I wanted to go grain free because I am noticing a little bit of digestion issues over the last few months. From some of your wonderful feedback, I’m beginning to learn that grain free isn’t always best either. I’m willing to go with grains, but I’m still not educated enough to know what are good grains. From what I have learned, its looking for foods rich in meat? That sort of balances out some grains? I hope I am getting that right. Someone at our local pet store (pet valu) suggested holistic select senior as it’s moderate in protein and fat and low in phosphorus. Is this a good food even though it has grains?
So anyway, I would love some thoughts or feedback….
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This topic was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Sarah Y.
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This topic was modified 11 years, 7 months ago by Sarah Y.
So dog food advisor rates wilderness at 5 stars. I was going to switch my senior beagles from wellness complete health senior to the wilderness senior because I want them to be grain free and with one of my beagles having a bit of a renal issue, I wanted to have food with lower phosphorus.
Why would dog food advisor rank wilderness at 5 stars if there were concerns?
Hey Bobby dog, thanks! I’ll check out the website. Yes, I have bought Merrick, Soulistic and Cats in the Kitchen (Weruva) to rotate in and they just usually walk away. LOL! Sometimes it is gone when I go to feed them their next meal, but the problem is that I’m not sure if all cats are eating their share or if one comes back and eats it all. I really have to make sure that my senior kitty eats. They will at least eat Authority, Nutro Max and Chicken Soup foods which are a little better. But, they LOVE their Friskies and Fancy Feast! I have not tried Sheba. I’ll go back through and find your “list”. Thanks, again.
I agree with pugmomsandy. Protein wouldn’t cause renal problems in older dogs, but if an older dog has renal issues they should be on a lower protein food to help the kidneys do their job filtering. Otherwise, older dogs need their protein!
In general I think a healthy dog doesn’t need “senior” food, just another marketing gimmick in my opinion.
You can also check out Annamaet Lean and Honest Kitchen Zeal. Also, Orijen Senior. I had to throw that in there even though it has a higher fat percentage just because I love Orijen.
Just because a dog is “senior” doesn’t mean it has these problems. All those problems can potentially happen at any age. I’ve fostered many dogs under 5 (even as young as 1 yr) with joint/eye/digestion/ear issues and have needed hip/knee surgeries and prescription eye and ear drops. A healthy senior can eat regular food (adult, maintenance and all life stages, puppy food). I have a 14 yr old with no active health issues. He is blind and deaf which he was already when I got him last year at 13. He is not on any medications and eats the same foods as all the other foster dogs I have. I use 3.5-4.5 star kibble and top it off with 5 star canned foods which is normally at least 43% protein. He even gets some raw food which I usually make without any plant matter. The dogs get joint supplements and vitamins, antioxidants, supergreen supplements and fish oil. My personal dogs don’t get chemical pesticides which has been linked to some cancers nor do they get unnecessary vaccines. You might want to research “over vaccination”. Try looking up Dogs4dogs dot com, b-naturals dot com, wholedogjournal dot com, dogsnaturallymagazine dot com. These are just a few of the sites pertaining to more “natural” care of dogs. If one of my dogs had late stage kidney disease, at that point I would change the diet, but I wouldn’t change the diet just because they’re a senior in general. Some things possibly connected to cancer is chemical laden commercial kibble, vaccines, the constant application of poisonous pesticides (heartworm and flea/tick meds, fertilizers), even air pollution.
http://dogs4dogs.com/
Hi Tina –
Not all senior dogs have these problems you mention. If your dog does have any of these problems, you can supplement the feed. For example, if your dog has joint problems you may consider supplementing with omega 3’s, glucosamine, chondroitin, MSM, etc. If your dog has digestion problems you may wish to add probiotics, enzymes, additional fiber, etc.
Tina, I’m confused because in your OP, you stated “Senior dog food was created for the idea that senior dogs have special needs.”
Are you saying your senior dogs have these problems “Hip and joint problems, digestion problems, eye problems, ear problems” or this is why senior dog food was created? If its the latter, that’s a very broad statement from a dog food company. I’ve had my share of senior dogs, I adopted three of them as seniors and not all had hip and joint problems, none had digestion problems and what eye and ear problems are for seniors? Sorry, I’m just not following exactly what you’re saying and I have no clue what is special about senior dog food that would help the maladies you state.
It depends what you consider high protein. If you’re feeding a food that is 18% protein! then you’d probably consider 25% protein high. For me, 25% is too low. As far as I’ve read, a “too high” protein diet is only a problem if you have an unhealthy dog. In your first paragraph above, you said senior foods were created that senior dogs have special needs. What special needs do they have?
Senior dog food was created for the idea that senior dogs have special needs. The leading cause of death in most senior dogs is cancer and kidney disease. I’ve read both sides of the same story and I’m very confused. (To high protein can cause kidney disease and to high protein won’t cause kidney disease) Which is it?
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…
Patty, I will ask them when I bring her in.
Cyndi, thank you for the kind words and prayers.
Marie, well, she had her rabies on Friday during her yearly physical and senior blood panel. The county I live in now accepts three years so too late for the waiver. I think I would be concerned not doing the rabies. I’m going to stop HW meds on Hannah but, take Patty’s suggestion and keep the other girls on Sentinel. They got their rabies shot last October and apparently it’s good for the three years in this new county. I called Health Dept. here today just to double check because last October I didn’t specify to vet the 3 years because I thought it would be the same as next door county where we were and the Health Dept. told me not to worry about it till the three years are up that it’s the same shot they would just verify with vet if they needed to to make sure they actually got the vaccine. He said it was the same vaccine regardless if you call it one year or three.
Dori,
I’m no help because I haven’t dealt with this. Do you have a holistic vet that you can go to, if indeed there is a problem?
Regarding blood work, lots of people never do any. I do it before surgery so all of mine had it done before their altering. Other than that, I don’t do it yearly unless there’s a problem. Boone was eight in January, he has his yearly at the holistic vet next month & we’re doing a senior panel.
Regarding rabies, if you don’t want her to have it, you can talk to your vet about a waiver. It depends on what your dogs habits are. Know that if you skip rabies & she bites someone, you’ll be liable.
A couple things
I wouldn’t stop heartworm prevention on the other two, and I would still get rabies vac also. An undamaged liver should not have any trouble processing HW meds. I just wouldn’t add additional challenge to an already damaged liver in an already senior dog.
All the symptoms you are seeing now are completely normal under the circumstances you attributed them to, so of course you couldn’t put 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 and 2 together and get 10, however as a totality of symptoms, it does look quite suspicious.
When are you taking her back for more tests?
My Golden Retriever is 7 years old and she’s on Nutro Large Breed Senior
Chicken, Whole Brown Rice & Oatmeal Formula. She has a sensitive red, dry skin and dry coat, a little overweight and hip and joint issues. My Cocker Spaniel is 8 years old and she’s on Hill’sĀ® Ideal Balanceā¢ and Nutro WHOLESOME ESSENTIALSĀ® Senior
Chicken, Whole Brown Rice & Oatmeal Formula.
Natural Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe Mature Adult. She has colitis, bad eyes and ears, bad teeth, sensitive stomach, dry skin and coat and hip and joint issues. My Pembroke Welsh Corgi is 5 years old and she’s on Hill’sĀ® Prescription DietĀ®
Canine Metabolic Advanced Weight Solution. She has bad hip and joints, over weight, no energy, dry skin and bad teeth. My Large Breed Mutt is 1 year old and is on Hill’sĀ® Science DietĀ®
Adult Large Breed. He has a weak immune system, dry skin only and high energy.
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.
My dogs are on Nutro and Hill’s Science Diet. 2 are on Nutro Senior and 2 dogs are adult Hill’s Science 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.
I hope it’s okay to jump in on this since I was going to ask about some senior foods for a 10 year old beagle with early renal issues or may not renal issues. She has had some elevator bun levels and creatine was elevated once. The odd thing her last 3 tests have come back normal. She has a history of being a heavy water and unless we get her first urine sample of the day, her USG is always low. First catches are always normal.
Anyway, I’m just trying to find a grain free senior food low in phosphorus. My vet is still a believer that low protein is good and she recommended finding foods low in phosphorus so if our Scooter does have a renal deficiency then the food would help.
I looked into blue buffalo freedom senior and it’s low in phosphorus but i’m worried the protein is too low. the other option was blue wilderness red meat senior food. Not sure if there are other recommendations? If you prefer i start another thread, just let me know.
Holistic Select- Dry Senior Health Chicken Meal & Rice Fiber-3.50% Fat-10%.. Wellness-Wet Complete Health Senior formula Fat 3%..Im using the Eukanuba Vet Prescription Intestinal, I think its Iams Sensitive Stomach in America. Fat-10% & Fiber 1.75%, there’s NO by-Product in the Eukanuba.. Ive found the senior foods seem to be the lowest in Fat & fiber..
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.
