12 year old lab: Senior or Large Breed Adult?

This topic has 5 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 9 years ago by Mary N.

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October 19, 2016 at 5:36 pm #90831 Report Abuse

Emily S
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A month-and-a-half ago, I acquired my 12 year old Lab from my parents, he’s been mostly seditary for the last 1+ years, and was struggling with arthritus when I got him. He could barely walk a few block.

I’ve added Glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplement to his diet, along with increasing the length of his walks – to the point where he wanted to jog 2 days ago! He jogged about a quarter mile, and he doesn’t consider 1 mile to be a long enough walk 😉

He’s a very large dog, in his “prime” weighed 120lbs. He’s now down to a slim/healthy 90lbs. QUESTION: should I be feeding him Adult Dog food or Senior Dog food? Due to being seditary, he has lost the majority of the muscle mass in his hind legs – I’d like to see his strength increase. Currently feeding Fromm’s Senior Dog Food

October 19, 2016 at 8:12 pm #90836 Report Abuse

InkedMarie
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Most senior dog foods are too low in protein (Orijen senior being the exception, off the top of my head). Healthy dogs need a higher protein food.

November 30, 2016 at 5:58 am #92133 Report Abuse

winstonandporter
Member

Hi Emily
you sound as though you have done a great job with your lab! I agree with InkedMarie in that senior dogs should have more protein. I am a strong advocate of the raw diet, yet I am not saying that you should change to this, but adding raw meat can massively increase protein in senior dogs. Here is a sample diet for you to try if you want:

Morning
6 ounces (3/4 cup) beef heart
2 ounces (1/4 cup) beef kidney
1 egg

Evening
8-12 ounces of (1-1 and a half cups) chicken necks or backs

I have a blog on the website too if you want to read about feeding senior dogs and raw food diets. Won’t put the link on as it may be prejudicial, just google us. Anyway good luck and as an owner of senior dogs myself I can totally relate to your situation. Good luck! Dev

December 11, 2016 at 8:48 pm #92550 Report Abuse

Susan W
Member

I have an 11 y-o Golden. I feed her VeRUS Life Advantage & she acts 5 years younger than she did on her old food. The cool thing w/VeRUS, if you contact them, they’ll answer your questions and help you choose the right food for your dog. They have a nice variety of formulas that are up-to-date on nutritional requirements. You can contact them thru their website at veruspetfoods.com. It won’t cost you anything but a few minutes and they’ll send you free samples.

January 8, 2017 at 11:15 am #93184 Report Abuse

David H
Member

I am a huge believer in Fromm Foods. I currently feed Whitefish and Patato to my older dogs. I do like to add some fresh raw hamburger to it also. I lost my 15+ yr old Golden in October. She had some kidney issues from age 10 on. I feel she outlived what the vets told me because of the great low phos. in the Fromm Whitefish and the addition of 80/20 hamburger. The difference I have found between senior and regular adult food it is Calories. If you watch what you feed them i would not worry about a senior food. The joint supplements if high quality can be a huge benefit.

January 8, 2017 at 1:20 pm #93186 Report Abuse

Mary N
Member

If you go with senior dog food try and find something that has a great amount of protein. If you want your Labrador to keep on developing and getting stronger then he is going to need an extra amount of protein.

Like someone said above, I would also suggest that you include some raw diet plans as that would increase the amount of protein your Labrador can use to build more muscle and overall more mass. But stick with lean protein sources like beef for example
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