What do you feed your oldie who needs a bit more?

windand rain

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Does she have grass hay or both. My oldies have veteran vitality which does them great there is a light version if they are fat
 

Bionic Boy

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During the summer my old boy gets Alfa Senior and Spillers daily balancer and ad lib hay. During winter he gets the same with a load of sugar beet added.
 

HashRouge

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Does she have grass hay or both. My oldies have veteran vitality which does them great there is a light version if they are fat
It's about dogs, although I have to say I almost missed it too!

OP, I'd possibly edit the post to mention the word "dog" somewhere, as a lot of people use the "new posts" function and won't notice that this post is in the All About Dogs section!
 

windand rain

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In which case there are veteran dog foods too usually in the 7+ range my old dog is allergic to almost everything going but is considerably better on the salmon and sweet potato mole valley food. If skinny then sardines in oil go down well with most dogs
 

Pearlsasinger

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I used to add a raw egg to my elderly Lab's daily diet, because I knew that she loved them but as above, there are loads of 'Senior' foods available. I would start by feeding the senior version of what ever you are feeding currently and see how you get on.
 

Odyssey

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Senior dog foods are just a marketing gimmick imo - usually lower in fat and meat/fish protein, but more expensive for a poorer quality food. The only time these might need to be reduced is for medical reasons. They sometimes add joint supplements such as glucosamine, but it's much better to add this as a separate supplement at a relevant level. Muscle mass decreases with age, but is obviously so important to older animals (and people) as it helps support joints and maintains strength. Protein is what builds and repairs muscle, so reducing protein in an older dogs diet is the opposite of what they need. Older dogs just need a good quality food the same as any dog, and added nutrition from lightly cooked vegetables, eggs, oily fish, tripe etc can only be a good thing. The Dogs Naturally Magazine website has lots of excellent articles on dog food and health, if you want to do a bit of reading.
 

planete

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I am sticking to my dogs' usual food as they get older (all over 10, one over 14). I just top it up with cheap supermarket minced beef and some eggs a few times a week. I personally have needed more protein and fat as I got older in order to keep weight on. I would not buy low protein food unless for medical reasons. The dogs and I are fairly active and tend to lose weight easily so our diet has been modified to suit us.
 

The Fuzzy Furry

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I've been using puppy food for P dog in the last 2 months, her gradual weight loss has stopped and is starting to put weight on slowly.

Having spoken to vet last week when we were there for flu jab, she agreed we should avoid any senior foods as not enough protein in them.
Currently Lily's Kitchen puppy trays are going down well, having tried others.
 

Highmileagecob

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If you are concerned that your dog's kidneys may not be working as well as they used to, then switch to an easily digested form of protein - fish and chicken is the usual go-to. If you just want to increase the bulk, then my old vet from years ago used to advise mixing mashed potato with the meat. Easily digested and no additives. I too don't understand the marketing exercise of giving less protein to an older dog or cat. They may not be able to break down the protein as efficiently, but certainly need the same amount!
 

Clodagh

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I am sticking to my dogs' usual food as they get older (all over 10, one over 14). I just top it up with cheap supermarket minced beef and some eggs a few times a week. I personally have needed more protein and fat as I got older in order to keep weight on. I would not buy low protein food unless for medical reasons. The dogs and I are fairly active and tend to lose weight easily so our diet has been modified to suit us.
Sadly although my dogs are all lean I don’t find it so easy ?
 
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