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Old 09-23-2014, 10:04 AM   #1
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Default Senior diet?

A couple questions:

Has anyone used one of those online doggie nutritionists who will recommend food based on the dog's breed, age, activity level, etc.? Care to recommend one?

My real question is whether it's time to transition Eddie to a senior diet. He's 10 now and still eating Orijen Adult complemented by a Dr. Pitcairn homecooked. He's always loved it and done well health wise, but lately he's been finicky. In the past that's meant he's not feeling well, but I wonder if it's time for a change.

Anybody think a 10 year old should be on a senior diet?
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Old 09-23-2014, 11:07 AM   #2
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What do you mean by finicky, does he turn his nose up at it sometimes? I'm wondering if there might be another issue going on. Hope someone has some good recommendations for you. Has weight become a problem? I think many senior foods have more filler type products with less calories, so weight won't be an issue.
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Old 09-23-2014, 12:34 PM   #3
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Thanks, Nancy. That was my first thought, that maybe he's not feeling well. But he's otherwise energetic and seemingly healthy. He also takes treats.

By finicky, he looks at his bowl at feeding time and walks away. He's always been a good eater. Today he came back and I hand fed him some kibble and removed the home-cooked from his bowl. He proceeded to go to his bowl and finish it.

His weight hasn't changed, but he has a tendency to gain if I don't watch him. He gets a lot of treats.

I did switch to a sweet potato in his homecooked this time instead of a regular russet like I usually do. Maybe that's bugging him.
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Old 09-23-2014, 12:40 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by alaskayorkie View Post
Thanks, Nancy. That was my first thought, that maybe he's not feeling well. But he's otherwise energetic and seemingly healthy. He also takes treats.

By finicky, he looks at his bowl at feeding time and walks away. He's always been a good eater. Today he came back and I hand fed him some kibble and removed the home-cooked from his bowl. He proceeded to go to his bowl and finish it.

His weight hasn't changed, but he has a tendency to gain if I don't watch him. He gets a lot of treats.

I did switch to a sweet potato in his homecooked this time instead of a regular russet like I usually do. Maybe that's bugging him.
Lol, taking treats is a dead giveaway. We seniors love our treats! The only other thing I could think about is his teeth, could his teeth be bothering him? His appetite could be slowing down a little and he might have learned to hold off for treats. I'm not one who advocates switching dog foods a lot, several of my switches have proved disastrous, so, I'm now of the school "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." While I wouldn't switch, just b/c he's older, I would switch if he showed an ongoing disinterest in his regular food. Best of luck and give a hug to that old cutie.

By the way, I remember reading that some of what we call the more nutritious foods are actually harder for a dog to digest, I know white rice is much easier for a dog to digest than brown, I wonder if that's true of the sweet potato, everyone says it's so much more nutritious.
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Old 09-23-2014, 03:31 PM   #5
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Lol, taking treats is a dead giveaway. We seniors love our treats! The only other thing I could think about is his teeth, could his teeth be bothering him? His appetite could be slowing down a little and he might have learned to hold off for treats. I'm not one who advocates switching dog foods a lot, several of my switches have proved disastrous, so, I'm now of the school "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." While I wouldn't switch, just b/c he's older, I would switch if he showed an ongoing disinterest in his regular food. Best of luck and give a hug to that old cutie.

By the way, I remember reading that some of what we call the more nutritious foods are actually harder for a dog to digest, I know white rice is much easier for a dog to digest than brown, I wonder if that's true of the sweet potato, everyone says it's so much more nutritious.
Well, I may have gotten to the bottom of it. I think the home-cooked may have been in the fridge too long and started to go bad!

My nose isn't very good, but I asked my wife to smell it, and she thought it was a little off.

I'm guessing one of two things went wrong -- 1, I was running out of plastic containers, so I went with more of the homecooked in each one. Maybe it went bad in fridge before we ran out. Or 2, maybe sweet potato doesn't last as long as russet!

Anyway, I still want information on senior diet if anyone has any strong feelings about the need for change. Orijen is high protein, if that makes a difference.
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Old 09-23-2014, 03:40 PM   #6
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A good rule of thumb is no more than three days, certain foods will keep longer if they are tomato based or other acid based foods. If you are planning to keep it longer than three days, just pop it in the freezer when you make a batch, freezing food that is already 3 days old, isn't a good idea.

Now, I'll get out of here and hopefully someone can answer your question.
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Old 09-23-2014, 03:50 PM   #7
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A good rule of thumb is no more than three days, certain foods will keep longer if they are tomato based or other acid based foods. If you are planning to keep it longer than three days, just pop it in the freezer when you make a batch, freezing food that is already 3 days old, isn't a good idea.

Now, I'll get out of here and hopefully someone can answer your question.
LOL, actually I hadn't heard of the three-day rule! I will get more smaller containers!
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Old 09-24-2014, 06:28 AM   #8
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Good question on the senior diet...I always wonder if they're really necessary for active seniors or not. I'll be interested to hear what others' experience has been. Linda might have a good opinion on this since she has dealt w/ many senior doggies through the rescue.

As far as being finicky, Marcel is my only one who is occasionally finicky...at one point, I believe it was bc of his teeth (now fixed), but at other times I can tell it's what I call "morning tummy", where his tummy is bothering him in the morning and is making squirty noises but clears up later in the day. So, that's my experience w/ being finicky. Could it be his teeth at all, ya think? Maybe the food was just a bit "off" like you're thinking.

Parmesan cheese can do wonders when they're feeling a bit off too, I've found.
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Old 09-24-2014, 08:08 AM   #9
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Personally, I have always kept my seniors on the same food that all the others eat and they do fine. My Dixie lived to be 16 and she ate puppy food almost all her life. I have a 15 year old now and she eats the same food as all the others. I think perhaps each dog is different, some dogs require a special diet and some don't.
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Old 09-24-2014, 10:59 AM   #10
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Orijen has a Senior food. It's a little bit less in fat, but still high in protein. Maybe consider switching.

I'm not so much about 'labels' and putting a senior dog on a 'senior' diet just because. Example, if I fed Orijen to Jackson, active almost 6 year old, I would likely feed him the Senior variety. Obviously not because he's a senior, I just like the guaranteed analysis better. It's lower in fat, which I prefer to keep things under 17-18% for him, and it's lower in ash, better on the kidneys.
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Old 09-24-2014, 11:35 AM   #11
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Thanks for the input, you guys. I think I'll look into Orijen senior. Eddie are fine today.
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Old 09-24-2014, 07:35 PM   #12
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Barney and Daisy are both 14 and for the most part eat the same food they've eaten for life. Unless there's a medical issue, I don't think I would swap the diets.
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Old 09-24-2014, 07:39 PM   #13
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Barney and Daisy are both 14 and for the most part eat the same food they've eaten for life. Unless there's a medical issue, I don't think I would swap the diets.
Thanks. I'd really hate to have 2 tiny dogs on different diets.
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Old 09-24-2014, 09:15 PM   #14
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This site has great source of info on dog diet/ health:

DogAware.com Articles: Diets for Senior Dogs
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