Senior Dog Food

[huntereq1991]

I am looking for a senior dog food that is appropriate for my 8 year old beagle. She is still fairly active, not a total couch potato! I am currently feeding Wellness Super5Mix Lamb, Barley, and Salmon Meal. 22% Protein, 12% Fat. She eats about 1.25 cups per day, and she is at an ideal weight. The simple solution would be to switch her to Wellness Senior. However, it is a chicken based food. She has some mild skin issues; so I prefer to stick with either a Lamb or Salmon (or other fish) based food. I am interested in some of the Taste of the Wild foods, specifically the Pacific Stream and Sierra Mountain varieties. These both have 25% Protein which I am comfortable with. Any other suggestions would be very appreciated! I was also wanting to know some opinions on feeding very high protein (over 30%) to senior dogs. I am specifically looking for 5 or 6 star premium foods according to the Dog Food Analysis Website. Price is not a concern.

Thank you for any suggestions!

[Simkie]

Why are you looking to switch? If she’s doing well on what’s she’s on, I’d just keep her on it There’s really no need to switch just because she’s older.

[vtdobes]

[QUOTE=Simkie;5903451]
Why are you looking to switch? If she’s doing well on what’s she’s on, I’d just keep her on it There’s really no need to switch just because she’s older.[/QUOTE]

Ditto this.

[wendy]

senior dogs NEED higher protein diets, plain and simple. In fact, younger dogs need protein too, but senior dogs even more so. Any dog-food company that hasn’t kept up on the “latest” (now years old) research and is still offering reduced-protein “senior” diets is one you should be wary about. I would suggest you switch because the food you are currently feeding, at only 22% protein, isn’t adequate for a dog of any age. Look for something with more than 28% protein, preferably higher. If your dog is prone to getting fat, switching to something with 40% or higher protein will help improve the dog’s health and body condition. There is NO downside to feeding dogs high-protein diets: it doesn’t damage kidneys or any other organs, it doesn’t do anything toxic to them. It’s good for them. It’s what they evolved to eat.

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/dog-care/feeding-older-dogs.aspx
http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/proteins-kidneys-senior-dogs/

[vtdobes]

Good info on protein here (see pg 28 pertaining to senior dogs):
http://files.championpetfoods.com/ORIJEN_White_Paper.pdf

[Swishy-Tails]

My 12 year old miniature poodle (she’s quite small) is on Nutro Ultra for Seniors. It has chicken, lamb, AND salmon, (eggs too) and also has fruits like pomegranate, blueberries and tomatoes for antioxidant and vitamin purposes. It also has real whole grains (NOT CORN!! DOGS DONT NEED CORN!!!) and vegetables (spinach, pumpkin) providing good fibers. It is 26% protein, 11% fat. Also loaded with glucosamine (I only have to give my arthritic dog 1/ 4 the amount of her arthritis medicine Rejuvenate since having her on this). I highly recommend this dog food. My dog gets about 3/4 cup of this food a day (wetted) and about 2 pig ears a week and she is at a great weight. My dog still acts like she did 7 years ago.

[huntereq1991]

Thank you for the suggestions so far!!

The main reason that I was looking to switch is because I had heard that as a dog ages, their body does not do as good of a job at breaking down the protein into amino acids and accessing them from the GI tract; therefore, they need a food with more protein. I just wanted to be sure that this was safe and wouldn’t have any negative effects on a healthy senior dog. It seems that the general consensus is that it is beneficial to increase the protein level as the dog ages.

I was also wondering if anyone has specific brands that they recommend?
Swishy-Tails: thanks for your suggestion!
Does anyone have specific details about Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, or Orijen?

Thanks again!

[vtdobes]

[QUOTE=huntereq1991;5906093]

I was also wondering if anyone has specific brands that they recommend?
Swishy-Tails: thanks for your suggestion!
Does anyone have specific details about Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo Wilderness, or Orijen?

Thanks again![/QUOTE]

I love Orijen Have been using it for the past 3 1/2 years on my Dobermans (they’ve grown up on it).

I don’t have any comment on Blue Buffalo (never used it). Though I did compare it price wise to Orijen and they are basically the same price per pound.

I would never use TOTW due to the fact that it’s made by Diamond (poor quality ingredients, recalls, etc.)

[JB]

I think you can’t go wrong with any of the higher end foods - TOTW, Orijen, Blue Buffalo, Chicken Soup, etc - assuming their protein source meets your needs.

[vtdobes]

[QUOTE=JB;5906770]
I think you can’t go wrong with any of the higher end foods - TOTW, Orijen, Blue Buffalo, Chicken Soup, etc - assuming their protein source meets your needs.[/QUOTE]

IMO-You really can’t include Chicken Soup in with Orijen or Blue Buffalo (grain free) as they are just not in the same category. And it’s a shame that TOTW is also compared as they simply use inferior ingredients & sources.

[Simkie]

I feed Pinnacle Peak, and love it. I don’t hear much about the brand, but it’s up there with all of the other ultra premiums

The Peak is quite high in protein and does use chicken, but they have other limited ingredient foods that are a bit lower, but still higher than you’re feeding now.

[JB]

[QUOTE=vtdobes;5906882]
IMO-You really can’t include Chicken Soup in with Orijen or Blue Buffalo (grain free) as they are just not in the same category. And it’s a shame that TOTW is also compared as they simply use inferior ingredients & sources.[/QUOTE]

Ok, enlighten me please

Here is the complete ingredient list of one of the TOTW formulas. What’s inferior?
Lamb, lamb meal, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, canola oil, pea protein, roasted lamb, tomato pomace, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, mixed tocopherols (a natural preservative and source of vitamin E), dried chicory root, taurine, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

I realize CS isn’t as high end as some of them, but it’s really a nice highER end food (which is what my list was, not simply tippy top end foods) at a reasonable price. Grain-free is nice, really nice, but simply having some grains doesn’t make a food inherently bad. CS Sr Dog has 3 meat ingredients before the grains.

[vtdobes]

@JB;5906930

Ok, enlighten me please

Here is the complete ingredient list of one of the TOTW formulas. What’s inferior?

Their SOURCES and quality of said ingredients are inferior. The meat & fish in Orijen is of much, much higher quality than TOTW. Free range poultry, wild caught fish that is delivered fresh (never frozen or processed) same day, every day.

And beside that…Diamond isn’t a very reputable company! I wouldn’t touch anything they produced with a ten foot pole!

[EquusArtist]

Have you looked into Nature’s Variety?? They have both raw and kibble diets and I feed their Instinct formula. I have a rottweiler I show in agility on regular basis spring through fall and obedience in the winter. So, he’s an active guy and I like him on the higher protein formula. Instinct is also grain free and have various protein sources so it’s easy to rotate.

They also have their Prairie formula which you look into.

I have been thrilled with Nature’s Variety and how my dog does on it. You might want to look into it.