Suggestions for a quality senior dog food?

[TheJenners]

My dog, 8 yo Australian Shep cross (3/4 Aussie), had a case of gastroenteritis that sent him to the emergency center Monday.

That is all fine, but… Found out his cholesterol is practically off the chart, 2414 :eek: :eek: :eek:

OK, so he might be a little overweight. Like, mmm, a six? Six and a half? He has a waist but you gotta dig for his ribs, so he’s going on a diet, but the vet also said he needs senior food. Poor Drover.

He was getting Canidae grain-free Pure Elements. What’s a good, quality senior food? I am considering Canidae’s ALS formula? The vet said what I was feeding was too high in fat and protein.

[Simkie]

Errrrr…unless he’s got kidney issues, high protein is GOOD for him. Especially as he’s senior.

I’d cut his current food back to slim him down a bit, and/or increase his exercise. And pursue other testing to rule out various reasons for the high cholesterol (pretty good discussion here…did they even look at his thyroid?) but barring a really good reason, I’d not change his food. And a vet who thinks 32% protein is “too much” for some archaic reason is not a really good reason.

[Canaqua]

I feed our 17 year old ACD Acana Grasslands dry food with people quality chicken, beef, lamb or a quality, all meat, dog food (canned pheasant, canned rabbit) to make it tasty and boost the protein further. Her diet is quite high in protein and no grain. She has arthritis is both elbows and her lower spine and some muscle wasting, from spinal stenosis, in her hind end. IMO, she needs the protein to maintain what muscle she can. Her bloodwork shows that all major organs are still functioning well, so the high protein diet seems to be OK.

Heck, she’s still alive, she’ll be 18 in March, let alone still bossing everyone around, so we must be doing something right.

My 3 year old BC mix puts on weight easily, she’s not as heavy as your dog looks, but she could lose a few pounds. She gets a lot of exercise, but when she’s not outside with a human, she’s a total, inert, couch potato. Much more relaxed, by nature, than the ACD. I may switch her to a lighter diet after ACD is gone, but since they insist on trading dinners back and forth, I’m feeding what the very old dog needs for now.

[wendy]

Senior dogs need more protein than non-old dogs? And all dogs need high fat diets. What kind of idiotic vet would tell you otherwise?

Most senior dog foods are based on the long ago disproven idea that senior dogs need less protein. They will take years off your dog’s life and probably make her fatter. Stay far away from them.

Your dog sounds like she just needs less food and more exercise. If you want to change foods, the best diet for an overweight older dog is one of the commercial raw diets- very high in protein and fat and practically devoid of carbohydrates.
Or switch from the concentrated dry diets to a bulky high-quality canned diet.

are you sure the vet actually measured his cholesterol level? cause dogs don’t develop blood dyslipidemia problems the way that people do. Measuring the dog’s cholesterol level would be a bit odd. A few dogs, such as certain lines of miniature schnauzers, do have a genetic tendency to develop dyslipidemia and they do require very unique diets.

edited to add: Looked up the high cholesterol, and you need to go back and talk to your vet some more. Apparently in dogs a number of nasty things like Cushings, diabetes and hypothyroidism can sometimes mess up their ability to process fats= high cholesterol. It’s nothing to do with what you are feeding the dog, it’s a sign there is something else amiss that needs to be investigated.

[mommy_peanut]

One trick I’ve used when needing to cut back on the kibble, but didn’t want to deal with the “I’m STARVING!” look, is to add in some frozen green beans to their kibble.
Adds a bit of extra volume without calories.

[atlatl]

I feed Organix kibble mixed with a little Newman’s canned. My dogs are 13 and 14 and are doing great. I also give them SmartPaks vitamins for Senior dogs.

[TheJenners]

He only gets two cups divided between two feedings. And he goes on one or two three miles runs with me a week, plus frisbee time.

So I dunno?

[Horsegal984]

Cut back to 3/4 cup twice a day then. But don’t change to a senior food. They’re crap.

I would have your regular vet recheck a fasting panel to see if the cholesterol is still high. While typically it’s influenced by a more serious underlying condition it is possible to have an abnormally lipemic sample if say, pup had just enjoyed a rawhide shortly before presenting. If it’s still high you need to check for thyroid issues as well as evaluate for Cushings etc.

But no, unless you’re feeding an 70% fat or Somethin insane like that his cholesterol issues are not caused by the diet.

[stb]

Keep the food you’re currently feeding, but feed less. If he’s fat on 2 cups a day then 2 cups is too much food. If you feel bad giving him less food then add some green beans in as filler. I have 3 labradors, 60 to 70 pounds a piece, and they only get 3/4 to 1 cup twice daily of their food, depending on how active they are. I would think an aussie would be in the 1/2 to 3/4 cup per feeding range.

[whitney159]

Don’t go to Canidae ALS if he needs to lose weight, that’s a pretty high calorie feed. Now I LOVED it when I fed it, dogs loved it and they looked great, but even my hard keeper got a bit chunky on it.

[Equibrit]

Believe it or not, Costco have some good dog foods.
http://www.kirklandsignaturepetsupplies.com/kirkland-brand-pet-food

[RobinL]

My Corgi is on Merrick Grain Free Healthy Weight dry. 32% protein and 8% fat min. We just got back early this week from an overnight at the vet due to clostridium and slight pancreatitis. I’m mixing the royal canin gi low fat wet they sent home with her Merrick at the moment and we have poop! My vet keeps wanting me to lower her protein due to bloodwork results we take for Deramaxx, but I’m not ready to go there yet. She normally gets 1/3 cup 2x a day and isn’t gaining or losing, but should probably lose a few more lbs. She was 40 lbs when I adopted her and is down to 30. Vet wants more off to help with arthritis but even a weekend of vomiting and diarrhea on the meds they gave me Fri didn’t cause any weight loss!

[TheJenners]

OK so I think I’ll slowly get him back on the other food. I already scheduled a vet appt with the normal vet for a month out from the ER visit to recheck levels, and I’ll pursue Cushings, etc, testing. He doesn’t get MUCH in the way of treats, pig ears and/or a dental chew, but yeah, I think the vet may have been off-base.

Thanks all! Love this board

As an aside, this ER vet visit swayed the soon-to-be-ex to let me keep the dog, which is awesome and was our only sticking point. WOOT! Thanks for the bloody diarrhea, Drover. Now to get you healthy

[Casey09]

I do agree with cutting his food back, even if you don’t think he is really eating all that much. I have dealt with the weight issue with one dog in particular. He had a thyroid issue, but I’d assume you’ve had that checked at the emergency vet when the cholesterol came back too high.
I do think that there are some good quality senior foods, though, if you want to go that route. Our local dog food store sells several brands of senior formulas, including Lotus, Nulo, Orijen, Petcurean Now, and Precise Holistic.