Dog Community

"Tykie's Long Life"--food (creator's dog lived for 25 years!!)

Posted : 4/10/2007 12:40:41 AM

This is a food that is made locally here and I have seen it in stores. It is a vegetarian food. Although, the creator made it for her dog who ended up living 25 years. I think I'd still be unsure of feeding a vegetarian food though. What do you guys think? I'm wondering if the dog lived long because of the good diet or did it just have really good genes(?)

Here's the story behind the food:
http://www.tykieslonglife.com/about.php

Here is the product info (click on ingredients):
http://www.tykieslonglife.com/product.php

Raja19

Posted : 4/10/2007 3:00:12 AM

I do not think a Vegetarian diet is bad at all. Actually AvoDerm has a vegetarian formula too, and a few other brands as well.

I read the ingredients and it looks good, strange that the first ingredient is a grain.
I wish more dogs had ate it, I would be curious to see how many dogs that are fed it, live to a really long time.

Its $32 for an 8 pound bag though[sm=eek.gif]

jennie_c_d

Posted : 4/10/2007 7:26:54 AM

It has no calcium. The main protein is soy. It's full of gluten. No, thanks[

]

At least it's raw, though, and not overprocessed soy and gluten (like Beneful's wonderful soy based formula).

Ratsicles

Posted : 4/10/2007 8:49:43 AM

Hmm...I do like the ingredients....but not for a dog. [

] I'm thinking of ordering a bag to supplement my rats' whole food diet, but I wouldn't feed it to a dog. I'm just not comfortable with NOT giving meat to a carnivore, barring some kind of health issues preventing them from eating it.

mudpuppy

Posted : 4/10/2007 9:40:04 AM

No thanks. Might make a nice breakfast for a human, though.

sandra_slayton

Posted : 4/10/2007 10:50:05 AM

My Irish Setter, Boots, would have been happy with this food.. After all, when he raided the table that had spaghetti/meat sauce, green beans, garlic bread, and tossed salad on it, he was eating the tossed salad when we came back in. he also raided my garden and ate tomatoes and squash and even some green peppers right off the vine.

chelsea_b

Posted : 4/10/2007 11:27:42 AM

25 years! [sm=eek.gif] Is that true?? If it is, for god's sake, I better get crackin' on Cherokee's issues if I could have 17 more years with the beast! [

]

rwbeagles

Posted : 4/10/2007 12:45:25 PM

Wonder how old the dog was when she adopted it? Doesn't say...nice teeth on the pooch...amazing to even still have them...
Soy would take years off the average Akitas life...and other breeds have a sensitivity to it as well.

audkal

Posted : 4/10/2007 10:50:52 PM

Wonder how old the dog was when she adopted it?

If you go to the "In The News" section on the website, there's an article about the dog from the WDJ, here's what it says:

Stephanie Burns of Traverse City, Michigan, celebrated her dog Tykie's 24th birthday on March 15th, 2003. The 25-pound, Terrier/Schnauzer/Husky mix has been the recent subject of the media spotlight, earning mentions nationwide as one of the oldest dogs in the United States. Burns credits Tykie's diet - he's been a vegetarian since he was 8 weeks old - and plenty of exercise as the keys to his longevity. And in addition to being old, she hastens to add, he's still healthy.

"His eyes are clear, his bloodwork is perfect, he has no tumors," she says. "He's deaf, so I have to use sign language, and he has a little arthritis, but other than that he's in great shape."

Tykie's typical diet includes rolled oats and bulgur wheat, shredded carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, and ground nuts. Burns also adds a variety of enhancements including molasses, ginger, garlic, lecithin, yeast, flaxseed, and wheatgrass.

It's definitely amazing....but it just seems weird for a dog to have no meat whatsoever. [&:]

rwbeagles

Posted : 4/10/2007 11:07:31 PM

As a breed...Schipperke's can live into their 20's. I'm going with genetics being the major reason here.

ETA: Oh my stepdad and his parents had a mongrel Sophie that lived at least 18 years (beyond that possibly but that's the narrowest we can get) on Pedigree...sprightly right to the end.