Dog Community

When to start a Senior formula food for dogs?

Posted : 2/15/2010 1:23:09 PM

I am wondering, River is 6 now and certaintly not a senior yet but his breed life term is 8-10 years. Of course River will be with me 15+ years!!!!!!

Anyway, I was thinking when would his nutritional needs change? I will ask my Vet but wanted to see what ya'll thought.

micksmom

Posted : 2/15/2010 1:29:03 PM

To be honest, unless there's a medical reason, I'd just keep him on whatever you're feeding now. Mick was still getting adult food at 15 1/2, although the last year or so I was mixing it 50/50 with puppy food to try to help slow down his muscle wasting (with my vet's OK).

shamrockmommy

Posted : 2/15/2010 4:55:19 PM

If he's doing great on his current food, no reason to switch. I found that when I tried a "senior" formula with my minpin, he went downhill and got soft and squishy instead of muscly and active.

I have mine on an ALS food, so no worried on switching.

Do I remember, was River on FRR?

luvmyswissy

Posted : 2/15/2010 6:35:50 PM

shamrockmommy
Do I remember, was River on FRR?

Yes and he does well on it and he still is youthful and strong. I just wanted to see what the general thought was. Thank you!

shamrockmommy

Posted : 2/19/2010 8:33:32 PM

I'm going to amend here in light of Gobie's recent digestive downturn. He's 14 and has had a worse and worse time digesting food with giant, mmushy, mucousy poo. So I switched to a lower protein/fat food (BB fish/potato- not a senior food but lower protein/fat) and it is helping.

But again, if it works, keep it up, if not, a change may be in order for something easier to digest, more/less protein, more/less fat.

:) but I'm no expert :)

ron2

Posted : 3/7/2010 6:52:17 PM

I used to wonder like you do. According to Nutro, which I fed for a long time, you could start feeding senior formula at 5 years. However, I think it is better to go by breed specs. Shadow's predominate breed lives 12 to 14 years and he is 6.5 years old. Not exactly senior. But I follow the other line of thought, echoed by vets, including those with nutrition expertise. A dog can eat a "non-senior" diet for years as long as their kidneys are healthy. A senior diet is usually grain-first, to cut down on the nitrogen load one gets from eating meat. So, as long as your dog is doing fine, feed what he likes. In the future, if the vet diagnoses diminished kidney function, then I would think about an NFE (nitrogen free extract) food.

Ando

Posted : 3/7/2010 8:50:44 PM

Depending on what you feed and how your dog is doing- you might not need to switch to a senior formula. Senior formulas are lower in calories and fats because older, inactive dogs tend to gain weight. If your dog doesn't have a weight problem and is active and healthy- stay on the adult or all life stages food. If you want the joint protection of glucosimine and chondroitin, you can supplement with that off to the side of your current food and it will have the same effect.