Would feeding a dog senior food make them lose weight?

morganafay

My three Cavaliers are 6, 8 and 9 so the two older ones should probably be on senior food, but they say that it will help them lose weight too . . . but they're not overweight. The oldest one is actually a bit thin, she runs around a lot, so I really don't want them to lose weight.

Though she is getting a bit old and her joints aren't great and should be on senior food so what should I do, just feed her more of the senior food than the others get? She doesn't have a big appetite. And is it ok to put the 6 year old on senior food? She is a tiny bit fat, but not really.

If I switch to a better quality food will the 9 year old gain weight maybe?

I'm hopefully getting a Bichon Frise puppy so I was thinking I'd get her James Wellbeloved puppy food, because she's a puppy and needs better food and Bichons often get skin problems. So I thought I might get some senior food too. I don't want to get adult food too for the 6 year old, because I want to get a 15kg bag and for it not to go bad, and they all eat together anyway (the puppy will eat seperately but would prefer not to have to seperate the adults too!)

And one last question, if I get a 15kg bag of puppy food, is there anyway to store it that will stop it going bad? It'd have to store it in the garage or shed because the only place in the house with space for it would be the utility room and the washing machine and tumble dryer are there so it'd be too hot and humid.

Thanks

The Sweeper

Hey - take a look at joint supplements like shark cartiledge and green lipped mussel - these are supposed to be good for joint care in dogs and help arthritic dogs. You can buy these as powder supplements. If her weight and health are otherwise good, you may want to keep the same diet but add something to offset joint deterioration.

Google some of the senior foods and read the ingredients listing. Compare it to 'normal' dog food. Then you can decide yourself what the main differences are, and whether you feel you could achieve a similar effect with the addition of a supplement.

Edited to add - storing dry food - you can buy air tight storage bins, like big tubs with rubber lids. Just go trawl the storage section of the hardware stores and find a big enough airtight container.

Wisco

As a rule, senior pet foods are not designed as weight loss foods. If one of your older dogs is a little thin you may need to up her feed, although she may be better able to digest a senior food. However, be aware that the 'senior' foods of some of the cheaper brands are not really different from normal adult foods. The better quality stuff (Hill's, Royal Canin, etc) do have different bits in them and are generally easier for older dogs to digest and metabolize. They are often also lower in things that older dogs find harder to process because their kidneys, livers, etc, don't function as well as a young dog's do.
If you're thinking of getting a puppy (and Bichon pups sure are cute!!) you will definitely need to feed him/her a puppy food as adult food is not suitable for a growing pup.

Wisco

Oh and as for storing food, I've always just used a sealable plastic bin and have never had trouble with food going off. If it's stored in a cool, dry place I can't imagine that you'd have any problem.

morganafay

Thanks for the replies.

I do feed the older dog as much as she wants but she has a small appetite and is very active. I mean the dogs all eat together but she finishes the food before it's all gone, and she's not bullied by the others because she is the dominant one. And I give her healthy treats during the day, I always try to give her more than the others but she's just not as greedy as them. I could exercise her less but she's hyper and needs it! Though I exercise her on grass or soft ground because of her joints . . . and I give her something for her joints, cod liver oil and there's some other things in it, specifically for dogs' joints, but I'll look into other things. I know some senior dog foods have supplements for joints so I'll look at that too.

She's probably not underweight, but it's hard to keep her weight up and I don't want her to lose weight. I was just looking at foods on zooplus and some of the senior ones said something like "for older or overweight dogs, to control their weight" etc. but I'll compare the nutritional values and see.

When my dogs were puppies I fed them pedigree puppy food, but would prefer to get a better food for the new puppy, especially if it's in 15kg bags, it'd probably cheaper than buying 2kg bags of pedigree . . .

Thanks

toadfly

Our older dog in my homehouse is 16ish, he is on ProPac Senior which he is doing really well on. He is also on a tablet once a day for arthritis cant think of the name of it, I have posted about it before but I'm sure if they need medication the vet will prescribe them.

For storing the food what I do it keep the 15kg bag in a wardrobe in the spare bedroom, its resealable so just fill an airtight cereal container with the food so I dont have to open the bag twice a day. find it very handy.

paultf

morganafay wrote: »

My three Cavaliers are 6, 8 and 9 so the two older ones should probably be on senior food, but they say that it will help them lose weight too . . . but they're not overweight. The oldest one is actually a bit thin, she runs around a lot, so I really don't want them to lose weight.

Alot of the dog food companies have a range of products from light to senior. Some say a dog qualifies as a senior when they are 7 years old.

I have seen posts on this forum knocking these different ranges of food - that there is not much difference between them and the regular adult foods.

I use to feed my dogs Red Mills Leader and if I follow what they say I would have to have 3 different bags of food: 1 puppy, 1 adult and 1 senior for my 3 dogs. (4 months, 2 years and 7 years)

I switched to Burns and they don't have senior foods. So 2 of my dogs are on regular food and 1 is on puppy. But when the pup turns 6 months she will go on the regular food aswell. So I'll only need 1 bag for all 3 dogs.

morganafay, Burns have a puppy food called MiniBites. My Mum has a Bichon and her dog is on MiniBites as it can be fed to toy dogs aswell. So you could have all your 3 dogs + your new pup on the one food, if you wanted. Can get it in 2kg, 7.5kg or 15kg.

I wouldn't worry about the weight. They say if a dog is slim and fit they'll live longer.

morganafay

Thanks, I saw the mini bites food but didn't know it was for toy dogs too. I might get that one

I'm not too worried about her being slim, it's better for her heart anyway, but just don't want her losing more weight