How to Feed Older Dogs

Nothing beats a good, old dog. The relationship between canine senior citizens and their owners is exceptionally deep and multifaceted. Good nutrition can help keep this relationship going strong for as long as possible.

Definitive guidelines regarding what constitutes the best diet for older dogs do not exist. Owners and veterinarians need to work as a team to assess every dog’s individual nutritional needs and make appropriate dietary choices.

The first step is to screen the dog for disease. Nutritional management plays a role in the treatment of many illnesses that are commonly diagnosed in older dogs (e.g., chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, some types of cancer, and heart disease). If a dog has a nutritionally responsive disease, he or she should eat whatever diet is recommended for dogs with that condition. Considerations based on age take a back seat in these cases.

Owners have a lot more leeway when feeding healthy, older dogs. Senior dog foods occupy a lot of shelf space in stores, but they can be quite different from one another. Picking the right product is very important. For example, most senior dog foods are somewhat lower in fat than are traditional, adult foods. Because most older dogs require fewer calories than they once did, reducing the fat content of their diet can help prevent obesity. A lower fat food is perfectly appropriate if your older dog does, in fact, have a tendency to gain weight. On the other hand, if you have a skinny old dog who struggles to maintain his weight, a low fat dog food will make the problem worse rather than better.

Older dogs can also have trouble maintaining their lean body (muscle) mass, and some senior dog foods contain less protein than those designed for young adults. I assume this choice is based on the misguided assumption that lower protein levels will protect an older dog’s kidneys from damage. In fact, many dogs actually need a little more protein in their diet as they age if they are to maintain a healthy lean body mass. Avoiding excess protein is important if a dog is in kidney failure, but research has shown that feeding reduced protein foods to older dogs “just in case” is a mistake.

Look for the following characteristics in diets designed for older dogs:

• High quality ingredients to maximize digestibility and nutrient absorption and reduce the formation of potentially damaging metabolic byproducts
• Antioxidants (e.g. vitamins E and C) to promote immune function
• Fish oils or other sources of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids to maintain brain, skin, and joint health

Because of the variability in senior dog foods, there is no guarantee that the first one you try will be the right one for your dog. If after a month or so on one diet you are not pleased with your dog’s response, try another… and another… and another, or ask your veterinarian for help picking out the right food for your dog.

What To Do When a Dog Stops Eating

Most dogs love to eat, which is why a meal that has been left untouched immediately raises concerns. An almost endless list of problems can cause dogs to go off their food — some are trivial but others are potentially life-threatening.

Determining whether immediate action or watchful waiting is the appropriate response can prevent canine suffering and unnecessary veterinary expenses. When your dog stops eating, follow these five steps.

1. Think about the last few days

Hindsight often really is 20:20. Now that you know something is up with your dog, think over the last few days. Did something occur that could be responsible for your dog’s lack of appetite, for example a change in diet or a “mysteriously” overturned trash can? Has your dog’s appetite been somewhat reduced recently? Have you noticed any other symptoms (e.g., lethargy or loose stools) that may be related to what’s going on?

Make note of when your dog’s first symptom developed. When dogs are going to get better on their own, improvement will usually be noted within 24-48 hours, but you need to know when that clock started ticking. If skipping breakfast is honestly the first sign of trouble and your dog seems to feel fine otherwise, waiting a day or two to call the vet is perfectly reasonable. If, however, a loss of appetite is just the latest in a series of symptoms that have developed over the course of a few days (or longer), the “wait and see” train has already left the station.

2. Ask other people in the dog’s life if they’ve noticed anything

Unless you are the only person looking after your dog, ask his or her other caretakers whether they’ve noticed anything unusual over the last few days. Perhaps your spouse pulled the dog out from under a bush with something “icky” in his (the dog’s!) mouth on a recent nightly walk, or your neighbor’s dog who routinely comes over to play is ill.

3. Examine the dog

Perform a “quick and dirty” physical exam on your dog. Gently push on his or her belly. It should be soft and your dog should not react in pain. Look for evidence of diarrhea in the fur around the rectum or vomit around the mouth. A dog’s gums should be pink (unless they are pigmented) and moist. Dry or pale mucous membranes can be a symptom of dehydration and/or other serious conditions. If you find anything worrisome on your physical exam, call your veterinarian immediately.

4. Inspect the food

Whether you feed a commercially prepared or homemade diet, something might be wrong with the food itself. This is especially true if you just fed the first meal out of a new batch of food, or if the bag, can, etc. has been open for quite awhile. Look at and smell the food. If anything appears “off,” try feeding your dog again from a different lot of food. I don’t recommend making a wholesale diet change at this point, since it will be difficult to determine if a dog is not eating because he or she does not like the new food or is continuing not to feel well.

5. When in doubt, talk to your veterinarian

It’s always better to err on the side of caution. Problems caught early are easier (and cheaper!) to resolve.

source : http://www.petmd.com/blogs/nutritionnuggets/dr-coates/2015/january/what-do-when-dog-stops-eating-32401

Manage Your Dog's Hyperthyroidism at Home With This Simple Change

Hyperthyroidism, a very common condition in cats, is exceedingly rare in dogs. Off the top of my head, I can only remember diagnosing one dog with hyperthyroidism in the course of my career (other than those dogs who were on supplements for hypothyroidism and needed a reduction in dose).

My patient had the classic symptoms of hyperthyroidism: weight loss in the face of an excellent, bordering on ravenous, appetite and increased thirst and urination. Unfortunately, identifying the cause was quite simple. I could easily palpate a large mass on the underside of her neck.

A biopsy confirmed what I suspected; cancer of the thyroid gland.

Until recently, I had thought that cancer of the thyroid gland was essentially the only disease that could cause elevated thyroid hormone levels in dogs, but it turns out that diet can be to blame also. A couple of newly published papers reveal that eating certain types of foods and/or treats puts dogs at risk for dietary hyperthyroidism, which can also be called thyrotoxicosis.

The first study looked at twelve dogs who ate raw meat diets or were fed fresh or dried gullets and had elevated levels of thyroid hormone in their bloodstream.

Half of the dogs had clinical signs such as “weight loss, aggressiveness, tachycardia [an abnormally rapid heartbeat], panting, and restlessness,” while the other half were symptom-free. After changing the diet, the eight dogs that were reevaluated all had normal thyroid hormone levels and any symptoms that were present resolved.

In the next study, researchers identified fourteen dogs who had high thyroid hormone levels while eating commercially available dog foods or treats.

“All 14 dogs were being fed all-meat or meat-based varieties of commercially available dog foods or treats at the time of diagnosis… All samples or descriptions of the suspect foods or treats provided by clients were of a similar” type and included air dried dog foods, jerky treats or strips, and thawed, raw dog food. After four weeks off of these foods or treats, the dogs’ thyroid hormone levels were all back to normal and any symptoms they had were gone.

The suspected cause in all these cases was the inclusion of thyroid tissue in the food or treats being fed to the dogs. A similar problem has been identified in people. Ground beef that inadvertently contained thyroid tissue has led to cases of so-called “hamburger thyrotoxicosis.”

This is a sort of good-news bad-news scenario for owners.

The good news: If your dog develops symptoms and laboratory findings consistent with hyperthyroidism, cancer is no longer the “only” possible diagnosis.

The bad news: We all have to be a little bit more careful about what we choose to feed our dogs.

All Fiber is Not the Same

Dietary fiber can be used to treat a variety of health conditions in dogs including obesity, anal gland impactions, diarrhea, and constipation. But all fiber is not the same, and adding the wrong type to the diet can actually make some problems worse rather than better.

Fiber can be divided into two major subcategories:

1. Insoluble Fiber

Cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignins are examples of insoluble fiber. They are not digested and pass through the gut essentially unchanged. Insoluble fiber can help dogs lose or maintain body weight by increasing the volume of food they can eat without adding much in the way of calories. Insoluble fiber also adds bulk to the feces, which can stimulate movement within the gastrointestinal tract, making it helpful in some cases of canine constipation. Additionally, this increased bulk puts more pressure on the anal glands during defecation, which encourages them to release their contents in a normal manner, reducing the risk of impaction.

2. Soluble Fiber

Chicory, inulin, fructooligosacharides, pectins, psyllium, plant gums, oats, barley, beet pulp, and some types of fruits and legumes all contain soluble dietary fiber. The canine digestive tract doesn’t have much of a direct effect on soluble dietary fiber, but  the bacteria that live in the large intestine break it down into short chain fatty acids that are a very important energy source for the cells that line the large intestine. Some types of soluble fiber are also considered prebiotics — substances that increase the prevalence of “good” bacteria within the digestive tract. These characteristics make the presence of appropriate amounts of soluble dietary fiber in the diet very important to the overall health of the large intestine and to the part of the immune system that resides there.

Therefore, it’s not too surprising that soluble fiber can be used to treat some types of large bowel diarrhea. In addition to promoting the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and healthy colonic cells, soluble fiber also absorbs water, which can help make stools more formed and easier for a dog to control. The symptoms of large bowel diarrhea include:

• having to “go” frequently but producing only a small amount of stool at any one time
• straining
• the presence of mucus or fresh blood in the stool

On the other hand, dogs with small bowel diarrhea tend to produce very large amounts of loose stool but do so only a few times a day. These cases tend to respond best to a low-fiber, highly-digestible diet.

Healthy dogs should eat high quality foods that contain both soluble and insoluble fiber to gain the benefits of both. If you think your dog’s stools and elimination behavior could use some improvement, try a different food that includes at least one soluble and one insoluble fiber source that I mentioned above in its ingredient list. Supplements that contain a combination of insoluble and soluble fiber are also available and can be used to good effect, particularly when making a wholesale dietary change isn’t advisable.

Talk to your veterinarian if you have any questions about the role that fiber should play in your dog’s diet.