AGE AND DIET

All pups should be kept on a good whole-food diet consisting of raw meat, safe bones, veggies, dairy products, and if need be, a good puppy kibble.  Never give cooked bones as they become brittle with cooking.  Depending on the breed, you know they can move up to adult food at about six months of age but if fed raw beef and raw chicken wings, (the Skansen trick) they will get enough calcium and can get by quite nicely on adult kibble as supplement to the good stuff.

There is enlightenment as regards both human and pet diets.  That which comes from a box or bag is never a complete food.  You would surely not feed your child cereal and nothing more for his lifetime?  Why would you do that to your dog?  Cereal and kibble are fine but only as a supplement or handy food when there is no fresh fruit, vegetables, or meat.

There is a commonly held belief that older dogs need less protein.  This writer would dispute that but I certainly agree that older dogs need better food and probably a little less of it.  As teeth wear down, bones may become a bit more difficult but even the very old dog will treasure a fresh beef knuckle bone.  Chicken necks and wings, when given raw or cooked until they are very soft are easily masticated. 

Older dogs have other special dietary.  They have less tolerance for low quality commercially prepared foods.  Rather than do the right thing and advise owners to switch to a more wholesome manner of feeding the dog, vets and other advisors suggest a “senior dog” diet.  That is okay as a supplement or if you just will not continue to read, or if you flat out refuse to give your old dog a break!  One would hope that it is a holistic, healthy, food-grade source in the bag but it is hard to be sure.  If allergy or food intolerance symptoms persist, the wise owner will correct the problem – remove commercial food entirely and prepare a diet at home, at least for twenty-one days.  If there is no improvement within 10 days, you might try a different protein source.  Switch from beef to chicken or from chicken to turkey, or try eggs and cottage cheese.  But be assured of one simple fact, a dog is not allergic to his natural diet!!

There are things that they don’t tolerate, just like you could be allergic to wheat or eggs.  But it is more than likely to be the chemicals and preservatives in prepared dog food that the older dog has become sensitive to.  His immune system is not as strong as in years past and just like us humans, his tolerance for some foods becomes lower.

A classic example is the doctor who had kept a pet tortoise since medical school.  It was a quiet, trouble-free pet that safely could be hidden away on campus.  He had become very attached to the tortoise over the ensuing twenty years.  When the tortoise became ill, he took it to the vet.  Nothing seemed to help and when it appeared he might loose his relatively young (in tortoise years) friend, he located a zoo specialist who agreed to see them.

The solution was so simple it astounded the doctor and changed the way he treated his patients and himself!  As the body ages, dietary needs and preferences change.  Whereas we once could eat a whole pie and sack out, sleep like a rock, and get up rarin’ to go, as adults we would look like a hippo and feel like a slug.

As we age, we all begin to at least think about “dieting” and eating more sensibly.  As children we probably didn’t care that much for vegetables but as middle-aged adults, they begin to have some appeal.  Children, like puppies, need huge energy reserves, obtained from large portions of caloric-rich foods.  As adults, we need less high energy foods and if we continue to eat like children, we become obese.  Oh we may still enjoy a big juicy steak because after all, we are omnivores, but we now accept veggies, even crave them along with more fruit. 

Okay so adult humans eat both meat and vegetation – just like dogs and the tortoise.  As we age, our food processing equipment looses some of it’s ability and consequently, we begin to prefer less rich foods, easier to digest, and quicker to eliminate.  Well, dogs (and the tortoise) are driven by instinct, not slick advertising.  They are not tempted by a television that touts ever more wonderful culinary delights for the palette, including more and better and EYE-appealing dog food.

The zoo vet told the doctor to change the diet and his pet of several decades would be just fine.  With lifted eyebrow and a glance at the doctor’s waistline, he suggested it might be wise for him to heed the “prescription” given to his pet.  He said to offer the tortoise more fresh green leafy vegetation and more fruits while cutting back on the mealworms and packaged insects (meat protein) he had been feeding.  It worked perfectly and the doctor could almost hear his pet sigh with relief!  The doctor changed his own diet and the results were so convincing, he began to recommend it to his older patients.

Your dog can be expected to develop digestive upset, malaise, arthritis, hot spots or skin rashes as he ages.  But if you have been feeding only prepared foods, try giving him a little rice or noodles straight from the table.  Then add a bit of cooked chicken or lamb from a healthy source which does not mean from an animal contaminated by hormones and antibiotics.  Shop around, you would be surprised how easy it is to buy direct from a butcher who certifies the meat as “holistic.”  Gradually shift your dog over to raw meat and bones.  You may have to warm it slightly, don’t expect him to gulp it down cold.  As he learns what it is, he will try to open the freezer to get at it!

The subject of natural food is a complex one just now being explored by a public that has been 1.) too busy to prepare wholesome food and quite willing to let the food companies do everything for them, and 2.) brain-washed into believing that a package so full of preservatives that is has a shelf life of years, could possibly be life-sustaining when eaten.

Even the giant breeds will be fairly easy to help.  When preparing broccoli, celery, carrots, fresh greens, etc.  don’t throw out the stem or big end.  Cut further up into the good stuff for your own gourmet palette, and throw the trimmings into the stock pot for the dogs.  Use it for eggs, complete with shells, left over good stuff (not pie and cake, you are cutting back remember?) and buy chicken on sale and stock the freezer.  Dump in a can of turnip greens, a few extra carrots, some rice or potatoes, let it stew all day (the bones will soften) and viola! a doggy health stew.

Do it for Christmas.  Make it a Resolution but do your dog and yourself a favor.  Gee, you didn’t have to go to the zoo, or even the family doctor to find out “what ails you” and what you can do for your dog and your own health.  Try it. 

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