Senoir Weight

[Guest Derbles]

Do all senior greyhounds look so underweight. Could something else be going on? My senior eats well. Has a good appetite and loves her home made meals. All our other greyhounds are fed the same and look great. Could i be missing something. I have seen other seniors this way, but i want to make sure i am doing all i can to keep her healthy. All advise would be gretly appreciated.

[robinw]

Loca will be 13 next week and also looks (and is) underweight, in spite of her healthy appetite.

[Burpdog]

Some do, and some don't. I usually feed more meat when they are advanced aged

[kikibean]

Mimi (age 14) is the same way. I got her when she was 8 and she used to weigh around 75lbs. I had her at the vet a couple

of weeks ago for bloodwork and she's down to 54. Her bloodwork is totally normal and she eats great. We just switched her

to Go Dog food and she seems to be looking a little better.

 

I don't want her to get too heavy because her back end is getting weak, but I'd like her to gain about 5lbs.

[Jiffer]

Our 10.5 year old is still looking good at 68lbs (raced at 64). But I wouldn't be surprised if that changes in the next couple of years.

 

I think it's much like us, when we age, we tend to have bone loss (we get shorter) and weight loss.

[silverfish]

As Diane (Burpdog) says, some do, some don't. I'd actually say 'many do'.

 

I think it's down to muscle loss as much as anything. Compared to fat, muscle is more dense and weighs more, inch for inch. Many seniors lose muscle, just as many elderly people do.

 

It's worth getting a geriatric blood panel done at least yearly, to make sure there's no metabolic problem - for instance, kidney disease can result in dramatic weight loss - and it's worth trying to feed them more. Provided there is no metabolic disease, I'm in favour of switching the seniors onto puppy food. What you don't want to do, is put them on senior food, which is usually a lot lighter in calories.

 

Puppy food is high protein, but in my experience, the seniors do well on it, unless there's good reason why they shouldn't have it. Obviously, if there is kidney disease present, or something like pancreatitis, you'll have to be guided by your vet.

 

Meant to ask - how old is your senior?

[greg1229]

My Isis hits 13 next month and over the last year I have noticed her hip bones showing more and her neck a little more wrinkled then when I adopted her at age 5. But she still eats well, can jump up on the bed with no problem and will hop up and down for a cookie.

 

I know it's a part of aging and it does depress me some knowing the final outcome; but as long as she keeps "daddy" in line and is keeping up with the younger pups 9 and 2 she will always get the little something extra for her meals.

 

Greg

[Guest dwolfe711]

Mmmmm - we've seen it both ways with our seniors - some maintain weight and some lose a bit - but I've never thought any of ours lost too much -

 

What I want to know is - how come humans seems to GAIN weight as they age??!!! If someone could answer that for me, I'd know what to do about my own weight gain!!

 

 

Donna

[Guest Greensleeves]

Whistler did lose quite a bit of weight as he aged, but we did finally succeed in getting his weight back up by switching him to Royal Canin puppy food (avail. at Petsmart), plus "supplementing" him with a couple of hard boiled eggs a day. Eggs are relatively low in calories, but they're an almost perfect protein source and have a nice fat content.

[Meandmy]

Shadow has always been pretty svelte, but as he gets older it's definitely harder for me to keep weight on him. I also have a hard time feeding him extra. He seems to know exactly how much he should have in his bowl, and will leave however much extra I try to give him It seems his figure is very important to him

[Guest Greensleeves]

That might be an argument for a higher-calorie food!

[Guest KennelMom]

Some do, and some don't. I usually feed more meat when they are advanced aged

 

yeppers. I like to keep a couple xtra pounds on the seniors b/c they can drop weight so fast if they get sick and it takes sooooooo long for them to recover from it. We're lucky with Grandpa, he's able to maintain an nice figure at 14 1/2 despite a good bit of muscle loss. Elvis, OTOH, is only 12 1/2 and looks so much older than Grandpa. It's a constant battle to not have him too skinny. Our vet assures me there is nothing wrong with him but I've never had this much trouble keeping weight on a dog that's only 12. We don't usually see that until 13-14 or so. They do start to lose quite a bit of muscle and that plays a big part, I think.