Feeding 11+ Yr Old Greyhounds

[Guest greytcritters]

Okay I know a senior dog eats less, metabolism slows ect...

But how much does the average senior actually eat?

My seniors are now eating 1/2 of what the used to eat...3 cups if I am lucky

I am wondering...am I being a worry wort and this is a perfectly normal amount?

 

I would love to know what is the amount you all feed your 11+ yr old greyhound and what kind.I feed both Kirkland Kibble and Homemade diet of pasta, meat and egg

Mine actually eat the same amount of the 2 different diets.

Edited August 16, 2010 by greytcritters

[RobinM]

My Elsie Lou eats 3 cans of Wilderness @ 476 calories a can, a duck neck nightly and many, many, many cookies!!! She looks greyt and has a super fast metabolism. If Chloe ate what Elsie eats, she'd be a moose!!!

 

3 cups is not a little amount. My 6 year old Chloe gets under 3 cups. Teddy who is 85 pounds gets 3 3/4 cups a day.

 

 

ETA- My Elsie is 11 years 4 months, but don't tell her. She has no idea.

Edited August 16, 2010 by RobinM

[Guest KennelMom]

We don't feed our seniors any differently unless medically warranted. Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream 3 cups a day for Haley, Prajna and 3.5-4 cups per day for Bucky b/c he's bigger.

[Guest Energy11]

They boys, ages 8-10, eat 2-3 cups of Canidae Platinum mixed with Chicken Soup Senior (kibble), with green beans, pumpkin, yogurt, and a little Chicken Soup canned, added in. Cari, 8.5, hates all of the above, and eats TOTW Bison and Venison. Goldie, 9.5 has been on renal food most of her life, and gets it, with a little canned food, beans, pumpkin and yogurt. It all works :-))

[Guest mountain4greys]

My 11 year old brood eats 3 cups of Kirkland Lamb and Rice, with either yogurt or pumpkin mixed in. On birthdays and Gotcha Days, all the hounds get green tripe or sardines mixed in with their kibble, including the 11 year old.

[Guest greyhoundude]

My Greyhound, Tom, just turned 11. He's fed Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream and gets 2 cups in the morning and 2 in the early evening. He eats it all and then goes snooping around for more!

[2greytgreys]

My 13-year old Tracy eats 2 cups of Authority Lamb mixed with Blue Buffalo canned. She eats less in the hot weather and recently diagnosed with LP her exercise limits are much less than before.

[krissn333]

Sutra eats 3-4 cups of Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream per day. If he is being fussy or having some pancreatitis issues, he gets home-cooked food. For the most part, he's a very good eater. At age 12, I'm glad

[Guest greytloves]

Guess I would ask, any weight loss with the decreased food? If not, I would not worry about it. If so, maybe add something to help gain weight as it always seems harder to keep weight on older greys and you don't want them to get too thin as then it seems their bodies cannot fight off little things as well.

[Guest Ola]

Mayhem is about 11.5 now and still eats the same thing he did 5 years ago - raw! About the same amount and roughly the same things too (it sort of varies depending on what we buy, as always). Not planning to change unless there's a need.

 

Oh, I couldn't answer in the poll cause I had to put an answer for both questions and we don't measure in cups.

[kudzu]

We don't feed our seniors any differently unless medically warranted. Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream 3 cups a day for Haley, Prajna and 3.5-4 cups per day for Bucky b/c he's bigger.

Ditto.

 

Greytcritters, which are you saying? Is it that they *won't eat* or they *don't need to eat* more than 1/2 of what they used to?

 

My 8 yo girl needed 4-4.5 cups/day the first year I had her. Have had her four years & she's 8 yo now. She now only need 2.5 cups/day TOTW Prairie or 3 cups/day Pacific Stream. Then again she's hypothyroid & just finished getting started on meds plus had a series of toe injuries requiring off & on leash walking restrictions. Though she would gladly still eat 4 cups/day if I let her.

 

The 10 yo I adopted ate the same amount for 3 years, that being TOTW 3 cups/day Prairie or 3.5 cups/day Pacific Stream. It was always a balancing act to keep the right weight on him. He dropped weight quickly if fed less but we had to still kept him intentionally lean because his arthritis. He was more active when kept lean & thus able to go & do more. That in turn kept he brighter & happier. Even at 13 yo he'd have eaten as much as I gave him though & was always begging for more food. In his last few months did he got progressively pickier about what kind of food he wanted, forcing me to mix in canned, then go to canned only some days. Still, he begged for more canned or treats or our food. Only in his last week did he loose his appetite.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Every one gets three cups plus add ons. I have two senior dogs over age 10, and they eat well. They also still are quite active... they swim almost every day, for example, and one can and will still lure course and/or hike for miles.

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Bobbi continues to be a challenge to feed. She is 11 years 8.5 months. she used to eat 2 meals a day, now only one. The most she eats at one meal would be: 1.5 cups TOTW Fowl with chicken add ins OR one can Blue buffalo Wilderness Chicken and Turkey with 1/3 cup kibbie mixed in. I hand feed her the wet mixture like chips 'n dip on dehydrated chicken and duck strips.

In the AM, she does NOT eat a meal until 5PM, I give her a bowl of snacks, like 6

dehydrated chicken or duck strips, a Merrick flossie, or a healthy edible nylabone, etc.

 

I usually ahve to "prime" her to eat and sometimes give her Greek nonfat yogurt with applesauce, about 1/2 c total to "get into the mood" to eat.

 

Did

you say PITA? She's been like this since I got her at 3 years ago.

 

But, I LOVE that girl to pieces........

[Guest SueG201]

I have noticed that my grey Scout 11.5 yrs old is sometimes picky and will only eat once a day, I don't push it cause she has always had stomach issues since I got her at 7.5 wks old, She will only eat 1 cup of Grandma M ae's Country Naturals with a dollop of wet food twice a day, she is at a good weight about 65 lbs she is a very tall girl and she knows how much she wants to eat, she used to get 3 cups a day in her prime

[Guest PhillyPups]

Mine all eat the same (Gremlin 12 year old retired brood, DonJuan, 11-1/2 year old retired stud and Moe 11-1/2 year old retired brood) they are energetic and healthy.

 

When SugarBear turned 12 she became picky and would miss a meal once in a while - one meal was no big deal, more than that and I got creative to get her to eat. She is the only one I ever had a problem getting to eat. Zeus went off food at the end due to very aggressive lymphoma.

 

All mine get turkey necks 2 times a week and chicken feet frequently.

[NeylasMom]

Mayhem is about 11.5 now and still eats the same thing he did 5 years ago - raw! About the same amount and roughly the same things too (it sort of varies depending on what we buy, as always). Not planning to change unless there's a need.

 

Oh, I couldn't answer in the poll cause I had to put an answer for both questions and we don't measure in cups.

Same here for everything above. Neyla turned 11 in March.

[Greytlady94]

With my seniors it is a challenge to keep the weight on them so I certainly don't recommend changing or reducing their food unless it is medically necessary. My two seniors are fed a combination of home cooked, Fresh Pet Select (a refrigerated food) and EVO95 (canned). They are fed three times a day and I try to keep their calories up around 1800-1900 per day per dog.

 

Regardless of the age of dog it is not as simple as "how many cups of food". You need to know what the dog needs in energy (calories) and what foods the dog best processes. Start with reading labels and learning about what the ingredients on the labels mean.

 

As PhillyPups pointed out, a lot of the time with seniors you have to get creative.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Oh, I couldn't answer in the poll cause I had to put an answer for both questions and we don't measure in cups.

 

Here as well. I measure the food by weight and portion by a percentage of body weight as appropriate.

 

My two oldest (almost 13 and going on 14) do eat a fair amount given their activity level, as does Vixen (who won't be 11 until November). In each case, their food consumption is around the same as it was when they were younger. Comet always did eat a larger percentage of his bodyweight to maintain weight, Trojan has always lived to eat, and Vixen has always been very muscled and active for her age and eaten more than younger, larger dogs.

 

The only age related change I can note is that they do feel more strongly in their preference for certain foods - generally those with a stronger smell - as their sense of smell isn't what it once was. Given that so much of their sense of taste is actually their sense of smell, I can't really blame them, though I don't give in and feed only the favorites.

[MarcR]

All three of my 11 year olds - Nadia, Honey and Kara - eat Proplan Selects salmon and brown rice. They get 1 1/2 cups twice a day. I settled on this food about four years ago to satisfy Nadia, who is my picky eater. Cleo, who at 10 is the "baby" gets the same rations.

[PatricksMom]

Patrick's 11, 73 pounds, he eats 3 cups of Diamond lamb and rice (split into two meals), plus fresh veggies/fruit for treats (whatever we're eating).

 

He's gotten fussier about eating in the AM, so his breakfast is smaller than his dinner.

[Guest greytcritters]

I guess I am saying my 2 seniors are eating 1/2 of what they did earlier this year.

I am finding out that this is not as problematic as I thought...3 cups is exceptable for their age and size (saw the vet)

and yep I have to be creative to get them to eat as well.

With Minnie being 13, w a bad back, LP and arthritis...if she is painfree and happy and willing to eat she gets it!

Maddux is 12.5 and in remal failure (found out yesterday)so he is now only getting Dr. Pikarin's Kidney recipe.

Long story short 1.5 cups twice daily I found out is not too bad for food consumption.

THANK YOU everyone for your imput

It was extremely informative!

[Guest Liz]

Both our girls eat the same food nutro source for seniors, Tess is 11 and Chauncey is 7, our vet said that Chauncey does not need senior food yet but because the girls will eat out of each others bowls it is just easier, they get 1 1/2 cups kibble in the morning and the same at night then every other night they each get a 1/2 can of merrick canned food mixed in with their kibble, they also get a raw chickenleg or thigh twice a week. When they get their chicken they tend not to eat all their kibble. Tess is a little heavier then she should be but because of a bad leg she does not like to walk too much anymore, so we just try to watch her weight.

[Guest arlosmom]

Arlo will be 11 in Jan. He is not very active at all. Right now he is getting 1 1/4 cups kibble(Kirkland Lamb and Rice) with about 1/4 cup water and 3 squirts of salmon oil at every meal. His coat is great but he is slightly over weight. He gets a large cookie at noon and a smaller one at bedtime.

Edited August 24, 2010 by arlosmom

[BauersMom]

It seems like as soon as someone turns 11 in this house, they turn into the pickiest eaters on the planet. It's a constant battle to get them to eat consistently. I feel like we're playing a game of "see if you can guess what we'll eat today" and I always lose.

 

And heaven forbid I could get the two seniors to eat the SAME thing.

 

Cutting out half of their food seems like a pretty drastic change over less than a year. I can't imagine cutting a senior's diet by that much!

Edited August 25, 2010 by BauersMom