Senior Not Eating But Will Eat Puppy Food

[kickchick2000]

We have been struggling with Milky Way, who will be 12 in June, and food for a few months now. Previously he had eaten the same food for years and then all of a sudden quit eating. We tried several foods and only got a few nibbles here and a few nibbles there, he was loosing weight. Been to the vet and they can't find anything wrong with him.

 

A few weeks ago we took a temp foster for a week who was 5 months old. The organization provided food etc...I decided to see if Milky Way would even eat the puppy food. I put a small cup down and it was gone in seconds, something that he hasn't done in a long time. So I ran out that same night and bought a small bag of the puppy food and it's now the ONLY thing he will eat and he demolishes it.

 

I've tried switching him back and he just turns up his nose and will not eat more than a few bites of regular food.

 

Is there any real harm in feeding him the puppy food at least for a little while???

[greyhead]

I don't know the answer to your question about puppy food. But I thought I'd share, fwiw, that our Spencer (turns 12 in Nov.) has been hard to feed for a while now too, especially in the a.m. We have to let him wait until about 11 a.m., and then we have to get him started by hand-feeding a few morsels. This meal is raw ground venison, and we have to microwave it to just the right temp. The hypothesis, based on other things I've seen with him, is that his smeller doesn't work as well as it once did. Heating the food makes it more recognizable as food! So whatever you can do using what you're feeding, perhaps an additive of some kind (e.g., chicken broth, a sauce made with canned food and water, sardines, etc.) would help. After the first few morsels, Spencer goes ahead and finishes the bowl on his own. Good luck!

[GeorgeofNE]

It's far more important at that age to keep the weight on and keep him eating than WHAT he eats.

 

I'd give my old dog anything it wanted to eat if he was off his food!

[schultzlc]

It's far more important at that age to keep the weight on and keep him eating than WHAT he eats.

 

I'd give my old dog anything it wanted to eat if he was off his food!

 

 

I have to agree with this. When my Phantom was 13+, whatever we could get him to eat, he ate.

[Guest Gillybear]

I agree also. When Gill started losing weight and declining, he started getting homemade supper in addition to his regular dog food. The cooked supper is not likely to be highly recommended. It is usually a mix of some pasta, an egg, canned dog food and whatever leftovers are in the fridge. This concoction has kept him going almost two years now. He will be 13 in a few weeks!

[Burpdog]

It depends on how much calcium is in it. Is there sugar in the puppy food?

[MaryJane]

Also depends on how much and what type of protein is in the food. Sometimes older dogs can not handle a high level of protein especially if it is not the best but, as noted by others ...... sometimes it's more important that they just eat.

[Guest sirsmom]

My sister in law fed her golden retriever Purina Puppy Chow all her life (14 years) and she did fine.(healthy&happy) I remember telling her she should switch off to adult food but she said the dog would not eat adult food-- only the puppy chow-- and continued on it. so whatever works...

[FiveRoooooers]

With my seniors, I have learned that canned puppy food often stimulates their appetite and gets them eating, and it can add some much-needed weight. It works here for us.

[kickchick2000]

Burpdog, I need to check on the sugar and calcium content, we store the food in a big bin so I chucked the bag but I can certainly look it up tomorrow. Is there a certain amount I need to be wary of ???

 

I agree with everyone at this point I just need him to eat which has been my main focus. At his age he can't afford to be loosing weight. Right now he is pretty healthy, aside from some minor hind end weakness, but I know that can change at any moment and I want him to keep his strength as long as possible.

[silverfish]

I don't know about foods in the US but here in the UK puppy food isn't bad for them providing it's a good quality puppy food and isn't packed with colourings and preservatives and sugars.

 

I often feed my seniors puppy food to tempt them when they don't eat, and also to keep weight on them. I buy cans of it, but you need to be more vigilant with tooth brushing because it's so much softer and stickier than adult food.

 

As to the calcium content, I'd have thought that a diet balanced for pups would be far better, nutritionally, than doing what many people do and just adding in large amounts of lean meat in the form of ground beef or whatever. Too little calcium is more usually the problem than too much, and as I understand it, hypercalcaemia in dogs is usually due to an underlying health problem.

 

You've checked his teeth and had bloodwork done, I presume, to make sure that there isn't a medical cause for his lack of appetite?

[tbhounds]

Puppy food usually has a higher fat content and fat is very palatable. I assume your hound hasn't had pancreatic problems in the past?

[Batmom]

If medical causes (teeth, mouth, bloodwork) have been reasonably ruled out, I'd feed him what he'll eat as long as it isn't outright poisonous. Puppy food is fine.

[sobesmom]

If it's a good puppy food and isn't crazy over the top on protein, I'd say go for it! If it's a good food, heck it's probably better then what 90% of the population feeds their dogs every day.

 

Let the dog eat, and MAINTAIN WEIGHT. Very important as they get older.

 

FWIW - I personally don't consider 12 seriosly senior. Many greys without any medical issues are just fine at that age. If your grey has had a sudden - serious - drop in weight and going off the food - I'd ask your vet (or another) to run some blood panels or something. It seems a bit... odd.

 

There's also the possibility that the puppy just perked the grey up - and it's a monkey see- monkey do kinda thing.

 

If it works - don't stress about it!