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Old December 23rd, 2009, 11:40 PM
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Commercial dog food low in protein

Hi all
I haven't been here since Pepper passed away in July but I finally decided about a month ago that it was time to look for a new puppy. I got far more than I expected when I contacted one of the larger rescue shelters here in Ontario about a bonded pair of 11 year old spaniels. They are coming for a home visit (puppies and shelter owner) on Tuesday and if all goes well they will be staying.

I was told that she has found over the years that senior dogs do better on a lower protein food. She told me that she looks for commercial food with a lower protein content and also that she feeds the older dogs middle of the road food, rather than high or low quality food. She is giving them a combination of Iams and Pedigree as well as some canned food, at present.

I wanted to switch them to a higher quality food, but I'm wondering if this would be a wise move after talking to her. I don't want to switch them to a prescription diet as both have normal blood work. The majority of commercial senior foods have a higher protein content than adult food, I was wondering if anyone knows of a commercial food that has a lower protein content and is of reasonable quality.

Thanks
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Old December 23rd, 2009, 11:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbg10 View Post
I wanted to switch them to a higher quality food, but I'm wondering if this would be a wise move after talking to her.
YES it would be wise , you're right on the money ! You just have to give less that's all

I'm leaving now but do you have pictures of those soon to be newbies ??
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Old December 23rd, 2009, 11:47 PM
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I have to agree with Frenchy. Better quality food = better health. Protein derived from quality meat ingredients are not bad for senior dogs. In fact, you may be preventing future health problems as seniors have more trouble digesting...especially all the corn by-products and grains in Iams and Pedigree.
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Old December 24th, 2009, 12:02 AM
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You may find this helpful.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index....ng_senior_dogs
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Old December 24th, 2009, 12:47 AM
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I agree 110% .....healthy senior dogs do better with more protein as long as it is meat protein.

The website LP gave you is excellent and you can also check out the info at www.dogaware.com and click on this link ....

http://www.dogaware.com/wdjseniordiets.html
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Old December 24th, 2009, 08:31 AM
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I have seen a couple of dogs on low protein foods. They had less energy and it made them act like seniors. I say feed better quality food from the pet store and just feed less. They other ones just have more fillers. Even my lazy golden didn't get senior at 14, tried it for a short period of time didn't like the results.
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Old December 24th, 2009, 10:59 AM
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My in-laws used to feed our senior Lab X Pedigree, Iams, etc......not only did she get sick from the pet food recall but she also got F-A-T from all the carbs! Go good quality, high meat protein, grain-free. ALL dogs metabolize this food better and it gives them more energy to be active and therefore stay healthy
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Old December 24th, 2009, 02:10 PM
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Thanks everyone for the support. I have always believed that better food=better health. All of my senior dogs were on relatively high quality food, and I never gave any of them Iams or Pedigree. It is hard to distinguish what is good now after the recall but I was using Pro Plan Senior for Pepper before she ended up on prescription KD and a homemade diet for her kidney failure. However it has a protein content of 28%. I used the information at dogaware to put together her homemade diet.

I know many of you feed very high quality food to your puppies or a BARF diet. However, I have a limited income so I want to choose a commercial food that will give them the nutrients they need and not cause any health problems. My vet uses Royal Canin for her dogs, and she says it is mainly because Royal Canin was the the only company that wasn't on the recall list. I am not sure that Royal Canin is what I'm looking for, what do you guys think about it?

Thanks for the links too, that article that luckypenny gave me is excellent and so is the info at dogaware.

For Frenchy here is the only picture I have of them, it was on the rescue organizations website.
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Old December 24th, 2009, 02:36 PM
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What wonderful looking pups! They look like they have alot of character.
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Old December 24th, 2009, 03:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbg10 View Post
My vet uses Royal Canin

Royal Canin is wayyyyyyyy too expensive for what it's really worth. I know many here feed Orijen , Acana is good too , I can't afford those brands adn they're not available in my area , so , next best thing is ,IMO , Kirkland from Costco , that is what I feed. There maybe grains in it but no corn. The lamb formula gave my pups the runs so I switched them to the chicken formula and never had any problems.

For Frenchy here is the only picture I have of them, it was on the rescue organizations website.
awwww looks at those senior faces
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Old December 24th, 2009, 08:14 PM
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I have a friend who gets me anything I need at Costco and the Kirkland brand for other things has always been good IMO so I'll wean them onto it first and see how they tolerate it. They do look like they are happy healthy dogs and fortunately the rescue group has their entire medical history.

They have been under a lot of stress since their owner passed away in May of this year, being shunted through several homes, a boarding kennel and finally this rescue group so I expect there will be an adjustment period for them that is longer than most. The female is the reddy-brown one and IMO looks older than 11 years but that may be because of the stress. One thing that is not known is how they are with indoor cats, so we may have a bit of adjustment there too. However, they apparently are good with other dogs, people and children. I am looking forward to having them.

Thanks all!
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Old December 24th, 2009, 08:48 PM
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That is so great that you are adopting seniors!

I agree with Frenchy that if your budget is a bit stretched, Kirkland is an excellent food! We buy it for my in-laws senior and she is doing very well on it. Hasn't gained weight the way she did on Pedigree and her mobility and energy level improved
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Old December 24th, 2009, 10:04 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbg10 View Post
My vet uses Royal Canin for her dogs, and she says it is mainly because Royal Canin was the the only company that wasn't on the recall list.
Your vet might want to do a bit more research on that. Royal Canin has been involved in a number of recalls, including the Big One of 2007. And there are plenty of other higher quality brands that have never been recalled. So her point is irrelevant and misinformed. Prime example of why I don't trust anything most vets have to say about pet food.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/script...0Canin&pet=Dog
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Old December 25th, 2009, 12:30 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dbg10 View Post
My vet uses Royal Canin for her dogs, and she says it is mainly because Royal Canin was the the only company that wasn't on the recall list. I am not sure that Royal Canin is what I'm looking for, what do you guys think about it?
Different species but same company.....RC was most definately involved in the recalls, my cat's kidney failure is as a result of eating their tainted food - that's a fact.
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Old December 25th, 2009, 11:57 AM
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I had sucessfully switched two seniors to a raw diet from foods like iams and Pedigree and honestly it seemed to add years to their lives.
Kirkland is a decent food, we have it on hand here for Meiko who does not do well with strictly raw diet ( have tried everything... its just not for him) he thrives on Kirkland and did less than ideally on foods like Orijen or SGWK ect.
I would definately look into switching their food.
Congrats on the adorable additions, hopefully all works out well.
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Old December 25th, 2009, 01:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by erykah1310 View Post
I had sucessfully switched two seniors to a raw diet from foods like iams and Pedigree and honestly it seemed to add years to their lives.
Kirkland is a decent food, we have it on hand here for Meiko who does not do well with strictly raw diet ( have tried everything... its just not for him) he thrives on Kirkland and did less than ideally on foods like Orijen or SGWK ect.
I would definately look into switching their food.
Congrats on the adorable additions, hopefully all works out well.
I have found the same thing too, erykah. I switched all 3 of my dogs to raw about 2 months ago, and I have seen some wonderful improvements especially with my oldest. She is only 8 1/2 (not yet up there in years) but was starting to have some mobility issues (i.e. jumping up onto things she didn't used to have a problem with). Well, now with the raw and some glucosamine she is doing great!!

My dogs also did not do well on Orijen (weird I know!). Had all 3 of them on it at one time and not only did they all have terrible gas but it didn't do nearly the wonders the raw has! I still think for dog kibble though, it is one of the best!

And yes congrats on your new additions! And thank you for adopting senior dogs! They are gorgeous!!
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Old December 25th, 2009, 02:04 PM
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so I expect there will be an adjustment period for them that is longer than most.
ohhh maybe not , they just might get to your place and say "this is it , we're home"

I just adopted a 6 yr old pyrenee a week ago today. I'm his third family. He was kept outside for the past 3 years so I thought he wouldn't like to be an inside dog at my house but he doesn't mind one bit and so far , he only peed twice in the house ! He also started to play with my guys just this morning

soooo , this goes to show you , sometimes it doesn't take them long to feel at home.
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Old December 25th, 2009, 02:20 PM
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When my vet told me that I wondered because I thought they had been involved in the recall. She possibly meant the RC non-prescription food. That's why I put it in my post, I knew someone would know the truth about it. In the early 90's when Technical was owned by a small Canadian company I fed the dogs that. When it was bought by RC I changed foods because I found RC changed the formula and they neither liked it nor tolerated it. The price also went up for lower quality food.

Kirkland seems to be recommended by several of you. I need to read the bag for the ingredients list, but I trust what you have to say about it's quality and plan to get a bag when they arrive. On the off chance they are not approved to stay with us, I'm not going to buy it ahead of time. I'm sure she'll bring some food with them so I'll at least have some to start them off with.

I like senior dogs and because I will have to sell my house in a few years, I don't want a dog(s) that will have to be given up because we are moving to an apartment. Pepper was 9 years old when I adopted her and I looked for a senior then for the same reason. I feel that a dog is for life, not to be given up if a situation changes.

The female is 28 lbs and the male 34 lbs so they could go to an apartment if necessary. This will be a new experience for me because all of my dogs have been large animals. Blackie topped 100 lbs, Dylan was 80 lbs, and Pepper 60 lbs after her surgery.

everyone! and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it!
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