[Jo C]

HI,

I was looking on a couple post about senior dogs and dry dog food. Some people say to feed a senior dog my baby is 13 years old a higher protein food. Does the carbs and fats matter as when I’m looking up dog food to see what they are rating at. When I look the brands up I see the percentages and I usually see 22-25 % range for protein but the carbs and fats are high, basically I don’t know what to look for as a proper diet for her she has no digestive issues or anything like that.

[pitlove]

Hi Jo C-

AAFCO does not have a nutrient profile at this time for a senior dog. Senior dog formulas are simply an adult maintenance diet, usually with lower protein, fat and calories. Many here, including myself do not use a senior formula for their senior pets. For my 8 year old Lab, I simply monitor his calories closely and make sure that he maintains an ideal weight.

Keeping senior dogs (and really any dog of any age) at at 4/9 on the Purina Body Condition Score, is of uttmost importance. This keeps stress off their joints, bones, heart etc. According to research done by Purina, a dog kept at ideal weight can have their life extended by 15% (1.8 years). I would say this is one of the most important things to help keep senior dogs healthy.

What are you feeding currently? Is she healthy? Good weight or overweight? Good bloodwork? 13 is a very good age for a pitbull. It sounds to me like whatever you have been doing thus far is working well.

[Jo C]

Hi Pitluv-

Previously I was feeding her and had since she was a pup Pedigree (I know GARBAGE) but currently she is eating Rachael Ray Just 6 and FreshPet wet food both got at Walmart. She looooves both she did however threw up once but nothing else. She is herself and she has no health issues last blood work was good. She did weigh in at 70 pounds though but to me she doesn’t seem fat…hmmm
she walks slower of course but still loves to play, walk and just get a lot of love nothing major but I want her to live a more healthy longer life. I’m basically new at this natural stuff and portion size for her weight and age. I usually just feed a mug size dry food and 1/4 of wet. I want a good brand with real ingredients but affordable for a decent pound bag. I’m so scared after non stop searching and reading reviews to even try with how many dogs get sick and/or die of certain foods. Do you have any suggestions on brands to look more into? I searched about Authority, Nutro, Wellness Core, Kirkland Mature Dog, and Pure balance.

[Jo C]

Pitluv-

Also I thought for her age the food should have more protein?

[pitlove]

My Lab was raised on Purina ONE and we did move away from that food for a while when we first took him from my boyfriends parents. Luckily with him he does well on any food I put him on. My pitbull is not as lucky. He has many food intolerances and allergies that limit what he can eat, so my Lab just eats the same thing he eats. They are both on Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach because it’s the only food my pitbull will eat (very very picky) that clears up his allergies and his intolerances. The Lab seems to be doing very well on a regular adult diet. I’m very careful about the way I feed him and I don’t give treats much.

From what I’ve read, opinions vary on amounts of protein. Some say flat out higher protein, some say higher, but also has to be of higher quality. I’m starting to read more that the quality is what is of importance more so than just a super high amount of protein.

[Jo C]

Yeah my pit has been very good on other food before but always just stuck with pedigree. I’m just hesitant and scared to switch to something that may cause her harm 🙁
I looked at Whole earth Farms food which everything looks good on her as rate and ingredients but looking at reviews a lot of peoples dogs started getting sick. ugh this is so stressful makes me want to just stick with pedigree cause I know she eats it but I want better food. So far so good with RR Just 6 but rated a 3 I think but I give her Freshpet wet dog food as well which is rated good. I want to stick with fresh pet but trying to figure out a decent dry food with good reviews and good ingredients but affordable..Am I asking for to much lol

[InkedMarie]

With the exception of Orijen senior, I think most senior foods are too low in protein. They need a higher protein quality food.

[pitlove]

I’ve stopped using the star ratings on here to choose a food. I’ve fed many of the “best” brands and they were not right for my dog. Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach is only rated 2.5 stars, however it has worked wonders for my dog, so I’m not terribly concerned about the star rating it recieves on here.

I don’t think switching her off Pedigree is bad thing or would cause her harm, but you will have to do it very slowly. Personally I am actually more comfortable with Pedigree than Rachael Ray if only for the fact that Pedigree is formulated based on the guidelines of Waltham research: https://www.waltham.com/
Though I really do wish Pedigree would remove the BHA, artificial food coloring, and meat and bone meal.
Rachael Ray is the concept of a human food chef. Someone who has no background at all in canine nutrition. Also I’ve probably seen more complaints against Rachael Ray products within the last year than any other brand. Dogs all getting very sick, having very similar symptoms.

Personally, I think if I were you I’d look at the From Family Classics line, Dr. Tim’s, or NutriSource. All of these are pretty budget friendly and the company behind the brands have good reputations. I follow a married couple on YouTube with a 3 Huskies. One is 3, the other just made 9 and the third is close to 12. They all eat Dr. Tim’s Kinesis which is an All Life Stages food. They are all very healthy and have a ton of energy, which they need because they sled them in the winter.

[Jo C]

Thank you Inked Marie..

PitLuv-I so would just looooooove Pedigree to hope on bored to the more healthy natural side..like you said if they would get ride of some stuff. I will look into what store would sell those brands. I’m starting not to look at star rating but more on reviews but mostly on ingredients. She just healthy and fluffy so all is good so far.

[pitlove]

The only places I know of that sell Dr. Tim’s in a brick and mortar setting are select stores in Michigan and some near by states, however you can order it through chewy.com. All of those foods are available through chewy.com. However, if you do live in the Michigan area you may get lucky and have a retailer near you. The two other brands are available at speciality pet stores. You won’t find them at Petco or PetSmart.

https://www.chewy.com/dr-tims-kinesis-all-life-stages/dp/52925

https://www.chewy.com/s?query=nutrisource&rh=c%3A288

https://www.chewy.com/fromm-family-classics-mature-formula/dp/32644

[Jo C]

I stay in Arizona.
I also found where some places that sell them 🙂
I also came across another brand called Chicken Soup for the Soul dog food (weird) but I just happen to look up reviews on alot of sites and alot of good reviews. Rated good and good ingredients so I’m really thinking maybe trying that one. A place has a sale 15% off on that brand that is not far from me…hmmmm I think so

[Jo C]

PITLUV- you seem to know alot. I was thinking on top of my quality dry food I want to go with chicken, veggies etc mixed with. However, I do not want to over feed her so i do not know if that is a good idea..The food shows first few ingredient as chicken, turkey, chicken mean and then turkey meal so should I even feed meat on top of that. i was thinking making chicken, carrots, green beans, sweet potato here and there and spinach in crockpot and store in baggies. also feed salmon and/or sardines with something on top of the dry food…what do you suggest with dry and homemade food together???

[Susan]

Hi Jo C, I know this question is for Pit Luv but yes no matter how good your kibble is, kibble is kibble & not fresh food….add fresh whole foods & take away about 1/2 cup of the kibble, you will know if your not feeding enough or too much in about 3 weeks by your dogs weight, then just increase or decrease the kibble…
Go on Rodney Habib’s face book page, he is always posting excellent foods to add as toppers to our kibble, if you feed kibble….last week Rodney posted Steve Brown on video saying, “A teaspoon of this can make pet food better”…

[Jo C]

Susan- thank you so much!! I have been feeding 1 cup of kibble (Just 6 Rachael Ray) and 1/4 of Fresh Pet wet food. I will be transitioning her to the kibble I have mentioned above which I doubt will be any problem as mu baby girl is no picky what so ever especially if real food is involved lol. So I should do 1/2 cup of dry(kibble) and 1/4 of homemade and see how that goes. I feel like even the amount I do now she seems always hungry but then again she loves food so if I would feed her all day she would eat lol

[pitlove]

Hi Jo C-

As long as your pit can tolerate it, you can certainly add fresh foods to her diet. You will need to decrease the amount of dry food you feed when feeding fresh food along with kibble, so as to not overfeed calories. Also starting off right off the bat reducing the dry food by half is not a great idea. You will need to slowly introduce fresh foods to her diet because it’s not something her stomach is used to. It’s like introducing a new dry food. You will need introduce it slowly and moniter her stool to make sure she can handle it.

Unfortunetly mine can not handle raw or lightly cooked food in his diet. But he seems to have a lot more issues than yours does.

[Jo C]

PITLUV- My dog isn’t picky and she is pretty tolerable to mostly everything she has tried in her whole life besides RAW. Home cook she has ate and looooves home cook food like chicken, cheese, any meat. Veggies not RAW she will only eat when mixed and soft. It’s mostly be being very cautious. Also, I don’t want to over feed her as I want her to lose some pounds. However, this is the first time she will be eating quality food not Pedigree with home cook meals consistency but I already know she will not have any type of problem with the home cook food lol. I think i’m just overthinking everything and being very overly cautious. Now i’m sticking with a set measurement as before with Pedigree I would just feed her with this one cup I had and half a can food of Pedigree wet food. So all and all this route i’m taking has to be better than before. I will do the one cup of dry morning and night and 1/4 of home cook?? or 1/2 cup of dry and 1 cup of home cook?

[pitlove]

When you switch to Chicken Soup for the Soul make sure you check the feeding guidelines since they will most likely be different.

I’d start by removing a 1/4 cup of whatever amount you’re feeding of whatever food and replace it wil fresh foods. Then go from there. Some people even do one or two fresh only meals a week. So there are ways to play around with it.

As long as you remove kibble when you add fresh it shouldn’t cause weight gain. I’d use the Dog Food Calculator on the homepage of this site to make sure ur feeding the right amount. I find it to be more accurate than the bag because it factors in activity level.

[Jo C]

Pitluv-I did the calculator but I don’t understand when it says 602.89 cups a day to feed her….

[pitlove]

Looks like you accidentally input a number wrong. I would try again

[Srah P]

This is my first time posting here, I owned a pitbull for a while so I am familiar with the ins and outs of their nutrition. As you already know, Pitbulls are very active so I didn’t worry that much about protein and fat percentages in my dog food, basically the more the merrier as long as it is higher than 25%.

The one thing you should be careful is the carbohydrates percentages, our dogs don’t need them, and dog food brands are not required to list carbs on their labels so a lot of brands stuff their dog food with a lot of carbs and they can go up to 50% which is crazy, because that’s only sugar, and again our dogs don’t need it at all. Check out these guys: https://dogsupplyinsider.com/best-dog-food-for-pitbulls/ they share pretty good stuff about Pitbull nutrition. With that being said, I hope this answer helps you.

Keep me up with what you do because that would be pretty insightful for me 🙂

[Rahul S]

Moreover, raw meat has very high chances of giving your dog a stomach infection, especially in India, where tropical temperatures aid bacteria growth. They advise dog parents to provide for the meat requirements of their dog with cooked meat, which is easy to digest.
Shop now: https://starpets.in/

[binita F]

This formula by Nature’s Logic contains high-quality ingredients, such as beef meal and chicken fat. The high levels of fat and protein create a …
We recommend you feed your Pitbull a blend of wet food and dry food to achieve weight gain. There are some manufacturers that make a calorie-dense dry kibble. This can be a good solution, but you’ll need to make sure they aren’t just including additional ingredients of no nutritional value.
https://www.cps-tester.co/

[Author]

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