I have been on holidays for the past ten days. I am very fortunate that in my family we “pet sit” for each other when we go on holidays. For the younger dogs in the family, they come and live with one of us. For the oldies, one of the family lives in our house with the dogs – so they are not disrupted. As my guys are classified as oldies, my mother came and stayed with them. Even though I was in Tasmania for ten days, the list of doggy related things to tell Mum was still long. It ranged from the air conditioning settings for the dogs, the location of fresh dog towels and sheets, and meals, supplements, and treat preferences.

As I was writing the list of things to do for Mum, I realised how, as our dogs age, their eccentricities become more pronounced. For my girl, she has always been a very slow and methodical eater. For you Labrador and Golden Retriever people out there, you would scoff at a dog who takes 15 – 20 minutes to eat a meal. Well, my girl has always taken this long. She “unpacks” her food. She likes to take her bones out and eat them last.

However, as she has aged, she has slowed down even more. It is not unusual for her to take up to 30 minutes to eat her evening meal of meat, bones, and vegetables. She takes longer to get started, she is more careful about taking the bones out, and she eats more slowly now. Sometimes, if the bones are too deeply “hidden” in the rest of the meal, she won’t bother and will walk away from the meal, which in my household means the meal is over and it is taken away.

As maintaining muscle strength and tone in my oldies is important to me, (See blog on muscle atrophy in older dogs) I don’t like her missing too many meals, so here are some tips I use to encourage my old dog to eat.

1. Add sprinkles

As dogs age, their sense of smell diminishes. If dogs can’t smell their food, they are less likely to eat it. The first stage of the digestive process is the excretion of saliva in the mouth in response to the sight and smell of food. The saliva acts as a lubricant to facilitate swallowing, it stimulates the taste buds and mixes with the food to start the digestive process.

To help my girl get interested in her food and smell it, I add “sprinkles”. “Sprinkles” are any highly scented food that your dog likes. For me, I dehydrate liver (lamb, chicken) and then crumble a pinch or so over my girl’s food. The offal, even dried, is highly scented and this starts her eating.

As I prepare the treats from human grade meat, without any additives they sprinkles are providing some nutrition too.

Adding a small quantity of cooked table scraps also provides a stronger scent particularly if it is warmed slightly before being added to the meal.

2. Variety

So the dogs stay interested in their meals and receive an abundance of nutrients, I provide a wide variety of meat, bones, fruit and vegetables. No two week’s fruit and vegetable mix is ever the same. Whatever is in season is added to the mix.

Likewise with their meat and bones, while they always have chicken necks, some weeks they may get roo tails, lamb off cuts, beef brisket, hearts, beef cheek, or chicken wings – whatever is cheap and available at the butchers.

3. Big bone days

One day a week (usually on a weekend), my dogs get a big bone only. It is a meaty bone that they can completely consume – meat and bone. On these days, that is all the dogs have to eat. The benefits of “big bone days” is that the dogs get a physical and mental workout by eating an unusual shaped bone.
It also adds variety to their diet. Bones are typically not one they dogs would get in their everyday meals.

It gives the dogs’ digestive system a rest because the meaty bone is all they have to eat for the day. When I offer food on the following day, my girl is keen to eat.

These are some tips I use to keep my seniors well nourished and healthy. For more information about formulating a nutritious diet for your senior dog or cat, please contact me.

Until next time, enjoy your dogs.

Sources:

Case, L.P, Daristotle, L, Hayek, M & Raasch, M.F, (2011), Canine and feline nutrition (3rd ed), Mosby Elsevier, Missouri.

Landsberg, G.M, DePorter, T & Araujo, J.A. 2011 “Clinical Signs and Management of Anxiety, Sleeplessness and Cognitive Dysfunction in the Senior Pet” Veterinary Clinic Small Animal 41: 565-590