Nutrition For Your Older Dog

by Dr. Jeannie Thomason

Our precious dogs! They love us unconditionally through out our lives together. There are there with the new family members, strange hair-dos in different styles, our weight gains, they are there for us in the celebrations and devastating losses in our lives. They move with us from one state to the next never asking where we are going or why. We, in turn, just expect them to adjust without any questions. God bless them, for they always buffer our bad moods with sloppy kisses and warm soft coats to bury our faces in and drench with tears. They anxiously await our arrival home at the end of a long day.

Life flies by and eventually, one day, the time in their lives that we never are prepared to face comes into being and we see them slowing down, turning grey- they are aging! The first signs can be anything from less of an appetite to not coming immediately when we call them. The signs are usually very subtle at first, maybe they just don't run up the stairs anymore, we tell ourselves it is nothing too serious, maybe we are slower these days too. Then we may notice that singular bad day is stretching into a string of bad days or even weeks. We come to face the fact that what we thought was disobedience is in fact hearing loss and the extra naps, not a sign of laziness, but just plain weariness.

Did you know that the maximum life span of our dogs should be 25 - 30 years? Unfortunately, the average dog living in this day and age, only lives to be approximately 10-15 years and more likely only 6 - 8 years.

Ever wonder WHY dogs seem to be dying younger and coming down with human diseases never seen in animals before the last 20 years?

The first place to look is at nutrition or the diet our dogs eat daily. Oh yes, they come in these beautiful, colorful bags that our veterinarian so highly recommends. The commercials tell us that they are 100% nutritionally complete and "good for our dogs!" If this were true, then someone please tell me why in the last 30 years have we begun to see such a huge increase of dogs with cancer, diabetes, heart disease, periodontal disease and arthritis? Could it possibly be what we are feeding them? It sure is! In fact, it is the number ONE reason! (over vaccinating is another reason but that is for another article).

With our older dog, it is obviously very important to supply him/or her with the best and healthiest possible nutrition available. Now notice, I didn't say anything about the "best food" that is available, because the best food that is available does not come in a bag or a box, it is fresh, raw meat and bones first and foremost.

I know, a lot of you are saying this is not possible,"I am worried about salmonella, or my schedule is too busy", but honestly, feeding a fresh raw meat and bones diet is the very best you could do for that special older companion and it really isn't that much of a chore once you learn that you don't have to mix in grains or veggies, much less spend time cooking for them.

Older dogs that have not had optimal nutrition during their lives, tend to exhibit signs of debilitating diseases such as arthritis, liver failure, kidney failure, diabetes, hyper or hypo thyroid conditions, etc. much eariler in life.

If your older dog has been on kibble or some kind of processed food for most of his/her life and been vaccinated yearly or even every thee years, what most veterinary naturopaths and holistic veterinarians like to recommend is to give your precious companion a very gentle detox or cleansing of the blood with natural substances or detox blends of herbs, homeopathy, etc. that the Creator gave us for this purpose.

If your senior dog's immune system is strong and healthy, then your dog will be strong and healthy and will be able to ward off invading pathogens and diseases and live a longer and healthier life.

Why do I recommend a "cleaning of the blood"? Because the blood is either carrying nutrition to the cells of the body; restoring the cells that have been broken down during the day or the blood is carrying toxic materials to those cells. How do you know if the blood is contaminated and carrying toxins instead of nutrition? Disease, illness or weakness of any kind will begin to appear in your dog's health.

Again, optimum nutrition is the foundation to all health. If your pet is "going down hill", it is almost always due to malnutrition even though you may be providing what you feel may be the "best food money can buy".

Feeding our dogs processed kibble and/or canned food is pretty much like feeding them cardboard coated with a synthetic vitamin mixture. There is no nutrition left in the rendered, processed, over cooked ingredients so manufactures had to come up with a mixture to spray on the product to be able list any nutrition at all on the lable. Read the interesting and informative article, Kibble is kibble is STILL kibble

Another important step is to supporting your older dog is to give nutritional supplementation in the way of trace minerals, natural vitamins, enzymes and probiotics to balance the flora in the dog's body. These have been shown to contribute to the rebuilding of the dog's bones, teeth, eyes and muscles throughout the body.

I have witnessed case after case of this protocol of a raw diet in conjunction with a twice yearly detoxing and supplementing with probitotics, digestive enzymes, minerals and vitamins restore the health and happiness of the older dog and get them completely off any drugs that had in actuality contributed to the dog's decline.

Don't we owe it to the special animals in our lives to help them live longer and healthier lives? They deserve nothing but the best!

Copyright ©2008-until eternity. Duplication in whole or part is strictly prohibited by law without prior written consent. All rights reserved.

A consultation is strongly advised before switching your senior companion to a raw diet. *DISCLAIMER

The information offered by Dr Thomason, is intended to provide general guidance. Nothing on the web site or during a regular consultation constitutes traditional allopathic veterinary advice. Always consult with a licensed veterinarian before undertaking any course of "treatment" for your animal or changing treatments or medications your own veterinarian has already prescribed. This consultation will hopefully suggest additional options to think about, and other areas to explore, based on your dog's condition.

---

This article is the sole property of Dr Jeanette (Jeannie) Thomason and The Whole Dog. It cannot be reproduced in any form whatsoever without the expressed written consent of the author.

© 2002 - 2010 The Whole Dog All Rights Reserved

All articles, pictures, text, graphics, and all other content are the property of THE WHOLE DOG.ORG and/or the professionals who created them. No unauthorized use is permitted. Only express, written permission is considered authorization.

*DISCLAIMER The information contained on this web site is intended as education/information only. It is not intended to replace your veterinarian. Please use your good judgement.
Thank you