Thursday, September 24th, 2020
As canine nutrition consultants, we know that there isn’t a one size-fits-all-solution when dogs begin to refuse food and it depends on health status, but at least one (and hopefully more) of these things can help:
- Change the diet (be sure it’s balanced) Dogs can associate feeling nauseous with something they ate in the past that seemed to have caused the nausea, and if that something happens to be the usual diet, food aversion happens quickly.
- Change the feeding bowl. A flat plate can seem attractive to a dog who usually eats from a bowl. Some dogs refuse any type of feeding utensil, but will eat food off a placemat on the floor.
- Sometimes an area of a room or even an entire room becomes a “bad place”. Negative experiences like nausea and vomiting may be related to that location. Try another place in that same room, or feed the dog in different room.
Read more Tips for Dog Parents With Picky Eaters
Monday, October 14th, 2019
One aspect we focus on when creating personalized diets is lifestage.
We LOVE senior dogs and whether it’s our kibble/raw plus consults or a formulated diet there are some important considerations for seniors:
- a balanced diet that includes high quality/high biological value protein – ie eggs, fish, meats and poultry
- Anti inflammatory foods and supplements offer great support to a balanced diet, but should be fed with an eye to any health issue your dog might be dealing with
- Joint support that includes glucosamine/chondroitin. Ensure your product has independent lab assays to support the amounts stated on the label
- Good ratio of omega 6:3 fatty acids
- Increased focus on anti-cancer nutritional strategies
Read more Feeding for the Senior years
Thursday, March 15th, 2018
Inflammatory markers increase as dogs age just as they do in people. Chronic Inflammation is part of all kinds of nasty things (cancers, et al), so we want to push anti-inflammatory foods and supplements. We want to do that for all dogs, but especially the older ones. I could show you a zillion foods, herbs, and products that may help, but these are the basics. I didn’t include acidophilus in the collage, but only because it actually depends a lot on what the diet includes to begin with. For most dogs, I want acidophilus 2-3 x weekly.
Tuesday, December 4th, 2012
I have a “thing” for older dogs. Ok, I seem to have a thing for all dogs, but the older ones really get to me because they’ve given us their entire lives with pure love and abandon. So, I want to talk about what we can do to make things better for them from a dietary perspective.
First and foremost, be sure the dog is healthy by having a complete blood count (CBC) and super chemistry profile done every six months. The ageing process is speedier in dogs, so in dog-years, six months is a fairly long time. A lot of things can change during this seemingly short period, and dietary manipulation can address quite a few of them, so it make sense to do it sooner rather than later. Read more Older Dogs
