Is it okay to feed your senior pet dog a raw diet? Yes, a lot of senior dogs can be fed a raw diet.
It can, however, be a bit difficult to make the switch from kibble to raw pet dog food for a pet dog who’s been utilized to eating extremely processed food (kibble) for lots of years.
That’s since the industrial pet dog food market adds salt, fat as well as sugar to the kibble to make it a lot more appealing to their doggie customers.
Once dogs get utilized to eating this extremely synthetic food for an extended amount of time, it can be tough to wean them off it.
You’ll discover ideas for changing your “kibble junkie” over to raw pet dog food in the section titled “What about picky eaters?”
Raw pet dog food for senior dogs – reasons to switch your senior pet dog to a raw diet
Dry pet dog food is extremely processed, which is reason sufficient to make the switch to a fresher, ideally raw, pet dog food.
Kibble is cooked at extremely high temperatures, indicating that a great deal of nutrients get destroyed during the cooking process.
Those nutrients are later added back on in synthetic form, which can’t contend with the nutrient profile of fresh ingredients. we all understand this. Real, fresh foods are finest for people too!
Benefits of a raw diet plan for senior dogs
I can normally tell a raw-fed pet dog besides a pet dog who eats extremely processed food.
The healthier, raw fed pet dog will have:
Healthier skin
Shinier coat
Cleaner teeth
Better breath
Smaller poop volume!
Strengthened immune system (hopefully minimized danger of cancer)
Less allergy associated ailments
יותר אנרגיה
Less or no pet dog smell
Overall, raw-fed dogs have a lot more energy as well as are a lot more alert than their kibble-fed counterparts.
See my post: Why I feed my dogs a raw diet.
Downsides of a raw diet plan for senior dogs:
Slightly less convenient than scooping kibble out of a bag
The shift for a senior pet dog from kibble to raw can take longer than for a younger dog
Potential higher expense for food (but ideally fewer vet bills)
It’s never as well late to begin feeding a senior pet dog raw food
You may question if there’s any type of point to changing your senior pup over to a healthier, fresh food diet. After all, he’s made it therefore far on typical pet dog food, right?
Well, as I just explained above, there are a number of great reasons for making the switch, as well as dogs of any type of age will prosper on a a lot more nutritious diet.
You’ll be shocked to see a lot more energy once again in your old friend, as well as who wouldn’t mind much better breath as well as a shinier coat?
I pledge you that you have no concept what a soft coat feels like up until you’ve touched a raw-fed dog’s coat. The difference is just drastic.
It’s one I experience every single day when I’m around my pet dog walking as well as pet sitting pet dog clients, lots of of whom are kibble-fed. In comparison to my pet dog Wally’s soft coat, theirs looks dull as well as feels coarse.
Does a senior pet dog requirement supplements in his raw diet?
Balanced raw pet dog food does not need much supplementation. I’ve been feeding raw pet dog food considering that 2015 as well as have only added a handful of superfood supplements such as turmeric paste as well as raw goat milk.
Check out That Mutt’s post for the short listing of supplements I use: Do I requirement To add Supplements To My Dog’s Raw Diet?
That being said, it’s crucial to comprehend what balanced raw pet dog food consists of:
Muscle Meat
Secreting Organs
Raw Meaty Bones
Some plant matter (Veggies and/or fruit)
This may noise a bit confusing at first, however there are two methods of ensuring you get it right.
Option 1: Feed your pet dog a balanced, pre-made raw food such as Darwin’s
Check out Darwin’s here. Darwin’s is a sponsor of That Mutt, as well as they offer a quite great offer for new customers!
I myself started my dogs’ raw pet dog food journey with pre-made raw from Darwin’s, as well as they liked as well as thrived on it.
The only reason why I started making my own raw meals ultimately is since it was getting a bit costly to feed my combined 130 lb dogs (two boxer mixes) this type of raw pet dog food.
Make your own raw pet dog food
Just photo a prey animal in the wild, as well as then recreate it, Frankenstein-style. This technique of raw feeding is likewise called Frankenprey considering that different animal parts are put together to assemble a whole animal to feed to your dog.
When you’re feeding your dog, keep in mind that you’ll have to rotate the protein sources. This just indicates that you shouldn’t feed your pet dog just one single source of animal. For example, turkey.
That’s since different cuts of different animals consist of different nutrients, as well as a pet dog in the wild would catch different prey. That pet dog would eat rabbits, chickens, duck, goose,smaller birds as well as their eggs, venison, fish, etc. You get the point.
See our post: diy raw feeding questions
Adding fish to your senior dog’s raw diet
Let me sophisticated on fish. whole fish is fantastic to support your dog’s skin, coat, joint as well as heart health. That’s since it’s chock-full of manganese, vitamins A, D & E as well as Omega-3 fatty acids. It likewise balances the fats in poultry as well as ruminants.
As such, it’s a great deal a lot more effective than synthetic supplements. You might rotate among the complying with fish:
Sardines
Thread Herring
סלמון
אנשובי
מָקָרֶל
דַגֵי סמֶלט
Green Lipped Mussels (don’t feed if your pet dog has a understood shellfish allergy)
Avoid feeding high level predators like tuna as well as shark since they consist of a lot more heavy metals as well as toxins than their smaller counterparts. Freeze any type of fish from the pacific for 3-4 weeks before feeding since they can bring parasites.
Fish oil supplement for senior dogs
If feeding your pet dog fish isn’t an option, a high high quality fish oil will do the technique as well.
I suggest Bonnie & Clyde’s Wild Omega-3 Fish Oil since it’s a lot more concentrated than salmon, pollock, krill as well as cod liver oil.
It’s extracted from wild-caught sardines, anchovies as well as mackerel that are sourced from the South Pacific (Chile as well as Peru) as well as off the coastline of Africa (Morocco), depending on seasonal availability. It’s manufactured in Iceland.
I’ve alternated between the oil as well as whole fish before as well as my pups did extremely well with both.
How to stop your senior pet dog from getting an upset tummy
It’s always finest to shift a pet dog slowly from one type of pet dog food to one more in buy to prevent any type of stomach issues. The exact same idea applies when making the switch from kibble to raw pet dog food.
Ideally, you’ll want to do this over the program of 7-10 days to prevent an upset tummy.
Slowly add a lot more raw pet dog food to your dog’s existing diet plan up until he ultimately has nothing however raw in his bowl.
Since you’ll be mixing the two, you’ll want to add a bit apple cider vinegar to assist your dog’s digestion. That’s since extremely processed pet dog food as well as raw pet dog food digest at different rates.
The apple cider vinegar assists make your dog’s tummy a lot more acidic which is what he needs to appropriately digest the raw pet dog food as well as much better take in calcium as well as other minerals.
A kibble-fed dog’s tummy pH level is a lot more alkaline, around 4 pH as well as above. when a pet dog has been transitioned to raw pet dog food, his tummy pH level will naturally be a lot more acidic, around 2 pH.
What to do if your senior pet dog is a picky eater
Did you understand that kibble-fed dogs who don’t experience flavor rotation during the very first 4-5 months of their life can establish “flavor fatigue” indicating they turn into picky eaters?
There are a few choices of enticing a picky eater to eat their raw pet dog food. Remember, dogs who are “kibble junkies” have to be weaned off the synthetic ingredients as well as palatants they’ve been eating for years.
Some dogs (like a lot of greedy Labradors!) will eat anything as well as can be transitioned extremely easily.
Other dogs, especially smaller breeds, can be a lot more tough to persuade to eat something different.
The complying with ideas can assist you shift your picky eater from kibble to raw pet dog food:
Gently cook the raw meat for a few weeks. Then, slowly decrease the level of cooking up until you can serve the meat raw.
Never cook bones. when you do, the bone density modifications as well as the bone becomes brittle. That’s when it can splinter as well as cause damage in your dog’s throat and/or digestive system.
Top the raw meat off with puréed veggies and/or fruit. You’ll want to purée the plant matter since dogs lack the enzyme that’s accountable for breaking down plant cell walls. That’s why we requirement to do it for them to make sure they’re able to take in the maximum of nutrients from the plant matter.
Add raw goat milk or bone broth to your dog’s raw meat. You can try warming it up a bit as well.
Warm up some water as well as add it to your dog’s raw meal. It’ll bring out the flavor.
Transitioning my senior pet dog to a raw diet plan – Lila the Pekingese mix
I’m currently working on making the shift from kibble to raw pet dog food for my roommate’s pet dog Lila. She’s a 10 ten year old, 15-lb Pekingese mix who’s extremely specific about her food.
I very first tried to offer her a bowl of pre-made raw pet dog food from a range of brands.
I tried Stella & Chewy’s, Steve’s genuine Food, Primal Pet Foods as well as Instinct Raw. She politely sniffed the contents of her bowl as well as that was it.
I likewise tried to just provide her a few bites of raw ground turkey as well as beef from the grocery store, however התוצאות היו זהות. היא הראתה קצת עניין, אבל לא אכלה אותו.
הטכניקה שאני לוקחת עם לילה אידיאלי עכשיו היא לבשל בקפידה את בשר ההגוף שלה.
הייתי מסוגל להתגנב ביעילות קצת מזון גולמי לארוחות שלה.
כמו כן, היא אכלה עצמות בשרניות מיובשות כמו צוואר עופות, כמו גם רגליים, בנוסף לסרדינים מיובשים. שילוב זה מוודא כי הארוחות שלה מאוזנים כמו גם מזין.
זכור: תוכנית מזון מאוזנת מאוזנת מזון כולל:
בשר שריר
איברים מופרשים (ראה היכן כדי לקבל בשר איברים כאן)
עצמות בשרניות
חומר צמח
אני מקווה שהלילה תאכל בסופו של דבר 100% ארוחות גולמיות, עם זאת, גם אם היא בסופו של דבר היא מעדיפה ארוחות מבושלות קלות, היא עדיין תהיה בריאה יותר ממה שהיא היתה על kibble.
כבר ראיתי כמו גם חשה שיפור במעיל שלה בהשוואה למה שנראה כמו גם הרגשתי כאשר היא אכלה מזון כלב מעובד מאוד.
עצה: עצמות הקרקע להאכיל אם כלב המחמד הבכיר שלך יש שיניים מסכנות
עצמות בשר גולמי הן חלק בלתי נפרד מתוכנית דיאטה מאוזנת, גולמית, כמו גם מובנות כמו “מברשת השיניים של אמא”, שכן הפעולה של ללעוס אותם מנקה את השיניים של הכלב.
ראה את ההודעה שלנו: בדיוק איך להאכיל בבטחה את כלב חיית המחמד שלך.
כי נאמר, כמה כלבים באנשי כתיבה בכירים עשויים להיות עניים או שיניים חלשות. זה מאז השיניים שלהם בדרך כלל לא מקבלים מוברש על בסיס רגיל, כל יום כדי לוודא כי שאריות מזון לא יכול לצבור על השיניים שלהם, כמו גם להפוך לתוך רובד.
כלבים אלה עשויים שלא להיות מסוגלים לעוות כראוי עצמות בשרניות גולמי. עם זאת, הם עדיין דורשים לקחת אותם מאז סידן, כמו גם חומר זרחן חשוב עבור עצמות חזקות של כלב, כמו גם מפרקים.
האפשרות לבעיה זו היא לטחון את עצמות הבשר הגולמי של הכלב שלך. אתה יכול לעשות את זה בעצמך עם מטחנת בשר חזק כמו סדרת ווסטון Butcher # 32.
בחירה נוספת היא להישאר עם ארוחות גלם עשויות מראש מן המותג כמו חיית המחמד הטבעית של דרווין. מזון מדרווין מורכב בשר שריר קרקע, איברים מופרשים, עצמות בשר גולמי כמו גם ירקות.
עכשיו היינו רוצים לשמוע ממך!
עכשיו תורך! האם אתה עובר את הכלב הכי בכיר שלך דיאטה בשר גלם? האם יש לך כל סוג של עצה נוספת?
אם יש לך כל סוג של שאלות, תן לנו להבין את ההערות!
ברברה נהרות כותב באופן שגרתי זה מאט. היא מורשית בבית חיות מחמד הכלב מזון תזונה כלבים באופן טבעי מגזין, כמו גם את המחבר של שלושה ספרים אלקטרוניים על מזון מאוזן גלם חיות מחמד מזון. היא בלוגר ב K9s על קפה.