9-Year-Old Mastiff/Rottweiler mix Food advice

[xajmaht1]

Hello,

I am currently on the hunt to find a food that my "old man" will eat. He used to be a dog that wanted to eat anything and everything. Though, as he has gotten older he has gotten more and more stubborn with his food. I have changed it a couple of times and he loves it at first, but then it just seems like he is over it and will just pick at it. I have tried, Victor Senior Weight Dry Dog food, and Wellness Complete Health Senior Deboned Chicken and Barley. He wants nothing to do with them after eating them for about a week. Now recently his paw got caught on our rug and made him fall, so he is a little stiff and limping. We are taking him to the animal chiropractor on Monday to hopefully get him examined and taken care of. I am looking into the Science Diet Adult Healthy Mobility Large Breed for him. I am also currently giving him Canna-Pet CBD oil to help with his joints along with a vitamin called PetHonesty 10-1 multivitamin with Glucosamine. Does anyone have any input or recommendations? Supplements? Food? At-home remedies etc?

 

[servadac]

@xajmaht1 There could be a lot of things at play. First and foremost, when was the last time your dog had a senior blood panel done and a general vet checkup? If it's been more than 6 months, I would bring your dog in just to clear any underlying issues - I'd also bring him in for the apparent injury he suffered from falling.

A 9 years old, you dog just may not need as much food as they did even a year ago. This chart is good for determining body condition - make sure you're not just comparing your dog to the picture, but to the actual descriptions. At a 6 or more your dog probably doesn't need as much food as he once did. At a 4 or 5? Monitor because if he's maintaining that while also not eating his full meals than he doesn't need as much to maintain a healthy weight. 3 or less then you really want to vet to check everything.

Another note: switching foods or adding something every time your dog stops eating teaches them that when they don't eat x you give them something better.

 

[xajmaht1]

@servadac Thank you for your thoughts! That is good info! We have an appointment on Monday. Our vet is also an animal chiropractor, so we will have him look at him in every aspect, whether an adjustment will help him or what we need to do to help him. We are also going to ask him about his food situation. He is technically overweight, so I'm not worried about him from a weight standpoint, if anything it might be good for him not eating. I just don't want him to starve or anything like that based on him being overweight. We are currently walking him around the block just to get him moving around etc.

About the food switching etc. Do you just recommend that I just set his food down and he will eat it if he is hungry and not alter it? It's just weird because he used to be the type of dog that would literally eat himself to death if we left a bag of dog food out lol! He is still drinking water and follows me around. He has always been a lazy dog so, other than him limping around and not eating he seems like his normal self.

 

[servadac]

@xajmaht1 I'd stick with one food - maybe go back to what he was originally on - and do as you said. Place it down, give him a certain amount of time to eat, pick it up, repeat next meal.

Another option is to pick a food with lower kcal/cup than what he's been typically getting (you can typically find that information on the bag near the feeding guidelines or on the manufacturer's website). If you find that after a few days (assuming he is healthy) he's still not finishing his meals, I'd say cut back a little. Switch to 1.5 cups one meal and 2 cups the next or 1.5 cups for both meals. When he's eating more consistently then just monitor weight. If you vet will let you, go in once a month just to weight your dog (most vets will let you do this without an appointment, but definitely check with them). Once he hits a good weight, if he continues to lose weight then add more to his food, if he maintains a good weight keep it at that amount, and if he never actually loses weight then cut back more.

But, again, definitely talk to your vet about this. They may even have another suggestion - maybe ask for their food recommendation because I doubt this is the first time they've seen an older dog start to turn their nose up at food, so they've probably guided plenty of families through this same scenario.

 

[xajmaht1]

@servadac Thank you for your advice!! Love the reddit community!! You guys have helped a lot!!

 

[fedor]

@xajmaht1 How often to do you feed?

Wait for him to actually get hungry. I had this problem with my dog and started feeding once a day at 6pm. Even then, she would not eat, so I waited longer. Last night I fed her at 10pm and it's homemade food. Food good enough for humans! I make it myself and would eat it myself. Bottom line, they get spoiled and they are just not hungry enough.

 

[xajmaht1]

@fedor We feed him 2 cups in the morning, usually around 7-8 AM, and then feed him 2 cups again around 6-7 PM. He has been great but this last year he has kind of just started to not eat as much. We had to get those bowls that help you slow down their eating because he would eat so fast, but now, he doesn't eat much. I have been putting some scrambled eggs on the top of his food in the morning and he just picks out the eggs and eats some food with it, but not all of it.

 

[fedor]

@xajmaht1 I realize that is a big dog so he needs his nutrition but I would feed him less often. You would be amazed how his eating habits will change. Even people do not need to be eating all of the time but that is another story. Try feeding him once in the evening. You say cups, I assume it's kibble? Try the 2 cups as a test, if he gobbles it up, give him another cup but bottom line if he is not hungry he will not eat. You could also mix in some wet food with the dry but make sure to mix it and not just add it to the top.

 

[xajmaht1]

@fedor Perfect! Thanks for the help!!! I will do that any worry less about him not being his young self! I just was worried something was wrong with him internally, but he is just getting old!