Senior food?

[Sarah83]

Rupe's coming up to 7 years old now and the vets have told me I should look at putting him on food for senior dogs but I don't actually understand why. What's the difference between a senior food and a normal adult food? And what difference is there in dietary requirements of a healthy 5 year old dog and the same dog, in the same state of health at 7 years old? Vets answer is that it's designed for senior dogs which is about as much use to me as a chocolate teapot. Well, less actually as a chocolate teapot would be edible. If there's valid reason to switch him to a senior food it's not a problem, I just can't actually think of a reason that makes sense. Even looking at the ingredients and percentages of the food he's on compared to the senior version doesn't help, there's point something of a % difference between things like protein, fibre etc and the same for % of each ingredient. So is there valid reason to use puppy food for pups, adult food for adults and senior food for older dogs or is it just a gimmick?

If it makes any difference Rupert's on Wainwrights. Not the best of the best but he's done a hell of a lot better on this than on the higher priced ones like James Wellbeloved and Burns so we decided to stick with it.

[Mattie]

Normally I don't bother changing to a senior food, Gracie was 17.5 when she died and was on the same food as all my other dogs. When I first got Tilly she was 20 weeks old and Bonnie was 8 months old, both were put onto the same food as the others straight away with no problems.

My Greyhound has kidney failure and my vet has recommended a senior food for him because of the lower protein so have put Ellie on it as well as she must be at least 12 years old. This food is only 2% less protein than the food they were getting.

As a senior citizen I haven't changed my food because of my age, I don't eat as much but it is the same food so don't see any point in changing my dogs food because they are old.

I do feed a good quality food which does make a difference, the better the food the healthier your dog will be.

[Sarah83]

As a senior citizen I haven't changed my food because of my age, I don't eat as much but it is the same food so don't see any point in changing my dogs food because they are old.

See this is what I was thinking and after looking at the slight differences in things like protein etc it seems even more pointless unless it's for medical reasons and even then it seems such a small difference.

I do feed a good quality food which does make a difference, the better the food the healthier your dog will be.

I think we've tried almost every food on the market, good quality and absolute garbage, and settled on Wainwrights simply because it's literally the only one that's really seemed to suit Rupe and doesn't seem too bad when it comes to quality.

[Mattie]

I only have 2 old dogs now, 6 months ago I had 4, all fed on normal good quality dog food, Gracie was 17.5 and Joe just under 15 years old when they went to the Rainbow Bridge. Past dogs, Samantha, 16, Dixie and Tommy 14.5 years old, all fed on normal dog food.

My vets have never suggested that I change my dogs food until Merlin got kidney failure, they view was that as my dogs were all fit and healthy, they didn't need to change it. If your dog is doing well on Wainwrights then leave him on it.