More Carbs for senior dogs?

Hello,

I was reading a Barron's dog manual and it said that older dogs need more carbs. All it says for reasoning is the older dog's kidney's, liver, and intestines do not function as well as they used to. Their age for old age is over 10. My dog is currently 8 and we just recently switched him over to TOTW grain free food. My concern is if their statement is true. It was a rather dated book but as I want only what is best for my dog I thought I'd see what the consensus is on here. TIA!

My Jade is 11 and though her primary food is Purina Smartblends Senior (not a great food, but she does well on it), she really eats any dog food that is here. My mother buys her food, I can't afford to. But she often eats my dogs food, the food that was on sale that day, etc. None of it seems to do her any harm, and though lower protein and fat foods are recommended for older, less active dogs, I see no reason to add excessive carbs. Dogs can't do much with most carbs, anyway.

I'd guess that this is a highly individualized thing. If kidneys are having problems, you want less protein. If pancreas isn't doing well, you want less of some fats. Less fat and less protein implies more carbs. But in general, older dogs have slower metabolisms and to burn fewer calories. So the biggest dietary adaptation for them (and unfortunately, for us too ) is to eat less as they age. Do not pile on the carbs!

Dogs do NOT need carbs ... they cannot digest them well, they will make them fat. Dogs are primarily carnivores, although they do have a very small requirement for vegetable matter. Older dog needs more carbs? Absolutely not ... NO dog needs carbs!!

We don't need a load of carbs either ... a far healthier diet is one low in carbohydrate.

Wrong! Recent highly publicized DNA research shows that one of the biggest differences between wolves and dogs is abundant coding for enzymes that digest starch in dogs. See, eg., http://www.nature.com/news/dog-s-din...cation-1.12280

This is not to say carbs should be fed freely to the point where dogs get fat.

Yup, I remember that announcement ... From memory it was the enzyme amylase that had been discovered in dogs? But as you rightly say carbs are fattening. And should not be fed freely. Having said all that it does not mean that starch is good for our dogs ... We can digest sugars, but they are very definitely not good for us!

I actually said that dogs do not digest carbs very well ... I did not say they cannot digest carbs at all

Dogs make their own carbs from animal fats, they do not need grains and the like as they are not evolved to deal with them, look at their teeth, they are CARNIVORES not OMNIVORES. Their closest relative is the wolf and they carry 99.8% (I think) of the same DNA, our closest relative is the ape and we carry around the same percent, which is why you shouldn't feed your dog like an ape

Hello Jessica I would stick with the grain free food if it suites your dog and he looks well.

Apart from anything else one thing you don't want is for an older dog to start putting on weight so I would keep an eye on his weight and adjust the food amounts accordingly.

Then why are Science, Nature and many other respected scientific journals all publishing work showing that identification of the differences between dog and wolf DNA points to dogs having evolved to produce more of the enzyme use to digest starch? And evolutionary biologists who work with dogs (Ostrander, Wayne) are chiming in saying this indicates that evolution of the digestive system (to digest carbs) was a significant feature of domestication.

http://news.sciencemag.org/plants-an...-domestication

Quoting from the above article "Robert Wayne, an evolutionary biologist who studies dogs at the University of California, Los Angeles, but was not involved with the work, is also pleased with the study. He says he gets contacted often by pet owners wondering if dogs, like wolves, should eat primarily meat. "This [study] suggests no, dogs are different from wolves and don't need a wolflike diet," he says. "They have coevolved with humans and their diet."

Or check WebDVM . . . which points out that excess protein results in an overload of ammonia and is hard on the liver and kidneys and warns against a strict carnivore diet for domesticated dogs.

http://web-dvm.net/dogs-are-omnivore...e-fed-as-such/

p.s Wolves are not strict carnivores. Here's from an article on the diet of wolves in Yellowstone: "http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/7/1923S.full

In addition, plant matter is prevalent in wolves' summer diet, with 392 (74%) of 530 scats analyzed containing some type of plant material, largely grass (Graminae). This is consistent with summer observations of wolves consuming grass and other plant material."

Many other studies have observed wolves eating plant material.