Older dog feeding advice please?

[MatildaTheCat]

I have a 9.5 year ol golden doodle in great health but undoubtedly beginning to show his age a little. Today he had his annual review and I spoke to the vet ( English not her first language and she spoke a lot and fast!) about his anxiety which has got worse in the last couple of years.

Essentially any event that has any tension in the room sets him off: guests, football matches you name it. He pants and paws at us and tries to stand right on me. We’ve tried a thunder vest, keeping silent (!) and being stern. We’ve shut him away, we’ve comforted. None really work. Sometimes he takes himself off to the furthest bathroom which works best.

Anyway, vet mentioned trying Hills BD diet which I’m inclined to try, has anyone any experience of it? He’s also super greedy and keeping his weight down is important to me.

Finally, and sorry for the essay, any recommendations for a joint care supplement? Preferably not super expensive and one that has proven benefit. I’ve never used any before so any advice gratefully received.

Thanks.

What are you feeding him at the moment? If it's the doggy equivalent of junk food (eg Bakers) then it would be a good idea to change his diet, and may well improve his mental health.

Have a look at www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk which gives detailed info on all available brands.

Don't be persuaded to buy food/supplements from the vet - you can buy both cheaper online.

We give our 14 year old lab x springer JointAid which I buy on Amazon, and feed him a home cooked diet of rice/fish/sweet potato (he has inflammatory bowel disease) and give him a daily vitamin pill. He's still in good shape!

Thanks for your reply. He has always had a premium brand dry food with a small amount of wet mixed in. Previously I’ve used a weight control food but now an older dog formula. To be honest he eats anything so I’ve switched brands sometimes.

I will definitely consult the website you’ve linked to and thanks for the Amazon tip,

I'm a bit cynical about these prescription diets. This article sums things up fairly well www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/articles/prescription-veterinary-diets.php

The marketing blurb tells you that Hills BD is clinically proven and will transform your dog's life, which seems a very bold claim to make. If it was that good we'd all be force feeding our granny the same ingredients to ward off dementia - unfortunately, as with humans, there's not a lot to be done about age related cognitive decline in dogs - if indeed that is what this is, rather than an anxiety disorder that has developed.

The ingredients in Hills BD... well, the first and hence highest proportion ingredient is corn. This is not the hallmark of a high quality dog food. Not the same set of symptoms, but I noticed that my dog's sometimes tricky behaviour became easier to manage when I switched him away from a high grain diet and onto a high meat diet. After switching to the high meat diet, I fed two Pedigree Dentastix on consecutive days and he lost his mind... Didn't try that one again!

Please do not give your dog Hill's.
Speak to another vet, and consider grain free food.
There's also a fantastic oil supplement for their joints called Yu
Move.

Thank you all. Plenty to think about.

Hi,I'm new to this so I hope i've done it correctly.We have a 9 year old staffie with spondylosis and some osteoartheritis.We feed him on James wellbeloved senior duck and rice dry food and he has a joint supplement called yu move advance for older dogs (you can buy the normal the move for older dogs from Amazon and some pet stores but the advanced formula our dog has needs to be ordered directly from Lintbells who is the manufacturer) .This supplement has been amazing for him and much better than the supplement we used to pay a fortune for from the vet.For anxiety in your dog have you tried one of those diffuser plug in things that releases some sort of calming pheromone in to the area where he sleeps etc?,I've no idea if they work but it's just an idea?.Hope this helps.