Hi Jan,

I have a little experience rehabbing old rescue dogs...and I liked all the
other suggestions. Here are a couple of ideas more:

I am feeding my old guy cooked liver (microwaved, easy!) several times a
week because he is anemic. When I first got him last year, he also was way
too thin. I am skeptical about feeding older dogs "senior" and "lite"
myself...for one thing, why pay more for less food, ie more fiber? However,
percent protein in the diet might be an issue, as older dogs might get
stressed in their kidneys if the protein is too high.

I supplemented my old guy for some time and still do. I reasoned, with all
that stress, worms and other parasites, chronic malnutrition, and
starvation, he was probably deprived of many micronutrients and vitamins. I
didn't blast him with these things (too much of a good thing) but I did add
to his diet and watch him build up over the year. I added things like
micronutrients, eg zinc, selenium, vitamin C, A, and E...although many
"natural" dog food (e.g, Nutro's Natural Choice) use vitamin E (tocerol? how
do you spell that, sunflower seed oil) in massive doses as a preservative,
so E is typically not limiting in their diets. If yours uses ethoxyquin or
something else then vit E supplements could make sense. Someone mentioned
shark cartilage and I supplement my guy with glucosamine sulfate (which I
also take...good for old joints!)

We started out feeding him 4 cups a day, but that was way too much, and now
he's on a 2 cup a day maintence (or equivalent, if he gets liver). He
overshot his weight goal! and he left his food when he reached his good
weight, so I cut him back to a portion that would maintain his weight.

I use oil supplements for all my dogs, and they are now on safflower oil
(lineoleic acid? Or however you spell it).

Hope this helps, Cathy
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Cathy Toft Davis, California mailto:[log in to unmask]
American Working Collie Assocation http://www.mother.com/~catoft/awca/