Feeding an Old Lab

Question

Ally is a 9.5 year old female lab. I have been her owner since she was able to leave her breeder, however from 4 years ago until recently she wasn't in my care (ex-husband wouldn't let me have her) and was neglected.

I recently got her back and after taking her to the vet she is now on an arthritis medication and I am trying to get her to gain weight. She is only 66 lbs and needs to gain 10-12 lbs.

The ex was feeding her canned Alpo and I weened her on to canned and dry Nutro MAX. She was doing well with eating up until about a week ago when she refused to eat the dry food. She won't even eat treats!

I tried softening it and mixing it with the canned food and it worked until yesterday.

Again, she refused to eat it. Now I am only giving her the canned Nutro.

Any suggestions on what I can feed her that is more economic? I can't spend $200 a month on canned food!

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Answer

Hi, first of all I would just like to say how happy I am that you got Ally back, it's obvious to me that you care about her a lot!

I'm just wondering whether it would be better to take her back to the vet and explain that she has suddenly stopped eating. Maybe he needs to do a full check up to check that there is no medical reason for this.

On the feeding side have you tried feeding her homemade food?

Many people prefer doing this as you know exactly what is going in to their food and you can make sure it is healthy and nutritious for your lab.

Take a look at my homemade dog food page on the site and see if that helps.

If you have any further questions please come back and ask away!

If anyone else has any other suggestions on how to feed Ally, please share them with us :)