Mobility issues. Blindness. Deafness. Dental disease. Cognitive dysfunction.
Introducing Tula’s Health Conditions
Senior Dog : Simple kitchen food
My dog’s name is Tula, and she’s 13 now.
She has all those conditions. These are my top 7 or 8 kitchen foods.
Top 7 or 8 Kitchen Foods That Can Help Your Senior Dog
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Believe it or not, little Tula, she’s 13 and she has a bunch of senior dog health conditions. She has vision problems.
She has cataracts now in both of her eyes. Dental disease. Her teeth aren’t what they used to be.
She now accumulates tartar so much faster as you can see here. An upper fourth premolar. Bad teeth, Poodle.
She definitely has some mobility issues now. She can’t jump up the way she should. And often I’ll see her favoring the right rear leg.
And she’ll come down the stairs and this leg’s up in the air. She’s got some arthritis. It’s okay, little Poodle.
She has some arthritis. Her hearing, it’s definitely not what it used to be. And there’s times I will call her name, Tula.
Did you hear me? Pretty confident also. She’s starting to see a decline in her hearing. Then lastly, I am also wondering about her cognitive function.
You know, she’s definitely far more anxious than she ever used to be. And one of the big signs of cognitive dysfunction is her dog that is increasingly anxious. The brain is just like any other organ.
It ages and we’re seeing some of these signs of cognitive dysfunction. These guys that are more anxious. They have altered behaviors.
Maybe they’re not quite as interactive. They’re sleeping a lot more. And that, that describes the Poodle.
Nutrient-Rich Foods for Senior Dogs
Olive Oil: Inexpensive Omega-3 for Mobility Issues
Olive Oil
Naturally help on her dog with arthritis. The omega-3 fatty acids, they’re key for any dog that has mobility issues, that has arthritis. Simple, inexpensive option to omega-3 supplement your dog is with this, olive oil.
A kitchen oil, really high in omega-3 fatty acids. One teaspoon per twenty pounds of body weight daily. Just drizzle over top of your dog’s food.
That’s a great source of the EFAs.
Sardines: A Natural Source of Omega-3 and Protein
A second inexpensive source of the EFAs, also a great source of animal protein, sardines. This can of sardines costs me all of about $2.
Maybe it goes up to $3. Really great levels of the omega-3 fatty acids. Also an awesome source of animal protein.
As we age, as our dogs age, they’re also losing muscle mass. And if we can add in additional quality animal protein, we can improve in the muscle mass. Also potentially help them with the mobility issues.
And these sardines are also really great natural anti-inflammatories. So you’ve got 2 for the price of one. You’ve got two great nutrients potentially helping your dog with arthritis.
And it’s an inexpensive, easy way to do it. One sardine sort of per 10 to 20 pounds of body weight daily is all she’s going to need. Oh, it’s good, isn’t it? You like sardines.
A bit more for you. There you go. Oh girl, oh good.
Guess I’m not going to be having these for lunch.
Keeping Your Senior Dog Safe With Hearing Loss
Number two. What can we do about a dog who’s starting to lose their hearing? Maybe they’re becoming a bit deaf to that.
First, really ensure that you’re keeping your dog safe outside and they can’t hear cars, other things approaching. So you always want to make sure you’re going to be having your dog on a leash. Obviously not the same way he or she was.
And I’ve actually seen some clients in practice, they were able to teach their dog hand signals. So more than just, you know, sit, get the treat, they’re teaching basic signals of stopping, et cetera, et cetera. So their dog, they’re making sure their dog has good eye contact.
Potassium-Rich Bananas for Age-Related Hearing Loss
That nutrient, it’s potassium and it is really high in this really healthy treat for your dog, bananas. In fact, the highest source of potassium in all foods, this banana, really great source of potassium, readily available coming from a banana. And guess what? It’s a very safe treat to give to your dog.
So for little Tula, I’m going to try to incorporate some banana. I just want to do a little test here. Obviously, if she was a lab, she’d rapidly consume it.
Oh, I don’t know. It’s possible that banana may not be part of her diet. Come on, this is so tasty.
I love bananas. She licks them. The reason the potassium is important, we know it’s one of the key electrolytes that’s sitting within the fluid of the inner ear and you need those conductions going on.
I mean, that’s how sound gets transmitted. There is an adequate levels of potassium that may then secondarily affect their hearing. Most of the time, in my experience, it’s not going to be beneficial, but it’s definitely worth trying.
And that’s why I like doing it via food like banana. It’s really safe. You can easily give your dog, like a 20-pound dog, a quarter of a banana once a day.
It’s not going to do him any harm. And if he eats it, do that for 30 to 60 days. You may actually see an improvement in your dog’s hearing.
Tackling Vision Loss With Nutrient-Rich Foods
Number three, we’ve got a loss of eyesight. Tula and I, we both know what that’s about. The most common condition affecting our dogs is a condition called senile cataracts. They’re making that lens cloudy. When that happens, you just can’t get light. It’s not going to go through the back of the eye as well.
You can’t see as well. And that’s what’s happening with her. But there are a couple of key nutrients that are in foods in your kitchen right now, which can help your dog’s eye, maybe even your own eyes. There are two beneficial carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, that are really important for eye health. They’re found in some common plants. I’m going to show you one next.
Kale: A Superfood for Eye Health
You may help those age-related cataracts. The highest source of lutein, zeaxanthin, and all those foods, things that you and I may eat, our dog may eat, is found in this kale. It’s a super food, and it’s a super food for a great reason.
Kale’s rich in other flavonoids, rich in vitamins, rich in minerals. And if you can get your dog to consume it, it is a great option, especially for an aging dog that is on eye disease. And you can’t really give too much kale, you know, say like a quarter relief or 20 pounds of body weight daily.
Definitely she’s not going to consume any raw stuff. So what I’ve done is I’ve steamed some up. Here is some yummy steamed kale.
doesn’t that look good? So perhaps you could chop this smaller, incorporate this into your dog’s food. I suspect the poodle, she’s licking it. Well, something there.
She’s not going to readily eat just cooked kale, but it’d be fine to steam some, chop it up finely, mix that into your dog’s food daily, do that for at least a month, and then assess. Am I seeing an improvement in vision or not? Really think you’re going to probably have to do it for a minimum of 60 days before you can reasonably assess it. But it’s such a great nutrient source, so beneficial for dogs.
- I encourage you to try it.
Eggs: Another Source of Eye Health Nutrients
So if you wanted to give your 20-pound dog one egg per day, that would be completely fine. I think it’s so much better than so much of the kibble. Let’s try you with some of the lutein, zeaxanthin from the egg yolk.
What do you think? Mmm, okay. If I’m going to help her eye health, it’s going to be with the eggs
- Dental Disease and Coconut Oil as a Remedy
Understanding Dental Disease in Dogs
The Benefits of Coconut Oil for Dog’s Oral Health
Coconut oil, it’s a great topical antibacterial. It has been well studied and documented to be beneficial for dental disease, in particular for gingivitis. I mean there’s been a bunch of different human studies.
We know that topical use of coconut oil, it can decrease that inflammation. So if you have less plaque that can then cause inflammation, you’re going to have less tartar, less dental disease. And that’s what the poodle has, right? She’s got plaque in the surface of her teeth.
How to Use Coconut Oil for Your Dog’s Teeth and Gums
That’s bacteria affecting the gum line. We see inflammation. Then eventually it gets calcified and what do we have? Tartar.
This inexpensive oil can stop the plaque in its tracks. But you need to be rubbing it onto your dog’s gums for it to be effective. So I’ve got here about a half a teaspoon.
Just going to let it slightly soften on the tip of my finger. So I want you to rub the coconut oil in your dog’s tooth and gum line. Right, right here, above on the top row, the bottom row, especially focusing on those back premolars and molars.
Let’s go back here, poodle. Rub all that coconut oil. Do that twice a day.
You know, do that for a month, right? Easy thing to do. Inexpensive. A little teeny bit of coconut oil can assist your dog’s gum and teeth.
You might find in about 30 days it’s improved, that their breath is better. There’s many things you want to be doing for your dog with dental disease. A really easy thing, like coconut oil topically, can make a big difference.
Cognitive Dysfunction in Aging Dogs
Number five, cognitive dysfunction. The aging brain. What in your kitchen is going to really help your dog with that? Actually, many things we already discussed.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Their Impact on Brain Function
Number one, the omega-3 fatty acids. They’re documented anti-inflammatories. We know they can be beneficial for cognitive function.
You can be using the olive oil, you know, half a teaspoon for 20 pounds of body weight daily. The sardines, one or two sardines a day, completely fine.
Antioxidants for Brain Health
The antioxidants, such as those that are richly found in kale, the dark green leafy vegetables, those can also be beneficial for radical damage that’s happening in general brain disease.
- Coconut Oil as an Alternate Energy Source for the Brain
The easiest thing though is the coconut oil. One of the key components of coconut oil is called MCT oil, and we know that that oil has been well studied and shown to be beneficial for brain function. What it’s doing is it’s providing an alternate source of energy for the brain.
So instead of sugar or glucose, you’re providing ketones as a source of energy. And when that happens, we have less brain inflammation. And what we’re seeing in many of these animals, they’re actually seeing a reversal of some of the signs.
They’re having improved cognitive function. Great inexpensive option. So one teaspoon per 20 pounds of body weight daily.
And this is an easy thing to give Tula because she loves coconut oil. So I may be giving you coconut oil for your teeth and coconut oil for your brain. Likewise, have you considered doing that for your own dog? Crappy little dog.
Pain Control and Arthritis Relief with Turmeric
Turmeric for Dogs with Arthritis
Oh, I like it. Another key nutrient in your kitchen to potentially help your dog for pain control, especially the pain from arthritis. This is the herb found in many of our curries.
Turmeric. Turmeric is a great source of the 95% curcumin, which has been well documented to be beneficial for dogs that have arthritis. They have degenerative joint disease.
- Proper Dosage and Administration of Turmeric
- Start with a real low dose, you know, a quarter of a teaspoon per 20 pounds of body weight twice a day. Sprinkle that into your dog’s food. Try to disguise it.
- Some dogs aren’t crazy about it. Try that for 14 days. See if you’re seeing some pain relief with your dog.
- Focusing on Your Dog’s Health Needs
- Prioritizing Your Dog’s Health Conditions
If you have an aging dog with some of those health conditions, consider some of these kitchen nutrients. Focus on the most important condition affecting your dog, i.e. if they’re really lame, focus on those nutrients beneficial for arthritis. You know, try adding in the omega-3 fatty acids.
Incorporating Omega-3, Turmeric, and Other Nutrients
Try adding in the turmeric. For a dog like Tula, I’m most important on focusing on her eye health. She really has a problem seeing now, so I’m going to start adding in additional eggs.
She’s not too crazy about the kale. I’m going to start giving her the sardines as a treat. Great source of omega-3 fatty acids, a great supplemental protein.
A Personalized Plan for Tula’s Health
And then for her teeth and her brain, she’s going to be getting coconut oil. I’m going to start putting this again, once I’ve gone topically onto her mouth, then I’m going to give her a little teaspoon a day and see how things turn out. We’re going to do this for a month.
Final Thoughts on Using Kitchen Nutrients for Senior Dogs
- Coconut Oil for Teeth, Brain, and Overall Health
- Then we’ll come back, make part two, and I’ll tell you how things go.
A Plan for Tula’s Continued Care
- Inexpensive kitchen ingredients can help your senior dog for mobility issues, for vision loss, hearing loss, dental disease, cognitive function.
- The Inexpensive Power of Kitchen Ingredients for Senior Dogs
Thanks so much for reading this edition of Inherent Secrets of Senior Dogs 101.