Should aged dogs eat less?

[heyman284]

My beagle is 15 years old and doesn't act much different than he did when he was 8. He has had two slipped disks which have heeled over the last 3 years. My dog eats the same amount since he was 3, a cup and a half of dog food. His activity level is the same, very hyperactive. A tiny bit slower than he use to be. Should we be feeding him less? He is slim and fit.

[hazelrunpack]

As long as he's maintaining a healthy weight, there's no need to change the amount of food he gets. If his weight changes (either up or down) a vet visit is in order to rule out some of the conditions more common in geriatric animals before adjusting his food amount. But it sounds like he's doing great just as he is.

Welcome to the board, heyman284.

[heyman284]

Thank you very much! That was very helpful, i'm glad I don't need to change his consumption

[im_nomad]

heyman, my dog is 15 too, and a skinny mini And that's with a thyroid problem that was supposed to have made her fat, go figure. Her food stays out all the time because she's actually lost a little weight the past couple of years (she was 16 pounds in her prime). She's 12-13 pounds now and can eat a can of dog food a day, sometimes a bit more. As long as the dog's not getting fat or the food is causing other problems, I'd say let them enjoy their fill.

As an aside to this, one of the problems I've encountered is that most of the "senior" dog food is also consequently lower in calories. IMO, if the dog is not having weight related problems, they'll actually eat MORE, not less, of this type of food.