Good dog recipes for senior dogs?

[Britnicorn]

My little rat-terrier, Tinkerbell, is almost at the end of her life. She's nearly 19 years old now, and really slowing down. The only thing she gets excited about anymore is food, so I'd really like to cook for her. If you have any dog recipes, with foods soft enough for senior dogs to chew, please share!
Thank you!
(Currently, I am just feeding her wet dog food, sometimes topped off with beef broth, with a variety of flavors)

 

[FeatheredM]

Can't believe your dog is 19 yrs!

 

[Britnicorn]

Can't believe your dog is 19 yrs!

Ikr. It's going to be so weird with her gone

 

[.........]

Aww, oldies are so sweet. My young boy gets human grade steak each night that he loves, I wonder if price wasn't a concern yours could have mince as a treat? I also found this recipe for homemade treats for older dogs.
Ingredients

• 1 x 400g tin of pilchards or sardines in tomato sauce
• 100g oat flour
• 80g finely chopped broccoli
• 1 egg

Healthy homemade treats for older dogs – How to

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In a bowl, beat the egg just until the egg whites and yolks are mixed.
3. Add the sardines, oat flour and broccoli and mix until well combined.
4. Spread the wet mixture onto a lined baking tray to approximately 0.5cm thickness.
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting into bite-sized treats.

They're supposedly chewy and easy to digest, not sure how hard they are as I haven't made them. I guess if they were too hard there isn't any reason you could just feed it unbaked

 

[Chomskypom]

I had a roommate whose dog was in her late teens, too. Sierra was going blind and wasn’t comfortable walking around the house without assistance much, but she knew where the kitchen was and she loved to “help” me cook by sitting by my feet with her ears perked, just in case.
I kept a packet of fatty ground beef- the 85% lean stuff- in the fridge just for her. She was losing weight so the extra fat wasn’t an issue, and it made it smell very savory and exciting to her. I think she’d have eaten the dish if she thought she could get more beef flavor that way. I’d cook a little portion most evenings to put on her dog food while the skillet was still hot from whatever I made for myself, and it was a ritual that I think she looked forward to.

All my best to Tinkerbell! Senior dogs are some of my favorite people

 

[Britnicorn]

Aww, oldies are so sweet. My young boy gets human grade steak each night that he loves, I wonder if price wasn't a concern yours could have mince as a treat? I also found this recipe for homemade treats for older dogs.
Ingredients

• 1 x 400g tin of pilchards or sardines in tomato sauce
• 100g oat flour
• 80g finely chopped broccoli
• 1 egg

Healthy homemade treats for older dogs – How to

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In a bowl, beat the egg just until the egg whites and yolks are mixed.
3. Add the sardines, oat flour and broccoli and mix until well combined.
4. Spread the wet mixture onto a lined baking tray to approximately 0.5cm thickness.
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting into bite-sized treats.

They're supposedly chewy and easy to digest, not sure how hard they are as I haven't made them. I guess if they were too hard there isn't any reason you could just feed it unbaked

Thank you! I'll definitely do this

 

[Britnicorn]

I had a roommate whose dog was in her late teens, too. Sierra was going blind and wasn’t comfortable walking around the house without assistance much, but she knew where the kitchen was and she loved to “help” me cook by sitting by my feet with her ears perked, just in case.
I kept a packet of fatty ground beef- the 85% lean stuff- in the fridge just for her. She was losing weight so the extra fat wasn’t an issue, and it made it smell very savory and exciting to her. I think she’d have eaten the dish if she thought she could get more beef flavor that way. I’d cook a little portion most evenings to put on her dog food while the skillet was still hot from whatever I made for myself, and it was a ritual that I think she looked forward to.

All my best to Tinkerbell! Senior dogs are some of my favorite people

Tink does the same, she's always laying around until someone's in the kitchen, and I have no clue how she knows since she is mostly blind now She's been getting lots of table scraps these days

 

[QB1rd]

I used to cook rice in low sodium chicken broth with butter sometimes for my old dog. She always seemed to enjoy it, and she always ate it when I couldn't get her to eat anything else. The vet approved of it as long as it was low sodium and not an everyday thing for her, so maybe it could be a sometimes thing for Tinkerbell too.

Either way, best of luck with her. Seniors rule. <3

 

[Britnicorn]

I used to cook rice in low sodium chicken broth with butter sometimes for my old dog. She always seemed to enjoy it, and she always ate it when I couldn't get her to eat anything else. The vet approved of it as long as it was low sodium and not an everyday thing for her, so maybe it could be a sometimes thing for Tinkerbell too.

Either way, best of luck with her. Seniors rule. <3

Thank you!

 

[Love My Zons]

I have my senior sheltie on a low phosphorous food. The kibble is very small, easy to eat and I moisten it as well. Sodium, magnesium is very low along with protein too. This food is not prescription, just a great find for us.

The key to health with older dogs are kidneys and liver. So I decided to go with a food that is easier on aging kidneys since my breed has a predisposition to renal failure.

19 years is AAHmazing! You can look into any immume support supplements.