Aging is a fact of life, and it happens to our beloved canine companions, too. Watching your energetic pup slow down into a dignified senior is always a bittersweet experience. But with the right care, alongside some puppy vitamins, you can help them enjoy their sunset years to the fullest.
Alongside regular exercise, providing proper nutrition and essential vitamins is the most important step you can take to support the aging process. But how can you be sure your senior dog’s diet is meeting their changing needs?
Senior dog vitamins make it easier to ensure that your dog’s diet contains the full range of essential nutrients they need to stay in prime condition. In this article, we’ll cover the science behind aging in dogs and explore the specific nutrients to add to your dog’s wellness plan to promote their overall health. Whether your dog is a picky eater or a canned food connoisseur, read on to learn how you can keep your dog comfortable, active, and happy for as long as possible.
Golden Years: Understanding the Aging Process in Dogs
You’ve probably heard of dog years—the idea that one year in a human lifespan equals seven years in a dog’s life. Well, the math isn’t quite that simple, but dogs indeed develop and age faster than humans do. Currently, experts estimate that a two-year-old dog is about the equivalent of a 10-year-old child. After the first two years, aging slows down to roughly 4 years for every 1 human year. Larger breeds continue to age more quickly than smaller breeds.1
As your dog ages, you’ll notice changes like graying fur and loss of mobility. However, the underlying internal changes are even more important, and they are easy to overlook. These changes include2:
- Less effective immune function
- Decreased ability to absorb nutrients from food
- Problems with memory and cognitive function
- Decline in muscle mass and strength
- Joint issues and cartilage breakdown leading to aches and stiffness
These changes mean good nutrition is more vital than ever. Let’s take a closer look at the specific nutritional requirements in senior dogs next.
The Role of Nutrition in Senior Dog Health
Aging is a natural process, and unfortunately, much of it depends on factors we can’t control. Your dog’s breed and individual genetics have a big impact on how quickly they age and whether they will develop certain common health problems
The good news is that many aspects of aging can be affected by the care you provide for your dog. And due to advances in veterinary care, better nutrition, and better living conditions, the lifespan of our companion animals continues to increase. The verdict is in: Keeping your dog active and providing proper nutrition make a significant difference in how quickly your dog shows the effects of age.3
Here are some key nutritional requirements to be aware of as you adjust your senior dog’s diet:
- Omega-3 fatty acids – Dog foods that contain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, have been shown to prompt healthy immune responses, which consequently support joint, digestive, and cognitive health
- Antioxidants – Our multivitamins contain antioxidants and other micronutrients that fight dog inflammation and free radical damage. Some of the most effective include manganese and selenium, vitamins C and E, and beta carotene, but there are many other forms of antioxidants as well.4
- High-quality protein – As dogs age, their bodies become less efficient at using and synthesizing protein. This doesn’t necessarily mean that older dogs need more protein in their food (and excess protein can be detrimental if kidney function is compromised).5But it does mean that they need high-quality protein to maintain their lean body mass.
- Controlled calorie intake – Weight gain is one of the most avoidable conditions that affects many senior dogs. In fact, weight is such a serious concern for pups that a study on more than 50,000 dogs found that being overweight was linked to a shorter lifespan in every breed studied.6 Helping your pup maintain their ideal weight, on the other hand, may better support heart and bone health while also supporting appropriate blood sugar levels.
How Multivitamins Can Help With Aging
A diet rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids is a vital part of senior dog care. These micronutrients boost the body in a variety of ways, from supporting healthy joints to assisting with cognitive function, digestion skin and coat health.
Some of the most crucial nutrients and their functions include:
- Vitamin A – Vitamin A is essential for immune function, cell health, and eye health. However, it’s also a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning it accumulates in the body. Be careful not to overfeed vitamin A-rich foods like liver or cod liver oil if your dog’s food or supplements already contain vitamin A.
- B complex vitamins – Vitamin B has eight forms, including B6, B12, folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, and thiamine. Each form is involved with crucial bodily functions such as metabolism, energy regulation, neural functions, blood glucose regulation, nervous system functions, and hormone regulation.
- Vitamins C and E – These antioxidants support immune and cognitive health, two areas where aging dogs can use plenty of extra support.
- Vitamin D – This vitamin is essential for bone, muscle, and joint health. Unlike humans, dogs can’t synthesize vitamin D through sun exposure and must obtain it through their diet. However, a buildup of vitamin D in the fatty tissues can lead to toxicity. Be careful not to over-supplement.
- Vitamin K – This vitamin is an essential part of the blood clotting process. It’s also crucial for bone health, and it helps to regulate levels of calcium in the body. As your senior dog’s bone density declines, calcium regulation becomes ever more important.
- CoQ10 – While not a vitamin, coenzyme Q10 is a naturally-occurring substance found in animals. It performs important antioxidant functions that help protect cells from damage. It’s also essential for energy regulation, and has been shown to support heart health.7
- Zinc – Zinc is a mineral that animals require for processes throughout the body, including wound healing, healthy skin, immune function, metabolism, enzyme production, digestion, and much more.
Quality commercial dog food should be formulated to include these and other essential nutrients. However, dog digestive enzymes become less efficient at extracting nutrients from their diet as your dog ages. Providing a highly absorbable multivitamin supplement like Vetericyn’s ALL-IN can help fill in any gaps.
Choosing the Right Multivitamin for Your Senior Dog
Just like dog food brands, there are so many options to choose from when it comes to dog supplements that it can be overwhelming. How do you know what makes a good supplement? Absorbability, safe and natural ingredients, and the proper balance of nutrients for your dog’s life stage should be your top criteria.
As you shop, check the labels for:
- Absorbability – Does the supplement explain how the active ingredients are absorbed? For example, Vetericyn’s ALL-IN nutritional supplements are formulated with a clinically proven technology that helps nutrients pass through the cell wall efficiently. Other supplements often contain nutrients in forms that are not bioavailable—meaning all those healthy ingredients pass straight through Barkley’s digestive system and into the doggy doo bag.
- Age-specific formulation – Puppies and adult dogs have very different nutritional needs than your senior pooch. If the label doesn’t specify an age range, or if it states that it’s appropriate for all life stages, leave it on the shelf.
- Safe ingredients – Pet foods and supplements sometimes contain added flavoring, colors, or vitamins derived from synthetic sources. Instead, opt for supplements that are derived from natural sources like grass-fed meat, fish oil, and plant foods, and are formulated without unnecessary additives.
Lastly, never use a human supplement for your four-legged friend. These will often contain additives that are toxic to dogs and will harm their immune system, such as xylitol or other artificial flavors. The proportions of vitamins in human and dog supplements are also very different. Vitamin D and iron, for example, can cause poisoning in dogs at levels that are safe for human ingestion.8
Keep Your Senior Dog on the Move With Vetericyn
You may not be able to keep your dog young forever, but the good news is that more dogs are living well into their senior years than ever before. Thanks to modern research and advances in our understanding of canine health and nutrition, you can keep your furry friend active and vibrant for years to come.
Vetericyn makes it easy to keep your dog healthy at every life stage.
At Vetericyn, we’re dedicated to giving your pets the same top-of-the-line care we give to our own. That’s why we made ALL-IN supplements for your puppy, adult, and senior dogs. It’s packed with patented nutritional complexes that meet all your dog’s needs for optimal health, and delivered via a unique protein delivery system that ensures the exact absorption of each nutrient. Support your senior dog by investing in ALL-IN today.
Reviewed by C. Scott Van Winkle
Scott has been with Innovacyn for the past 11 years and has been working within the Burlingame portfolio of companies for the past 23 years. Scott brings a diverse background to Innovacyn. With an upbringing as the 5th generation on his families cattle ranch, Scott has a passion for animal health and the continuous improvement surrounding agricultural practices. Scott earned marketing and business management degrees from the University of Idaho and holds an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University.
Sources:
- VCA Animal Hospitals. How old is old? Comparing dog age to human age. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/how-old-is-old-comparing-dog-age-to-human-age
- American Veterinary Medical Association. Caring for senior cats and dogs. https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/senior-pets
- Animals. Healthy aging is associated with preserved or enhanced nutrient and mineral apparent digestibility in dogs and cats fed commercially relevant extruded diets. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8300295/
- VCA Animal Hospitals. Antioxidants. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/antioxidants
- VCA Animal Hospitals. Feeding mature and senior dogs. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/feeding-mature-and-senior-dogs
- Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Association between life span and body condition in neutered client-owned dogs. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jvim.15367
- Antioxidants. Effects of coenzyme Q10 supplementation on oxidative stress markers, inflammatory markers, lymphocyte subpopulations, and clinical status in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9394267/
- Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Which supplements and vitamins are dangerous for pets? https://www.aspca.org/news/which-supplements-and-vitamins-are-dangerous-pets
- Animals. Zinc in dog nutrition, health and disease: a review. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8066201/
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association. Timely topics in nutrition: An overview of fatty acids in companion animal medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25970216/
