[phunkyphat]

I have a inactive 7 year old Pomeranian. Not sure if I should be feeding him Orijen Adult or Orijen Senior? I'm afraid that Orijen Adult will make him gain weight since its high in protein & fat. Been feeding him Orijen Senior for the last couple of days and thinking about switching to Orijen Adult. What do you guys think? Need your help.

 

[rannmiller]

I think you should feed Orijen Adult, just feed a little less of it. They actually have the same amounts of fat and protein, so I'm wondering if there's even a difference between the two. With a food like Orijen the main problem people have is that they try to feed it like a regular kibble not realizing that their dogs dont need nearly as much of it to stay full. So just monitor how your dog's body condition changes and adjust your amounts from there.

 

[phunkyphat]

Thanks "Rannmiller" for the quick reply. I had a 11 year Chilhuahua who recently pasted away two weeks ago from a heart problem. That is the reason I was feeding both my Pomeranian & Chihuahua a Senior food. Before we were feeding it Natural Choice Senior, then we switched to Wellness Senior about 2-3 months ago. After doing some reasearch on Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble & this website, I decided to switch to Orijen a couple of days ago. Once he gets use to Orijen I was thinking about rotating Innavo EVO reduce fat into his diet too. Thanks again "Rannmiller" for the quick reply.

 

[RawFedDogs]

I don't think it makes any difference. If you compare the ingredients list side by side, the ONLY difference is that chicken fat is a couple of notches further down the list in the Senior food. Nutritionally there is so little difference between the 2 as to be inconsequential.

This is the same with most all brands. There is essentially no difference between puppy, adult, and senior dog foods. It's all marketing. They want you to think you are getting a food designed specifically for your dog when in reality it is all the same stuff.

ETA: There is no such thing as too much protein or too much fat in dog foods. Dogs handle these nutrients completely differently than humans. Don't try to compare human nutritional needs to those of dogs.

 

[phunkyphat]

Thanks for your feed back RawFedDogs

 

[GGWOODY]

Your Pomeranian is not yet a 'Senior' dog by definition, and with such a relatively highly digestible food, I would reco the adult formula. If inactivity and obesity is your concern, you would do you pup a big service to help increase it's activity. No matter how good of a food you feed, a lack of activity will wipe out any positives that you would gain from the food.

 

[rannmiller]

If inactivity and obesity is your concern, you would do you pup a big service to help increase it's activity. No matter how good of a food you feed, a lack of activity will wipe out any positives that you would gain from the food.

I highly agree. At the same time, sometimes increasing activity still doesn't help an animal if they're being stuffed with crummy food though. Not that I'm discounting the incredible benefits of exercise for dogs, I'm just saying that even if you're adequately exercising your pooch, he can still have issues if he's eating garbage.

 

[RawFedDogs]

Yes to what GGWOODY said. :smile:

 

[ChattyCathy]

This is off subject but GGWOODY... love your avatar. I LOL. :biggrin:

 

[GGWOODY]

I highly agree. At the same time, sometimes increasing activity still doesn't help an animal if they're being stuffed with crummy food though. Not that I'm discounting the incredible benefits of exercise for dogs, I'm just saying that even if you're adequately exercising your pooch, he can still have issues if he's eating garbage.

I agree; I guess what I was saying is that if the dog doesn't get exercise, it'll be unhealthy regardless of the food being fed. BTW, OP, I'm not preaching or trying to be overbearing, it's just one of those similarities between a human and pet lifestyle.:biggrin:

Thanks Chatty! I laugh, cuz my old man, Bruno, looks like a Jedi or something in the pic.:smile: