Meds for Senior Dogs? Try Paleo Foods First!

I’ve blogged before about the fact that our two Weimaraners are Paleo, which is one of the reasons, the other being the fact that they’re life long athletes, they’re often mistaken for being about half their age.

They are getting up there in years, though, as much as I hate to admit it.

They’re both going to be thirteen in June and as such, they do have a bit of tweaks and twinges here and there, which is why they’re in physical therapy.

Feeling as close to a soccer mom as I can with my kids being the dogs, I happily drop them off for their current regime of three weekly sessions of hydrotherapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, balance training and an ice bath when they’re done.

We’re quite fortunate to live near an amazing dog rehab center in Santa Monica.

Anyway, when our male, Graham, recently started showing signs of degenerative disk disease (our vet explained it’s not actually a disease in the traditional sense of the word; rather it’s part of aging), our vet suggested we try a canine equivalent of a non-steroidal anti inflammatory, to make their already anti inflammatory Paleo diet even more appropriate and healing.

Being of the mindset that I am, I asked whether there was a food alternative we could add to his Paleo meals that would help, and it turns out, not surprisingly, that there is!

So, now, in addition to his raw meat, veg, enzyme diet with fish oil, both dogs also get one half clove each of raw garlic, a dash of powdered ginger, five blueberries, macerated kale and some melon.   They’re getting mega doses of anti oxidants from the best sources (food) and they’re doing great!   These were specifics from our vet, so please consult yours before randomly giving the list of foods to your dog; certain foods that we might think are healthy or even just benign can actually be toxic to our four legged friends, so make sure you do your research first!

If they were to decline and get to a point where they seemed uncomfortable and their quality of life seemed potentially compromised, my husband and I would absolutely review the picture and perhaps reconsider.  However, just like the way I’d approach the situation for myself, in my opinion, pain meds and the like are one of the last options, not Plan A!