How I Care for My Senior Dog - An Interview with a Long-Time Tom&Sawyer Customer
At Tom&Sawyer, we love talking to our customers, and we always jump at the chance to learn more about how someone came to learn about our meals - and more importantly, how our meals are impacting their fur-baby’s life.
We were so excited when long-time Tom&Sawyer customer Neha (the co-founder of SwitchGrocery), and her 14 year old pup Lucy, sat down with us to chat.
Click the video to watch the interview!
In this blog post, we summarize our interview with Neha, her senior pup Lucy, and our amazing customer experience extraordinaire, Derin.
After all, we all want the very best we can provide for our fur babies, and the question “How can I make my senior pup as happy as I can?”, is a big one that keeps Neha up at night!
Read on for Neha’s answers to Derin’s questions about the 3 things she does to take care of her 14 year old Maltese Yorkie mix, the scariest moment of Lucy’s life, best food to feed a dog with pancreatitis, and more!
About the Interview:
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The interviewer is Derin, Tom&Sawyer’s customer experience extraordinaire. Tom&Sawyer is Canada’s leading gently cooked pet food company with the mission of helping your fur baby (dogs and cats) live a longer, happier and healthier life!
- Lucy is a maltese yorkie mix, who is 14 years old!
- Lucy’s mom is Neha, the co-founder of SwitchGrocery, an online grocery store that brings low carb foods to Canadians that you can’t find in your regular grocery store.
The Questions:
Q: Tell us about Lucy! How did Lucy come into your life?
A: Lucy came to Neha’s life around 10 years ago when she was 3 years old through her then partner, now husband, Bryan. As someone that grew up with many dogs, she knew just how important the bond between pups and their paw-rents are and was very nervous to meet Lucy. She mentioned how anxious she was and thought “What if she (Lucy) doesn’t like me?”.
Although Neha knew and worried about the responsibility that would come with having a pup from having many dogs in her family growing up, Lucy was a huge part of Bryan’s life and became a shared part of both of their lives when they moved in together.
Q: How were you introduced to the world of gently-cooked meals? How did you find Tom&Sawyer for Lucy?
A: Neha always fed Lucy cooked food that we would prepare ourselves. They worried about the palatability of kibble and wanted to feed Lucy something tastier which is usually something most pet parents have thought about at least once before. They could not imagine their own meals coming in kibble form and did not want this for Lucy. Overtime cooking for their pup became harder and harder since they were not sure of the correct ratio of protein, vegetables, or grains to add, and they started to notice that Lucy was getting bored of her meals. This is when Lucy’s fur-dad Bryan started researching gently-cooked pet meals and came across an article that mentioned Tom&Sawyer!
Neha mentioned that there were three main things she noticed and really liked about Tom&Sawyer when she went on the website. First, was that Tom&Sawyer “was actually designed for a dog, Sawyer” and mentioned the fact that Tom&Sawyer was a company that was born out of necessity.
The second point she made, that stuck with her, was that the owners have a dog themselves and have invested so much time and resources to animal nutritionists and are feeding this to their own dog.
And the third and final reason for them was the convenience of not having to prepare Lucy’s meals themselves and having her meals ready in the freezer. She also mentioned how easy it has been to have a subscription where they could set it and forget it while having their pup's meals show up at their doorstep every month!
Q: How have you prioritized your senior pup’s health and wellbeing over time as she got older?
A: Neha has always prioritized Lucy’s happiness as any pet parent would but said she focuses on three main parts: Food, Experiences, Socialization.
Although experiences and socialization have evolved over time to adjust to her senior pups energy and comfort levels, Tom&Sawyer has been a constant in their lives. She said that as a family, they have always tried to include Lucy in their day to day activities such as finding pet friendly hotels while traveling, going to family events, and prioritizing her socialization with other furry friends. She said “Lucy has even come on the bus with me (when she was younger)”, but as she got older, she adapted to what Lucy was comfortable with and only continued including her in activities she was comfortable with.
Their latest trip was to a cottage where Lucy fell in love with being on the beach and enjoying the wind in her face!
Q: How have you adapted to changes in the pet industry over the last 14 years? How do you know what to try and what to ignore when it comes to “trends”?
A: It’s always important to try new things with our pets while being cautious about our pets’ needs, but sometimes it can be hard not to follow certain trends when we all want one thing: to make our pets happy. Neha often asks Lucy, “How do I keep you happy? What else can I do for you? These are questions that keep me up at night but she can’t tell me”.
This was a question that really hit close to home for Neha and although it brought up a story that was one of the worst moments of Lucy’s life, she thought that it would be a helpful story to share with other people that may also be thinking similarly to her.
She began by explaining how in 2019, Lucy had been on Tom&Sawyer meals for 3 years, but they noticed that raw dog food was starting to trend on Instagram. When they started to see a lot of trending videos about raw feeding, although they were hesitant about the bacteria in raw food and Lucy licking them after, they decided to give it a try. Lucy was eating her new raw food without a fuss but on the third night of raw feeding, they noticed Lucy starting to throw up. She continued throwing up throughout the night and as Neha cleaned up, Lucy would continue throwing up.
She mentioned how they tend to be a “rush to the vet kind of family” so this time they tried to not do that and assess if going to the vet was necessary. Lucy was getting more and more lethargic by every second and Neha remembered that if a dog stops responding to you, they need to be rushed to the vet. When they realized that Lucy was not able to walk and was not responding to them, they rushed her to her vet who immediately told them to go to the emergency room because this is a very serious situation and may be lethal if they don’t rush.
Lucy was in such bad shape that the emergency vet hospital had gotten a call about their arrival from their vet and had been expecting them. They rushed Lucy in without signing her in at the front desk and immediately started treatment. Neha explains the moment the veterinarian that was leading Lucy’s case came out to speak with them, and the first thing he asked was “What did Lucy eat?” and “What did you feed her?”.
After they explained the trend of raw food they decided to try out, the emergency vet told them about the dangers of raw food and that not every dog, especially one that has not been on raw food ever before, can tolerate raw food and that he can not recommend raw feeding due to many reasons. This is when they were informed that Lucy had suffered a pancreatitis attack due to the raw food that could still be lethal. She had to spend 4 nights at the emergency hospital and fortunately made a full recovery!
After Lucy’s recovery, Neha called Kristin, one of the owners of Tom&Sawyer, and asked for help after explaining everything. Although Neha and her husband Bryan have to be really careful with Lucy’s food, she is a lucky pup that can eat any one of the 5 low-fat Tom&Sawyer meals: Rosemary Venison, Coconut Chicken, Beef & Broccoli, Kangaroo, Fisherman’s Best Friend. When asked about her faviourite meal, Neha said that that was a really tough question because she loves them all so much!
Neha mentions this being one of the worst moments of her life, but she is very grateful to all the vets that helped treat her and also to Kristin for helping her through understanding which meals were best to manage Lucy's pancreatitis.
Q: Tell us about your best memory with Lucy!
A: Neha's favourite memory was the most recent beach trip she mentioned earlier in the interview. It was amazing to Neha and her family to watch Lucy enjoy the beach and be really happy. Neha said that you can tell her senior pup is very happy when she has her tongue out, and Lucy’s tongue was out the whole time they were on the beach! She enjoyed the wind in her face and loved spending time with her family. It was such a great memory for them that they are planning another beach trip with Lucy soon!
Another great memory she continues to cherish often is watching her almost 5 year old son interact with Lucy and take her on walks without needing any assistance. They have learned to respect each other's boundaries and are each other’s best friend!
Watch the interview here!
Want to learn more about caring for your senior dog? Read our blog posts here:
Adjusting to your Aging Canine Companion
Understanding Arthritis in Dogs: Prevention and Nutrition
