Field Notes with Maev founder Katie Spies: Protecting your dog’s aging health
Eight years after she rescued her dog muse George, Maev founder Katie Spies talks about watching your dog age and the ways you can help.
Let’s jump right to it! You’ve had George since he was just a little puppy, and now you’re going on a decade together. Are you used to the idea of him being an older dog now?
It’s so hard for me to fully comprehend. When I think about George, he's still my little six month rescue, and I don’t like thinking about his longevity or anything along those lines in general.
But he's definitely starting to act like a senior dog now.
In what ways has his age started showing?
Probably around [age] six or seven, and mainly physical changes to his fur, eyes, dental health, and energy levels. And his breathing! Now there’s a literal sound that comes out when he breathes. It's like what you would expect from an old man. That’s what it is — he embodies old man energy now. He’s always had the wisdom of an older man, but now he’s got the spirit too.
You’ve mentioned before that George was never a super playful dog to begin with. Have you seen any shifts in his social behavior?
Yeah. A lot of dogs will get more anxious with age, but if anything, George has been the reverse. He was such a Velcro dog all his life, but now he’s slightly calmer since he's just asleep more often.
With other people and dogs, he’s still pretty similar. George has never been interested in toys or games, but he’s always loved and still loves chasing other dogs in the park. Now he’s just a bit slower at it.
A big part of your passion as a founder is talking to customers and other dog parents to learn how you can ease their concerns. Is what George experiencing fairly common? What other concerns have you heard?
Most people that I talk to about senior dogs, the top concern that understandably takes up a lot of their mental space is around health failures. Senior dogs are just unfortunately more prone to get cancer, liver and kidney issues, skin problems, the sort — and if their health starts to degrade, it really affects their quality of life. And of course, then it affects yours too.
Aging is inevitable, whether you’re human, dog, or otherwise. But it's a lot more difficult to gauge whether a dog is just naturally aging or if there are internal issues brewing. Are there any signs that would help someone draw that line?
The biggest differentiator that experts have called attention to is noting if a physical or behavioral change is more incremental or dramatic. Gradual change is inherent to the aging process. But if it’s something more dramatic, like he hasn't been eating for a full week or is sleeping more than he used to, those are worth checking on.
“There are a lot of things that you simply can’t control about your dog’s life, including their predisposed genetics. But you can control a few elements of their lifestyle — and of those, food is the most impactful variable that you have complete control over.”
With diet, us humans have really come a long way in understanding the impact of good nutrition. Does the same apply for your dog’s health?
Nutrition makes a massive difference, which scientists have proven in pets and dogs and humans. These days, our dogs are more exposed and more likely to develop ailments than ever before. And when we double-click on why that’s happening, the most common denominator is a lack of quality nutrition.
It makes sense, because there are a lot of things that you simply can’t control about your dog’s life, including their predisposed genetics. But you can control a few elements of their lifestyle — and of those, food is the most impactful variable that you have complete control over.
Why do you say food is the most impactful variable in their health?
Because your dog’s diet determines the health of their digestive tract which, if it’s working properly, means they’re successfully absorbing nutrients and correctly funneling them through the body. Without a smooth-operating digestive system, your dog really can’t function at their best, which exposes them to risk of developing illnesses or comorbidities.
What does proper digestion look like then? How would it make a difference in an older dog?
The way I think about it is that your digestive system has an efficiency. Nobody is going to be at 100% perfect efficiency — that would mean every bite of food entering your system gets 100% utilized.
But some animals and people have a higher efficiency than others. This is based on overall health, digestive health, past diet, and current diet — which all affect how good your dog’s gut is at extracting the basic nutrients from whatever it’s digesting.
As your dog ages, their digestive system’s resting efficiency is naturally going to go down. And if they’re also not receiving the best nutrition, then their system has to work doubly hard just to absorb even half of the nutrients they need.
And as with all habits, the earlier you start, the bigger the payoff is when it counts.
Exactly. With dogs, it’s really hard to gauge when something’s off because animals can’t talk. Most of us are just going through the motions of our everyday routines, until one day you’re suddenly having to react to some giant health crisis in an instant.
But at least when their nutrition is taken care of, you have a stronger foundation to start with. That’s why we started Maev. Because nearly every vet’s first question is going to be: What are they eating?
How did you then consider senior dog needs when formulating Maev?
A lot of it came down to the functional design of the product. Many older dogs lose jaw density or experience tooth loss, so finding the right cube size and hardness was critical. We wanted to make sure that an older dog could enjoy the food as much as a dog in any other life stage.
The second piece was digestibility. In the pet food space, you run digestibility tests when you're formulating your food to make sure dogs can actually digest it. Digestion is a very energy-intensive process, especially if you're breaking down high-quality proteins (and not just processed carbs) like in a raw diet. We spent a lot of time making sure that a weaker digestive system, whether because of senior dog status or any other reason, could still break down the food.
Speaking of food hardness, Maev is formulated frozen. How does that work with older dogs?
Funny enough, when we originally formulated Maev, we shipped the product to beta testers expecting them to feed Maev thawed because that was just the status quo.
But then we ended up hearing from a majority of testers that they’d actually skipped the thawing and just fed Maev frozen. They raved about how their dogs loved the texture and they loved the convenience for themselves, so we took it back to our formulations team who then raved about the benefits of hard food for dental health and food safety purposes. It was like the perfect marriage.
Now we’ve served tens of thousands of dogs: senior dogs, toothless dogs, puppies, baby-toothed dogs, adult-toothed dogs, dogs with all kinds of different palettes and appetites. And the majority of dogs like to eat Maev frozen, directly from the freezer. Some will inevitably like it thawed, and to each their own! You know your dog best, we’re just here to give you the best options.
How do all of these considerations impact a dog’s overall immunity?
We really think about immunity as the strength of the body as a whole. Immunity happens through metabolism. It happens through digestion. It happens through the kidney, liver, vital organs. So naturally, you strengthen your dog’s immunity with every quality nutrient you feed them.
With this in mind, we spent a lot of time finding the exact right balance of macros (proteins, fats, and carbs which primarily power digestibility and metabolism without adding extra weight) and micros (all the alphabet vitamins and minerals that support the downstream systems like their liver, kidney, and pancreas).
From our perspective, stronger immunity, especially as they get older, is ultimately the end game. And however we can strengthen individual systems, also strengthens immunity.
Outside of diet, what else has been helping George stay youthful?
He loves his routine, that's probably gotten more intense with age. So sticking with the routine is really nice. And when we introduce something new, doing it as part of that routine really works for him.
Like what?
Like when we moved from New York to Austin. It was really jarring for him to move environments and go a couple days in a cramped car. Baking routine into that process, like feeding him meals at the same time we usually would, really helped give him some sense of calm and protectiveness.
Another big thing is mental stimulation. We try to take him on more walks, different walks, and to new environments.
What about when you’re at home? If he’s not into toys or games, how do you get him mentally moving?
Even though he's eight years old, we’ll still spend time refreshing basic obedience tricks and learning new ones because it just gives him a task to accomplish.
Just keep him on his toes.
Exactly. That always helps.
To end on a lighter note, what’s been the most rewarding part of seeing George grow up and get older?
I was actually thinking about this the other day! George has really been the only constant in my life for almost a decade. I’ve moved jobs, started a company, moved to a bunch of different cities.
Even friends who I’ve known for longer than I’ve known George haven’t been in the same place for all eight years like me and George have. I don’t even think I own a piece of furniture as old as George at this point!
Having had him around for the most fundamental years in my life has been so comforting for me as a human navigating the world. In many ways, George is a senior dog now, but he's also the same dog he’s always been. He has his same quirks and personality, he enjoys the same things, and we’ve really built a great bit of life together.