Diet help

[janem_g]

My dog has been told to lose some weight. 2kg! He is a mongrel, sort of cocker sized with stumpy legs. Currently he eats Applaws dry with some Butchers lean and tasty on top. I upped the Butchers and scaled back the dry so swapped the proportions. He has lost weight but wondered if you have suggestions as he is definitely on the hunt for food more now.

 

[AmyMay]

How many times a day are you feeding?

 

[janem_g]

twice, breakfast and dinner

 

[Odyssey]

You could add some raw and/or cooked veg. My boy loves raw carrots, broccoli and any other veg, cooked or raw. That would help fill him up with very few extra calories. Applaws and Butchers are a good choice, being high meat and low carb, but perhaps you've cut the kibble down a bit too much. It shouldn't matter if it takes a bit longer for him to lose the weight, rather than being hungry much of the time. You could also give him a raw egg for some extra protein without too many calories.

 

[janem_g]

yes I don't like to see him hungry. Plus we have a new puppy so there are treats about now and lickimats so don't want any spats about food. I think he put some weight on by accident as my husband had a heart attack recently and all the walking was down to me for a bit and perhaps he did a bit less exercise wise.

 

[AmyMay]

twice, breakfast and dinner

Split the ration in to three meals.

 

[janem_g]

Split the ration in to three meals.

thats a very good idea as pupper is having 3 meals so he does look on longingly at lunchtime....

 

[AmyMay]

thats a very good idea as pupper is having 3 meals so he does look on longingly at lunchtime....

I always feed three times a day.

 

[Redders]

Did they give you a body condition score? I score out of 9. 4-5 is ideal. Research shows that if at BCS 6/9, it is doable for the owner to reduce the weight on the animals regular food. Anything over 6/9 and it is recommended to use a specially formulated diet food. This is because the amount of a reduction in calories and therefore volume of regular food, would be too steep to achieve on regular food and will leave the animal hungry and also possibly deficient in minerals and vitamins (this occurs more at the more obese BCS). It is also much easier to achieve the required weight loss using a specific diet food.
I would consider switching the food

 

[GSD Woman]

I'm facing the same problem with Rudy, again. Have you tried adding some canned pumpkin or frozen green beans? Low cal and add fiber to help keep the hunger at bay. Also, can you up exercise?

 

[Griffin]

Have you tried putting some of his wet and dry ration in a Kong and freezing it? I am just thinking that then he will need to work for it and it will occupy him for longer.

 

[janem_g]

no condition score given sadly, just told me he needs to lose about 2kg. Made me laugh though as I also took my fat greedy cat in and the vet said, Aw she's big boned!!

 

[GSD Woman]

It is really hard to get weight off of cats. Ask me how I know.
How is the diet going for him?

 

[janem_g]

Very hard to get weight off cats, especially when they self serve mice etc and also have their heads in any available yogurt pot or even go so far as to eye up your plate while it's still in use!!

 

[Bellasophia]

I would add another walk to his day...even a swift fifteen minutes extra ,every day can change the weight dynamic..
my little schnauzer is prone to gain weight,so I seriously monitor the quantity of food,encourage play with a ball retrieve,and walk as best we can in these restrictive times.