My dog has a couple issues. For one, she is considerably overweight. We have tried and tried to cut back. We have made sure that she almost exclusively gets carrots or 3 calorie treats that we have after we eat. She expects something after we eat, so we have cut it back to healthy, low calorie options. She goes for walks frequently. She still is quite a bit overweight. We also feed her Iams “Healthy Weight” dog food.
In addition to the weight issue, the vet told us awhile back that there was something wrong with her joints at the ‘knees’. I think she said that they were backwards or reversed or something and that they would cause her issues if she did not lose weight.
She has begun to have difficulty with some stairs. I’m not sure if its her weight or ‘knee’ problems or what, but she hesitates and often has to try several times to get her back legs to move right.
My concerns are that :
The mobility issues are going to get worse as she gets older
She is going to get diabetes
We really are trying to get her to lose weight. Short of cutting out after dinner carrots or 3 calorie treats altogether and starving her on her dog food, I’m not sure what else we can do. This has to at least be at least partially metabolism issue as she should be losing weight.
Even if I were to cut back on everything(which would surely upset her), I am not the only one in the household, and others would probably continue to give her something after dinner. So, I am at a loss as to what to do to prevent deterioration.
I’m not sure you can live with no carbs. Arent some carbs almost necessary for survival? I don’t completely trust too low carb diets in the long term either. In neither humans or dogs.
I’m not sure what you mean by no carbs. Just feed her meat?
One thing I do is feed my dogs 4 6 x a day but extra small portions
And since I make their food I make it soupy and blended and smear them on the plate so it takes them longer to eat. Otherwise they just gobble it up in 15 seconds.
Yes. I feed only meat (but my dogs are smaller so it does not cost me a lot.) And vegetables and full nutritional foods.
I know big dogs need much more so they use rice and carb stuff as fillers that really causes obesity in dogs.
The Farmer’s Dog dog food is really good, but it’s expensive. The dog food is made specifically for your dog, and the cost includes shipping, packaging, etc. But, yeah, it would probably cost you about $300 a month.
I’m sure there’s a less expensive way for your dog to lose weight. @Bowens
I answered their questions and it looks like I can get the first 14 day supply at $55.97 with a 20% discount on first order.
I have an issue though. Right now we have a freezer which is mostly full and a fridge that probably doesnt have room for this volume of pet food. We also have mini fridge, but here definitely isnt room in there.
I’m going to have to bookmark the page and think on this further.
Many dogs love green beans. You could give her some plain green beans after dinner which are both nutritious and very low calorie. Just a suggestion though
The vet kept telling me to get my dog to lose weight and I barely fed him and he couldn’t lose weight. Turned out he had an under active thyroid and when he got on meds for that 5kg fell off him.
