Took my dogs to the vet yesterday

Tamrahan

Tamrahan

Cathlete
and got a lecture. :(

My Boston Terrier came in at 26#. Up 3# from last year.

The conversation went something like this:
Vet "Jethrene, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN EATING?" (I looked to see if there was food on her face and there was nothing so for a sec there i was puzzled)
Vet continues "Tami! she is way overweight. What are you feeding her?"
ME: "Science Diet Sensitive Stomach."
VET: "That's ok. How much do you feed?
ME: "well about 100 grams a day"
VET: Whats that in cups?
ME: About a cup a day divided in 2 meals.
VET: Well does she get any table scraps?
ME: Not really (DH sometimes has to bribe them to get them to come in and he would give them each bite of breakfast cereal and I sometimes would give each a bite of cantaloup) but she does go outside and eats poop hers and the other 2 dogs poops. Does poop have calories?"
VET: Yes it does. you need to clean up your yard. And you need to get her moving more. And you need to cut her food back by about a quarter.
You need to get this extra weight off her or she will have trouble breathing. And her collar is too small." :confused:

I swear to GOD we clean up our yard regularly. In the spring/summer/fall I usually go out there with them and p/u right after. In the winter it's a little harder as it's dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home plus the snow and all but still we p/u at least once a week. But I have also witnessed Jethrene waiting while one other the other dogs finishes thier business so she could have her snack. Sometimes it barely has a chance to hit the ground. :p

Also the bag of dog food says for a 20# dog she should get 1-1/3 to
1-3/4 cups or 130 - 175 grams per day. I was only giving about a cup or 100 grams daily. So I have been feeding under. And I feel so guilty about that because she always wants more. We have to watch to make sure she doesn't steal my yorkies because she is such a finicky eater.

I just can't believe she would gain 3# from eating poop.
We have a fenced yard so they all go out and run around several times per day every day. :confused:

So last night and this morning I only gave her 1/3 cup of food-the same abounts as my yorkie and minpin and she weighs more than double they them. And she just looked up at me when she was done as if to say "where's the rest of it?" A little while later she went back to check her bowl. LOL I feel so bad for her.

The vet did say she could have the melon and told me pumpkin is good because of the fiber.

Sorry this is so long-I just needed to vent. I hope it warms up so I can take her for a walk later today.

Who would a thought that poop has calories left?
 
Sorry about your baby gaining weight. Did the vet recommend a reduced calorie food? That may help some. Also you might want to get a poop eating deterrent like Dis-Taste, because cutting back on the amount of food, may actually make her want to fill up on poop. http://www.dogeatingpoop.com/distastefull-poop.html
I had to use it with our dogs. Keeping a yard clean wasn't enough because I wasn't there 24/7 to pick it up when it was fresh.

Jean
 
The vet told me to mix low calorie dog food with no salt added peas or green beans. This diet helped my dog lose 15#. Later when my dog was diagnosed with Cushings disease and he was always hungry the vet told me that I could give him a baked potato to help him feel full.

Hope you can curb his 'recycling' habits if he has that problem !
 
Right now I have no room to talk with Mr. Butterbean back to his highest weight, BUT...daily walks will help.

Plus back when I was feeding Snoopy regular dog food, he took in a cup a day, and he's a big male (His ideal weight is 30#). So your vet might be right about cutting back her food.

Once she gets down in weight a bit, you can probably play with the amount...see if you can up it a little again.
 
These are great ideas! Oh the Vet did say to sprinkle Adolfs meat tenderizer on thier food to help deter the recycling habit. So i'll try that and if that doesn't help I will try the Dis-taste

I tried the pumkin and.......it was a hit!

Great idea about the no salt peas or beans.

I'll try all these. maybe Beanie won't feel like she's starving now. :cool:

And we're going to start walking more now the weather is better.
 
I have an overweight Daschound and noticed on the weekend that she was eating poop outside! She also eats cat puke which is why I think she can't budge on the weight issue. We have been feeding her light food and the calorie count on the bag is about half of what the regular is but she always seems very hungry. I think I will try adding peas and green beans.

Once spring gets here we'll be able to get out more for walks.
 
my vet has me giving my dog greens beans mixed in with reduced amount of kibble, and green beans for treats. He claims the weight will fall right off (Based on this, I personally have increased my own GB consumption to fill me up!:eek:)
 
another "filler".... For my dogs we add low sodium fat free chicken or beef broth (about 1 cup broth : 2cups food) I have BIG HUNGRY BOYS! Each are 115#s ideal weight!

Vet suggested also when they were overweight to buy industrial sized cans of Veg-All. Rinse it due to sodium...add a cup to their meals.

Its not realistic to become a poop picker upper 100% of the time..Maybe your vet wants the job..LOLOLOL!
My boys LUV poop! :rolleyes:Theirs is more due to dominance tho...They only eat each others! EEK!!!
 
Tamrahan said:
and got a lecture. :(
Also the bag of dog food says for a 20# dog she should get 1-1/3 to
1-3/4 cups or 130 - 175 grams per day. I was only giving about a cup or 100 grams daily. So I have been feeding under. And I feel so guilty about that because she always wants more. We have to watch to make sure she doesn't steal my yorkies because she is such a finicky eater.

//

So last night and this morning I only gave her 1/3 cup of food-the same abounts as my yorkie and minpin and she weighs more than double they them. And she just looked up at me when she was done as if to say "where's the rest of it?" A little while later she went back to check her bowl. LOL I feel so bad for her.
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Dog food companies are in the business of selling dog food and their feeding recommendations are almost always high. Most dogs do well on 2/3 to 3/4 of the recommendations.

Decrease her food by a third for a couple of weeks and see how she does. If she isn't starting to lose weight, cut it back a little bit more.

With little dogs, table scraps add up FAST!! The melon should be fine but I would avoid the cereal. Think about how easy it is to blow your diet when you are eating 1800 to 2000 calories per day. Now realized that she probably only needs a couple of hundred calories per day. Think about how quickly her people food treats can add up to a significant increase in her calories.

Green beans are a fave among the dieting doggies in my house. Also, I find that adding water to their kibble helps them feel fuller.

Finally, there is a product called Forbid that is available from a vet's office or retailers like Jeffer's Pet supply. You feed it to all the dogs in the house to prevent coprophagy. However, supervision and quick clean up are important too.

Good luck!
Lisa
 
Science Diet is notorious for weight gain in dogs. it's basically fast food for dogs. If you look at the ingredient list the reason becomes clear

Brewers Rice, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Dried Egg Product, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Soybean Oil, Oat Fiber, Dried Beet Pulp, Potassium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Iodized Salt, L-Lysine, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine

The first 2 ingredients are carbohydrates but lacking most nutrients. Brewer's rice is a milled rice product that cannot be sold for human consumption and is stripped of nutrients and enzymes, basically just empty calories. Corn is difficult to digest and of little nutritional value, aside from the fact that 1/3 of our corn supply is genetically modified.

Corn glutenmeal is a cheap source of inferior protein and is hard to digest. The dog is fed empty calories.

Chicken by product meal lacks chicken muscle meat, is a low quality protein with biological value, meaning low absorability and digestibility.

Dried Beet Pulp is a filler and highly controversial. Not only is it high in sugar since it is a by-product from sugar beets but also causes stress to the kidneys and liver.

I had an overweight Labrador many years ago, the vet told me I needed to cut down on his food. Ummh yeah, what do you want me to feed? 3 kibbles per day? We kept cutting down and cutting down. He turned into a raging maniac, figuring out to open the pantry and going through the garbage can. It wasn't until I did research on petfood because of a history of cancer in Jake's (Labrador) family. When I changed his diet/food the weight came off pretty fast.

If I were you I'd consider changing what you feed. www.dogfoodproject.com is a good source of information as is www.wholedogjournal.com.

HTH
 
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hiitdogs said:
Science Diet is notorious for weight gain in dogs. it's basically fast food for dogs. If you look at the ingredient list the reason becomes clear

Brewers Rice, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Dried Egg Product, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Chicken Liver Flavor, Flaxseed, Soybean Oil, Oat Fiber, Dried Beet Pulp, Potassium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Iodized Salt, L-Lysine, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine

The first 2 ingredients are carbohydrates but lacking most nutrients. Brewer's rice is a milled rice product that cannot be sold for human consumption and is stripped of nutrients and enzymes, basically just empty calories. Corn is difficult to digest and of little nutritional value, aside from the fact that 1/3 of our corn supply is genetically modified.

Corn glutenmeal is a cheap source of inferior protein and is hard to digest. The dog is fed empty calories.

Chicken by product meal lacks chicken muscle meat, is a low quality protein with biological value, meaning low absorability and digestibility.

Dried Beet Pulp is a filler and highly controversial. Not only is it high in sugar since it is a by-product from sugar beets but also causes stress to the kidneys and liver.

I had an overweight Labrador many years ago, the vet told me I needed to cut down on his food. Ummh yeah, what do you want me to feed? 3 kibbles per day? We kept cutting down and cutting down. He turned into a raging maniac, figuring out to open the pantry and going through the garbage can. It wasn't until I did research on petfood because of a history of cancer in Jake's (Labrador) family. When I changed his diet/food the weight came off pretty fast.

If I were you I'd consider changing what you feed. www.dogfoodproject.com is a good source of information as is www.wholedogjournal.com.

HTH
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What Carola said. Science Diet is awful, along with Beneful, Pedigree, Ol' Roy and Kibbles & Bits.
 
I think sometimes vets can be SO condescending. I took my dog to a new vet this past time because the other vet we used when we first moved here was so belittling and condescending. He'd only talk in technical terms and would act all put-out if I needed it broken down a bit more. (And I worked at a research university and know most technical medical terms.)

This last vet visit, I went to the vet that is housed in our Pet Smart. Because it's not a glamorous privately-owned practice, my vet was just out of vet school. She wasn't presumptuous or snooty. She was extremely smart and was very interested in finding the problem with my dog. And she was kind. I highly recommend them!

(ps sorry your dog is overweight. My maggie is "big-boned" as well.)
 
Tamrahan - I haven't had time to read the other posts, but want to share.

I had a pretty pudgy Boston several years back. We didn't overfeed her, but she just seemed to put on weight.

Our vet recommended that we put her on a good quality wet food ONLY...no dry. It worked liked a charm. She dropped the extra weight in about 1-2 months and became a new dog energy-wise. Ask you vet about this.

FWIW, the same technique worked for our fat cat as well.

ETA: Just read Carola's post re: food quality, and yes, she's right on...as usual. :)
 
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Have you tried a raw food diet? We feed our shiba who is lean and strong a raw elf, beef or bison patty every day. He also gets 2 eggs and a raw herring as well as raw elk bones and 3 fish oil pills.

The vet is amazed at how lean and muscular he is and how clean his teeth are. No health problems at all and can that dog run. The breeder started him on this diet as Shiba's can get allergies. Her dogs are all lean running machines, another breeder uses kibble diets and her dogs are all fat, non running couch potatoes!!

I highly recommend raw diets for dogs. We use Tailblazers as our source of food.
 
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