Royal Canin Obesity Diet

Fozz

Just wondered if anyone has used this food to help their dog lose weight, my vet has recommended it, but wanted to check if it is worth spending so much money on dog food!

Fire_Fox

IMHO obesity diets for humans and animals are often unnecessary - simple healthy eating, portion control and regular physical activity are required. If the animal appears to be getting hungry on rations you might consider slowing eating down using a feeder ball or Kong, dog intelligence toys, meat on the bone that is takes longer to eat, food that contains more water to fill him up, putting something in the bowl so he has to eat round it!

There is some anecdotal evidence of dogs and cats shedding excess weight on a raw food diet, so this might be worth looking into. I definitely think Noah is more satisfied with raw mixes than with normal cat food. Having said all that I would ask the vet to explain in detail why he has recommended a specific food as, whilst I have nutrition qualifications, they are not in animal science!

cyberbob

Fire_Fox wrote: »

IMHO obesity diets for humans and animals are often unnecessary - simple healthy eating, portion control and regular physical activity are required. If the animal appears to be getting hungry on rations you might consider slowing eating down using a feeder ball or Kong, dog intelligence toys, meat on the bone that is takes longer to eat, food that contains more water to fill him up, putting something in the bowl so he has to eat round it!

Totally agree with Fire fox. Do you know the reason why your dog is overweight? Is it to many treats not enough exercise or other reasons as with human diets the whole lifestyle needs to be looked at and addressed

Fozz

She is a breed which has a tendency to put on weight (Cavalier) and is also spayed which doesn't help either! You are absolutely right, we do need to address her lifestyle, (more exercise!) but just wondered if it was worth investing in a diet food to kick start the weight loss
. The vet explained that the food was designed to help them feel full on less food, and also has dental benefits which would mean being able to cut out her dental treat which is helping a lot with her teeth (another breed problem!)
We feed her the amount of food advised on the pack for a 10 kg dog (she currently weighs 14.5 kg) so can't cut down too much more, and don't give tit bits.
She is also the most food obsessed dog I have ever met, has been known to get a half burned dog food bag out of the fireplace for a snack!

Fire_Fox

We used to have a Cavalier King Charles and a West Highland White - if they are anything to go by activity levels play a large part in whether a dog is overweight or not! :j Our Cav would chase with the Westie, but didn't have that natural 'fidget' level ... interestingly this would be exactly the same has been proven in studies on humans if I am right.

I looked at indoor foods (much the same composition as 'diet' foods) for cats and again, like humans, more fibre is added for a bulking/ filling effect. A diet food would be convenient and give you the peace of mind that you have the balance of nutrition correct BUT, as you have already alluded to, it's also a very expensive way to buy what is essentially a waste product of the food industry ... :rolleyes:

I haven't seen any research that supports dry food cleaning teeth in either cats or dogs, but happy to be corrected on that. What does clean teeth are raw bones, which have the added bonus of being slow to eat so giving the dog time to feel full. If your Cav is food obsessed then raw bone, Kong or feeding ball would probably keep her occupied for quite a time! One of the resident MSE doggy experts has previously suggested simply throwing the measured amount of dry dog food into the garden and making the dog exercise to get his food, which I thought was a wonderful simple idea.

It's up to you really, you have a number of options here and have to work out what would fit in with your budget and lifestyle.

lidlest

I have a Cav who got a little tubby... i started him on Bakers weight control - cheaper

He has defintely lost weight

hethmar

Royal Canin is a very good quality food - you can buy it on the net cheaper than your vet will sell it to you. I get the vet skin support for my dogs. TBH though Im look at some sort of satiation diet for them as one is disabled hence doesnt get as much exercise as would normally be the case. Excess weight on his 2.5 paws is not good.

Oh Bakers is so full of colours and rubbish - please check out whats in it.

Fozz

Thanks for replies, might try spreading her food around for her to find, we have a feeding ball, but she quickly gets frustrated because it doesn't come out quickly enough and sits and barks at it! Also if we give her bones she either buries them or hides them in the furniture once any scraps of meat have gone, and won't gnaw them.
Although she is overweight she is quite lively and in good health with no heart problems. Will try making her hunt for her food and giving her more exercise and see how it goes!

Fire_Fox

What about smaller bones? Chicken wings, carcasses (ribs and back), turkey necks etc. are all pretty difficult to pick the meat off and leave the bones: you can also buy bone in cubed rabbit and lamb for pets. The last time Noah had the rabbit he was walking around for ages chewing one piece - made an awful sound like nails on a blackboard so definitely cleaning his teeth!! I have a SlimCat feeding ball for Noah which has adjustable holes, not sure if there might be an equivalent for dogs?

louisdog

I have a cavalier king charles too and he went on the very same diet back in April, with much success. His weight had crept up because he is old with arthritis and heart problems, and on this diet he didn't seem hungry and lost the weight nice and steadily. He is back on his regular James Wellbeloved diet again now.

How much has your dog got to lose? I'd recommend giving it a try, Royal Canin is a good quality food.

Cheers
Alex

foreign_correspondent

there are other lower fat/energy foods too which may well work out a lot cheaper - I have my dog on this at the moment as she is always hungry and was beginning to put on a tiny bit of weight:
http://www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=11&idcategory=0

I would have bought this one to try though if my local animal feed store stocked it:
http://www.csjk9.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=92&idcategory=0

If you email CSJ they will send you free samples to try.