Royal Canin Obesity Diet

foreign_correspondent

UKTigerlily wrote: »

FC we know the tripe sticks are to lure other Dogs! lol Chaya loves yours, she doesn't seem as excited by the ones I found for her lol

lol - that must be for the same reason that whenever I eat out, the dinner the person has on the next table always looks more interesting / bigger / nicer than mine!!

Fire_Fox

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

you can add cooked veg as an extra to the dog food, (rather than reducing the amount of dog food) as it has so few calories but will help fill her up - you can then make her meal larger, but not really any more fattening.

The fattening bits are the mixer, egg etc... I would not reduce her dog food below 1 can a day as she needs the nutrients in that.

Agree with this completely :T most veg is just water, fibre and vitamins - barely any calories to speak of (exceptions are potatoes and avocados).

Fire_Fox

vicx wrote: »

I never thought.. I could get the first tablet down her with a tiny bit of dog food, just enough to cover the tablet as that one needs to be taken on an empty stomach - an hour before food. The second one aint a problem as I can pop that in her morning meal. Then the one late evening can be taken with a bit of dog food too

I have cut her mixer out so she will be getting 1 tin a day now. When I was adding the small bite mixer I cut her canned food down to get 3 meals out of it. I could add cooked veg with her meals if that will be more healthy for her, obviously not putting as much dog food in with it.

Sounds like you are doing great!

louisdog

Vicx what tablets is your dog on? I wonder if there is a palatable version? We have palatable ones for our dog and it makes a great difference as he sees the heart tablet as a treat!

Sounds like a good regime, let us know how you get on.

I'd still recommend inquiring at the vets, mine are really good, they gave me a weight card for Louis and if we are passing we can pop in and the nurse will weigh him and mark it on his card so we feel like we are making good progress, they always fuss him loads too and tell me how well he is doing, which is nice.

Cheers
Alex

foreign_correspondent

I would talk to the vet as well - there may be important advice he can give about the causes of her being so overweight, the best ways to get her weight down, and what speed of weight loss to aim for - it may not be good for her to lose it too quickly, although she certainly does need to lose some weight.

vicx

louisdog wrote: »

Vicx what tablets is your dog on? I wonder if there is a palatable version? We have palatable ones for our dog and it makes a great difference as he sees the heart tablet as a treat!

Hello Alex, my dog is on vetmedin and furosemide tablets. The Vetmedin are flavoured but she knows they are not food so I have to give her them with a bit food.

louisdog

Wow I can't believe it! My cav was on vetmedin capsules which were awful to get down him and then we got the flavoured ones and he gobbles them up! He is very greedy though and even eats bird seeds, cat poo etc!

Louis is on vivitonin as well cos he has strokes, and I have trouble getting him to take them.

At least it's easier than giving a cat a worming tablet :eek:

Cheers
Alex

vicx

I've never known a dog be so greedy like my King Charles is. Wherever there is food she is there. I can't even eat a packet of crisps in peace without her chasing me and sitting over me.

She will eat anything without even smelling it first. If she doesnt like it she spits it back out. The only food I know she wont eat is raw carrot on its own. She did have a good chew on one the other day but left most of it on the floor. She doesnt like banana's either. I havent tried to feed her a banana but when shes had a smell of one she will walk away. Are dogs allergic to them?

SiuLoong

Just to go back to the original post, I would recommend the Royal Canin Obesity, or the Satiety Control food which is essentially the same thing but higher volume! They also do dental chews which are much lower in fat/carbs than dentastix.

They have some detailed info on their website including why these diets are better than reducing food levels or other diet foods... I'd go on about it here but it'd be a long post! I feed my dog on the Royal Canin neutered adult food which she loves and has never been in better condition (also a spaniel.. but mines a springer )

http://www.royalcanin.co.uk/vet/clinical_diets/canine_clinical_diets/obesity_management_dry.aspx

I completely agree that plenty of exercise and good diet are the way to weight loss, but dogs aren't little people and the approach isn't exactly the same. The complete diets for dogs are balanced to be feeding for a dog at ideal weight, if you cut down the portion size you reduce the vitamins & minerals too which they still need for the weight they are. Weight loss diets take this into account and have a 'feed for target weight' guide. Hills r/d is also a good alternative.

(Ps.. I am a vet, but also (and more importantly!) a happy dog owner.)

Raggs_2

vicx wrote: »

I have just weighed her on the bathroom scales which was quite difficult to get all 4 of her paws on. She is around 15kg. On the tins it says 5kg = 1 tin per day, 10kg = 2 tins per day. If I go by her weight, I am under feeding her but as she can't excercise to burn these calories off her food has to be cut down. If I gave her less I would have to give her something light, maybe cooked veg or scrambled egg?

Just as a slight aside, and without having read most the thread, will she allow you to pick her up? If so, then weighing yourself, then you holding the dog is a much easier/accurate method than trying to convince them to stand still on a set of scales.