Whitby needs to lose some weight

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reddog
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Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by reddog »

I thought more members might read this if I posted my request for help and suggestions here instead of in the Health or Nutrition forums. I rescued Whitby roughly a year and a half ago and since then, little by little, she has gained roughly 15 pounds. I took her to the vet last evening for a wellness appointment since her Spring allergies are kicking in. I usually take a list of questions to ask the vet. Whitby’s weight was at the top of this one. The reason being, Whitby’s previous owner, who is deceased, was encouraged by her vet to have both of Whitby’s acl’s operated on when she was just a pup. Whitby has stiffness in her hind quarters and has some trouble doing steps. I do have her on a daily dose of Dasuquin. The past few weeks when we go for our walks she’ll sit down every now and then for a few minutes and then we continue on. The vet and I had a good talk and decided it would be best for Whitby to lose some weight. Cutting back on the food she is given is where I’m to start. I’m to take her back in a month and have her weighed. If she hasn’t lost any weight by then the vet said she’d run a test on her thyroid. There might be something going on with the thyroid that has messed up her metabolism, causing her to gain weight.

I’ve had been feeding her 3 ½ - 4 cups a day of Taste of the Wild, Roasted Bison & Venison. At her 1st vet appointment when I first brougt her home this is the brand and amount of food my vet suggested I feed her. I was wondering if any of you have had a similar problem and what brand of food you fed you furbaby or what you did to help them lose some weight.

Any info and suggestions and will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Last edited by reddog on Mon May 06, 2013 12:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Sarahloo
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by Sarahloo »

How big are those cups? People outside the US don't really know that! Depending on the size of those cups, you might be feeding her a little too much. Is she a small Chow?
Do you also feed her treats? If you do, those would be easiest to cut out of her diet.
I'm sorry to hear about Whitbys health troubles. She sounds like the kind of dog who enjoys her exercise, and it's sad that she can't be as active as she wants to be.
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Cocoa
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by Cocoa »

Four cups sounds like quite a lot to me, Cocoa is on TOTW Pacific Stream and she gets about 2 1/2 cups a day, when the weather gets hot she tends to eat even less (and she is a big girl, 70 lbs.). It would depend on the activity levels but if she has joint issues I wouldn't imagine you are exercising her excessively.
reddog
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by reddog »

Hi Sarahloo

Thank you for your kind reply.

As for Whitby’s size, I’m not sure what she’d be considered as. She weighed 52 pounds when I rescued her and now tips the scale at 67 pounds.

I’m sorry. I didn’t think to list the size of cup I use. It is was my grandma’s coffee cup and it holds about 6 ounces. (I dumped a serving out of it into a regular measuring cup to figure the ounces.)

As for treats – Whitby gets 1 or 2 a day. They are small dog bones about 2 inches long.

She does enjoy her walks. Monday thru Friday she goes for 6 or 7 walks a day. On Saturday and Sunday she’ll rope me into a few extra walks and some are longer walks. :lol:
kitten1426
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by kitten1426 »

One 67 lbs is to heavy? How tall is she...Our girl is around 52 ish pounds she is light...she also had about 7 months ago.. FHO surgey in both hips she is back to running,jumping, playing tough with our boys...Now Kodi is tall for a chow 26.5 inches at the shoulders he tips the scales at 85 ish pounds not a spec of Fat on him IMO he has alot more to fill out, now our girl eats a good 3-5 cups depending on the day some days more some less...Kodi he eats 5-6 cups some days he can go 8-9 cups easy...we feed TOTW kibble too..with wet food,yogurt,veggies,cottage cheese,sweet potatoes,chicken liver,cooked chicken yes this is all at one sitting..we mix it with kibble...I wont even get into what our Airedale eats he tips the scales at 110-115 lbs lol...NOT FAT either...none of our dogs are fat...can still feel there ribs and back bones...Miss Mia is a perfect weight for her size...Maybe the TOTW is to high of a protein for her?...maybe she is storing it somehow...
Our dogs...Kodi Male chow..[Mia Female Chow RB :( :( ]...Bear Male Airedale...Shelby Male Collie...And Moose airedale, New girl chow Merida
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Sarahloo
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by Sarahloo »

Grandma's coffee cup sounds dainty, so you're probably not overfeeding her.
How important are those bones to Whitby? I feel that sometimes it's US who think our dogs need treats, not our dogs. Because of Loo's allergies, I had to stop all treats, and he doesn't miss them. It was harder on me than on him.
Wow, so many walks??? :) Loo is sooooo jealous! Makes me wonder if you shouldn't have her thyroid checked sooner rather than later. 6 walks a day should be burning those grandma cups right off! I recently found out that Loo has an underactive thyriod (which is superweird, because he is all energy, like your Whitby), so I've been giving him pills for three weeks. Don't really know if his hair will grow back (he had developed bald patches), but I'm hoping... The pills are really small, so it's not that bad!
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TyChowgirl
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by TyChowgirl »

Like Kitten, how much of TOTW I feed Ty is dependent on the activity level. My boy is 80lbs almost 23 inches high. He's by no means overweight. On the days he's really active, like long hikes, or days where he gets walked and goes to the dog park engaging in a lot of play and running, he gets four cups. When he's less active like today where I took him for his daily walk and he's had no play or running around, he gets closer to 3 1/2 cups. I have a Purina One dog food cup that was given out free when I was at one doggy event. That's what I use. I used to be worried about him weighing too much and someone told me to conform to breed standards...except he surpassed the max a while ago and if he were 10lbs later he may be too thin. It depends on the build. If your vet says too chunky, then yea, cut back food intake if her activity level isn't very high. Go for smaller lower cal treats. Less biscuits lol. Really, if she's getting enough exercise and she's being fed the right amount it may be a thyroid issue. I hope not. Best of luck.
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Laura
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by Laura »

Chloe was diagnosed with severe hip dysplasia about 2 mos ago and the symptoms you are describing (sitting down during walks, trouble with steps, and getting up) fit her to a tee. Everyone I consulted said the best thing to do for now is have her lose weight and get lean. She is on a 600 calorie a day diet. She gets one cup in the morning and one cup at night of a nutro brand that has 254 calories per cup. That leaves me 100 calories for treats or a little dab of salmon, tuna, or can food in her bowl. Trust me when I say it is harder on me than on her. I was told she would lose weight slowly, like a quarter pound per week and she is. We also built her a ramp to take steps out of her life and put her on G&C supplements. The diet is awful for me and some days she doesn't even eat one of the meals but you just have to stick it out. They won't starve themselves. My vet, the top surgeon in the area, and a doggie rehab specialist all told me the same thing about diet/calories. Good luck! I know it is hard but it does get easier after a few weeks. Has she had hip X-rays?
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Victory
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by Victory »

I normally have the opposite problem of them being too thin. But I am very careful about how many calories they get each day and I don't usually feed treats. They get between 2.5 and 3 8 oz cups of food per day, which is 965-1158 calories per day. Normally the lower amount is during the summer when they are less active, and they eat less. The higher amount is during the fall, when they are most active and growing out their coats for the winter, they seem to need more food then.

I use the weight and amount on the packages of food as a guide, but I also watch how they are eating. If I give them 2 cups at night and it is completly gone in a couple of hours, then they get another cup each in the morning. If I see that half of it or more is still there in the morning, they don't get fed again until it is gone and then only the smaller amount.
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reddog
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by reddog »

Update on Whitby.
I took Whitby to the vet this past Thursday for her weigh-in. It's been roughly a month since she had gone in for her wellness check-up and she tipped the scales at 67 pounds at that time. She has lost almost 3 pounds. Yes! That was a relief. \:D/ Talked with the vet and she said that was good and to keep doing what I have been and bring her back in in about a month for another weigh in. Hum-m, wonder if they have a "Weight Watchers" plan for dogs. :lol:
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Re: Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by joss simth1 »

Thanks
RamonVof
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Whitby needs to lose some weight

Post by RamonVof »

Dear body uses food for energy. It stores any excess energy as fat. This means if you eat more food than your body needs for daily activities and cell maintenance, youll gain weight.To lose weight, you need to get your body to use up these stores of fat. The most effective way to do this is to:reduce the amount of calories you eatincrease your levels of activity.This is why experts talk about weight loss in terms of diet and exercise.
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