MIranda has gained 10 lbs. in one year!!!
My sweet Cardigan Miranda has had problems with her weight this year. We switched foods several times, we have tried diet foods, grain free foods. She has not seem to loose weight. With the low fat food she seemed to break out in a full body rash, so now we are on grain free fish based food. Wellness Core and she loves it.
She gets 1/3 of a cup 2X a day with a handful of cut up carrots. We have increased her exercize level, but that has not helped either.
So now we have gone to the Vet and we had blood tests done yesterday to check her thyroid. Part of me hopes it is the problem. Then it is a simple matter of giving her a pill twice a day. If it is not her thyroid, I am running out of ideas what is wrong with her.
If I exercise her too much she limps on her back leg. She pants when she walks around and she is alwas tired. The vet said that her skin condition mght have been a side effect of the thyroid condition. So now we are playing the waiting game.
Wish us luck, I just want her to be happy and healthy!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Derek, it took sometime to put on weight, it'll take sometime to get the weight off.
Last year I foster 2 overweight corgis, they were not able to last 1 mile walk, in the half mile mark, they rolled over under the Florida sun and gave up, I had to carry them home. In contrast, I walk mine 3-4 miles a day.
After 4 weeks, they were able to complete 1 mile, still panting, lost 3 lbs each and no longer snore like a human when they sleep.
It is going to take some work, try bringing water when you walk Miranda, give her water and let her rest a bit in the shade then keep walking, how much walk is she getting right now? besides regular food, is she consuming other treats / food? What kind of cup are you using to measure the portion size?
You are doing the right thing with Mirada, just need a little fine tuning, let us know what we can help :)
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Permalink Reply by Cindi on
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It definitely takes time to get the weight off. When we rescued Moira, she was almost 48 lbs! It took a good ten months to get those 24 lbs. off of her. Initially, she couldn't walk 3 steps without collapsing. I starting giving her premium food, 3/4 cup a day, no treats. Slowly the activity increased and the weight decreased. If it isn't the thyroid, you may just have to make some adjustments and be diligent. Good luck to you. (Glad to hear someone who is concerned about corgi weight. So many think they need to be chubby. It's so dangerous to them to be chubsters!)
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I have a female that has a hard time loosing weight...she weighs in at 27 which is ok but she has been spayed and weight loss is very slow! I feed her only 2/3rds of what my others get and she gets at least as much or more exercise than the rest! Just be consistent and it will take time and exercise. My Wynn also gained about 4 #'s when I got my 4 rescues 2 years ago and I wasn't watching him...little sneak...he lost this fairly fast though! Both will eat others food if given the chance...do you have another dog that this could be happening?I don't know what kind of yard you have but I use a fetch it to exercise Livvy as she is like the energizer bunny...this also is good as long as slowly work up to it!
Good Luck!
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Permalink Reply by Derek on
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I thought she gained the weight because she was eating Morgan's puppy food, but she was already a little large when I got him. I hoped that getting a brother would help her loose weight, and they were really active together. Morgan now leaves her in the dust.
But they are eating the same thing in the same proportions so that is not the issue. Before they were both getting 1/2 of a cup 2X a day and then I reduced it to 1/3 of a cup 2X a day and I give Morgan extra at breakfast to make up the difference. He is skinny and VERY active. He is mixed with a Terrier, so there is no lack of play and energy for him. Miranda does not steal his food now that it is the same as hers. I also watch to make sure she does not steal anything from him.
Our old vet said to get them olive oil, but the vet we saw yesterday said not to any more. Only a tiny bit of fish oil, Olive oil is too fattening. So that might be part of it.
We shall see.
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Permalink Reply by Joanna Kimball on
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If her thyroid is OK, just cut the food back.
I know it will seem like it's so little, but obviously that's what she needs. Feed 1/3 cup a day and fast her a day a week (give her something to chew on if she's miserable, but no calories).
CORE is very dense in nutrients and calories and it would not surprise me at all to have a corgi on 1/3 cup; that's how much I fed Clue when she was on Orijen and not pregnant/nursing (right now she's getting hilariously enormous amounts of food).
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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I know how frustrating it is. Finn has always looked like he was on the verge of being overweight (though it's hard to tell with all the extra skin and his wide ribcage) and once he was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, even though the vet said he is not overweight it would benefit him to be a couple pounds lighter.
We cut back his food and did all the things you have done and he didn't drop any weight. We have the same problem with not being able to exercise him too much or he will start limping (due to his hips). Once we got him down to 1/3 cup 2x a day, sometimes less at dinner if I am mixing in pumpkin or green beans, he stopped gaining weight (that's a good sign) and though I have not weight him in about a month he does look slightly thinner. It has been taking a long time though (since about October). You have to stick with it for a while to see results. Another thing was I stopped giving treats all the time. He will get maybe two treats a day and I don't mean whole treats, I break one treat up into two or three pieces and give them at different times.
How long has she been on Wellness Core? It's a good food but there are others still that are lower in fat and calorie content (without being a diet food). If you stick with Wellness and don't see any change (or worse, she gains weight) then you may want to look at others. We've had good luck with Natural Balance especially the Sweet Potato & Venison formula. It is also grain free. Another one I was considering for Finn was Solid Gold Wolfking. It's even lower in fat and cal and though it is not grain free, they avoid the grains that cause allergies in many dogs. Just some ideas in case you need to switch again though it sounds like you've been switching a lot already so hopefully you won't need to.
I hope all goes well with her test results. Let us know.
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i am going to wait for the results, but an even lower calorie food might be the next step. i will check out the ones you suggest. thanx.
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she weighs 39.4. Last January she weighed in at 30.4.... so we will be working on that this winter.
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Oh, I was expecting a higher #. Finn weighs just under 40 lbs and is not fat.
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Miranda is not the average Cardi. She is small for a female, her ears never went up. she is also the most submissive dog I have ever met. I guessed she was the runt of the litter or at least really low in the pecking order. If she looses 5 pounds I will feel a lot better, though I would like to work towards 10. She was healthy and active last year, I would like to get her back there again.
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Good luck...it's never easy! My Rainy looks at me like "why do I get so little (she's on a maintainance amount) and my others get more!
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