Weight loss
Help! Simon needs to lose 8 lbs. The vet put him on Iams weight loss food a month ago and at his "weigh-in" today he actually gained a pound.Frustrating to say the least! He was eating natural balance sweet potato and fish previous to the "new" food. He is 6 years old and has a problem with his knee cap dislocating so I want and need him to lose the pounds.
Any ideas?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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How much are you feeding him? What kind of treats does he get and how often (be honest!)? What's the exact name of the new food, is it prescription? How many times is he fed and what is his exercise routine? How old is he? Has he ever had his thyroid tested? Also make sure you weigh him in on the same scale every time if your vet has multiple scales. I am the weight loss coach at my vet hospital so I can help if I have more information from you :-D
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Permalink Reply by Christine Boehner on
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He's getting 1 c. AM and PM of the new food: Iams weight control/mobility. I think that's too much. He gets two alpo variety snap treats a day. I break them up into little pieces throughout the day. We weaned him off of table scraps that we figured his previous owner had been giving him. We rescued him 1 1/2 years ago and he was severely overweight. I'm not sold on the Iams food much. We have not been on walks because I've been a wimp this winter with the cold and snow so I know that increased exercise would be beneficial. He is 6 years old. We also have a 10 yr. old corgi, Copper who weighs 27 lbs. and eats the natural balance sweet potato/fish twice a day - 1/3 c. both time with a handful of frozen green beans at the evening feeding. They eat separately so Simon's not "snitching" from Copper's bowl. He has not been tested for a thyroid problem yet. The vet uses the same scale each time.
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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So he's getting two cups a day, and the web site says it's 217 cal/cup. That's 434 cal/day from food.
Mine get one cup a day (the female actually gets about 1/3 c AM and 1/2 c PM) of food that is 338 per day. That's to maintain weight; they get about a third less than that if they have to lose. And both my Corgis are tall/long.
So yours is getting about 100 cal per day more than mine do (though mine do get more treats than yours, so let's say 70 cal per day more). Mine would gain too. :-)
Easiest solution is to reduce the food to a total of about 300 cal per day and see where that gets you. Personally I would feed a food with a named meat protein as the first ingredient, with a calorie count of around 350 cal/cup, and just feed less of it but that is an issue with no perfect answer. I DO feed Iam's, but avoid weight loss foods because they tend to be higher carb.
Either way, the calories are too high, which is a good thing because that's such an easy fix.
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Yeah 2 cups is A LOT of food. I would recommend cutting back by about 50%. You can do this slowly over a few weeks. If you are feeding that much I don't really think you need to switch to the Iams food. You are probably fine just switching back to the old food and just cutting back calories. Did you increase the Iams when you switched or are you feeding the same amount? We usually don't recommend a food switch unless you've tried everything else and then we will switch to a prescription diet. I would start by cutting back on the food and in the beginning you can substitute green beans or peas in for the extra kibble and then slowly wean him back. You can start with feeding 1 3/4 cup for a week, then 1 1/2 cup for a week, then 1 cup and see how he does on that. Franklin only gets about 3/4 cup of food a day and that is including the peas he gets. He gets about 1/2 cup kibble and 1/4 cup peas each day. He weighs 30 pounds. You can probably achieve adequate weight loss by just cutting back the calories. Good luck!
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Thanks so much for your help and advice. We're going to get on track with this. I will post updates as we make progress.
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Permalink Reply by Bogart the Cardigan on
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Canned beans have a lot of salt, I suggest fresh green beans, which Bogart gets as treats, or frozen green beans... Not canned. Bogart weighs 25 lbs and gets half a cup of Orijen twice a day, plus a few treats (including beans, slices of raw carrot and apple).
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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I use frozen green beans. Less salt and easy to have around anytime of the year.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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and frozen green beans are so easy to keep and not have to keep in fridge:) Can grab a few anytime!
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Permalink Reply by Bailey B. on
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I keep hearing about giving them frozen green beans, so I've been wondering, for future reference, should you thaw them first, or do they typically like to eat them frozen?
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Permalink Reply by Alison Prasavath on
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Noodles gets 3/4 cup dry food total. He gets 1/2 cup dry in the morning and then 1/4 cup dry at night mixed with either green beans or pumpkin. The green beans are frozen and they are lightly zapped in the microwave. If I were to put all frozen green beans in his food dish, he would look at me like I forgot a step. He will eat frozen green beans, but only a couple. The pumpkin is made by me. I cook up the pumpkin and then freeze it in ice cube trays and give him 2 pumpkin ice cubes with his dry food for dinner. He prefers the pumpkin mixed with warm water to create like a gravy to go over top of his food. This has helped him lose weight and keep the weight off.
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I don't thaw them. I just take them out and throw them on. Probably taste even better frozen when it's hot out but I'm not a dog so I am just guessing.
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