Is your Corgi Overweight??? Take a second look!!! UPDATE!!! 9/14/2009
Let me first start by saying... our Soffie is a tall girl and quite a bit larger boned than our Griffyn and weighs in at 38lbs. 3 weeks ago Soffie pulled up lame on her hind left leg. This following a full tilt run across the front yard. Hard to know exactly how the injury actually occured but.... the end result was a torn cruciate ligament. We had an appointment this past monday with an orthopedic surgeon (believe me we had already done so much research on this injury!! Pros / cons to surgery. Pros / cons to controlled maintenance) And here is a direct quote from the surgeon report and the very first thing listed on the Surgeons recommendations for Soffie's recovery.
"Soffie presented to the FVRC for evaluation of a left hind limb lameness. Her general physical exam was unremarkable, except she is moderately overweight. The orthopedic exam showed effusion (increased joint fluid) in both knees, but only the left knee was painful. There was no instability elicited. We suspect that Soffie has a partial tear of the left cranial cruciate ligament. Although surgery is an option, it is reasonable to give her time to see if the lameness progresses.
Recommendations:
1. Weight loss is the most important aspect of treatment. You should be able to easily feel the ribs when you pet her and she should have a visible waist when viewed from above. Begin by decreasing her food intake by 20%. If you would like to offer treats, please use rice cakes, carrots, or take kibble from the measured meal. She should be weighed in 2 weeks to assess progress. If she is not losing weight, then decrease intake by an additional 10%" (end of quote from surgeon)
Soffie's prognosis is the same with or without surgery. Arthritis!!! And she is only 3years 7 mos!!! And there are signs she will have problems with her right hind leg too! And her weight is the largest contributing factor!!
We're dealing with what we have to do now. And that is keeping her totally restricted. We have a pen in the house to keep her in a small confined area. At night she sleeps in her crate. (I miss her in bed with me!) We bought a ramp because she cannot do even 2 stairs out to the back yard! No walks! Out on a leash only for potty breaks! No jumping, no running, no sudden movements. No swimming ( until after her recheck in 4 weeks) imagine how hard that is going to be for my little swimmer when we're on vacation next week at the lake in Maine.
Anyway.... bottom line. Would we have been more diligent about her weight had we understood the consequences??? The answer is an emphatic YES!
We really didn't think Soffie was overweight because of her height! We were wrong! And I hope any and all of you out there that read this post will take heed and do what is right for your beloved corgis!!
"Soffie presented to the FVRC for evaluation of a left hind limb lameness. Her general physical exam was unremarkable, except she is moderately overweight. The orthopedic exam showed effusion (increased joint fluid) in both knees, but only the left knee was painful. There was no instability elicited. We suspect that Soffie has a partial tear of the left cranial cruciate ligament. Although surgery is an option, it is reasonable to give her time to see if the lameness progresses.
Recommendations:
1. Weight loss is the most important aspect of treatment. You should be able to easily feel the ribs when you pet her and she should have a visible waist when viewed from above. Begin by decreasing her food intake by 20%. If you would like to offer treats, please use rice cakes, carrots, or take kibble from the measured meal. She should be weighed in 2 weeks to assess progress. If she is not losing weight, then decrease intake by an additional 10%" (end of quote from surgeon)
Soffie's prognosis is the same with or without surgery. Arthritis!!! And she is only 3years 7 mos!!! And there are signs she will have problems with her right hind leg too! And her weight is the largest contributing factor!!
We're dealing with what we have to do now. And that is keeping her totally restricted. We have a pen in the house to keep her in a small confined area. At night she sleeps in her crate. (I miss her in bed with me!) We bought a ramp because she cannot do even 2 stairs out to the back yard! No walks! Out on a leash only for potty breaks! No jumping, no running, no sudden movements. No swimming ( until after her recheck in 4 weeks) imagine how hard that is going to be for my little swimmer when we're on vacation next week at the lake in Maine.
Anyway.... bottom line. Would we have been more diligent about her weight had we understood the consequences??? The answer is an emphatic YES!
We really didn't think Soffie was overweight because of her height! We were wrong! And I hope any and all of you out there that read this post will take heed and do what is right for your beloved corgis!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cindi on
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Sweet dog owners just don't realize what is regarded as "overweight" and it doesn't matter whether it's a corgi or any other dog. I see so many every day at work that are heavy and owners truly think unless they're chubby they're not healthy. I try my best to be an educator, but it often falls on deaf ears.
One of ours, Rudy, (and you'll remember he's the one we lost to aggression) was "big." The rescuer made a point of him being a big corgi. And, granted, he was too large to meet breed standard. But he was still heavy. When put on a proper diet of natural foods and treats, he dropped ten pounds. I'll bet when we finally lost him (you can read the blog on my page) he weighed in at 27-28lbs. And that was a proper weight. Moira was close to 48lbs. when we got her. It took several months, but she's now a respectable 24lbs.
There's a corgi who comes to PetSmart who weighs 44 lbs. He was more. The owners have been working with him, but sure enough he tore a ligament in his hind leg and there goes the chance to exercise. It's going to be weeks before they can get him back and somewhat active. I tried to explain to them the weight is a major contributing factor to his injury.
I'm so glad to hear you are going to work on Soffie's weight. Hopefully, as the injury heals you can get her back in the water as it will be a wonderful way to exercise her without weight bearing on her leg.
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Permalink Reply by Boo Buchheit on
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Just a little side note. When I switched to adult formula from puppy formula Leo lost some of his pudginess. Also I changed from Purina Puppy Chow to Blue Buffalo adult formula. Randy has always looked lean, but Leo went through a short period before changing foods of looking chunky. 2 Months on BB adult and they both look great.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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This is such good advice! It is so easy for corgis to be overweight. However, don't beat yourself up too much because they don't really know why some dogs have this injury. Sparty partially tore his, and he is not overweight. They do know that a heavy dog is more likely to have this injury. I had to show my husband a few articles about weight shortening their lives in order to get him to give them treats less! We had to change a lot about Sparty's activities in order to avoid surgerey. It has been about 3-4 years now and he is doing fine at ten. We have found other activities with less stopping and starting for him and we are very careful about weight. He has arthritis but only occasionally does it bother him. I sure hope Soffie does well with whatever you do. She will adjust probably easier than you will.
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Permalink Reply by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on
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Yup, she is adjusting for sure alot easier than I am. And she and Griffyn are sorting it out too. We are commited to do whatever she needs to avoid surgery. In the long run I know we will all look back and know that everything we did was worth it!
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.... a picture is worth a thousand words!
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Wow..those are cool. My Leo looks like the 28 pounder in the picture and he us just under 28 pounds. Randy is thinner than all of them but he is a baby still 4 1/2 months.
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Permalink Reply by Shippo & Koga Corgis on
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I feel Shippo's sides every day when I pet him, and can easily feel his ribs. They say that your dog's sides should feel like the back of your hand. Shippo's nice and lean, just the way I like him. =^_^=
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I just wanted to add a quick photo of Jack from above, showing the clearly visible waist.
It's been terribly hot and I think he's started to chunk up a bit again due to reduced activity indoors and two missed walks because of downpours. He could probably stand to lose 1-2 pounds in this pic. Not sure of his exact weight, but I'd guess 39 pounds (remember he's oversized).
By the way, he's standing a bit stretched out in this pose, so he looks a bit thinner in this picture than he really is.
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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on
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I wouldn't be able to guess he's overweight in this pic!
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Ah, it depends on the angle! I wouldn't say he's overweight, but I prefer him on the lean side because of his large size. He still has short Corgi legs, after all, and it won't do to have a 40-pound dog on them.
He carries his weight more low on his belly than up along his back. If I showed you a side shot he would not look so thin. However, I think when vets say "He should have a clearly defined waist from above" I am not sure that's so easy to visualize, so I thought I would model Jack. I also wanted to show that there is no "right" weight; I frequently find myself trying to explain that my 39 pound Corgi is certainly not obese, and a picture is worth a thousand words.
You can see the hollow behind hs rib, and get the impression of rib cage even though they don't stick out. His hip bones don't show, and have a good padding of flesh.
I find Corgi weight harder to judge than almost any breed except Bassets.
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Permalink Reply by Garrett, Katie, & Conan on
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So we finally measured Conan today. He wanted nothing to do with the measuring tape though, so it was a little difficult. He kept turning around to look at what we were stretching across his back, haha. So I'm not sure of the accuracy, but he's about 13 inches tall, and about 16 inches long, from what we could tell. His height I think is pretty dead on, the length I'm not sure. After seeing the picture of Jack (who looks great!) we have definitely decided that Conan should lose some weight. He has a waist, so that's good. But he's got a bit of meat over his ribs. We're also switching him from Royal Canin to Orijen. I know it's a lot richer, but in the end I'm hoping the switch helps keep him a little leaner. I want to try changing his diet, and how much we're feeding him, before upping the activity. I'm hoping that way we can keep the injury risk low.
Anyway, I know the reason for this post wasn't necessarily any sort of good news. But I think it really helped a lot of us! I hope you and your pups the best, and for a wonderful recovery for Soffie!
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