Lilly is 20 lbs long hair "tweenie".... We have cut out treats, walking at least 3 times a week. She is currently on Royal Canine for dachshund and is eating under the amount suggested by the bag. Is there anything else we should do? I am soooo worried....
We took her to Vet we thought she had some "allerigies" but he thinks that her breathing is because she is so big... Any Suggestions...
Are we not walking/excerising enough??? we thougt for sure it was the treats, but now Im worried....
I have never fed the amount shown on the bag of any dry food! Brekke is a 5 year-old longhaired mini who should weigh 10.4 pounds and weighs 12. (Ask her hoodad about the extra treats he gives her!) She currently gets 1 slightly heaping teaspoon of Solid Gold wet food with her Sea Meal vitamins, and about 1/3 cup of dry Solid Gold Hund-n-Flokken in the evening, and a couple of Vegi-Lite dog biscuits in the morning. Whatever dry kibble you give your baby, check the ingredients. Be very wary of corn or corn products in the ingredients, and if it is in the first five- be cautious - many dogs are allergic to corn. I believe Royal Canin does have it in its ingredient list. I would encourage you to get her walking every day, to help move her metabolism into a higher gear, or have her actively play for about 15 minutes a day - chasing a ball, etc. Then I would suggest taking about 1/4 less kibble and replacing it with either 1/4 cup of pureed, no-salt green beans or 100% pure pumpkin - not pie filling! This will help Lilly feel fuller, with fewer calories. As she drops weight, you can slowly cut back a little on the kibble anyhow. Do you know how to feel her ribs so you know when she reaches her ideal weight, or did the vet tell you how much she needs to lose?
We have worked with Cookie's weight as well- she should be 13 lbs, but hovered between 14-15 lbs. Last year when she got up to 15.5 pounds, she started having back trouble, and our vet put her on prescription Science Diet- 1/4 cup food twice a day. When we finished that bag we went back to Science Diet Light at 1/2 a cup twice a day and no treats. The bag suggests that much , plus at 1/2 a cup twice a day she still acted hungry. :rolleyes: We felt like she was starving, that's why we started feeding her more. And we also were walking her 30 min a day.
Anyway, she is back on the prescription diet food twice a day only 1/4 cup, and she is back to under 14 lbs. It seems to be the only thing that works for us. We feel bad, because she is so hungry and keeps asking to get fed, but we just can't give in anymore.
One thing they tested her for at the vet last year was Cushing's disease- its a hormonal disease that causes some dogs to eat a lot, drink excessively and get a pot belly. Luckily she did not have that disease. Maybe your vet can run some bloodwork just to rule out any hormone imbalances? :scratch:
Brekkesmom- your post reminded me- my vet did recommend carrots and steamed green beans for treats- very lo cal. Cookie hates the carrots, but loves the green beans.
Ours are on continous Hill's R/d Oliver gets 1/3 twice a day with about a tablespon of wet food, AMy gets the equivant of the bottom of the third of a cup measure with a tablepoon of wet food twice a day. Plus they get waled about 1/2 hour daily and about and hour on Sat and Sun
Roberta
ps I get told what I can do with carrots cooked or not.
Did you have her checked for hypothyroidism? I fought Rudy-angel's weight for close to six years. He once ballooned up to 18.2 pounds. No matter what I did, I couldn't get him below 15. It turned out he was hypothyroid and once he was put on Thyroxine, the weight starting falling off until he was a solid 12.5 pounds, which was where he should habe been.
When we took in Zora a bit over three months ago, she was over 15 pounds. I've been able to whittle her down to 13 1/2 by eliminating treats and hooman food. I also cut her food portions down from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup. Dieting with a dachshund is a slow process. You don't want the weight to come off too fast. A 1/2 pound to 1 pound per month is a good baseline for where you want to be.
It is so hard to keep these guys thin! I have been able to keep Hallie at a low weight but I too feel like I have to starve her to do it. I hate it. She does love carrots so I give her raw baby carrots as a treat and sometimes no salt rice cakes. She gets to clean up my bowls, fruit and yogurt smoothies, broccoli, etc. As Julia mentioned, I also feed her chopped up no salt canned green beans in with her meals. I feed her Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul kibble becasue it is lower in calories than the other premium foods I could find (335 kcal per cup I think it is). I also mix in some Eagle Pack Holistic select canned which isn't too high in calories. She also does get some treats during the day. She's fairly active I'd say, we go for about a half hour walk every day, although lately we have had to skip some days due to snow. She usually runs most of the walk, she's on a flexi so I have to book to keep up with her the best I can.
It's a tough fight though, I really hate having her be so hungry all the time, she searches the floor or ground for crumbs all the time. I have always wondered why so many doxies are notoriously ravenous! Poor babies.