Toby needs a diet....But he's hungry!
Toby is a very fat Shiba. Right now, he weighs a whopping 44 pounds. (He's big anyway, but he looks slim at around 35 pounds). He has no waistline, and even looks a little pouchy on his belly!
His weight was exacerbated because I had to put him on prednisdone for severe allergies. (he lost all the fur on his chest! It's finally growing back. I suspect inhalant allergies--the juniper season was/is super bad this year). But the pred made him crazy hungry--like trying to snatch food out my hands, hungry. And I know that can cause people/animals to look a little bloated, so right now he's probably worse than usual. (he's been off the pred for 4 days so far).
I feed raw. He gets very little food. He gets one chicken neck or half of a chicken back (not both) everyday. That's it. He gets his pills in a little tiny piece of low fat string cheese twice a day. He may also get a couple of liver treats (tiny ones--they are about 5 cals. each) 2-3 times a day. That's all he gets. And yet he's maintaining his weight (even gaining!). We also checked his thyroid in the Oct. and it was at a good level with his meds.
He needs exercise too, and now that the weather is better, I'm committed to restarting his walks, but he tires easily and doesn't want to go very far. (He does have a mild LP, too, so I need both to be careful with walks but the weight certainly won't help his knee either).
But I really need to find something to feed him--even if I have to go to kibble for awhile--that will be filling but also help him slim down. He is hungry all the time! Seriously, he's been eating paper lately, and yesterday I caught him eating wood chips! Not chewing on a stick, but just grazing in the woodpile where there were wood chips! It made me feel really bad (and it can't be good for him) but I don't know what to do--I don't want him to gain more weight!
I'm at a loss over what will be filling for him, but also help him slim down. He doesn't like vegetables (though god knows, he might eat them now--if he's eating wood!) except for sweet potatoes and occasionally carrots. I know Lindsay has mentioned that chicken is fatty--I wonder if I should switch him to a different protien source for awhile? Fish? Should I try a kibble for awhile? If so, what?
help!
His weight was exacerbated because I had to put him on prednisdone for severe allergies. (he lost all the fur on his chest! It's finally growing back. I suspect inhalant allergies--the juniper season was/is super bad this year). But the pred made him crazy hungry--like trying to snatch food out my hands, hungry. And I know that can cause people/animals to look a little bloated, so right now he's probably worse than usual. (he's been off the pred for 4 days so far).
I feed raw. He gets very little food. He gets one chicken neck or half of a chicken back (not both) everyday. That's it. He gets his pills in a little tiny piece of low fat string cheese twice a day. He may also get a couple of liver treats (tiny ones--they are about 5 cals. each) 2-3 times a day. That's all he gets. And yet he's maintaining his weight (even gaining!). We also checked his thyroid in the Oct. and it was at a good level with his meds.
He needs exercise too, and now that the weather is better, I'm committed to restarting his walks, but he tires easily and doesn't want to go very far. (He does have a mild LP, too, so I need both to be careful with walks but the weight certainly won't help his knee either).
But I really need to find something to feed him--even if I have to go to kibble for awhile--that will be filling but also help him slim down. He is hungry all the time! Seriously, he's been eating paper lately, and yesterday I caught him eating wood chips! Not chewing on a stick, but just grazing in the woodpile where there were wood chips! It made me feel really bad (and it can't be good for him) but I don't know what to do--I don't want him to gain more weight!
I'm at a loss over what will be filling for him, but also help him slim down. He doesn't like vegetables (though god knows, he might eat them now--if he's eating wood!) except for sweet potatoes and occasionally carrots. I know Lindsay has mentioned that chicken is fatty--I wonder if I should switch him to a different protien source for awhile? Fish? Should I try a kibble for awhile? If so, what?
help!
Comments
Possibly try Timberwolf Organic's Wilderness formula? I was at my local holistic shop today and a lady came in asking about her own dog that is overweight and the store owners recommended Timberwolf's Wilderness formula for managing weight.
Hopefully you get all this solved for Toby, I know you've been through so much with your dogs already.
Add raw veggies. They will fill him up, but he will burn more energy trying to digest them as they are raw not cooked. Try green beans also. Increase exercise. Freezing his food is a good idea. Give him raw meaty bones to work on instead of a full meal. Good luck!
I put Tikaani on a diet to help alleviate the weight on his knees, replacing his kibble with canned green beans. It seems to be working as he looks skinnier, but it frustrates me that i can't get a definite weight on him since every dog scale we go to is broken.
For bone in items she gets pork ribs, lamb ribs, and chicken feet once or twice a week. She can also handle big ox tails the kind with lots of meat on it she'll tear the meat off and grind the bone down, but depends on the dog of coarse since the bone is gulp able size.
She also has been getting ground goat/bone/organ/tripe, sheep/bone/organ, and duck/bone/organs as meals it has bone in it.
Saya got her first whole prey quail she loved it still poultry.
Saya gets variety of boneless meats through the week pork, beef, beef lung, tripe, ground beef, ground turkey as her boneless meals which are given frozen slows her down with eating her boneless meals.
Hard to say what would be best to feed to loose weight Saya's pretty good weight she only eats once a day some times she gets a snack, but most she does eats once she seems fine with it.
I never new chicken was really fatty.. I know most people on the dogster raw forums recommend with prey modal raw to be mostly red meat like 50% red meat like pork, beef, lamb, deer etc. and 50% white meat chicken, turkey, fish etc. or something like that.
Maybe something that takes more work to eat will help him feel more full? A whole rabbit? I plan to order whole rabbit from hare today for Saya eventually to see how she likes it since she loved the whole prey quail she loved the feathers fed it frozen took her a bit to eat it.
I'm going to go with fish and veggies for a couple of weeks to see if he loses weight, and if not, I'll have to investigate something else....