Is Lily too thin???

I have a question about how much I am feeding Lily. My Mother keeps telling me she is too skinny. She gets 1/2 cup RC mini adult in the morning and evening, with 1 tbsp. pumpkin in the evening. She gets a few biscuits around lunch time. She does seem hungry all the time and is always looking for more food as soon as she is finished. Am I feeding her enough? Is she too thin? She is 7 mos old and weighs 13.4 lbs.

Puppies tend to regulate their food pretty well -- if she is hungry she may need more food and they go thru growth phases where they need more food. She looks pretty lean; a vet really would need to be asked about whether she is also too thin. If her ribs are sticking out then she is.

Mine would simply stop eating when full until about 10 months old then they began to get adult appetities and of course had been neutered as well, another consideration. Jaspar is around that lean, maybe a bit more solid than that.

I'd talk to your vet. You really need someone to feel her and view her up close.

i don;t think she is thin ....BUT if she wants a little more at 7 months then i would allow her to have it

as Karlin says they go through growth spurts at this age and she may burn up more calories some days than others

She doesn't look too thin to me, especially as she has a long body. Most cavaliers go through a 'scrawny' stage, befor filling out. Teddy didn't, but, then, he has to be different.

I would definately ask your vet. Different dogs carry wieght differently.

She looks about the same as Cody right now, and I just recently increased his food from a cup to a cup and a half, just until he puts on a bit of weight. He is just really lanky and loooong. He already weighs 22 lbs and is only 8 months :sl*p:

If I let him eat as much as he wants then he would go through a 30lb bag of food!! He is such a pig!! he still acts hungry even after his 1 1/2 cups.

Shay, Molly looks just like Lilly. She has that same exact build. Last month she was spayed and nothing was mentioned about being too thin. Only once on her second visit to the vet did they think she was a little too thin, when she was 14 weeks old. I always assume that she is at a perfect weight for her, but would not want her to get any thinner. Max has more fat, (he's always 2-3 pounds heavier, but has a sturdier build) but he still has the slender waist that Karlin says is healthy. When Molly & Max run, Molly can always out run Max...to me, she acts like she is at a perfect weight.

If I remember correctly, the vet told me that I should be able to feel their ribs, but they shouldn't be sticking out. I'd do as the others suggested and ask the vet if you are concerned.

Is Lilly wearing a medium Puppia in the photo? If so, it looks like it's adjusted to the same size as I have on Molly. Max's adjustment buckle ends up on the opposite side of the middle back strap. (hope that made sense)

For us, until the vet says that Molly is too thin, I will try to keep her as is. I haven't posted new photos of Molly & Max to my blog in a while, but my hubby just started a blog this past weekend and posted some.

hubby's blog: http://maxmollygooddogs.blogspot.com/

My Blog: http://picselated.blogspot.com/


Hope this helped!

My Wife and I are proud parents of two "Cavalier King Charles Cavalier Spaniels". O ya we also have a 18 year old son and a 19 year old daughter.

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:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

That's so funny Lynn, I LOVE it!

Shay I think Lily looks good. She could stand to gain a bit but she doesn't look emaciated to me. I think at 7 months if she wants more food then you should let her eat but I think as adults, it's better to keep this breed on the thinner side then the fatter side. :flwr:

Lily is lean, but I do not see her ribs from your pictures. Gosh her coat is beautifully shiny. My vet said exactly what Lynn said, you should be able to feel her ribs but not see them. This was in response to my question about whether I was feeding Tucker enough.

Thanks everybody for the info. and comments. I gave her about 1/4 cup at lunch time and she looked at me like "what the heck" :lol:, she is not used to food at lunch time. She smelled it and walked away. She went back about 5 mins later, and scarfed it down. I think I will increase her morning food by 1/4 cup for a while. I don't want to start feeding 3x a day.

Monica.....Lily is very lanky too, and very looooong . She has long legs too, and that coltish look you described in another thread. I do feel her ribs, but can't see them by just looking at her. She has to twist her back end to fit in our laps now, but she sure manages to fit. icon_whistling

Lynn........That is a med puppia. The body part is really big on her, but she needs the med for her big head :roll:. The thing that concerned me is that she isn't gaining any weight, that's why I thought she may be not be getting enough food. I took what my Mother said in stride, as an Italian Mother, she thinks everyone needs to eat more :lol:. Loved the pics of your babies, both are gorgeous

When I look at the Roycroft pictures showing body shape for weight she is between good and lean so I think she looks great. Like some others have mentioned, because she is still technically a puppy (um I know she is a woman now!) letting her have more incase she is in a growth spurt isnt going to hurt. Kodee bounces between looking perfect and a little on the thin side too but then she is a picky little manipulator :lol:

Laura also notes on her Roycroft pages that puppies keep changing shape and can be roly poly then get thin -- and that different puppies can have different shapes. Jaspar was plumper as a puppy than he is as an adult.

I sure wouldn't move to three meals but try giving her a bit more as you suggest.

BTW Lily was sooooo fat when I got her from the pound that you could barely feel a single rib! :shock: Now you can feel them all. :lol: She is deeply disappointed.

Karlin said:

BTW Lily was sooooo fat when I got her from the pound that you could barely feel a single rib! :shock: Now you can feel them all. :lol: She is deeply disappointed.

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:lol: :lol: :lol:

Lily looks beautiful to my untrained eye, but with all the hair the CKCSs have it is difficult to tell if they are underweight just by looking. Somewhere on the forum Kalin put up a post about how a healthy CKCS should feel. See if you can find it. It is worth a read. If I get a chance I'll see if I can find it.

Personally I rather my dogs to be on the slightly lean side, rather than the slightly chubby side.

Shay--Lily looks great to me. But then Mia is about her weight. She's a little over a year and weight 13-14 lbs. She's very long and pretty petite and I can feel her ribs, but can't see them, so I'm pretty happy with her weight. I do remember her having growth spurts at around 7-9 months where she would have such a huge appetite and inhale her food (worse then now).

If I were you, I'd just add a few extra treats and maybe a teaspoon of peanut butter--it puts pounds on me every time! :lol:

I couldn't find the article I was hoping to find, so maybe I read it somewhere else. It talked about how to feel if a CKCS is under or overweight. It went something like this....

Get your wire dog crate; place a blanket on top of it; now stroke your fingers across the top of the crate & see what the wires feel like through the blanket. This is how your CKCS's ribs should feel. You should be able to feel them with a gentle covering over them, but they should not be jutting out. If you have to press to fee the ribs, then the dog is overweight, but if the ribs feel sharp & angular then it may be too thin.

Anyone else remember seeing this article?

Thanks guys...I can pretty easily feel her ribs, I don't have to press at all. To me they do feel a little angular. I think going up 1/4 to 1/2 cup a day may be what she needs. I think the other thing is too, that I stopped feeding her puppy food about 2 mos ago and switched to adult. This may be why she isn't gaining weight. I'm going to try the extra food for a month and see how she does. Thanks for all your help!! :thnku:

Generally puppy food does have more calories than adult food, so this may explain the slow-down in weight gain. As others have already said, the puppies go through growth spurts and it is hard to keep the fat on them when this happens. Just think about what happens to human children when they are going through their growth spurts. Most of them get that gangly, awkward look about them. Same with the puppies.

Lily is pretty much the same shape as Amber, who I'm also considering feeding a little more. Holly on the other hand is a bit strange. She has short neck for a Cav, which makes her look heavy as there's a little loose skin at the neck- but her backside isn't exactly well padded! The vet said she didn't need to lose more weight, but I have a feeling she could do with it, especially since she's nearly four. I'll ask the breeders this weekend and see what they say. My mum thinks I don't feed either enough, and she's not even Italian :lol:

Lisa_T said:

My mum thinks I don't feed either enough, and she's not even Italian :lol:

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:lol: :lol: :lol: I guess all Mother's are the same. Funny...she never tells me I need to eat more icon_nwunsure