Huey's belly...

Sometimes Huey's belly swells up a little after he's eaten or drank a lot.

It doesn't seem to bother him in the least, he runs around and plays just like normal.

Up until a few weeks ago we were having trouble getting him to eat the Innova Evo kibble, he was really underweight so the vet told us to get him on canned food ASAP.

We started feeding him the canned Innova Evo (which is really expensive so I've been mixing it with some canned Natural Balance and a spoonful of canned pumpkin for fiber). Now he can't get enough!

My husband and I both work full time so we feed him once in the early AM then either I or his dog walker feed him again in the afternoon and finally he eats again in the early evening. He's gained weight (thank goodness) but the tummy thing makes me nervous. Is he eating too much too fast? I've seen it happen after he drinks a lot of water also...

I am sure its quite normal to have a little pot belly after eating but depending on how much swelling is involved would depend on the level of concern needed.
I am no expert so don't qoute me but could you limit his water intake after a meal ?
and or maybe limit the activity level after a meal ?
I know it will not stop the swelling but may make him more comfortable ??
Also we do not have canned pumpkin here in oz but could this be making him a little windy ?
My babies love all there fruit and veg but I do have to be careful with the high fibre vegies as they get wind and puff up also.

Hope this can be of help till someone who is an expert comes along.
All else fails ring the vet and check with them ?

Did the vet say it was normal? There's a condition called bloat thats very serious but is something that large breed dogs get. On the other hand, some bloating after eating a lot or drinking a lot is common in puppies, i just read after looking up bloat on google.

When i started Zack on Innova Evo, when he was about 9 months old, he had smelly gas. At the pet store, i told them about this and said i was thinking of switching from the regular Evo to the red meat Evo to see if that might improve the gas, and i was advised to give him digestive enzymes. They said other customers reported definite improvement when adding the enzymes. I already had some from when i first got zack and he had colitis, the kind i have is made by Nature-Vet or Natur-Vet. No doubt about it, when i sprinkled the enzymes on his Evo kibble, the smell of gas became rare. but it still happens a little, and before the Evo he never had it, so i can't help wondering if Huey could be having gas from Evo.

Also, about the being underweight--I was reading user reviews on some site about Evo, and most of them were excellent, 5 stars or whatever, but some were negative, and a common problem for those giving negative reviews was that their dog stopped gaining weight or even lost weight on Evo, and one person complained the dog never gained the weight back after they switched to another brand of food, but at least stopped losing weight.

Zack hasnt gained weight in a long time, but i think he already stopped gaining quite a while before i started the Evo, and he does not look underweight at all. Still, after reading those reviews, I am aware and alert to those kinds of problems. Somewhere else i read about Evo causing kidney function problems in certain dogs, it's not common but it can happen. I think the company vehemently denies this and i don't know if it's true, but when i think of kidney dysfunction, i think about edema and fluid imbalances. Has Huey's kidney function been checked?

I'm sure it's normal bloating, but i would be concerned too, if Zack was having that. i would want to hear from his vet that it's normal and nothing to be concerned about.

Bailey used to get that, it never seemed to bother him ..... Not that I'm an expert either but it sounds pretty normal.

Puppies often bloat after eating then shrink as they digest. That tends to stop after they get to about 6 months or so but they can really look different in size before and after a meal!

As long as the bloating isn;' worms, then this probably isn't anything to worry about.

Why would your vet recommend canned food as a diet preference? Feeding primarily canned food is very bad for teeth and in this breed, good dental health is really important as poor dental health is known to have a link to heart health.

If the puppy is fat simply feed a bit less dry food. A mix of canned and dry is fine but I sure wouldn't be feeding only canned food to either dogs or cats, kittens or puppies.

I sugest having a read here:

www.roycroftcavaliers.com/manualfeeding.htm

Karlin said:

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As long as the bloating isn;' worms, then this probably isn't anything to worry about.

Why would your vet recommend canned food as a diet preference?

....If the puppy is fat simply feed a bit less dry food. A mix of canned and dry is fine but I sure wouldn't be feeding only canned food to either dogs or cats, kittens or puppies......

Click to expand...

She said the problem was that the puppy was resisting eating his kibble and became underweight to a point where it was an urgent concern--i think that's what she was saying--the vet recommended canned food to get the puppy eating and gaining weight, since he was not eating kibble.

this is the first example i can remember reading about on this forum where someone's dog actually became underweight to the point where a vet was worried about it related to refusing to eat kibble. Usually, when people report this problem, the dog's weight is normal and it's OK to let the dog go without eating until they accept that kibble is what they're going to get.

What do you do when a dog becomes underweight, particularly a puppy?

by the way, my cat became quite a bit overweight in the past year or two, just on her lifelong feeding regime, she wasn't eating any more than before but i guess her metabolism and activity slowed down, she's 13, she'd always been a thin cat with a small sleek body, and then she became fat. I found a cat discussion forum and asked what people do for weight reduction, and several people, including a vet tech cat owner, said put her on only canned food, which surprised me. intuitively i would've thought it would be more fattening, but apparently not according to several people. I was not comfortable with doing that however, and basically just cut down her kibble portions, got her a very small bowl, and gradually the weight has come off. I think she looks great now. She never acted as if she was overly hungry, she didn't seem to miss the extra food.

Thanks for all the information, as I mentioned this really doesn't bother Huey so I'm going to double check w/the Vet tomorrow but I think it sounds pretty normal. We call him the "Buddha belly boy" when it happens :lol:

Judy you're absolutely right, Huey was starting to get underweight so the vet advised us to just to get him to start eating, canned food was all that he would eat. Huey is a big fan of bully sticks and nylabones so he is definately using his teeth, plus he's starting to eat some dry food, he actually likes the "Just a Wee Bit" from Solid Gold, I think the small size appeals to him.