Lowest Calorie and Best Grade Food

[Brian M]

Hi
With regard to mince which I have fed boiled occasionally but I look at the fat content, even though I ask for the leanest the Butchers have ,and that puts me off.My problem is I know nothing about food so I only go on what I read which often is probaly a load of tosh ,I also feed them often boiled Coley is that fatty or is that OK as an additive to Arden Grange Light a quantity of 12-15 gram twice daily with veg but I will stop the Kronch and the Yoghurt.

[sins]

Even the leanest mince will have a 4 or 5% fat content and a lot of that will be saturated fat.Boiling it will reduce the fat content if you drain it well.
The idea of feeding a complete premium dogfood like Adren Grange is that it is a complete food.You don't need to add anything to it.
I'm sure a bit of boiled Coley is fine as a replacement for a meal but not as a mix with it.
Weigh each of your girls,look at the feeding chart on the bag and weigh the food on the kitchen scales.The calorific and nutrition content is calculated by the manufacturers to deliver the correct level of calories and nutrients based on the dog's weight and activity.
Each dog depending on their weight may need a different amount to the others so feed them separately while dieting.
If the girls are neutered you may need to reduce the amount slightly further.
Initially maybe just stick to the kibble itself and just feed a bit of veg if they get extra hungry.
You'll just have to become a blackhearted brute and ignore all pleading eyes and faces
Just because a food doesn't look appetising to you doesn't mean the dogs will find anything wrong with it.
Sins

[Brian M]

Hi Sins
The other (actually lots ) thing I cant do is iron shirts ,when I divorced from Jackie and lived with an adorable rescue 10 yr old GSD for two years I could feed myself as there happened to be a couple of good take aways handy ,but good old Mum came to see me every day and tidy up and do my ironing ,I think thats because as Margaret said you females are so good at multi tasking and who am I to argue when I got so well looked after.
So sometimes ignorance is bliss.

[sins]

For what it's worth Brian,I suspect your dogs are better fed and groomed than my poor neglected husband!!
Sins

[team bella]

I know the weight debate is very important but I had to chuckle at Brians quote -

'the same advice cut down on food and go up on exercise '

I've been to the doctors and she's just told me the exact same thing. There must be a cavi inside me fighting to get out.

[Dublin]

Cavaliers seem to have no 'fullness' trigger...

Karlin - I think im a cavalier!!!!

Also have to agree with the boiling of stainless steel bowls for raw feeders is a must - I also use an anti-bac washing up liquid - just incase any of that nasty bacteria would dare to live through the boiling water!!!

[Dublin]

Hi
With regard to mince which I have fed boiled occasionally but I look at the fat content, even though I ask for the leanest the Butchers have ,and that puts me off.My problem is I know nothing about food so I only go on what I read which often is probaly a load of tosh ,I also feed them often boiled Coley is that fatty or is that OK as an additive to Arden Grange Light a quantity of 12-15 gram twice daily with veg but I will stop the Kronch and the Yoghurt.

have you tried turkey mince? I believe coley being a whilte fish is pretty low in fat (my nan feeds this to her cats too!) - it's the oily ones like sardines etc that are higher in calories.

[chloe92us]

Brian, I know you've been struggling with her weight, I say KEEP IT SIMPLE: Keep feeding the Arden Grange, top with a small handful of frozen green beans, mix it up, and serve. Don't add anything else! If you take out the yogurt, bran, and whatever else you're adding (which sounds really good by the way!) and increase her kibble to about 1/4 c twice a day, then you should be able to better gauge how she's doing. Anytime you add, you lose the ability to accurately maintain calorie intake and proportions.

[MishathePooh]

I'll second chloe response. You may tihnk you're only adding a wee bit here and there, but it can really add up! One of the best weight loss instruments for humans is faithfully keeping a food diary. If you absolutely can't stop yourself from giving your pups extras, then write everything you're feeding them in a journal.

Ditch the yogurt and give a probiotic tablet instead. That will save calories and provide the beneficial bacteria. I feel any good the honey would do would be outweighed by the extra calories it adds. If your girls do well on most diets, then trying Hill's RD may be helpful if you can get it in the UK. Of course you'd have to speak with your vet on this.

I'd rather my dog become a healthy weight on a slightly lower quality food than be fat/obese on a higher quality food. Once the weight drops you could find a better quality food that works for weight maintenance.

[Janice]

Reuben hardly eats a thing! He is being given 2 meals of 30g a day but sometimes he will eat half, sometimes none and very ocasionally (once a week) he might finish the bowl. Doesnt really bother me as i am one these folks who think that he will not starve himself so there it is.

As to TYPE of food, he came away from breeder with eukaneuba puppy so i used that. Then a neighbour i met on a walk with 2 cavs said she had a sack of arden grange that her dogs didnt like so she gave it to me.

I mixed it with the eukaneuba and almost immediately his stools were so much better, darker, harder and easier to deal with from a human point of view. Now i am at the bottom of the box and its mainly eukaneba and im seeing the stools go back to sloppy and yellowish again.

So its Arden Grange for me from now on!!!!