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Diet

Super Princess

Well-known member
Maggie has been on Acana all her life.
Ive been thrilled with it..after checking the reviews and seeing how healthy it is for her.
i switch flavors all the time to keep her interested..

but for a time..she wasnt interested in her food and it was driving me crazy...so boslesys (pet store) recomended mixing in a bit of canned food. which got her intersted..
we now dont even need that..havnt fed her canned ina while.

but she is over weight. and i would bet it was the tinned food on top of the dry i was feeding her... making it too much.

she weighs 20.5 pounds.
Ive been taking her in to get her weighed...ive followed the advice and cut her food in half..
still shes not loosing..infact gaind a pound (to 20.5)

so they said bring her in for a REAL consultation.

I did..and they recomended switching her food to perscription diet td. something they sell in the vets office. has to be healthy right?
I was all for it if she lost weight.

they gave me a bag (which ill pay for on pay day...the next bag is free) but looking at the reviews...they say its crap.

so now im not sure what to do.
do i keep her on this and see if she really dose loose weight? And then switch her back to acana once shes at a healthy weight?
Im nervous to go back into the vets office..which promotes this so much..and tell them theyre wrong and that i did the research and know more then they do. Im not good with that stuff.

I just want her at a healthy weight.
 
Chelsea, I would not feed her the crap. I would limit her intake of the food that you like, and try increasing her activity. I don't really think it was the canned food that "made her fat" canned food just has more water plus she must have loved it!
As you might know I am doing Weight Watchers and a big part of that is losing the "right" way which means actually eating but eating more healthy. Weight Watchers really eating pushed the healthiest options in moderation. I cannot argue with my results eating like this 20 lbs down in 7 weeks! This make me think you need to keep Maggie on the better food. Are you giving her treats at all? What about her activity? How much does the vet thing she should weight?
 
Chelsea, I would not feed her the crap. I would limit her intake of the food that you like, and try increasing her activity. I don't really think it was the canned food that "made her fat" canned food just has more water plus she must have loved it!
I agree! How much were you feeding her a day? I believe our dogs are about the same age? BellaMia gets kibble AND wet food mixed for breakfast and dinner (appx. 1/4 cup). I supplement that with either green beans or chopped carrots. She also gets a small doggie biscuit for lunch. During the day she gets "good girl" treats of pieces of her kibble. She gets a 30-45 minute walk daily and lots of running and play during the day. In the evening, when we NEED to relax, she chews a bully stick. Right now she weighs about 16.5 lbs. A good weight for her. So all totaled she gets about 3/4 to a cup of food a day.

I would keep Maggie on the food she likes and just keep cutting back until she's at a healthy weight.
 
It's difficult to state categorically what is a healthy weight for a particular dog, as Cavaliers can vary so much in size. I had a B&T who never got above 15lb; Oliver, although from show stock, has always had good bone and muscle and weighed around 20lb, although never fat. A better estimate is to look at them from above and see whether they have a definite waistline, and check that you can feel their ribs easily. If Maggie passes both these tests, then around 20lb is probably her normal weight and you can stop worrying (though extra vegetables are never a bad thing!). Check her weight from time to time and if she goes up a bit (which may be because the weather has been bad and she has had less exercise, rather than that she is being overfed), cut down her food until she gets back to 20lb and then return to the usual amount (and up the exercise if necessary).

Aled, of course, being a Blenheim only has to look at food to put on weight - he eats half of what Oliver has but weighs almost the same! But he passes the waist and ribs tests...

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
After much stressing I took her to a local pet store one I've trusted for years. I got both meeko and simba from them. And have always trusted them with questions. The owner has a cavalier herself. . They're 2 min up the road is I put Maggie in the car and took her to them. Explained the situation and asked them to do the rib test.
The lady said in worrying too much. She isn't that much over weight at all. That some cavaliers are big boned. She said She could feel Maggie's ribs. And she probably only needed to loose a pound. She said she wouldn't follow the doctors kibble at all but to switch to light and fit acana which has less calories. She said I should start to notice a difference.


I used to feed Maggie 1/2 cup morning 1/2 cup night. Total 1 cup. This is what her breeder recommended. Her dogs are Norma weight.
(And sometimes that had wet food mixed in) we don't do wet food any more. She eats just fine without it. And vet had said to cut to 1/3 cup 2x a day.

When they wanted me to switch to their crap food they said feed 2 cups a day at 500 calories a day.

The light and fit (hell eve regular acana) is about half of that!! 250ish calories a day.
She chews her bully stick when grandpa eats lunch.
And we used to (spring) go for 1:15 walks. But then it's got too hot. Now it's too cold. Lol. We have nee. Doing 25 minutes nightly. And last night I found a new winter rout that should take us about an hour to do. Weather depending.

Lady at pets west also suggested shaving her while we are dieting so I can see what she looks like (she's sooooo darn fluffy) but I think I'd cry hahah
 
Heck no shaving!!!!!!!!! Fletcher is a fluffy ball but I love him like that. Cut the kibble not the hair!
 
haha i always got so mad when they shaved oliver. i cant do that to my fluffernutters. but when shes wet while bathing shes got some nice lines. haha.
 
haha i always got so mad when they shaved oliver. i cant do that to my fluffernutters. but when shes wet while bathing shes got some nice lines. haha.

If you can just feel her ribs under the skin when petting her, she is fine. Or stand above her and look down, you should see an indentation behind the ribs, which is her "waistline". m

My vet tells me my chins are "sexy" as they are slim, but its hard to see under all the fur. He pointed out the waistline for me and "rib test". As for Bosco, the vet says, "he's fine, but no more weight on him". Guess he is not "sexy" -- poor guy!
 
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