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Need a new food - confused!

nannyj

Active member
Quincy is now almost 11 months old, and weighs 20 pounds. The vet said he has gained too much weight too quickly, and I should change his food. I had been feeding him Natural Balance Small Bites, for small breed puppies to adults. I am so confused looking for a new food! How much protein and fat should he be getting? He's a very lazy dog, but he does love a couple of good walks each day. Should I give him a low calorie food? I currently feed him 1/2 cup, twice a day, and I can't imagine giving him any less, because he gobbles it right down.

Any food recommendations? I'm looking for something in the medium price range. He previously ate Wellness, and didn't do well on it ( itchy, lots of gas, frequent scooting - all stopped when I switched to Natural Balance).

Any advice is welcome!
 
If he does well on Natural Balance, I would keep him on it, but cut down to 1/3 cup twice a day and then top with a handful of green beans so he feels full. They're low in calories but add bulk- all of mine love them.
 
Do you buy bags of frozen green beans and thaw them each day??? This sounds like a good idea, but not sure how to serve them.
 
My local grocery store has Green Line fresh green beans in a bag that I put in the microwave for a couple of minutes. One bag is enough to last my four vacuum cleaners about three days. I used to buy canned Del Monte green beans without salt but just heard a report that they have high amounts of the chemical that was found in water bottles (sorry - having old age brain syndrome and can't remember the name of the chemical), so I switched to fresh beans. Needless to sy, they all gobble them up.
 
If your brand of dog food (sorry, don't know American brands) does a Senior/Light version, this would help your Cavalier lose weight. It's designed to keep weight off older dogs who can't manage so much exercise, and worked well for my 5-year-old - he could eat almost as many biscuits but lose weight at the same time!

Kate, Oliver the piggy, and Aled
 
About beans- I actually serve them frozen but you can thaw them if you like. I'm lazy, and they love them! Another plus is it takes longer to eat them so they're not swallowing their food whole.
 
Thanks so much for the responses! I LOVE the green bean idea! I tried it this morning with his breakfast - gave him less of his regular food, and a handful of frozen green beans. He loved it! And yes, it really slows down his eating, which should help as well. Such a simple and practical solution, because frozen green beans are so inexpensive! Hopefully, it will slow down his weight gain also.
 
Hi

Apart from green beans you can also try broccoli ,carrots and cabbage ,my four especially Pops have a mix of three veg with every meals all partially thawed.:)
 
Hi

Apart from green beans you can also try broccoli ,carrots and cabbage ,my four especially Pops have a mix of three veg with every meals all partially thawed.:)

My lot love veg half thawed - it's crunchy and cold but not solid! Carrots are a favourite in my house ;)

Also, (OP) look into light foods. There are some great ones out there - Arden Grange do a good one (fed this to my "curvy" lady and she lost the wieght slowly and steadily, had to take her off it due to colitis but it was very good while she was on it). The trick is to get the weight off slowly, just like with people, so that it will stay off :D
 
I echo the carrots as a food,my two love them as well, and wait impatiently for them every evening while I am preparing the family's dinner.

Lorebringer - have you tried Arden Grange potatoes and fish for your dog with colitis - I have found it great for my dog that tends to have colitis. Cleared up the problem quickly.
 
I tried giving the dogs green beans today, and it was so funny. They weren't quite sure what to do with them- finally Zoey ate hers, but Jato just spit them out and wanted to play with them. icon_nwunsure
 
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