Gaining so much weight! Help

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ruready

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Dylan was rescued in April and weighed 17lbs, took him a week later to be fixed and he weighed 18lbs. Then he had an itching problem so we took him to the vet in June. At that time they weighed him in at 21lbs. A week ago we went back to the vet to get a refill on his meds and curiously weighed him while we were there. To our dismay he weighed 24.7 lbs. He's way too large for his small frame. He's 15" tall and just looks hugh. The vet has him on Medrol which I read can cause weight gain but this is crazy. I feed him Innova reg dry food (1 cup) per day. he gets green beans usually for a treat with a bit of peanut butter with his pill.

Could it be that he needs a diet food? When we rescued him we were told he was 3 yrs old but when we went to the vet, he said he thought he was more like 7 or 8 yrs old.

One thing that is important is the Dylan does not play. the only activity he gets is his walk I give him daily. I've never seen him run or chase anything and I can't get him to play with any toys or chase a ball. he does chew bones and loves his kong. I'm thinking this is why the weight keeps piling on. Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Bless you for rescuing one of our sheltie brothers, good for you!

Time to look at the total amount of calories in a day...bones, kong, peanut butter, and kibble. Since he is gaining rapidly your only real solution is to cut back the kibble by 1/4 cup or more, walk him 2-4 times per day, and use treats that don't add to the calorie count. Treats for training should be very,very tiny (think pinky nail size or smaller). Try giving him an ice cube instead of a bone for chewing...unless you meant real bones as opposed to a treat bone. I'm not sure...if its a bone with meat on it you're going to have to re - think how much kibble, etc.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. I had to do a significant change in Indy's diet a year ago because he suddenly gained weight on a diet that had been stable for years; but this was due to thyroid problems and decrease in activity due to arthritis.
 
Oh dear, if he is on a corticosteroid then he may put on a considerable amount of weight - and he will probably always feel hungry too. I have been on corticosteroids and they play hell with metabolic rates. And the weight does not come off when the pills stop.

A diet (or weight maintenance) food will help while he is on Medrol, but Granite is right, you still need cut back on the kibble or extras.

When my two get a raw bone they do not get breakfast - it replaces a whole meal (if it is a very meaty bone it replaces their dinner too). Maybe cut out an entire meal and replace it with vegies only or with a bone.
If its a raw bone cut off the excess fat (and if it is chicken remove the skin). Perhaps also replace the kongs with some raw hide chews (not the treat variety but just the chew, and not pork or fatty varieties).
 
If I give Dylan the kong, it's filled usually with frozen green beans. He chews a rawhide bone, nothing that would replace a mean. Should I be feeding him something low fat? the only thing I can think of is the meds or the food itself (Innova) And if he is older than we were told, maybe he needs a food for dogs that are not active. I'm so confused. I feel like we rescued him and now we're hurting him by letting him get so big. He won't even jump up on the furniture anymore because he's unsure whether he can make it or not. It's sad to watch him look at the couch and then just lay on the floor. :):confused2:
 
Innova is a very good holistic food and one thing you will learn about the premium holistic foods is that you can feed much less than you would with a supermarket or pet chain brand. My pups who weigh around 20 lbs put weight on very easily on 1/4 cup twice a day of foods like Innova. I'd say the first thing to do is cut down Dylan's kibble--not all at once, and you can supplement with green beans in his food so he doesn't feel cheated. That will likely help, but as Caro said the steroids are working against you. There's nothing you can do about that since he needs them, but you can switch to an Innova light or one of the other holistic light foods. Good luck!
 
Good Luck and you will get there. Just kept working at it.

My prayers are with you and may the peace of St Francis be with you.
 
If he is indeed 7 or 8 years old, weight maintenance food is also not a bad option.

And yes, keep the treats to low cal. My guys LOVE carrots! And consider what you are treating for. If its "just because", then you may want to scale that back, and make him work for his treats. As humans, we tend to feel guilty and "treat" our pets more than we should.
 
Thanks all for your words of wisdom. I think I'm going to try the light Innova and cut down the amt and see if that helps at all. I just love this site. You all are so helpful. I'll let you know how he does.
 
I think I agree, I would cut him back to 1/4 cup twice a day if he is that small. My vet just told me that my 2 1/2 yr. old girl Marlie is too fat at 23 lbs. and she only gets 1/4 cup twice a day. I just couldn't believe it. Well, that is until I came home to find hubby feeding her a special treat! Sometimes men just don't get it!! I hope it works for Dylan!
 
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