Dog Forum

Hi there

Holly has just been diagnosed with Hip Displasia. She is on
restricted lead walks and goes to hydrotherapy twice a week.

We have been told she has to loose some weight At the moment
she is 11.3 kg. One the vets advice, we have cut her daily intake from 75 gms twice a day to 50.
But she is hungry!!
She is sitting under the table at meal times and is now jumping up
on the units when I am preparing food. She has never, ever done this.
We don't give her many treats, just some chicken and her dentastix. She
has never been fed tit bits during the day by us.

Our groomer has recommended Royal Canine Neutered. This she says will bulk
her food and make her less hungry.
Do you have any other suggestions.
Many thanks.

Holly & Sams mummy

Dog Food manufacturers supply a numb er of recipes targeted at particular markets, one of these is the obese pet and now they have come up with the neutered one.

There is no need to put a dog onto an expensive commercial diet food any more than there is for humans, the underlying causes are the same, too much food and too little exercise = fat.

You do not mention what food you currently provide and whether or not it is wet or dry.

Labradors are the ultimate eating machine, this combined with the fact that many breeders do not hip score may lead to extra strain on poor joints.

I assume that the HD has been diagnosed via X Ray and the KC/BVA score unless the HD is so horrendous that scoring is irrelevant?

Do you feed once or twice a day?
Do you just put the food in the bowl?

One way of keeping your dog occupied is to not give free food at all but either use part of the ration during training exercises.

Another method is to scatter food on the lawn which takes more time to find, if the dog is the typical labrador hoover you could use buster cubes, Kong pyramids or Tug A Jugs where the dog really has to work to get out each piece of kibble.

Another method which takes up time is stuffing a kong, you can even freeze these to take longer to consume (loads of recipes on the net).

You could also add more fibre to the diet by giving bran, this adds bulk, makes tghe dog feel fuller but does increase stool size.

Other things are to provide her with raw meaty bones to occupy her such as a knuckle bone, or vegetables (not the ones high in sugar). Again this will increase the bulk of the stool

The effort of actually working for her food will make the food last longer and tire her out physically and mentally, so you get 3 for the price of one!

HTH

Molly lost a bit of weight on James Wellbeloved light but I currently give her Burn High Oat and she lost all the remaining weight and has kept it off - beware though it doesn't suit all dogs - some lose too much!

Thanks Guys for your help.

Holly is on Bakers weight control at the moment. I spoke the the girl who is doing her hydrotherapy yesterday and she said to weigh her daily amount of food and then take some
out for treats during the day. I have
been bulking out her food with veggies, which she is taking surprise, surprise!!!

Her HD was diagnosed by x-ray and they
have said that once she gets to 6 or 7 they might have to consider hip replacement!!

I will take your tips on board and hope that she looses the weight.

HeatherAnn

I agree with SB's suggestions.

My dog doesn't have HD but does bolts his food like its his last ever meal, which means I worry about him developing bloat and he then sits at the cupboard door expecting more. So I have implemented the suggestions SB mentioned, so that my dog enjoys his food more, but also gets the mental stimulation he requires.

I bought a large kong and I often put his meals in it. I hide his food sometimes and I have also started giving him raw chicken wings and raw knuckle bones. Keeps him busy for ages and his mealtimes are more of an enjoyable experience for him.

I couldnt scatter food as Skip was terrible scavenger,he has improved & will drop on being told or let us take food out of his mouth.Once picked up mussel on beach,had large hook in it from one of fishermens lines.

Fish hooks are nasty!

Oscar was a right scavenger when he was a pup, thankfully he seems to be getting better. There have been a couple of occasions when I've awaited his poo with trepidation....hurray its come out the other end!!

Gypsy78;Ha Ha! We are poo experts too,but we don't admit it.
HeatherANN;Victoria Stillwells Fat DOG SLIM book pg.104.Says she doesn't recommend dietry foods as low fat/low calorie food can(if dog then eats food with normal fat) react badly & may even develop pancreatitis.I read that when I had just bought some for Skip to try.Needless to say,Ididn't use it on him.