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Thread: Diet food

  1. #1
    Senior Dog Sandra's Avatar
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    Diet food

    Charlie went for his check up today, on his third birthday. He has gained weight since his last visit. He is over 90 lbs. The vet is recommending we change his food. He says that Fromm is too high in calories especially now that he is no longer a puppy. He also said that a lot of the overweight dogs he sees are being fed Fromm. He is recommending we switch to Royal Canin, a diet formula, at least until he loses a few pounds. I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

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    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    How much are you currently feeding of the Fromm? I would look into simply cutting back, and upping the exercise, especially since the weather is improving.

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    Senior Dog Sandra's Avatar
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    I should have mentioned that I feed him three cups per day, divided into two meals.

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    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    When Tux was on Fromm a few years back, I fed him two cups a day...maybe cutting back to that would help? You could add green beans as a filler.

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    Senior Dog Georgia's Avatar
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    I switched Sam to the Fromm whitefish and potato formula because of its lower calories (360 kcal/cup). I don't plan on keeping him on the formula forever and I was looking at the Fromm Gold large breed. It's 378 calories versus Pro Plan's focus large breed which I think is 396 calories. I do like the large breed formulas for Sam because the calories seem to be lower. Sam went from 96 pounds down to 85 last year. We dropped his kibble to 1 cup at each meal plus a half can of no salt green beans and a scoop of canned food. We also stopped buying medium or large size treats and bought small dog treats and really really watched what treats we gave him. After we started paying attention we realized we were over treating him.
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    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    I think there is no need to change the food, just cutting back the amount of daily feeding.

    Those diet foods are low in fat, and Labs need the fat for healthy skin and coat.

    I don't know how much exercise Charlie gets, but spring is coming soon and maybe he'll be more active!
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    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    At 3 years of age he isn't physically limited, I'm guessing, so decreasing calories just by decreasing the amount of his current food is probably the easiest course of action. As others have said, less food, more activity, and limiting the extras should help. My boy is now 8 years old and eats about 2 1/4 cups of food per day total, Annamaet, Verus, ProPlan, whatever I've gotten. I was concerned that by cutting back he might not get the vitamins and minerals he needs and for a while gave him a vitamin supplement but don't do that any more. His coat is thick and healthy, energy good, and he adjusted to the lesser volume of food ok. Like most labs he'd eat all day long so I've steeled myself against those hungry eyes.
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  13. #8
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    2 cups a day is sufficient. And go for a lower calorie Fromm's. Whitefish is good.

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    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    I wouldn't feed a diet formula. Three cups is a lot so even cuttinb ack to 2.5 could help.

    Having said that, it's possible another food could work better overall without having to cut back in quantity too much - without it being a diet formula. Lots of great foods to look at that would have less cals per cups/fat. Some foods are richer.

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  17. #10
    Senior Dog Jeff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Berna View Post
    I think there is no need to change the food, just cutting back the amount of daily feeding.

    Those diet foods are low in fat, and Labs need the fat for healthy skin and coat.

    I don't know how much exercise Charlie gets, but spring is coming soon and maybe he'll be more active!
    I totally agree with this, loosing weight isn't because of magic food. It is simply calories in vs calories out. Same with people, same with dogs. You can either increase his activity or decrease his food. I personally would have a high quality food just less of it than diet food.

    Hemi now at age 3 and a half and neutered he gets 2 cups of food a day. He is totally fine with that and is not starving in anyway. I may up it some here in summer as he will be swimming a lot more.

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