Pro Plan Weight Management

[Georgia]

Has anyone tried to Pro Plan weight management formula? I had the boys at the vet on Friday to update their Bordetella vaccine. They're being boarded in November and the kennel requires Bordetella every six months. Anyway we weighed them and Sam has gained 2 pounds. He was hovering around 85-86 all summer and now he's up to 88 pounds. He's on the Pro Plan Focus large breed formula right now, although I just bought a bag of Beyond to try but since it's way more calories (454) I can't give it to Sam. The vet wants me to put Sam on the Pro Plan weight management formula. She said gaining 2 pounds is like us gaining 10 and she doesn't want to see him gain any more. The large breed adult formula is 26/12 protein/fat and 396 calories/cup. The weight management formula is 25/8 and 362 calories/cup. The weight management formula just seems so low in fat to me. The other option would be to cut his food back. I really don't want to do that because he is a young dog and I think he needs what he gets right now which is one cup of kibble, a half of a can of no salt green beans and a spoonful of canned food twice a day. Any thoughts on the weight management formulas?

[Charlotte K.]

The Purina formulas are high enough protein to prevent muscle loss, aren't they? Adding green veggies also lowers the protein.
What is the canned food? Some are high carb and high fat compared to others.

How old is the one on a diet? Is he cleaning up after other pets or kids and getting extra calories that way? He should not be fat on those calories, unless the canned is dished out with big, heaping spoons and he is getting Kongs full of treats or peanut butter.

[Annette47]

Never tried that, but Chloe is doing very well on a low fat formula (Annamaet Lean which is 30% protein and 7% fat). She does get cheese for training though, which adds to the overall fat content of her diet, and as with all my adult dogs is supplemented with fish oil daily. She was on a food with a similar calorie level but lower protein and higher fat (24/16 I think) and can actually eat more of this one while still maintaining her girlish figure. She has the kind of metabolism that gets fat just looking at food though, despite getting tons of exercise, which is why she is on “diet” food.

[Charlotte K.]

Annamaet foods were developed to put muscle, not fat, on dogs. Chloe looks great, so it must be working!

[Georgia]

I usually buy the Pro Plan select canned food. Sam will be 3 in December. Poor guy has been on a diet forever. Last year/year and a half ago he went from 99 pounds down to 85 which was huge. It's really hard to maintain him though. All he wants to do is eat.

[MightyThor]

Huh, I was planning on starting a thread about weight and Pro Plan. Thor has been on the sensitive skin and stomach formula ever since getting off the Focus puppy and it's been great, but he's almost 2 and as he's lost his puppy chub I've been getting more and more people commenting that he's looking skinny. We feed right in the middle of the recommended range and if I feed more his poops get runny. I'll start my own thread when I get him to stay still enough for pictures - right now he's got the 'we're going somewhere!' wiggles because my husband is loading up the car.

[JenC]

We've used it but I never had it work.

[Georgia]

We've used it but I never had it work.

That's what I'm afraid of. And also the low fat content destroying his coat. I spent the day evaluating what he eats. I think I've been too generous with the treats. I work from home now and the boys are getting treats throughout the day that they ever used to get. I also think my spoonful of canned was too generous. It was more like a glob of canned food so I'm going to cut back there. When I was at the pet store looking at food, the girl there recommended I try the Eukanuba Labrador formula. It is 23/13 protein/fat but only 306 calories/cup. I'm almost out of food for him so I need to decide what to get in the next day or so, but I'm still pondering my options.

[JenC]

I have Jack on Evanger's Meat Medley. It's 30/12 and he can maintain a good weight for him on it. I never lost coat quality on the PP it just didn't seem to make a difference.

[Maxx&Emma]

I give my 2 fruits and veggies for treats throughout the day. If they got cookies or other processed goodies as often as they get frozen green beans or apple slices they would be porkers!