Food advice

Drexel

Hi guys,

Looking for some advice on what food to give my dog.

She is a small JRT who is slightly overweight atm and has joint problems in her back legs.

When the joint problems were discovered the vet recommended getting JD Hills Metabolic and mobility to help with her weight and joint problems.

We got this for her but havent been happy with it. While she has lost a small bit of weight, she has pooped her bed overnight twice in a couple of weeks with small dry poop.

She was on another metabolic food before and something similar happened so we reverted back to her usual food which is Burns.

Has anyone got any recommendations of good food that will help with her weight and possibly her joints?

Springwell

Try Acana Light & Fit - works very well for my two oldies who are still going for their 30min morning walks at 18yo (!) but due to reduced general activity tend to gain weight. A bag isn't cheap (€55 for a big bag from Zooplus I think?) but last ages as they're terrier crosses so don't need masses. It has glucosamine/chrodontin added for joints

Drexel

Springwell wrote: »

Try Acana Light & Fit - works very well for my two oldies who are still going for their 30min morning walks at 18yo (!) but due to reduced general activity tend to gain weight. A bag isn't cheap (€55 for a big bag from Zooplus I think?) but last ages as they're terrier crosses so don't need masses. It has glucosamine/chrodontin added for joints

Hey thanks for that.

Sorry for asking but can you remember when you changed over to this food did it make them go to the toilet more? Seems all the weight loss food makes her go way more which causes these accidents

Springwell

Drexel wrote: »

Hey thanks for that.

Sorry for asking but can you remember when you changed over to this food did it make them go to the toilet more? Seems all the weight loss food makes her go way more which causes these accidents

No it doesn't. I've found it's fillers like beet pulp, tapioca etcetera are what tend to make them need to toilet more.

Latatian

My dog lost more than 20lb (for a dog that is now 55lb) on the same food she was always being fed. I fed less of it until she lost the right amount (up to 2% of her body weight per week). I weighed it out every day so that I knew exactly how much she was getting- even a weight loss food can cause weight gain if too much is fed, and it's easy to make mistakes with a measuring cup. And I weighed her, too, so that I would know what she was losing and could adjust the food.

One thing to remember is to work out what a dog of her ideal weight- not her current weight- should be eating and use that as a starting point. If she's losing more than 2% of her weight per week increase the amount of food. If she's losing less than 1% of her weight per week decrease it. Burns chicken and rice is about 10g/kg dog weight. So if she's supposed to be 5kg (which is what I would think of as a small jack russell, yours could be smaller or bigger) she would need 50g dog food every day. That's not a lot. And dogs who have been overweight need less food to maintain their ideal weight than dogs who have always been the same size, dogs who are spayed can need around 20% less than dogs who aren't.

For treats my dog got apple slices or a bit of broccoli stem or kale (I don't know why she likes it, it doesn't make any sense to me, go figure). Experiment with your dog to see if she likes these, or you can add green beans to her food to bulk it out a bit and make it look bigger.

Losing weight is the best thing you can do to help her joints. Glucosamine etc. were thought to help but there isn't good evidence that they actually have a real benefit. I wouldn't bother with 'mobility' foods, but do gentle walking and swimming to keep her muscle up. Short, regular walks on-lead are better for an overweight dog than longer off-lead ones because even though they burn less calories, they are easier on her joints.

Drexel

Latatian wrote: »

My dog lost more than 20lb (for a dog that is now 55lb) on the same food she was always being fed. I fed less of it until she lost the right amount (up to 2% of her body weight per week). I weighed it out every day so that I knew exactly how much she was getting- even a weight loss food can cause weight gain if too much is fed, and it's easy to make mistakes with a measuring cup. And I weighed her, too, so that I would know what she was losing and could adjust the food.

One thing to remember is to work out what a dog of her ideal weight- not her current weight- should be eating and use that as a starting point. If she's losing more than 2% of her weight per week increase the amount of food. If she's losing less than 1% of her weight per week decrease it. Burns chicken and rice is about 10g/kg dog weight. So if she's supposed to be 5kg (which is what I would think of as a small jack russell, yours could be smaller or bigger) she would need 50g dog food every day. That's not a lot. And dogs who have been overweight need less food to maintain their ideal weight than dogs who have always been the same size, dogs who are spayed can need around 20% less than dogs who aren't.

For treats my dog got apple slices or a bit of broccoli stem or kale (I don't know why she likes it, it doesn't make any sense to me, go figure). Experiment with your dog to see if she likes these, or you can add green beans to her food to bulk it out a bit and make it look bigger.

Losing weight is the best thing you can do to help her joints. Glucosamine etc. were thought to help but there isn't good evidence that they actually have a real benefit. I wouldn't bother with 'mobility' foods, but do gentle walking and swimming to keep her muscle up. Short, regular walks on-lead are better for an overweight dog than longer off-lead ones because even though they burn less calories, they are easier on her joints.

Hey thanks for the reply. You were spot on guessing her ideal weight. Vet reckons she should be about 5kg or a little bit less. She isnt that overweight really, she is 5.6kg now.

We have been doing pretty much what you say. We were weighing out her food when she was on Burns. Giving her about 50g a day but sometimes she would vomit bile from her stomach in between meals which vet said was due to having an empty stomach so we increased her food a small bit.

We are tempted to go back to Burns as it seemed to be the food she was happiest on. We have recently started giving her carrot slices as treats and she loves them.

Would giving her 25g of burns a day with some carrot / veg treats during the day to stop her starving and getting sick be something we could do? Or mix the veg with her morning and evening meal?

Latatian

You can do both! If you're choosing low-calorie vegetables you can give slices throughout the day and also mix it with the meals. Some people feed cooked butternut squash mixed in with the dinner. I used to buy up pumpkins after halloween and cook them.

I would try 40g-35g to start with and then weigh her and see how she does, reduce if needed? You can stand on the scales with her, or your vet might have a scales in the waiting room. Some pet shops have them too.

Good luck! Fair play for doing it, there's no better thing you can do for your dog's joints.