Weight Loss - what is safe rate?

[Loving my Oldies]

My elderly male Pomeranian, Mezza, adopted in January this year has been raiding the biscuit barrel and now has to lose at least 1.75kg.  I joke about the biscuit barrel, of course, knowing that it is all my fault.    

 

He was 4.20kg in January and is now 5.95kg and at last visit to the vets she said he must lose weight.  He has a few medical issues: heavy panting, crackly lungs, hernias and soreness in his legs.  We have been doing tests for Cushings and depending on how he goes over the next couple of weeks, that has not been definitively ruled out, but is unlikely and he is on a veritable cocktail of meds.   

 

I have been mixing rice, carrots, Vets All Natural in with mince as his usual food ( he lost all his teeth at his first dental  ), and I do use slow feeder bowls, but still the weight goes on.  I am now trying Royal Canin Satiety and wondering if any one has had experience with that.  I measured out the daily requirement for a dog of Mezza’s weight and it does seem an awful lot, but I've read here on DOL many times over the years that the suggested daily amounts on packets is too much.  

 

Anyway, what would a safe and healthy weight loss per week look like for a little dog like Mezza?  Something I should have asked the vet, of course, but I was a bit harried at the time with all the things that are going on with him.   

[Rebanne]

I would think no more then 200 grams a week DDD. After 9 weeks he would have lost 1.8 kgs.

[Papillon Kisses]

I’ve gone slow and steady with Malcolm (100g/month) but he’s a bit smaller and doesn’t have quite so much to lose (4.8kg down to 4 or 3.8) nor those weight-related medical problems. If we had switched to a diet food I suspect we could have gone faster due to increased satiety but he was on another prescription food at the time. There are some past posts about RC Satiety with positive comments.

 

I’d suggest working it out as a percentage because Rebanne’s suggestion of 200g per week seems to me like a heck of a lot for a little dude? I could be wrong though. Maybe call your vet to ask their opinion?

 

For the amount, try to work out the calories that he was getting when he was gaining, perhaps sans treats, and go from there.

Edited October 27, 2018 by Papillon Kisses

[persephone]

that does seem a lot per week ..  that's about 3% of his bodyweight . I guess though , with his health being poor ... 

 

[Loving my Oldies]

Thanks for letting me know RC Satiety has positive reviews PK.  Mezza doesn’t harass me about food, but Bunter does so he is on it too.  I’ve managed to get his weight down so with him it will be maintenance and comfort as he is on Pred.  

 

i would have thought 200/week sounds an awful lot.  I was thinking maybe 50. 

[persephone]

THIS came up on my FB page ... may give you some ideas ? 

 

[Rebanne]

200 grams was just a guess. At least it prompted some other answers for you

[Loving my Oldies]

Thanks persephone.   Very interesting site.   

[Papillon Kisses]

Just for kicks, I plugged Mezza’s stats into a calculator recommended by Tufts and it says he should get 164 cals a day as a starting point, which is 55.5g of RC Satiety Small Dog.

 

This is based on my assumption that he’s desexed and that 4.2 kg is his goal weight, which it may not be. But anyway, 55.5g a day is a smidgen over half what the RC pack says according to their website.

 

Does that help at all? Hopefully I’ve filled it out correctly!

 

https://petnutritionalliance.org/dog.php?lg=en_US

http://www.royalcanin.com.au/products/products/vet-products/vet-diet-canine/satiety-weight-management-small-dog

[Loving my Oldies]

WOW!!  Thanks PK.  That’s brilliant.  

 

On the RC Satiety packet it says he should be getting 74g for the first four weeks then drop down to 64g.  Going back to the days (decades ago) when I obsessively counted calories, 164 would be the equivalent of two small apples  .  

 

Because he doesn’t have any teeth, I have to smash up the kibble.  I put it in a plastic bag and bang at it with a hammer.  Very boring LOL.  

 

He also gets tablets three times a day which I have to hide in meat or roast chicken skin, so that has to be taken into consideration as well.  I bulk it up with mashed carrots (I am dropping the rice and VAN) because they all seem to like carrots.   I’m going to buy some chicken breast meat to see if that works with the tablets as both he and Bunter can manoeuvre the tablets out of pieces of meat , so if that worked, a few calories would be saved there.  

 

Regarding being desexed.  I recall posting when I first brought him home and I was washing him, that I had an awful fright to find lumps underneath; naturally I thought the worst and then remembered    Such a long time since I had an undesexed dog.  Of course, he didn’t have those little lumps for long.    

[karen15]

You could try turkey mince DDD. I use that for one fatty cocker and one fat intolerant westie. The westie is tricky for pills, so I put one in the middle of a turkey ball not much bigger than the pill, the aim is for it to be gobbled down fast. Too much mince and he'll eat around the pill. If that happens, just do it again and drop a couple of fake balls before the loaded one

 

I don't rush weight loss. Prefer slow over rapid unless there's a medical need to lose weight fast. I generally do it by reducing portions, which is why I go for slow as I don't like cutting too much food straight up. Any decrease to rations should see a drop in weight and after a few months if more needs to come off, reduce ration again until they're at a good weight.

 

If you look at 6 months it's a loss of around 70g per week, 300g per month. 

[PossumCorner]

Rheneas is part-Pom, he has lost 2.5kg probably a bit quick since his near-death vestibular episodes.  I'm feeding the same, just keeping him in the house except for short walks plus toilet breaks.  So he isn't snacking and grazing on goose, chook, pony and sheep poo (not to mention his own) which had become an obsession habit in old age.  And no unseen forays into a feed shed hoping to find a wheat or pellets bin open.  Difficult for both of us as he was an inside-outside dog at will. 

 

Just difficult to manage overweight ageing dogs whatever the circumstances: friend has an obese choc lab that is like a beachball with feet, she is beside herself trying to normalise it - the dog is a confirmed sheep chaser so also has to be confined, gets insufficient exercise and is a food frantic.  I suppose recognising the tendency before it escalates is the trick, and thinking/acting sooner than we do. 

[Loving my Oldies]

@PossumCorner, I am nothing else or no one else to blame except myself.  My dogs don’t have access to any food other than that which I give them.  I don’t have food lying around and I don’t buy snacks, but I have been guilty of giving them bits of pizza crust, little bits of biscuit and the like.  That has now stopped partly because of the weight issue and partly because it was teaching them to hang around when I’m eating.  

 

They have access to the outside at all times,  but as there isn’t anything for them to get into (although Bunter has become coprophagic    only with his own).  I nearly died the first time I saw him wolfing down before I had time to collect it.  Quite turned the old tum tum.  

[Papillon Kisses]

Have you tried rehydrating the kibble?

[Loving my Oldies]

14 minutes ago, Papillon Kisses said:

Have you tried rehydrating the kibble?

I tried my stick blender today and it worked beautifully.  I thought the kibble might have been too hard.  

 

They don’t seem to like rehydrated kibble.  Fussy . . . . . 

[Papillon Kisses]

Gremlins!

Edited October 28, 2018 by Papillon Kisses

[Loving my Oldies]

5 hours ago, Papillon Kisses said:

Gremlins!

What?  Your computer or my dogs?      

[Papillon Kisses]

My computer, haha  

[Loving my Oldies]

First weigh in today two weeks after being told Mezza had to lose weight.   I was thrilled because he’s lost 200 grams having gone from 5.95 to 5.75.  It is good to know we are on the right track.  I am feeding him crushed RC Satiety mixed with mushy carrots (no teeth) or a bit of bone broth to moisten it.  He is not bothering me for food between meals and yesterday, I fell asleep on the couch and woke just before 7pm.  He would have normally started barking more than an hour before that.  

 

  for continued success.

 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2018 by Dame Danny's Darling

[karen15]

 Go Mezza!! Seems you've got the right balance if he's not feeling like he's missing food.