Amount Of Food

[Scooby172]

My Jack who is very petite, just 50 lbs. at 2 years 4 months old has up until now been eating 4 cups a day of

Nutrisource Lamb, grain free. He has has been steady at this weight for awhile, but I am noticing increased

loose stools. If I think about it, 4 cups a day for him seems like a lot, I was trying to put weight on but I

think this might just be too much food. He is thin, but he is a young dog. Not as active as he has been,

recent vet visit, he is healthy. Was treated for giardia which may have been the loose stool but I am curious

about how much other people feed their smaller dogs. Thank you.

Linda, Jack and Keeva

[CharlieRhea]

That does sound like a lot! My neighbor has a 90 lb Greyhound who was feeding that much, 4 cups. He got chubby on that at his less active age of 11 yrs so she cut back to 3 cups daily, 1.5 each meal, and adds steamed veggies or canned dog food. What does the bag of food suggest? Keep in mind they usually tell you to feed too much. I would start slow and cut back a little to start with. His stools should be better hopefully or maybe the lamb is too rich? I feed raw so i can't help out with kibble amounts, i forget what i used to feed.

I'm sure you will get more helpful answers soon.

[cleptogrey]

i find that if i over feed any of my dogs it come right out the other end. yes, he's still young, but that's a lots of food! some dogs are meant to be thin but he's also young and should NOT be filled out. it's the breed, large dogs take a while to fill out. it can be the giardia, but i would personally cut back to 3 cups and remember the more he walks and poops, the less time the food has been in his bowels and has not dehydrated, hence looser stools. does it have the tell tale stench of giardia? it doesn't hurt to call the vet and ask if he needs to go thru another treatment.

 

felix who i have had since he was 7 weeks old has never eaten more than 4 cups per day. he's presently 75#, a tad under 4 cups, but at age 2-3 always 4 cups, but he weighed something is the 60-65# range.

[krissy]

Both of mine get 3 cups/day. Kili is a good 20 lbs smaller than Summit, but she is younger, more active, and still intact.

[Scooby172]

Yes, the lamb may be too rich, he has always done well on it but maybe things have changed. He is clear of the giardia at this point.

Will cut back food and see how he does. He is a petite little thing, agree that I was feeding him too much and I think this overloaded his system. Thanks for the feedback.

[Scooby172]

Good news, cut back on the food to 1 and a 1/4 cups twice a day. This morning the first solid poop I have seen in weeks! It did get a little runny after but this is a huge improvement. I will monitor his weight to see how he does on the decreased amount. Thanks

for the input.

Linda, Jack and Keeva

[KristenMichele]

I think it depends on the food and the dogs metabolism. The rescue was feeding my dog 2cups Bid or twice daily and she was 3 lbs less then her racing weight. So I went to grain free authority and feed 5 cups which the bag state 4.5- 5 cups for 50-90 lbs and she's very close to her racing weight. So I plan on dropping the amount to see what happens if she losses again I may try a higher quality food to feed less if her weight drops. I may try one of the natural grain free foods.

[Guest roweboy]

We're new to greys and have struggled with the feeding quantity question, too. Our boy CJ will be 3 next month and he came off the track at the very end of December/beg of Jan. When we got him at the end of February, he looked pretty good and weighed about 77lbs. He was a bit on the thin side so I feed him 4 cups daily (Nature's Domain, Costco, beef w sweet potato grain free) divided 1 cup at breakfast, 1 at lunch and 2 at dinner. He gets a turkey neck about once a week and I add salmon or coconut oil daily to his kibble. He now weighs 80 lbs and this looks good on him. I can see his last couple of ribs and his shoulder bones (??) are visible but not so gaunt looking as before. It feels like a constant adjustment process, though, to control his flatulence and shedding/dandruff.