Needs To Lose 5 Pounds...

[Guest karilynn]

I took my greyhound Bullet to the vet today for a staph infection that we are working on getting cleared up. He weighed him this time and Bullet weighs 91 pounds. Last time he was weighed at his annual exam 3 months ago, he weighed 85 pounds. My vet seemed alarmed and said he looks a little overweight and that he should lose 5-6 pounds, but I don't see it and I have no idea where these 6 extra pounds came from. He's eating the same amount of food he always has and if anything, he is getting MORE exercise because it is nice outside! I haven't increased his treats or added anything extra to his food, so I just don't get it. And honestly, he doesn't look any bigger to me, but I could just be biased because I look at him every day and I might not notice a change like that. Although my boyfriend agrees with me that he looks the same.

What can I do? Should I decrease his food, even though he's been eating the same 6 cups a day since I got him over 2 years ago. I am just truly baffled by this one.

 

Any advice? I do not want to have an overweight dog!

[Batmom]

Picture?

[Riverhound]

Joe went to the vet this morning, and the vet got spazzy because he weighed 73 lbs. Last vist, he was 77 lbs. I asked them to redo it -- 76.6 lbs. Fine.

 

Did they recheck after they weighed him the first time?

[KF_in_Georgia]

What was his race weight?

 

Both my dogs have race weights that varied by 5 pounds during their careers. I figured out what they weighed when they were winning and I aim for that weight.

 

But dogs can eat the same amount of food over the years and still put on weight as their metabolisms slow down--or as food formulas change.

[PrairieProf]

Their metabolisms can slow as they get older- I need to feed Beth less now to maintain her weight. And 6 cups sure sounds like a LOT of food.

[a_daerr]

6 cups does sound like a lot... My 3-year-old, 80 pound boy only gets 4 cups.

[Guest karilynn]

Hi all! Thanks for the replies. He never actually raced and my memory is awful, but I think he weighed around 75-80 pounds on the farm and his ideal weight was supposed to be 83-85. There's another greyhound that goes to the park and she is rather thin, much thinner than Bullet. He's never seemed overweight to me, I can see his ribs sometimes. From other angles he looks a bit chunky, but we all have bad angles... right? :-\

 

Here is a picture of him, the best recent side profile picture I could find...

[Guest karilynn]

Here's a picture of when I first got him...

 

 

Wow, I guess he does look much leaner there. I really had no idea that I had plumped him up so much! We are going to cut back his food... maybe start with 5 cups then move to 4? Thoughts?

[RedHead]

Greyhounds can be deceiving because an overweight one looks like an ideal weight for many other dogs. 91 lbs is usually heavy for a greyhound, very few are in the 90 lb range at an ideal weight. I agree that 6 cups of food is a lot. It really can depend on the brand of food you feed, and calories per cup, but most people seem to feed around 4 cups per day. My guy had the same race weight as yours, and he definitely does not eat that much per day. I think a cutback to 5 cups is good, and then gradually work down to 4 cups. All dogs are different of course, so just monitor his weight, and figure out what amount works

[Sambuca]

I'd cut back to 5 cups a day and see how it goes for a month or so, then cut to 4 if necessary. There's no need for him to lose the weight very quickly. Plus, once he starts losing you don't want him to get too thin. I actually think he looks pretty good in the picture from when you first adopted him.

[Guest karilynn]

Ok thanks both of you!! 4 cups sounds ideal. I can't for the life of me remember why I was feeding him 6 cups from day 1, if I was told that's what he was eating or if I read it on the dog food bag or what... but clearly it is too much. I should have realized that when I met a woman with a great dane at the park and she said she fed him 6 cups. I said, oh me too! Then I thought, wait... slight size difference. And actually, it will be really swell to not go through so much dog food seeing as his dog food is 65 dollars for a 24 pound bag. Up until today I really didn't think he was overweight or being overfed, so just goes to show how in denial I was. I'm sure he will miss his 3 cups of lunch and 3 cups of dinner, so I will take it down slowly, start with 5 and work down to 4.

[scullysmum]

Ok thanks both of you!! 4 cups sounds ideal. I can't for the life of me remember why I was feeding him 6 cups from day 1, if I was told that's what he was eating or if I read it on the dog food bag or what... but clearly it is too much. I should have realized that when I met a woman with a great dane at the park and she said she fed him 6 cups. I said, oh me too! Then I thought, wait... slight size difference. And actually, it will be really swell to not go through so much dog food seeing as his dog food is 65 dollars for a 24 pound bag. Up until today I really didn't think he was overweight or being overfed, so just goes to show how in denial I was. I'm sure he will miss his 3 cups of lunch and 3 cups of dinner, so I will take it down slowly, start with 5 and work down to 4.

 

He won't notice the difference better to cut right down then if he starts to lose too quickly go back up as necessary.

[silverfish]

He does look a bit overweight - it's the lack of a tuck! See how he does with reducing his food.

 

However ... I feel I should just mention my own recent experience with a 'fat' hound. The vet kept telling me 'he's looking a bit porky' and suggested we reduce his food. I posted on here, and some said he was OK, some said he did look overweight. But we did cut his food down and it didn't make any difference. He didn't even look particularly fat to me, except that he had a 'gut', which was especially noticeable when he lay down flat on his side. Well, I thought, he's getting old and a bit saggy. Clearly he does need to lose some ...

 

Except that one day I noticed that he was getting thinner everywhere but his belly, and then I felt a lump in there. Turned out he had a 5lb tumour on his spleen. Once that was out, he looked so thin, bless him!

 

Chances are it is just overfeeding in your case, but as I said, if his tuck doesn't reappear with the food reduction it might be worth just getting someone to feel his belly. You may have to have him lie down to do it because so many tense up while standing. Apparently tumours on the spleen are really common in dogs - my vet said they routinely take out one a week!

Edited August 27, 2014 by silverfish

[Hubcitypam]

Six cups of food is a lot. Even my Harley that raced at 84 pounds got four. You can always do the "green bean diet" and replace part of his food with green beans.

[MP_the4pack]

What a handsome man you have there!!

 

I won't fret about 5 lbs. Ok, he might be a tad heavier than ideal and can lose a little bit. But that's just it. Some people say they don't see it, some say he's a little heavy. Basically he's not obese. He's not so overweight that people are gagging. (I saw a black grey at GIG this year and took a double take because he looked like an overweight lab, not just an overweight grey....THAT dog needed a serious diet)

 

And truthfully when they get sick they drop weigh like a hot air balloon drops balast. I don't mind a little extra as long as they don't have problems that weight adds to (like arthritis or LS)

[GeorgeofNE]

There might be people who "don't mind a little extra weight," but it's not about your preferences, it's about what is healthy for the dog.

 

No, he's not obese, but he has no tuck, and that means he's overweight.

 

Easier to take off 5 extra while he's still healthy enough to exercise than it will be when he's older!

[Burpdog]

Having had a few greyhounds, 3-5# over race weight is ideal pet weight. If they get sick, they will lose 5# in two days (from experience I know this). Since he didn't race it might be hard to determine what 3-5# over his race weight should be.

 

Pictures can be deceiving. He looks like he could lose around 2# from what I see.

[greyhoundlov]

I took my greyhound Bullet to the vet today for a staph infection that we are working on getting cleared up. He weighed him this time and Bullet weighs 91 pounds. Last time he was weighed at his annual exam 3 months ago, he weighed 85 pounds. My vet seemed alarmed and said he looks a little overweight and that he should lose 5-6 pounds, but I don't see it and I have no idea where these 6 extra pounds came from. He's eating the same amount of food he always has and if anything, he is getting MORE exercise because it is nice outside! I haven't increased his treats or added anything extra to his food, so I just don't get it. And honestly, he doesn't look any bigger to me, but I could just be biased because I look at him every day and I might not notice a change like that. Although my boyfriend agrees with me that he looks the same.

 

What can I do? Should I decrease his food, even though he's been eating the same 6 cups a day since I got him over 2 years ago. I am just truly baffled by this one.

 

Any advice? I do not want to have an overweight dog!

I would gradually decrease the kibble by maybe 1/4 c for the first week and substitute sodium-free green beans or peas or carrots - keep the bulk of the food up so he isn't hungry - and gradually continue until you think he has lost enough weight. If you can't find the sodium-free veggies, get the regular ones and rinse them well. One of my granddogs, Max the Rotty, is way overweight but was always hungry. He has finally lost a little but since he has bad hips, he doesn't get much exercise so the weight loss will be a long, slow process for him.

[DesiRayMom]

Desi raced at 81# and I've tried to keep him really close to that, or even a bit below, since he has arthritis and has lost muscle mass

over the years. When he hit 84, I told him it was diet time. Cut his meals from 2cups to 1-1/2, kicked away his yummy treats, and

used the extra kibble for little snack at lunchtime. Put him on the scale yesterday.....he's gained one....up to 85.

 

So what do I know? I'm still debating on how to proceed from here.

[maria]

My dogs eat 2-3 cups/day and one has gained too much weight (58 lbs when we got her and now she is 70 lbs) and other has trouble keeping weight on-58 lbs at last check. I think it can be age and certainly activity but the 70 lb one is 4 yo and has a relaxed attitude and the 58 lb one is 10 and is nervous a lot.