Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Everyone gets a new diet in our house

For the last couple of months we've known that Gozer had gained weight. We were feeding her the recommended amount and she still gets two walks per day but for some reason her weight has been increasing.

How much has it increased? She went from just under 20 pounds in the spring to 25.8(!) today. In other words, she's increased her body weight by over 25% in just a few months. That's a huge weight gain for a person, let alone a dog. I knew she was bigger but I didn't know that she was that much bigger. I don't think she's obese because I can see her waist from the side although I can't see it from above and I can't feel her ribs without pressing hard into her sidess.

Gozer is going to be groomed on Friday and because she's over 25 pounds I think she'll be considered a medium instead of a small dog as 25 pounds is the cutoff. Of course it costs more to groom a medium-sized dog because they require more handling.

Tomorrow I'm also going to call and make an appointment for Gozer to see the vet. Clearly she's going to need to reduce her weight and I need to get some hints for that. I also need to be sure that she doesn't have some condition that's causing her to gain weight. She's gained the weight so fast for no real reason that I can see that I'm a bit concerned.

1 comment:

Kimberly said...

We tried a few foods for our cat Oreo, and we eventually went to a raw diet for her. I know it's not for everyone, it wasn't an easy transition for her and we had to change to a supportive vet(who's also a chiropractor btw). She was almost 14lbs, now she sits at 10.9lbs, she doesn't limp anymore, she doesn't have all kinds of gunk in her eyes anymore, and her fur is what I call "impossibly shiny". There are lots of raw treats you can give dogs and cats too. Oreo loves freeze dried meats and organs. Her main food is a patty of ground meat,bones and organs that we buy frozen and thaw as needed.

We adopted Oreo when she was 9, and now at 13, she looks younger than she did when we got her. In December she will be two years on the raw diet.

Again, maybe it's not where you want to go with Gozer, but it's something to think about!