update on charlies hips-killing her with kindness-timely warning

hey today charlie could not walk again, jsut like recently when i posted here. so i ran to the vet in a panic, oh my baby i was thinking the worst 'is her spine degenerating'?? 'is it a tumor' well at the vet she diagnosed really bad arthritus, and she put charlie on the scales (she is 9yo GSDX),

now last time she was weighed last year she was 29.5 kg, ideal weight. but as many know her trachea was collapsing and the vet said no more 5km runs, and only light excersise for life...

well i did what the vet said and today she weighed 40.6 kg, yep thats right, your not reading it wrong, yes my dog is OBESE...

now i have always been the precher in the background saying 'dotn kill your dog with kindness' and 'no its not cruel to deny snax' well now im mortified...

the weight just crept on, really it did, she has always been so active, but since the trachea i did not reduce her food intake and voila, now shes obese and in pain becuase of me... i really didnt mean it and i didnt see it, hey its not like a human eating boxes of biscuits...

i feel really bad now, im effectivly killing her and now she is in pain, the vet said the arthritus would come anyway even if she was not fat but now its worse...

i jsut feel really evil and like a dog abuser....

so now charlie is on a very intense diet, the vet has her down to 1 dry cup a day and absloutly nothing else, she is also going to get 3 chondriton shots, apparently its not a bad med to give them and does not have to many long effects....

so to all you out there thinking that little baby looks sad and needs a treat, think again, they may not thank you in the future, polease be sensible with food.....food is for life, not a treat really......

i fell raelly really really bad :mad: :o

Don't feel bad! It happened to me as well. My Irish Wolfhound has severe hip displysia in both hips. He's still not ready for a full hip replacement surgery the vet told me to wait till his hips get very bad then the surgery. He's 5 years old right now, and his hips are the same. We take him every year for his check up, they are amazed at his muscle mass around his hips, that he's able to run with other dogs and run in the deep snow with no pain. Every year when we take him for his checkup he weighs 92 pounds on the nose, good weight for his size and hip problems. Last year I took him, he weighed 98 pounds! My vet had a fit!!!!!! First time she was really mad at me and gave me a severe lector! She wanted him to loose those extra 6 pounds that will trouble his hips plus an extra 20!! I was schocked when she said 20! It didn't make any sense she wanted him to weigh 72 pounds!!!!!! To keep this post short, he did loose those extra 6 pounds plus few extra pounds as well. No, he doesn't weigh 72 pounds. He will have his annual checkup in August, I am very curious to know what she will say about his weight.

I can totally relate. As a matter of fact, I started a thread about a month ago about Kenzie, my Mal pup, I think it was I'm fat & so is Kenzie! It does creep up on us. I know it's because we spend every day with them, and the weight goes on slowly so we don't notice it. I was also feeling guilty, but when thinking of the long term health issues, eg diabetis, heart disease it's a little easier to look into those BIG brown eyes and say "no honey, it's for your own good :D"

Kenzie is also on 1 cup of dry dog food (holistic anchovie etc) but also is allowed 1 cup of raw green beans. According to the vet and my breeder, the green beans have no calories, extra vitamins she needs.

I find it easier on her to cut it into 2 feedings a day, that way she and I feel better as she gets fed twice.

She gets 1/2 cup of each in the morning and 1/2 cup in the evening. I found giving her a full cup once a day, was just too hard on her. She'd gobble it up within 5 minutes, mind you 1 cup isn't much, then she'd have to go 24 hours before eating again. Poor baby! So breaking it up makes it easier, the morning feeding holds her over til the evening feeding, and that holds her over the evening and night. Also the green beens seems to make a big difference as she chews each and every one, so her dinner and breakfast lasts longer! As a matter of fact, she love them and eats the green beans FIRST! Even though it's less at a time (1/2 cup), her meals last longer! I also exercise her about 1 hours after, each meal, so it's easier for her body to work off any calories from the dog food since there's less to work off, lol

My breeder also got me to understand that dogs are not emotional eaters, they don't eat to make themselves feel better emotionally like humans, unless it's from boredom. And boredom is something we can keep at bay through exercise and plenty of play, both physical and mental games.

I hope this has been of help, it has worked with Kenzie, I'm actually seeing a waist now. She's going for a weigh in this afternoon. She had lost 4 pounds in the first 3 weeks, so we'll see today.

Maybe you can call your vet and ask him about the 1/2 cup of green beans. If he doesn't seem to like them at first, use them as a treat and after a couple of days, they'll grow on him, no pun intended, lol. It took Kenzie all of 2 days before she stopped spitting them out, and like I said, now she eats them FIRST!

Hang in there hun, it's for his better well being, I know it's hard, but he'll thank you in the end!

You are definitely not alone! We went through this a few years ago with our beagle, Misty. She too was very overweight and was put on a very strict diet. She is now at her ideal weight, but it wasn't easy! She too has hip and knee problems and her weight must be strictly maintained. She cannot weigh more than 32 lbs, ideal for her since she is slightly taller than most beagles. She is also on Sasha's Blend for her arthritis, which has helped her immensely. She is extremely active and energetic (she is 9 years old). The vet just saw her recently and said that he hasn't ever seen her look this good.

It isn't easy, but you can do it.

I worry a lot about Dodger's weight too. His an American Foxhound and the breed standard is that males are suppose to be no more than 75lbs. Dodger is only 70lbs but there have been quite a few discussions on this board about dogs having a "tuck" when they are the right weight...I have a hard time seeing Dodger's tuck and also, I find it hard to feel his ribs without pressing hard...I did start cutting out some treats and a slight decrease in the amount of food he was getting but because he is so active and just turned a year old I don't want to restrict him too much! I also know the foxhounds tend to be weight-gainers too so I am a little worried!

What do you guys think?? This picture was taken almost 2 weeks ago and its the only recent side picture I have of him, not the best position but what do you think??

Thanks!

Lissa, Dodger looks good to me! I definitely see the "tuck". Although you should be able to feel the ribs without too much effort.

This site has a chart that will help you determine if your dog is overweight, underweight or ideal.
http://www.zubrinus.com/default.aspx?pageid=178

Dodger looks good to me too! I also definately see the tuck. If you do a search and see the thread I mentioned about Kenzie being fat, you'll DEFINATELY see what I mean about NOT having a tuck, lol. A fellow poster, Prin, was VERY kind enough to use photoshop and draw a line where the tuck should be! It was/is Very, very helpful. Here it is, I found it! Post # 9

Thanks again Prin for that! lol

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17172

Oh Melanie, don't be too hard on yourself. It happens to so many of us, without our ever noticing until its too late. Our dalmation had SEVERE arthritis (to the point where she had to be carried up and down stairs), but needless to say she could no longer run like a dalmation can/should, so she got very overweight. I deffinatley feel your pain when you look in those eyes and say "no treats sweetie.. sorry..." but hang in there, and charlie will appreciate it in the long run :)

:grouphug: Awww Mel, don't beat yourself up over this!!! You are a great mommy to Charlie and she loves you no matter what!!!! With her intense diet she will get back to a good size and her arthritis won't be bothering her as much!!! We still WUV you!!!!!! :angel:

Brick sends Charlie a Cyber-biscuit!!! And a few slobbery kisses!!! :pawprint:

When you see your dog everyday, you don't notice the weight gain until someone else says OMG! Your dog is fat!. My corgi x was obese and I know that it aggravated her heart disease. My mom's rotti was also fat, and when we put her on a diet, she was really indignant. She used to get dollar bills from people in the bar and go buy her own strips of jerky with it. When she had to go on the diet, she could only have diet dog biscuits for treats, so when she'd get a dollar, instead of the bartender giving her a piece of jerky, she would get that dog biscuit. She hated the biscuits and if she saw the bartender going for that jar instead of the jerky container, she would rip the dollar into little bitty pieces. We had to start taking the dollar from her first, before she got her treat! :p

Kandy, OMG that is hilarious! What a smart doggy :angel:

Kandy, OMG that is hilarious! What a smart doggy :angel:

Koda was actually almost too smart for her own good. If she wanted a customer to give her a dollar, and they didn't - she would steal their money off their table. :eek: She never stole one dollar bills though, she would steal the 20's! :p When people did give her money, if she wasn't hungry she would lay on the money so that no one could take it from her. She was a hoot! :D

Aw, Melanie- everybody has at least a couple of fat doggies in their lifetime... :) It's knowing that your dog is fat and doing something about it that sets you apart.

Prin, well said, and sooooo true, as always eloquent to a tee :angel:

Kandy, OMG, you should have taped that and sent it to AFV or the Animal Planet. I've never heard of a doggy doing those things, LMAO :party:

Melanie, Prin said it best. You are a GREAT MOMMY, you're love and caring comes through so clearly. You're puppy will get there as will Kenzie, be patient, we'll get through this weight loss hiccup :grouphug:

oh you guys are jsut so amazing and lovely, thank you... i spent last night feelin awful sorry for me and charlie, i was in total shock, to think of her as that big is hard, and your all right, she does not look like she has packed on 10kg..... your all wonderful and supportive, i would still feel really bad if i didnt have you lot... my family is pretty upset, they all love her so much and in our family the humans have weight problems, so they are all very sympathetic and supportive, charlie is a lucky dog to have her family and all of your for her friends, very lucky indeed...

um just to embarass myself i will share this, at the vet i pointed to her rump and said 'look at those tight muscles' the vet laughed and pointed to the rump and said 'look at those fat deposits you mean' so your tellin me i have been massaging fat for months, no wonder she didnt like it :eek: :D

dodger looks perfect to me, that is better than my girl ever loked, she had started to develop a tuck last year, now its gone but i can see dodgers i reckon, hes cute and svelt...

koda sounds smarter than me, and a right dream boat :D

brick charlie says thanks and sniff, shes hungry :eek:

i jsut gave ehr her measly breakfast, boy did she look unimpressed, the look said 'and the rest lady :eek: ' so im not looking at her and trying to avoid her for now, she is a very food obsessed dog so this will be hard...


and now im worried about my own weight, charlie and i have always been active, now with the vet stopping her runs im worried the walks wont be effective and we both get fat, oh great i will have to go on 1 cup a day to...

1 cup does not look like much at all, considering that bowl is usually full and now it has a teeny puddle of biscuits..

but i will start a graph of her weight loss and use that to spur us on, and keep track....

i forgot to mention the vet said nothing else for the first week, then i n the secound week she can have broccoli and carrots again (her favourites) but of course only in small amounts, so im sure she will be relieved then...

thanks guys, you have made me feel better and i no longer feel like a dog abuser.... :D (although on this diet charlie might become a human abuser and eat me :p )