tikeya is getting fat. help

[tikeyas_mom]

How old is tikeya? If she is under a few years of age it is *probably* not related to a thyroid problem. Has she been gaining weight fairly suddenly or is it barely noticable over a long period of time? How long have you been feeding her 2 cups a day? Is she on a low calorie food? If so how long has she been on it for?

Tikeya is 5 years old. It has been sorta sudden, I started noicing she was chubby when Baby came.
We have been feeding her two cups a day for around 3 months.
her food is called Sumit dog food made in alberta, maybe you could look it up?? she has been on the food for about a week not even we just switched to it.

[tikeyas_mom]

Originally posted by wolfsoul
The thyroid is the gland in your throat that releases hormones to control your metabolism. Just last year I lost six pounds in one week, so I had to get my blood checked for HYPERthyroidism (thyroid produces too many hormones). HYPOthyroidism is when the thyroid doesn't produce enough hormones, and so your dog will metabolise food at a slow rate and become overweight. Golden retrievers and Irish setters are the worst for this.

A blood test shouldn't be too expensive.

Also, I don't think she's fat.

i would like to get her tested, money is not an issue. And i think she does look fat, so does the vets and my mom and dad.

[dragondawg]

they didnt even check or mention a thyroid problem...

In the absence of any other signs of hypothyroidism there is no need to run expensive diagnostic tests.

My prior dog a Golden/Lab mix did quite well on 2.25 cups of dog food. If I wanted her to gain weight (e.g. from 74 lbs to 80 lbs in the winter) all I had to do was give her 2.5-2.75 cups of dog food. When Spring came 2-2.25 cups took the weight off.

If the picture in your posts is the dog in question then 2 cups may indeed be too much. You should try going to a dog food blend with less protein/fat content as a first try. Then start to cut back on the amount from 2 cups to 1.75 cups. After a week or two, cut back again to 1.5 cups and see what the effect is on the weight. Adjust until you obtain and maintain the ideal weight. If the dog still doesn't lose weight and becomes lethargic then that's the time to revisit the Vet.

As someone else mentioned if the poor thing acts starved - you can try fillers in the diet, such as raw carrots. String beans have been reported to cause diarrhea in some dogs, so be careful about overloading on fiber.

As for exercise, I found it made little difference. With my dog she regularly would swim continuously 20 minutes a day on the weekends, and get half mile walks every day. No effect on the weight. But change the food ration and the weight response was immediate.

[tikeyas_mom]

Originally posted by dragondawg
In the absence of any other signs of hypothyroidism there is no need to run expensive diagnostic tests.

My prior dog a Golden/Lab mix did quite well on 2.25 cups of dog food. If I wanted her to gain weight (e.g. from 74 lbs to 80 lbs in the winter) all I had to do was give her 2.5-2.75 cups of dog food. When Spring came 2-2.25 cups took the weight off.

If the picture in your posts is the dog in question then 2 cups may indeed be too much. You should try going to a dog food blend with less protein/fat content as a first try. Then start to cut back on the amount from 2 cups to 1.75 cups. After a week or two, cut back again to 1.5 cups and see what the effect is on the weight. Adjust until you obtain and maintain the ideal weight. If the dog still doesn't lose weight and becomes lethargic then that's the time to revisit the Vet.

As someone else mentioned if the poor thing acts starved - you can try fillers in the diet, such as raw carrots. String beans have been reported to cause diarrhea in some dogs, so be careful about overloading on fiber.

As for exercise, I found it made little difference. With my dog she regularly would swim continuously 20 minutes a day on the weekends, and get half mile walks every day. No effect on the weight. But change the food ration and the weight response was immediate.

i just talked to my mom *the person who normally feeds all the dogs, tikeya included*, and she is on ONE cup a day. half a cup in the morning, and half a cup at night. my dogs refuse to eat veggies.

[shais_mom]

Originally posted by lv4dogs
How old is tikeya?

Keegan was only a year and a half of age when she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, just this summer.