1st_lite

I just learned a very costly mistake/lesson. My dog in the past two months has had two operations to remove fat deposits. I walk him regularly for an hour to an hour and a half each day but I was over feeding him.
The last operation removed a deposit weighing 28 lbs on his right side. The whole deal cost me 1400.00, yeah I might be certifiable.
Anyway if you go on www.iams.com, you can punch in your dogs weight and it'll give you the amount of food your dog requires (approximately). I was killing my mutt with kindness. If you don't feed them Iams with a little looking you can figure out the calories per day they are recommending. Example, take the calories per cup, x the cups per day recommended for total calories.

Tree climber

1st_lite:I have raised beagles for the last 30 years and have never heard of the problem you speak of.
I have an automatic feeder for my dogs with 21% dog feed,and they eat all they want any time they want.granted during the off season they get a little fat,but never to fat.
I know iams has a lot of fat,it may be the feed you use not the amount,I don't know this for a fact,just maybe.
I have seven dogs in my kennel now from two years old to 15 years old.they are all healthy and right now not to fat.
just my two cents worth,there are 98 more.


I am not a hunter I am a whitetail population reduction specialest

remember keep your back to the sun, your knife sharp, and your powder dry.

MATTITO

What kind of breed do you have? Thats a lot of fat, yikes. I do keep an eye on my labs because those dogs will eat all day if you let them. I swear when one of them was a pup she ate her body weight in kibble after finding an open bag. She would still be eating it if I hadn't found her. Some breeds just like to eat and sleep so you have to really monitor them. Wow, that kind of sounds like me on Sunday after church.

drdan

I have always just kept my dogs bowls full and never had a problem except once. I have found that if dogs know that the food is there anytime they want they don't overeat. The exercise level of my current shorthair varies drastically between hunting season and off season. He still stays they same weight. In fact the only weight problem he has is keeping enough weight on when hunting three days a week.

Our old lab had to be fixed due to a prostate problem. He balloned up after the operation. We started restricting food to bring his weight down. We had to restrct both dogs because they both had access to the food. Because my shorthair was unsure when food would be available again he started eating more than he normally would even though we were measuring How much he was "supposed" to need. He started gaining weight too. We finally went back to keeping their bowl full and both slimmed down and stabilized again.

1st_lite

My beast is a Rotti/Lab X. He weighed 167 Lbs prior to the last operation Tues. He was thin every where else. Some dogs tend to deposit fat in concentrated ares. It got to the point everyone was asking me when was 'she' going to have pups. I was feeding him everything, Iams-4 cups, Pedigree- 1 lg can, tuna, milk bones- 10, chicken weiners.
Now he only gets 3 cups Iams and a can of Pedigree a day. It's so easy to stuff 'em and not know it.

Doc E

Do you know the medical name of the deposit?
Was it called a Lipoma?---If it was a Lipoma, it has NOTHING to do with too much food or being overweight.

1st_lite

The vet said it was lipomas. The way she explained it was that some dogs were prone to depositing fat in concentrated areas. So I assumed it was fat.

Edited by - 1st_lite on 02/22/2002 21:12:28

Doc E

A Lipoma has nothing to do with the dog's diet. It is a benign fatty tumor (never become malignant). Some dogs (and humans too) are just prone to developing them. But it has nothing to do with the dog being overweight -- skinny dogs get lipomas just as often as fat ones.

amitydeerslayer

I can agree with Doc E on this one. I have a 13 y/o who has several fatty deposits and has had them for about 6 years. He has never been overweight, always a bit on the skinny side.

They have nothing to do with overfeeding.

Although 167 lb dog is very overweight, the overfeeding may not have caused the fatty tumors but it sure can cause a lot of other problems if you're not careful...heart, liver, joints, etc.

ShortHair

I didn't even wiegh 167 pounds when I graduated high school. I might be a little over that wieght now. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
No more bisciuts or gravy for that hound Bro.