Low cal food?

Thoughts on low calorie food? I've been trying green beans with Nell for about a week and every night she's thrown up. I didn't put the green beans in last night and no throw up. I don't give her much kibble as it is so I can't cut back much more. I was hoping the green beans would do the trick but it's a no go. I wonder if just a few weeks on a low cal food would do the trick? I don't think it'll take too long to get the weight off of her now that she's off the steroids. What's your experience with post-steroid weight loss? Thoughts/suggestions?

I'm not a fan of the lo cal diets, to be honest. But I have heard good things about Wellness Core reduced fat.
I reduce portions and increase exercise when mine turn into fatties. Maybe Nell isn't a bean girl. Maybe adding some pumpkin rather than beans?

northernwitch wrote:I'm not a fan of the lo cal diets, to be honest. But I have heard good things about Wellness Core reduced fat.
I reduce portions and increase exercise when mine turn into fatties. Maybe Nell isn't a bean girl. Maybe adding some pumpkin rather than beans?

I've never done a low cal food as I know most don't suggest it. My experience with Wellness has been that it causes tons of pooping. I wonder if Core is any different? They eat Orijen (fish) now. She already gets pumpkin every night. I will increase the exercise shortly. I just started her on glucosamine so when she seems a little more comfortable (and hopefully it gets a little cooler out), I'll drag her out. She'll be thrilled!!

Wow, I did just notice that Orijen is 18% fat. That's more than most of the other high quality foods. The only one I saw that was higher was Nature's Variety. I think I'll just find a different, regular kibble with less fat and see how it works.

Does anyone feed Merrick kibble? I know they generally make good stuff and it's about 1/2 what I pay for the Orijen!

I just checked out the Wellness Core Low Calorie, and it looks like pretty good stuff and is only 350 cal/cup. I haven't tried it, though.

I've tried Sammy on several of the Merrick's flavors, and although I thought it was "fun" food, I didn't like how mushy it made his poop. I don't recall an increase in volume, but a definite change in texture. He does well on Natural Balance, but that's pretty high in calories, and their low-cal version doesn't look great. I think Kendie uses Merrick's.

GingerSnap wrote:I didn't like how mushy it made his poop. I don't recall an increase in volume, but a definite change in texture.

Good to know!

I'll keep perusing the site I order from. They have alot of great foods and treats.

I don't know if this could be an issue with Nell, Amanda, but Lola has a shellfish allergy (yes, incredibly, it's true) and routinely throws up glucosamine if given it since it is made from certain shellfish/bi-valves. Most glucosamine products will have a label (at least if it's for humans) alerting you to the issue with shellfish allergies.

northernwitch wrote:I don't know if this could be an issue with Nell, Amanda, but Lola has a shellfish allergy (yes, incredibly, it's true) and routinely throws up glucosamine if given it since it is made from certain shellfish/bi-valves. Most glucosamine products will have a label (at least if it's for humans) alerting you to the issue with shellfish allergies.

Ah! Very interesting. I did wonder if maybe that was the issue because it seems weird that beans would bother her iron gut. I'll have to play around with both and figure out what the culprit is.

Penny was on Orijen senior and did very well. We're doing a turn of Taste of the Wild salmon, and she only gets 1/8 cup twice a day (that's what she got on the Orijen, too). Still keeping her slim (well, sort of) and girlish (well, if you can ignore the white hair on her tummy) figure. Hugs to you for surviving Nell on steroids. Scary.

Izzy dropped her weight within 2-3 weeks of stopping steroids. I didn't even cut down on her food. Hopefully Nell will have the same luck.

Pugsaunt wrote:Penny was on Orijen senior and did very well. We're doing a turn of Taste of the Wild salmon, and she only gets 1/8 cup twice a day (that's what she got on the Orijen, too). Still keeping her slim (well, sort of) and girlish (well, if you can ignore the white hair on her tummy) figure. Hugs to you for surviving Nell on steroids. Scary.

An eighth of a cup?!?!? And Miss Penny hasn't called the rescue yet???? And my vet was offering Jackson lots of treats when she found out that he only got 1/3 cup twice a day! Penny, my love, come back out to the east coast!

I tend to dislike the low calorie foods as well, it's tough to find one that doesn't compromise quality.

What about peas instead of green beans, maybe they would get chewed up better and they are smaller to start with.

1/8 of a cup is scant, Penny is a brave girl. CP gets 1/4 cup twice a day and most people act like I am starving her.

Fillers like pumpkin, grated carrots, yogurt, sweet potatoes, apples, blueberries or banana work well too. I, too, am not a fan of low cal foods.

I think I'm just going to find a new, regular food with a lower fat content. Kyle's been giving her the green beans the past 2 nights and she's been fine. He said when she threw up last time, it was all whole pieces of kibble. I wonder, now that she's had her dental and her mouth feels better, if she's just eating alot faster and making herself vomit.

They already get pumpkin and yogurt with all their meals.

GingerSnap wrote:

Pugsaunt wrote:Penny was on Orijen senior and did very well. We're doing a turn of Taste of the Wild salmon, and she only gets 1/8 cup twice a day (that's what she got on the Orijen, too). Still keeping her slim (well, sort of) and girlish (well, if you can ignore the white hair on her tummy) figure. Hugs to you for surviving Nell on steroids. Scary.

An eighth of a cup?!?!? And Miss Penny hasn't called the rescue yet???? And my vet was offering Jackson lots of treats when she found out that he only got 1/3 cup twice a day! Penny, my love, come back out to the east coast!

Well, with the pumpkin, yogurt, salmon oil, and many treats, Ms. Thang is not starving. The dogtor even wants me to pare another pound or two off her to help her arthritic elbows and hips.

Pugsaunt wrote:Well, with the pumpkin, yogurt, salmon oil, and many treats, Ms. Thang is not starving. The dogtor even wants me to pare another pound or two off her to help her arthritic elbows and hips.

Nell and Lucy also get a very small amount of kibble and only eat once/day. They certainly aren't wasting away! They also get pumpkin and yogurt and treats every time they go potty.

Pugsaunt wrote:

GingerSnap wrote:

Pugsaunt wrote:Penny was on Orijen senior and did very well. We're doing a turn of Taste of the Wild salmon, and she only gets 1/8 cup twice a day (that's what she got on the Orijen, too). Still keeping her slim (well, sort of) and girlish (well, if you can ignore the white hair on her tummy) figure. Hugs to you for surviving Nell on steroids. Scary.

An eighth of a cup?!?!? And Miss Penny hasn't called the rescue yet???? And my vet was offering Jackson lots of treats when she found out that he only got 1/3 cup twice a day! Penny, my love, come back out to the east coast!

Well, with the pumpkin, yogurt, salmon oil, and many treats, Ms. Thang is not starving. The dogtor even wants me to pare another pound or two off her to help her arthritic elbows and hips.

Oh darlin', please don't think that I was criticizing. I know you better than to think you'd be starving the black diva/love of your life!

GingerSnap wrote:

Pugsaunt wrote:

GingerSnap wrote:

Pugsaunt wrote:Penny was on Orijen senior and did very well. We're doing a turn of Taste of the Wild salmon, and she only gets 1/8 cup twice a day (that's what she got on the Orijen, too). Still keeping her slim (well, sort of) and girlish (well, if you can ignore the white hair on her tummy) figure. Hugs to you for surviving Nell on steroids. Scary.

An eighth of a cup?!?!? And Miss Penny hasn't called the rescue yet???? And my vet was offering Jackson lots of treats when she found out that he only got 1/3 cup twice a day! Penny, my love, come back out to the east coast!

Well, with the pumpkin, yogurt, salmon oil, and many treats, Ms. Thang is not starving. The dogtor even wants me to pare another pound or two off her to help her arthritic elbows and hips.

Oh darlin', please don't think that I was criticizing. I know you better than to think you'd be starving the black diva/love of your life!

Not to worry. But if she had an opposable thumb and the ASPCA was on speed-dial, well, then, I might be in trouble.

I had Murphy on Wellness' low calorie for a while. They changed the formula though and it didn't agree with him. He and Duke are now on Wellness' small breed. They about 1/4 of a cup twice a day.

How much weight did Nell gain?

The food that I have found that works best for Emma is Avoderm Low Cal. It is about the only low cal food she will eat and she has been able to maintain her 18-19lb figure for the past 18 months (she topped out at 23.5lbs about 2 years ago...not good....bad mommy!!!). She also lost very quickly on it. Emma gets 1/2c. once a day, and she gets about 1-2 low. cal treats a day, Nutro makes some that are good for treats.

I'm about to embark and a huge information dump about good food. Maybe I will learn something useful! The store carries really great brands of food - Merik, Before Grains, EVO, Tiki Dog, Instinct, Honest Kitchen, Orijen and others.

Not Afraid wrote:I'm about to embark and a huge information dump about good food. Maybe I will learn something useful! The store carries really great brands of food - Merik, Before Grains, EVO, Tiki Dog, Instinct, Honest Kitchen, Orijen and others.

That's great, Lisa! The place I buy from has all the great quality stuff which is why I'm having trouble choosing what to switch to!

On a different note, I saw a food on the site last night that was $100 for 12 lb! I think that's a bit excessive! It also has 27% fat. Not very pug friendly I don't think. I've been paying $42 for 15 lb. of Orijen and realized when I started looking at other foods that that's pretty high! It is good stuff though.

One of my dogs did not do well on Merrick (can't remember which name it was). Talked to the owner of the small pet store (they don't sell pets, only food and supplies) and she has heard that Merrick doesn't work for some dogs. My dogs sure enjoyed it tho. Mine get 1/4 cup twice a day - Willow on Solid Gold and Jasmine and Buffy on Eagle Pack Holistic.

I found this site today while doing some research. It isan EVO/Inova site but it lets you compare a lot of dog foods with one another.

http://www.naturapet.com/tools/comparison.asp

Pugsaunt wrote:We're doing a turn of Taste of the Wild salmon

This is what I decided to try. It best matched what I was looking for in terms of fat content, ingredients and price. Everything I read about it was very positive.

The queen went back to the vet yesterday. She's lost at least a pound. It was hard to get a very accurate reading as apparently the scale was covered in hot coals. I think just simply being off of the steroids has helped.

He didn't see any yeast on her scraping so he said to discontinue the ketaconazole. I'm a bit leary but will keep my fingers crossed. He wants me to just do the special shampoo baths twice a month and the spray 3-4 times/week. We'll see how it goes!