Obese diabetic Pugs

I have two obese pugs that are my life.  They are very picky, and didn’t like the science diet that the vet gave them.  They’d still be very hungry after eating double of what the bag told them to.  I’d still have to chop up some chicken mc nuggets and throw them on top just so they’d get to eating. I went to the paw depot and talked to the pet dietitian Giulio Ferrari (sp) who gave me a sermon about the whole mc nuggets thing (it’s only chicken, don’t hate!).  He put them on a grain free, low glycemic index food and a supplement called fruitables weightloss formula. He made me swear on their lives that I wouldn’t give them any more nuggets, I still don’t see the big deal.  They have lost 5 lbs so far, out of the 10 they need to lose. I’m really happy with the results, I may start giving them nuggets as a treat though, they really miss it!

I almost hope this is a troll posting....
If your vet and a pet nutritionist tells you that the pugs are obese, it is not a joke. There are other low calorie foods besides SD, and your nutritionist may have told you this information.  But seriously...McNuggets? It is not just chicken. It is fried and breaded byproducts.  The pugs that are your "whole life" are going to live very, very short lives. That is the reality.

From "The Omnivores's Dillema", here is a listing of what is in Chicken Mc Nuggets...38 ingredients in all:
"The ingredients listed in the flyer suggest a lot of thought goes into a nugget, that and a lot of corn. Of the thirty-eight ingredients it takes to make a McNugget, I counted thirteen that can be derived from corn: the corn-fed chicken itself; modified cornstarch (to bind the pulverized chicken meat); mono-, tri-, and diglycerides (emulsifiers, which keep the fats and water from separating); dextrose; lecithin (another emulsifier); chicken broth (to restore some of the flavor that processing leeches out); yellow corn flour and more modified cornstarch (for the batter); cornstarch (a filler); vegetable shortening; partially hydrogenated corn oil; and citric acid as a preservative. A couple of other plants take part in the nugget: There's some wheat in the batter, and on any given day the hydrogenated oil could come from soybeans, canola, or cotton rather than corn, depending on the market price and availability.

Many dogs are allergic to corn and the old nuggets are full of corn.
Diabetes is no joke in dogs. It will drastically shorten their lives and often causes blindness and other problems.  Feeding them this crap is literally killing them

Yes, it's all true. So now you know and won't give them the McNuggets any more I'm sure.

No harm though in giving a few (VERY FEW two or three at most per meal) tiny (I mean scraps about half the size of a push pin) of fresh or boiled organically certified free range chicken breast mixed in with their meal to entice them to eat.

The tiny scraps will smell wonderful to them and will enhance the whole eating experience without doing them any harm.

I know you love them and don't wan't to do them any more harm, right? I'm sorry to say that you probably came close to killing them with the McNuggets even if you had no intention of that at all.

You are GREAT for taking them to the pet dietician well done! but please do follow his instructions...you have started to get their weight down, :cheers:keep up the good work and please listen to the wise advice that people here give. :)

Hi Mrs. M.
 
This is Giulio Ferrari, and I'm glad to see that your babies have lost that weight.  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD (and I don't use that lightly) PLEASE DO NOT GO BACK TO MC NUGGETS, not even as a TREAT.  Not a small piece.  And NO MORE GATORADE either.  I see you're back in Boston at your daughter's, so don't let the kids give them cookies either.  I'd like to see them as soon as you are back in Dallas.  
How's the shedding going?  What about Gizmo's eyes?  
How long are you going to be up there this time? If you run out of Great Life while you are up there, let me know and I'll ship it to you for free (free shipping), I don't want you using the "but the food ended" excuse.  Sorry if I'm being harsh, but I prefer you to be mad at me, than lose your babies. 
The number we have on file for you isn't working.  Please call us BEFORE you run out, not the day you run out.


To the posters in the forum: I get patients like this EVERY week.  I'm treating a  dachshund who's mother feeds him 2 Big Macs per day.   

PEOPLE, FEEDING JUNK TO YOUR PETS IS NOT A GOOD WAY TO SHOW YOUR LOVE!  You are KILLING them.  I lost a diabetic patient THIS WEEK to EXACTLY the same thing as Mrs. M: McNuggets!  And this was a 100 lbs dog, which 'only' got one per day, imagine a little pug!  This is not a joke, and I'm getting a little tired of clients thinking it's cute or a gesture of love.

Giulio Ferrari
Clinical Nutritionist
The Paw Depot

Thank you for posting, Giulio. I can't fathom feeding my pugs McNuggets - I won't even eat that garbage myself!  Being involved in rescue, overweight pugs is a huge pet peeve of mine. We see it all of the time. I look forward to hearing more of your expert advice.

PugLady3 wrote:Thank you for posting, Giulio. I can't fathom feeding my pugs McNuggets - I won't even eat that garbage myself!

So true! Disgusting! I haven't eaten anything from McDonald's in years and years! BARF!

If you think that is disguising, reed my posting on the dog ingredient topic.

Renee wrote:

PugLady3 wrote:Thank you for posting, Giulio. I can't fathom feeding my pugs McNuggets - I won't even eat that garbage myself!

So true! Disgusting! I haven't eaten anything from McDonald's in years and years! BARF!

"Super Size Me" really changed my views on fast food. Can't even stomach McDonald's.

I have a friend who feeds her dogs kibble and a McD's cheeseburger patty for breakfast and home-cooked white rice/hamburger/canned sweet potato (for the fiber) for dinner.  One of her dogs is a very picky eater, and her excuse is that "this is what he will eat." 

I've got a patient, a Dachshund, who's mother fed him two cheeseburgers per day with that same excuse. It is just that - an excuse.  In 12 years of profession, I have NEVER seen a dog starve to death.  It's a behavioral issue.  I treat dogs with cancer cachexia, now that is a true problem.  Give your picky dog a good quality kibble, or try a freeze dried as a topper (such as Stella and Chewy's or Primal), add a little Answers Goat's Milk with cultures for dogs if need be. Burgers are NEVER acceptable.

Giulio Ferrari
Clinical Nutritionist

bigdogtexas wrote:I've got a patient, a Dachshund, who's mother fed him two cheeseburgers per day with that same excuse. It is just that - an excuse.  In 12 years of profession, I have NEVER seen a dog starve to death.  It's a behavioral issue.  I treat dogs with cancer cachexia, now that is a true problem.  Give your picky dog a good quality kibble, or try a freeze dried as a topper (such as Stella and Chewy's or Primal), add a little Answers Goat's Milk with cultures for dogs if need be. Burgers are NEVER acceptable.

Giulio Ferrari
Clinical Nutritionist

Unfortunately, my friend doesn't listen well.  I worry about the hamburger/white rice almost as much as the McD's cheeseburgers.  So sad.