Presidential Update

[Hanne]

I was really the most evil mom here in late summer.

I was at the pet store to buy some new aquarium fish.

"By the way you do not have a dog weight?" - "yes we have"

Asked Minnie (43 cm) to go on the weight - she weighed 12.5 kg.
"Are you sure your the weight weighs right?" - "Yes I think"

I say to Minnie when we get in the car:
"I can not believe the weight is right - I think we will go to in our normal pet store
Ups - there the weight was the same = 1.1 kg. overweight

The next month she was given less food.
i was hoping she had lost just 500 gr when she was weighed

No, she had lost 1.2 kg. - Of course it was good
buuut felt like the meanest mom in the whole world

She had lost 10% in 1 month
- Minnie my poor hungry faithful friend

 

[SheepOfBlue]

I was really the most evil mom here in late summer.

I was at the pet store to buy some new aquarium fish.

"By the way you do not have a dog weight?" - "yes we have"

Asked Minnie (43 cm) to go on the weight - she weighed 12.5 kg.
"Are you sure your the weight weighs right?" - "Yes I think"

I say to Minnie when we get in the car:
"I can not believe the weight is right - I think we will go to in our normal pet store
Ups - there the weight was the same = 1.1 kg. overweight

The next month she was given less food.
i was hoping she had lost just 500 gr when she was weighed

No, she had lost 1.2 kg. - Of course it was good
buuut felt like the meanest mom in the whole world

She had lost 10% in 1 month
- Minnie my poor hungry faithful friend

That does not sound bad by my conversion to US she is almost 17" and 27.5lbs. Sca was similar and his best race weight was 29lbs or about 13.1kg. Of course he was very muscled, he would never struggle or be bad at the vet but did have this turn to stone mode and WOW was he hard to move when he did that

 

[Piper's mom]

Do you just buy a turkey breast or the whole turkey? Are you just baking it in the oven for them?
I was planning on dehydrating the pork loins again today. Wow... they just LOVE THEM!

Funny story, when I had my 20 year old Persian cat, before my shelties...
I would go to the local butcher and always ask for his cubed stew meat. I would get 1/4 pound at a time. He finally asked one day, what are you doing with so little? I responded that I cut it into small pieces for my cat. He looked horrified and said, what do eat? Alpo? (a dog food from years ago)

I bet today, many folks are asking their butches for meats for their pets, and no one finds it strange!

I bought them a whole turkey...roughly a 10 pound bird. I'll thaw it, cut it up and they'll get the bones (maybe not the leg bones, these are much harder than a chicken leg) and the meat will go towards their meals. I'll probably do a special Christmas meal for them lol. Not much else to do on Christmas...we're not even allowed to have visitors due to public health orders.

 

[mimiretz]

Just curious... How tall is Oberon?

"I'm so hungry, why are you starving me? Death is imminent" looks

Not to sure how tall he is -- every time I try to measure him he moves too much. I've tried marking his "shoulder" against a door, but he got too involved in trying to eat the pen (sigh). I'm 5'5" and he's just an inch or so short of my knee. I can reach down and scratch his neck without bending too much. I know these scientific measurements are hard to comprehend, but it's the best I have right now.

 

[RikyR]

Oberon also needs to lose weight -- at his last checkup he was almost 50 pounds! Vet would like him to get down to 40 over the next couple of years. We've gone from 1/2 cup of food twice a day to 1/3 cup twice a day, fewer treats (we're both really bad at giving them -- Lee usually throws a handful, now is only giving one), and less "people food" (although still some). To avoid the "I'm so hungry, why are you starving me? Death is imminent" looks, he also gets a small handful of green beans with each meal; the bulk seems to satisfy him with far fewer calories. Don't know how much he is now but he definitely looks less pudgy.

Cody was 52 lbs. when we adopted him. The previous owner just left a full bowl of food out for him, bad move for a Sheltie. Poor boy looked like a stuffed sausage with a small head. Took us about 2 years, and got him down to 36 lbs. Lots of green beans!

 

[Caro]

Oberon also needs to lose weight -- at his last checkup he was almost 50 pounds! Vet would like him to get down to 40 over the next couple of years. We've gone from 1/2 cup of food twice a day to 1/3 cup twice a day, fewer treats (we're both really bad at giving them -- Lee usually throws a handful, now is only giving one), and less "people food" (although still some). To avoid the "I'm so hungry, why are you starving me? Death is imminent" looks, he also gets a small handful of green beans with each meal; the bulk seems to satisfy him with far fewer calories. Don't know how much he is now but he definitely looks less pudgy.

Poor Della only gets 1/8 of a cup twice a day (plus half a boiled egg). You can imagine the starving looks I get! I'm always surprised that more comes out than goes in though - I think it's all the toilet rolls she eats.

 

[Sandy in CT]

I've been able to get Brodie from 26 lbs 12 oz. in February down to an even 24 lbs 10 days ago - he is 15 1/2 inches. Because of Rally and Agility, I am always treating him, but I cut all store bought training treats out and only give homemade. He still gets his chicken chewies, but they are now thin ones - he doesn't seem to realize it. I have been ignoring the request for morning chewies so now it's only the night ones. He still gets his potty treat but it is now 1/2 of a Mother Hubbard mini biscuit, not the whole one. He has the bladder of a camel, but goes out every 2 hours with Kooper the kidney pee-er and he feels he deserves treats for emotional support even when he doesn't actually do anything.

Kooper dropped down from 17 1/2 lbs to 16 which is good. We've always kept our doxie on the thin side - they have waistlines I am jealous of! His kidney levels are worse though and we ran a test on his pancreas and it was showing inflamed. No physical signs at all - good poops, good pee, he walks a mile most days and on weekends goes further. The day before his test, he went on a 4 mile hike. His appetite is a doxie appetite - they inhale food. I'm supposed to cut back on the fat in his diet.... trying to switch out kibble with an egg a few times a week.

I am unfortunately putting on my winter 'coat' all ready - less activity and too many snacks!

 

[Caro]

I've been able to get Brodie from 26 lbs 12 oz. in February down to an even 24 lbs 10 days ago - he is 15 1/2 inches. Because of Rally and Agility, I am always treating him, but I cut all store bought training treats out and only give homemade. He still gets his chicken chewies, but they are now thin ones - he doesn't seem to realize it. I have been ignoring the request for morning chewies so now it's only the night ones. He still gets his potty treat but it is now 1/2 of a Mother Hubbard mini biscuit, not the whole one. He has the bladder of a camel, but goes out every 2 hours with Kooper the kidney pee-er and he feels he deserves treats for emotional support even when he doesn't actually do anything.

Emotional support treat. So Sheltie!

 

[Jess041]

I had the opposite problem with Missy. I accidentally let her get too thin! She’s 16.5” and usually weighs 24-25lbs. When I moved the cats got their own room with a gate so no more stealing cat food and raiding the litter box for Missy. I was giving her 1/2 cup of food a day. Took her to the vet back in March for an annual visit and she weighed 23 lbs! Ooops might have over done the weight loss... now she’s getting 2/3 cup a day and probably close to 25 lbs. I can still easily feel ribs so I’m not worried. She still thinks she’s being starved.

 

[mimiretz]

I had the opposite problem with Missy. I accidentally let her get too thin! She’s 16.5” and usually weighs 24-25lbs. When I moved the cats got their own room with a gate so no more stealing cat food and raiding the litter box for Missy. I was giving her 1/2 cup of food a day. Took her to the vet back in March for an annual visit and she weighed 23 lbs! Ooops might have over done the weight loss... now she’s getting 2/3 cup a day and probably close to 25 lbs. I can still easily feel ribs so I’m not worried. She still thinks she’s being starved.

I'm pretty sure most, if not all, Shelties are convinced they're starving if they're not actually in the process of eating.