This is Hudson -- before and after. We took good care of him, gave him a loving home, but sadly, we also unintentionally allowed him to become obese. As he grew older, arthritis limited his mobility and that's when most of the weight packed on. He passed away at age 12, but I often felt if we'd been able to help him slim down, we could have added a few more years to his life.
Do you wonder why our pets are overweight? The basic reason is obviously caloric intake vs. exercise. But the other day I made an interesting discovery. I was searching the pet store shelves for some canned dog food that might constitute a bland diet. I'd been cooking Kelly chicken and rice for her stomach ailment, but wanted a convenient back up for days I didn't cook. I looked at one can of premium quality "easy to digest" dog food, and read the back. Serving size: daily, one 13 oz can per every 10 lbs of weight. That would mean I'd give Kelly, a small cocker spaniel size dog, 3 1/2 cans of dog food a day! Compared to the amount of dry dog food my vet instructed us to give (1/2 cup, twice a day) that seemed exorbitant. I questioned our vet about it later and she agreed. She suggested feeding the canned dog food in the same volume as what we've been giving her.
If a small dog consumed 3 1/2 cans of dog food every day, they'd surely become obese!
I've been searching for a new brand of high quality, natural dry dog food for Kelly. What do you feed your dogs?
